Breath is Life. The first thing we do when we are born is inhale, the last thing we do when we die, is exhale. Our lives are made up of all the breaths in between. Breathing is essential to life, but it is also essential to creating life.
When we go through infertility we are often stressed, we breathe shallowly and our body starts to hold inside all the disappointment, hurt and fear. Both physical and emotional pain gets stored in our bodies as stress. When we are stressed-Cortisol is released in the brain, which impedes our ability to conceive by affecting the hormones that are responsible for ovulation and healthy gynecological function. Yoga teaches us to open the body with the breath, creating the ability to arrest the stress response, balance hormones and return the body, emotions and mind to a relaxed state.
You can literally learn to “breathe to conceive” as breath affects your state of being on every level, you learn to receive life literally and figuratively. The breath is the most effective tool we have to stop the “fight or flight” stress response of the sympathetic nervous system and return it to “the relaxation response” of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Improved Physical Health
Yoga can also impact the general reproductive health of women trying to conceive. Yoga tones and strengthens the muscles that support reproductive organs and improves spinal alignment, enabling better circulation and improved capacity and quality of respiration. For women who are taking infertility drugs, better breathing can also help the body fight off the toxic effects of those drugs.
Reducing the Physical Effects of Stress
Yoga is perfect for dealing with one of the most pervasive mind/body fertility challenges: stress, often stress caused by the inability to get or stay pregnant. Women experiencing infertility are often stress- and pain-filled, saddened and angry. These emotions generate chemicals in the body that weaken immunity and make for a less hospitable environment for a new life. Yoga, because of its use of relaxation breathing techniques, combined with the flushing out of physical toxins, provides an antidote to the negative physical impacts of anxiety, anger and depression. It also helps to change your perspective to a more objective, detached state of mind so you start to view your challenges with more calm and control.
To treat infertility with yoga there a some basic steps you can take to get you started. This first thing is to reduce your stress level. Stress can cause your hormones and organs to become off balance. When you are not in balance your body is not working to it’s full potential. Yoga breathing will help calm the body and mind replacing the negative thoughts with positive.
There are specific poses in yoga that focus on your reproductive organs and pelvic area to increase blood flow and stimulate energy. There are also poses that soften the abdominal area clearing tension from the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes which will increase their productivity. Where are Fertility Yoga Classes in Philadelphia? Does meditation help infertility?
Yoga will bring balance to your body, mind, and soul specifically your hormone levels. These poses will improve your glandular function which will stabilize hormones. In order for the reproductive process to occur your hormones must be in balance. What are the best Yoga Fertility Poses? Can Infertility be helped with Yoga?
This is not to say that yoga is an instant fertility potion, or that it works for everyone. It is not a quick-fix. It does aid to keep your inner peace, which can be very hard when struggling with infertility due to the frustration, anxiety, sadness and despair that infertility can produce.
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Often women that are pregnant discover yoga since it is a way to heal, gain body awareness and nurture oneself. Yoga when you are pregnant helps to strengthen the body for child bearing and aids in relieving the common discomforts the body experiences. Yoga helps you find the time and space to look within yourself, allowing you to openly explore your own intrinsic knowledge about the cycles of life. It is an opportunity to come together with a circle of women to share and connect with some of the dreams and scares that pregnancy brings as well.
A prenatal and postnatal yoga practice can help you
Support your health before and after pregnancy
Connect you with other parents who are at all stages of pregnancy
Improve your postpartum recovery
Helps to strengthen the body for child bearing and aids in relieving the common discomforts the body experiences.
Best and Worst Yoga Poses to do When You are Pregnant
Alleviate many of the discomforts of pregnancy such as nausea, constipation, varicose veins, swelling, back pain and sciatica.
Cautions about practicing yoga while pregnant:
Since nausea is common during the first part of pregnancy it may be helpful to practice in a well-ventilated room. During the second trimester your growing belly will require modifying some poses. Use common sense and avoid putting too much pressure on the abdomen in poses like Head To Knee Postures, Seated Forward Fold, as well as Seated Spinal Twists. You may choose to reduce the amount of vinyasa if generating heat in the body makes you uncomfortable.
Best and Worst Yoga Poses to do When You are Pregnant
The third trimester will require you to continue to adapt and even omit certain postures. Standing poses like Extended Triangle Pose, and Extended Side Angle Pose can help relieve back pain. And a simple inversion such as Legs-Up-the-Wall-Pose can help to relieve puffy ankles. Some poses might require additional props or support. Through each trimester the most important thing is to tune in to what your body is telling you and alter your practice accordingly. During and after pregnancy, try not to be attached to your level of flexibility. Pregnancy is a great time to learn how to emotionally, spiritually and physically release.
Other words of wisdom for pregnant women interested in yoga: Linking yoga postures with breath will lead you to new discoveries, bringing awareness to the mind, body and soul, and also the spirit of your growing baby. Your practice will help to foster a sense of calm and acceptance as well as strengthen the uterus and pelvic muscles, aid in digestion, exercise the spine and increase overall comfort. Yoga can also alleviate many of the discomforts of pregnancy such as nausea, varicose veins, swelling, back pain and sciatica. Being in a community gives you access to a safe circle so you can freely discuss any issues, from discomforts and concerns, to the wonderful new changes your body and baby are experiencing. It is very important to inform the teacher of any complications (current or past) or any treatment that you are receiving.
During pregnancy ligaments around the joints become loose and soft. Care should therefore be taken not to overstretch the body. The abdomen should remain relaxed and soft at all times to allow room for the baby.
Pregnancy can make you feel more tired than usual. It is essential to be aware of this and try not to do things to the point of fatigue. If you feel tired after yoga or any other physical exercise, it means that the practice has been faulty or that you have done too much. Signals such as pains, stitches, cramps, nausea, dizziness, headaches and contractions should never be felt during or after yoga practice. Yoga generates energy, rather than dissipating it.
-Increase Circulation to the Reproductive Organs
-Balance Hormones
-Reduce Stress
You made have already heard that inversions like headstand and shoulder stand are powerful natural fertility aids. Those positions didn’t make our list for one simple reason: they should be done with proper supervision. These poses made our list of the five best yoga positions to aid fertility because they don’t need supervision. In fact, they can be done in the safety and privacy of your home with no risk.
Yoga For Reproduction….Flexing, Floating and Baby-making
1. Baddha Konasana – Butterfly
According to B.K.S. Iyengar this pose is a blessing to women. It stimulates the abdominals and ovaries.Sit comfortably on a rug or yoga mat. Draw your heels together in front of your pubic bone, allowing your knees to open outward. *If your knees won’t open fully, this just means your pelvis isn’t open yet. For your comfort, you can sit on a blanket or firm pillow to elevate your hips, this will help.
Close your eyes a moment and tune into your breath. Soften your belly and allow your inhale to fill the space between your belly button and pubic bone, as if you could breathe into your womb. As you exhale draw the belly gently in toward the low back, massaging your internal organs.Press your feet firmly together to allow your inner groins to stretch as you elongate the spine up and out of the hips. Stay here a few breaths.As you breathe, your body will soften into the pose. If you feel you can lean forward without collapsing the lower back, extend forward over your heels reaching up through the crown of the head.Hold onto your feet with your hands, and gently press your knees toward the floor with your elbows. Breathe into the sensation in your hips. Keep your shoulders and face soft.
This pose helps to open the hips and increases circulation in the pelvis, it has been known to help balance irregular menstruation and helps the ovaries to function properly.
This pose stretches the hamstrings and helps the blood to circulate properly in the pelvic region and keeps it healthy.
Sit on your mat or rug, and open your legs wide. If your legs won’t open fully, this just means your pelvis or hamstrings aren’t open yet. For your comfort, you can sit on a blanket or firm pillow to elevate your hips.
Flex your feet back toward your face and make sure your feet are straight up and down, perpendicular to the floor. Lift up through your heart and extend your spine on an inhale. With a long spine, slowly walk your hands forward until you feel the first sensation in your groins and hamstrings. Stop here and breathe. Inhaling as if you could breathe into your womb, allowing the belly to soften and swell then exhale drawing your belly in. When you feel the body has opened, walk your fingers forward until your next edge of sensation. Stop and breathe, and then continue. Once you are fully extended , you can slowly rise, lead with the heart and gently shake out your legs.
This pose is beneficial because it helps regulate menstrual flow and also nourishes the ovaries. One of the wonderful benefits of Yoga is it teaches you to respect your process. Treat yourself gently as you approach these poses, knowing that mastery doesn’t occur overnight. Treat yourself just as gently as you proceed on your path toward parenthood. Accept and honor your limitations and don’t push past the point to where you are in pain or massive discomfort.
3. Viparita Karani – Legs Up The Wall
This pose is restorative and helps to calm the nervous system and the heart rate. It is powerful for women because of its inversion qualities and ability to focus on the reproductive organs.
Find space at a wall. You can use a blanket underneath your hips if you want. Lay on the floor and scoot your bottom as youwalk your legs up the wall until your hips are level and your back is on the floor. Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart or the arms can lay open, creating space in the heart. This pose is about receiving and surrendering. Let your breath be soft and deep, allow your mind to quiet and surrender to the pose. You will feel the circulation in your body shift. Imagine a waterfall starting at your legs, pooling at the hips and slowly spilling down into the heart and the brain. This visual will follow the natural flow of energy as it cultivates a calm nervous system. This pose can be done while you’re menstruating as long as the hips are level. This pose has great healing qualities and is a gem for women. It is a great pose for insomnia, anxiety and jet lag as well.
What are your thought about yoga poses for fertility? Which ones do you think are the best and worst?
Pregnancy is a great time to learn how to emotionally, spiritually and physically release, open up and let go. Yoga also help you find the time and space to look within yourself, allowing you to openly explore your own intrinsic knowledge about the cycles of life.
Yoga is a comprehensive and safe form of exercise during pregnancy and postpartum. Prenatal Yoga Classes are taught by highly qualified staff trained in Yoga Alliance Certified guidelines, methods and practices. Our yoga practice is gentle and nurturing, yet safe and supportive, so that mother and baby obtain the maximum benefit from postures without any strain.
Prenatal yoga links postures and breathing exercises to create awareness of your own mind, body and spirit, and the spirit of your baby. Pregnancy Yoga is ideal preparation for giving birth. Our yoga program is taught in a way that will help you access your own intuitive understanding of birth while helping you to connect to your partner.
Breathing practice during pregnancy opens the chest and helps to improve circulation in both mother and baby, ensuring a better supply of oxygen to the blood. It also calms the nerves and gives the mother greater control of her breathing during labor.
CAUTIONS
Since nausea is common during the first trimester, it may be helpful to practice in a well-ventilated room. During the second trimester your growing belly will require modifying some poses. Use common sense and avoid putting undue pressure on the abdomen in poses like Head To Knee Postures, Seated Forward Fold, and Forward Bends Towards the Knee, as well as Seated Spinal Twists.
You may also choose to reduce the amount of vinyasa (flowing postures) if generating heat in the body makes you uncomfortable. The third trimester will require you to continue to adapt and even omit certain postures. Standing poses like Extended Triangle Pose, and Extended Side Angle Pose can help relieve back pain. A simple inversion such as Legs-Up-the-Wall-Pose can help to relieve swollen ankles. Some poses might require additional props or support (blocks, blankets, bolsters).
Through each trimester the most important thing is to tune in to what your body is telling you and alter your practice accordingly. During and after your pregnancy, try not to be attached to your previous abilities or level of flexibility.
Safety Guidelines
All pregnant women are welcome to attend the class, whether you have a regular practice or want to start yoga during pregnancy. It is very important to inform the teacher of any complications (current or past) or any treatment that you are receiving.
During pregnancy ligaments around the joints become loose and soft. Care should therefore be taken not to overstretch the body. The abdomen should remain relaxed and soft at all times to allow room for the baby.
Pregnancy can make you feel more tired than usual. It is essential to be aware of this and try not to do things to the point of fatigue. If you feel tired after yoga or any other physical exercise, it means that the practice has been faulty or that you have done too much. Signals such as pains, stitches, cramps, nausea, dizziness, headaches and contractions should never be felt during or after yoga practice. Yoga generates energy, rather than dissipating it.
Is yoga just a set of poses and stretches? Yoga is not just a set of physical poses. Yoga does not refer just to the poses as is commonly thought in the West. Yoga is a series of lifestyle practices that include diet, hygiene, yoga philosophy, breath-control techniques, meditation techniques relaxation techniques, awareness techniques, self-mastery techniques and physical poses that lead to self-realization, compassion and evolution. Yoga philosophy emphasizes non-judgement, acceptance and compassion at its core.
Is yoga just a set of poses and stretches? Yoga is not just a set of physical poses. Yoga does not refer just to the poses as is commonly thought in the West. Yoga is a series of lifestyle practices that include diet, hygiene, yoga philosophy, breath-control techniques, meditation techniques relaxation techniques, awareness techniques, self-mastery techniques and physical poses that lead to self-realization, compassion and evolution. Yoga philosophy emphasizes non-judgement, acceptance and compassion at its core.
So now I am days away from my “due date”….. really hate that term….. feel like I am a carton of milk that is about to go bad by having a date. Now when people ask when I am “due” I just say soon. Never felt such discomfort in so many body parts in my whole life and I’m very used to dealing with chronic pain most of my adult life. Sometimes I feel like I can barely walk. When I walk is with great effort, a huge lack of grace, balance and coordination…. qualities that yoga has helped me cultivate and now that are GONE. I basically walk like that Edgar character in Men In Black – the guy whose body is taken over by cockroaches.
I’ve been doing everything I can to induce labor naturally – acupuncture, using the breast pump, chiropractic adjustments, evening primrose oil, special “assistance” from hubby, walking, yoga, pelvic tilts, going up and down stairs sideways, spicy food….. in a few days I might resort to castor oil.
We’ve been getting ready for 9 months…. we basically added a new addition to our house, but instead of hiring contractors to do this for us we did 95% of it which includes sledgehammering, adding new electrical wires, moving a ton of furniture around, adding new lighting downstairs painting little tables a huge bookcase, a dresser….. for the nursery that was easier but still more work than I realized. We put an Eco-bond paint covering on the floor in case there was lead paint on there before it would provide protection.
Then painted the molding, the walls, the ceiling, took down the ceiling fan, changing the curtains, fixing the drawers so they are not so noisy, getting a new radiator, insulating our new home office downstairs. Then we started to get all the baby stuff together which entails putting a crib together, moving even more furniture downstairs, reconfiguring our back sun room which is a storage area for baby stuff, toiletries.
Many trips to Babies R Us to exchange some of the dozens of newborn baby clothes ( we have about 45 newborn onesies – such a waste since they outgrow them in a month, that doesn’t even count the 15 I exchanged for other things such as diapers, wipes, blackout curtains, a baby carrier, nursing pads. I never realized the urge people have to buy newborn clothes. I didn’t even register for any and that is about 90% of what I got plus about 6 tubes of butt paste ( I only registered for 1.) I washed all of the baby clothes, baby sheets, swaddle blankets.
We’ve attended our Childbirth Education Classes and plan to use hypnosis for pain management. I also plan to have a natural birth without medications or interventions. Because of my age, thyroid and gestational diabetes I require enhanced monitoring and my Perinatologist recommends I get induced on by 41 weeks if I don’t go into labor naturally at that point.
I’ve been pretty adamantly opposed to that. I want to avoid the hospital and hospital staff as much as I can. I have a deep distrust of institutionalized medicine since I have been to countless Western-trained doctor for various health issues and 90% of them have been a HUGE waste of time and money. I hate how I am literally a “number” when I call MainLine Health they identify you by your social security number which is so impersonal. At so many doctor offices I visit it feels like a factory and it’s such a dehumanizing experience. The doctor’s main goal is to make sure they don’t spend more than 15 minutes with me since insurance doesn’t reimburse them if they spend too much time with me. Since I have a complicated health history I always feel shortchanged.
So I did a lot of research on the typical ways that women give birth in this country and decided I wanted to have a personal, intimate experience where I felt like I could get the attention I was craving. When you have a Midwife attending to you, you get a lot more attention, education than a typical OB office. So as I get closer to my little guy making his worldwide debut, I am anxious about my natural birth wishes.
So now all there is to do is to surrender…. to realize I don’t have any control over….. that someone else is in control. Hopefully the next post from me will be about how hours after I wrote this our little guy decided to make his debut……. stay tuned……..
Yoga has been my salvation with all the discomforts, pains or pregnancy.
I hate it when some women tell me they “LOVE being pregnant”… I love having life inside of me but really hate feeling like I will throw up, having excruciating sacroiliac pain so bad I can’t even walk, having terrible insomnia, leg cramps so bad they wake me up at night and now feeling like I can barely get out of a chair. Climbing stairs in my house is like scaling Mount Everest.
I have been teaching less yoga these days… in the first half of my pregnancy I felt pukey and just couldn’t focus on everyone else’s needs in a group class. During the second half I feel so awkward and clumsy and I can’t demo many of my favorite poses. Going to other prenatal yoga classes has been my favorite part of the week. I love being in a sea of swollen bellies, sharing what is going on with us physically … it’s quite a bonding experience that I wish I could just do more. I often have to teach at the time of my favorite prenatal class so it feels like I only make it there 1 – 2 times a month instead of 1 – 2 times a week like I would prefer.
Some of the poses that relax the most involve laying on my stomach or on my back which I can’t do these days. After about my 4th month Icouldn’t lay on my back anymore. So now I am limited to side lying poses, some standing poses and lunges. Probably what I do more than anything these days are pelvic tilts – cat-cow poses and a lot of child’s pose. I’ve had a lot of low back pain, SI joint paint (sacroiliac pain) so lunges and pelvic tilts have been my salvation. Also some hip opening poses and some non-weight bearing squats.
I have a few regular private yoga students these days and I think I look more forward to our yoga sessions than they do even though I have to get up early on Saturdays and drive quite a bit to get to their house and then schlep a bunch of stuff inside. I still look so forward to our sessions.
Also in this pic in the post, I got the idea to have my swollen belly painted with liquid gold latex with blue butterflies. I was not sufficiently warned about the impact of covering your body with liquid latex and when I peeled it off it was like waxing…. except instead of it being a small area like my eyebrows it was about 20 square feet of skin. It felt like ass to peel it off.
That was just the beginning of that pain though.
The liquid latex made my belly skin erupt into a horrid looking fiery red rash that was SCORCHING. I put everything I could to soothe myangry belly. Aloe vera, creme benedryl, ice… we got some Aveena Oatmeal bath packets and instead of soaking in the bath we made this into a paste and let it marinate on my belly. That helped. I rinsed it off and my belly erupted again into a ball of pain. I started pacing the house like a lunatic screaming from the pain….. we were moments away from going to the hospital. We put the paste back on my belly and I just slept in it.
I don’t generally sleep in dried oatmeal on a large part of my body but it was either this or the ER. I woke up the next morning, rinsed off the oatmeal but my fiery belly demanded more oatmeal. So I put more oatmeal paste on there. Thank god I mostly work from home since I put a slightly wet towel over my oatmeal belly to keep it moist. It was weird but this was working.
So it’s almost two weeks since the oatmeal belly incident and my belly is just about healed. I talked to other folks who did liquid latex and they also got rashes. Apparently you are supposed to put a layer of vaseline on your body before you put on the liquid latex.
couldn’t lay on my back anymore. So now I am limited to side lying poses, some standing poses and lunges. Probably what I do more than anything these days are pelvic tilts – cat-cow poses and a lot of child’s pose. I’ve had a lot of low back pain, SI joint paint (sacroiliac pain) so lunges and pelvic tilts have been my salvation. Also some hip opening poses and some non-weight bearing squats.
angry belly. Aloe vera, creme benedryl, ice… we got some Aveena Oatmeal bath packets and instead of soaking in the bath we made this into a paste and let it marinate on my belly. That helped. I rinsed it off and my belly erupted again into a ball of pain. I started pacing the house like a lunatic screaming from the pain….. we were moments away from going to the hospital. We put the paste back on my belly and I just slept in it.