5 Ways Yoga Can Support Your Fertility – From Fertility Yoga Teacher, Jennifer Edmonds
- Nov 15, 2023
- 4 min read
Written by: Jennifer Edmonds, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I found the practice of Fertility Yoga when I was years into my own journey of trying to conceive. I had been through several medicated cycles and three rounds of IVF. Infertility had affected every area of my life. I was finding it difficult to go to work, struggling to sleep, and my relationship was suffering, too.
But yoga shifted something for me. It gave me the space to do the one thing I hadn’t considered on this journey: slow down. It offered me peace. It made the rest of my life easier, and the journey more bearable.
And after everything, it helped me to fall pregnant naturally.
This experience inspired me to dive into my own study of Yoga and its effect on people’s overall health and fertility. I’ve spent years now studying ancient yogic practices, modern interpretations, nervous system regulation, and trauma-informed principles. I’ve now worked with hundreds of women on their own journeys to motherhood and beyond.
As anyone who has been struggling to conceive for any length of time will know, being told to “just relax” is far from helpful. Between endless medical appointments, procedures, injections, hormones, family pressure, work considerations, and the impact on your overall health, being able to relax through this process is impossible.
Yet you constantly hear how bad stress is for your body. We know that it can have an impact on your chances of falling pregnant. So how on earth are you meant to manage this?
Here are the 5 main reasons why I see fertility yoga making such a difference in my student's lives
Fertility yoga reduces stress & anxiety
There is no getting away from the stress of infertility. But when we break this down, what exactly is stress? I find it helpful for my students to realize that stress isn’t an emotion. It’s actually a physiological response your body has to a perceived danger. When your brain senses a threat (you’re terrified your pregnancy test will be negative) it starts pumping out stress hormones that send you into that fight-or-flight response. Over time, this constant state leads to health problems, hormonal issues, and burnout.
Yoga is about presence. It allows you to shift your focus from the unknown and into the present moment. In this space, your brain realizes there is no threat. It slows the release of stress hormones and brings you into a state of calm. The more you do this, and the more consistent your practice, the faster you see changes.
Fertility yoga releases physical tension
The two main ways yoga can help you release tension are through movement and your breath. When you’re in a heightened state of anxiety, the breath tends to become shallow and rapid. The body tenses up. This is often why we feel tension in our shoulders, neck, hips, and lower back.
We always begin our yoga practice by focusing on the breath. Long, slow breaths in and out allow your brain to realize you’re safe and the body can then start to soften into certain poses and movements. We then work through several different positions to allow every area of the body to mobilize and
release.
Increasing circulation is crucial for fertility
Blood is your body’s delivery system for nutrients and hormones. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, the body can become stagnant, and blood isn’t able to circulate easily. We need good circulation for your hormones to get to where they need to go, and for your body to release the build-up of toxins.
When focusing on improving fertility, it’s also important to bring adequate blood flow to the reproductive organs to support ovulation and implantation of an embryo. A central part of Fertility Yoga is to bring circulation to the pelvis via certain movement patterns and releasing poses (such as hip openers, butterfly pose, pigeon pose, and cat-cow).
Fertility yoga balances hormones
If your body is constantly pumping out stress hormones, over time this can interrupt the delicate balance of reproductive hormones needed for healthy ovulation and implantation. In particular, the stress hormone cortisol can steal from your body’s progesterone production (progesterone is crucial for supporting a growing embryo and for balancing estrogen).
Through a consistent Fertility Yoga practice, your body is able to reduce the amount of cortisol released each month. This also has flow-on effects, such as improved sleep, a more balanced mood & a more consistent cycle. When practiced often, studies have shown that the success of fertility treatments are three times greater when adding a mind-body program such as yoga.
Fertility yoga works with your cycle
Unlike other forms of exercise, Fertility Yoga works around your menstrual cycle. Each of the four phases of your cycle (menstruation, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal) have different hormonal needs. For example, during menstruation, your body needs to be supported by rest and restorative practices. During ovulation, we work with increased energy to build more intensity into your practice. By doing so, your body is working with its natural balance of hormones. This further supports a decrease in cortisol and other stress hormones throughout the month.
Fertility Yoga has the power to improve your fertility and overall health – and most importantly – make the journey of trying to conceive feel easier. The best way to really understand its affects is to try it for yourself. I would love to hear from you. I am passionate about supporting women through fertility
challenges and I would love the opportunity to help you navigate this journey.
If you would like my help to reduce stress, balance your hormones and ease the anxiety of trying to conceive, have a look at my Fertility & IVF Yoga Program or join my weekly live online classes.
Jennifer Edmonds, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jennifer is a Yoga, Pilates, Meditation and Breathwork coach who specialises in women’s health and fertility. During a long and difficult fertility journey of her own, Jennifer eventually found the practice of Fertility Yoga. This practice was able to ease her anxiety while trying to conceive, relieve chronic insomnia, heal a thyroid condition, and eventually it helped her to fall pregnant naturally. She now runs an online business, Element Pilates & Yoga, helping women all over the world to overcome fertility challenges and find their way to motherhood. Her approach involves trauma-informed yoga practices, somatic healing and finding ways to reclaim the joy in life that is often taken away during infertility.
