Here are a few yoga exercises to help promote fertility

Unfortunately more than six million women and men struggle with infertility in the United States alone, and while modern medicine has enabled many to conceive, it isn’t without physical and emotional stress. Eastern sciences have long recognized the benefits of such practices as acupressure, acupuncture, herbs, and yoga for helping couples’ conceive; all of these practices enhance the body’s healing capacity and stimulate circulation, energy and blood flow to the reproductive organs.

Yet, until recently, it took a visit to several different individuals to integrate these different practices. With Brenda Strong’s new The Fertility Ball „• and the Strong Fertility Ball Yoga Method „•, practitioners can combine the therapeutic benefits of acupressure and yoga at home.

The fertility balls are PVC-free and non-toxic, and while they appear quite simple and small (they fit into the palm of your hand), they work synergistically with Strong’s innovative postures. For instance, to increase blood flow to the pelvic floor and to stimulate the root channel of the body, she’ll have you sit on a ball while practicing simple sukhasana (cross-legged, seated posture). While it is slightly uncomfortable at first, you can feel your energy moving to your pelvic area and along with it your breath and blood flow. Other postures include massage work as well as acupressure to increase circulation to the reproductive organs. Strong offers specific recommendations for different points in your cycle, including suggestions for working with fertility treatments and corresponding side effects. She also includes breathing exercises, strength work, and relaxation postures to help enable your body to truly become more open and receptive. While I didn’t use this system to become pregnant, I think the set would be incredibly beneficial for anyone looking to conceive whether they’ve had previous difficulties or not.

Ready to give it a try? Here are a few exercises courtesy of Brenda Strong and the Strong Fertility Ball Yoga Method „•:

1. Simple Sukhasana on Ball

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position. Place the Fertility Ball beneath your sit bones on the perineum floor, resting between the vagina and anus. (Adjust the ball for comfort). As you sit, connective tissue in the hips and groins will soften and stimulate the root channel in the body. Breathe deeply for up to two minutes, allowing the soft tissue to melt in the hips and thighs around the Fertility Ball. This helps to widen the sit bones, activate the base of the pelvic floor and soften tension in the surrounding connective tissue in the pelvis and hips.

2. Supine Supported Bridge

Lying on your back, knees bent, with feet and knees hip distance, lift your hips and place the ball at the sacrum (the triangular bone at the base of the spine). Allow the hips to rest on the ball. Relax and receive this gentle inversion for up to five minutes or more if comfortable. This can be done with one ball to stimulate the sacral plexus or two balls on the sacroiliac joints to assist ovarian function. Acupressure gently stimulates the body’s natural healing capacity. See which one feels best for you. Gentle inversions like this are excellent in the two-week wait and help the body relax and receive.

If you are stable in your lower back and have no lumbar spine issues, using one ball, begin to gently circle clockwise around the circumference of the sacrum, allowing the back of the pelvis to be massaged by the ball (nine times on the ball). This helps to bring extra circulation to the sacral plexus of nerve endings, which feed the reproductive organs. As you practice this pose, notice the deep effect in the abdomen as the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes relax into the bowl of the pelvis.

3. Abdominal Massage (activating the vessel of conception points)

A. Lying on your back, soles of your feet together, knees open or knees parallel with feet flat on floor as in bridge (I prefer the latter). Place the ball on your abdomen, right hand on top of left hand on the ball. Start at the diaphragm, just beneath where the ribs connect in the center (be sure not to have eaten within two hours before this exercise). As you exhale, gently push down on the ball and hold for the count of three, inhale to release. With rhythmic breathing, move down the centerline of the abdomen approx. one to two inches and repeat. Continue in this fashion all the way to the pubic bone. Then begin to circle to the right at one-inch intervals, moving in a clockwise motion and holding for a count of three with gentle pressure on the ball on each point as you exhale and inhale to release. For our purposes, imagine your clock with 12 at the diaphragm and 6 at the pubic bone. You would begin the circle at the 6 toward your right and return to 6. As your circle returns to the pubic bone, continue making a smaller circle of pressure points around the abdomen in a spiral until your each the center at the belly button. Pause and breathe, allowing the energy to move.

B. Now follow the same pattern, starting at the belly button and moving clockwise from smaller to larger circles in a spiral motion, making smooth continuous circles around the belly. Go slowly and be conscious of the contact of the ball massaging your internal organs. Notice how the contact makes you feel. This motion will increase circulation to the abdomen and reproductive organs, moving energetic and soft tissue obstructions to enhance fertility function. It is essential that you work clockwise in order to follow the natural direction of your digestive tract.

4. Viparita Karani

To prepare, sit next to a wall and swing your legs up the wall so you are in an “L” shape with your back on the floor, legs up the wall. Your sit bones should be very close to the wall. Bend your knees with your feet on the wall to lift your hips. Place the ball under your sacrum and position it until the pelvis is level. (You may use two balls at the sacroiliac joints for greater stability). This is considered a “jewel for women” in yoga. It allows the pelvis to be above the heart and pools the energy like a lake in the pelvis, calming the heart and mind. It is highly beneficial to the reproductive organs and calms the nervous system along with restoring the body. (Five minutes in this pose feels like a thirty to sixty minute nap!)

By MBW

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