Mind-Body Therapies to Increase Fertility and Stress Reduction
Find out everything about ways to decrease stress during fertility treatment!
Until recently we didn’t think about how many of us take getting pregnant and having children for granted. Like, everyone is talking about pregnancy and motherhood as something natural for women, right? We knew that situation was more complex in the past! But we thought that now with all the fertility clinics, IVF and so, there isn’t a problem related to women’s infertility, that modern medicine can’t solve!
Several months ago, though, we met with a couple of good friends for dinner in a restaurant. As they live in another state, we don’t meet so often and don’t always update each other about every change in our lives. But now, they wanted to celebrate the happy news with us – they were expecting a baby! We were of course happy that their lives are going in the direction they wanted. But we couldn’t imagine the difficulties they had to get pregnant. All that happened made them wait for months before they started informing friends that they will become parents.
They were together for about 4 years before they started talking about having a kid. At first, they were excited about the idea to try and get pregnant. But as time was passing and every test was negative they started to be concerned. The idea of one of them having problems with fertility sounded ridiculous. But as nothing was changing even if they tried for more than a year, they decided to do some tests. And, much to their shock it turned out that our friend, Joyce had uterine fibroids. They were not dangerous as such but were the cause for the inability to conceive. Her desire to get pregnant became even stronger after receiving this news, so the long journey of fertility treatment began.
“It was challenging in the beginning, you know!” she said. “But then, I discovered a fantastic way to boost fertility! And here we are now, five months pregnant and healthy!” ” That is wonderful, indeed! We are so happy for you! But what did you do?”
She started explaining how she read a text about how stress and anxiety affect fertility and the benefits of mind-body therapies in such cases. It was a pretty interesting evening where we talked a lot about how to boost fertility in women. Finally, we returned home a bit drunk, but happy for our friends and curious to know even more about natural ways to boost fertility hormones. So the next day we called our friend who is OB/GYN and asked her to explain everything about boost fertility exercise options.
The Importance of Fertility
Women’s fertility and egg quality decrease with age, so maintaining proper fertility health is essential for women. For example, a woman in her 20s has double the number of good quality eggs as a woman in her 30s. So if you are planning a family, it is essential to know whether you are fertile. The central aspect of a woman’s fertility is ovulation, which is the main event in the menstrual cycle. The fact that we are ovulating also means that we are healthy. Recognizing and predicting ovulation is also vital if you don’t want to get pregnant.
What is Mind-Body Therapy
If you are wondering what are mind-body therapies you are in the right place! Simply put these techniques are designed to enhance the positive impact mind has on our body. They include different approaches which can be behavioral, psychological, social, expressive, and even spiritual. This concept is not new at all, but it is only recently starting to gain significance in the Western world. Although recent, we already have a growing body of research that proves the existence of various positive effects of mind-body therapies when they are used for fertility treatment and other health issues, too.
How Do Mind-Body Therapies Boost Fertility?
Most of us continually experience elevated levels of stress because of our jobs, money issues, problems with kids, etc. When we are under a high level of stress our bodies release the hormone cortisol which can indeed wreak havoc. How is that reality to fertility? Well, the thing is that dealing with fertility issues comes with a lot of stress and anxiety. Plenty of studies show there is a link between stress, anxiety, and fertility. That means that the stress that comes with the news of infertility issues can hinder your chances of conceiving. The goal of mind-body therapies is to address emotional and mental wellbeing and thus, reduce the role of stress.
Mind-Body Techniques
Acupuncture
It is an ancient practice that originated in China. You have probably seen how the treatment looks like, but we will describe it anyway. So the idea is to move blocked energy by placing very thin needles on certain points on the body. Each point has a meaning. It also can reduce inflammation; enhance the production of relaxation hormones. As studies show that it gives positive results during IVF treatment, acupuncture is becoming one of the most frequently used methods to boost fertility.
Emotional Freedom Technique
Some people call this body percussion technique. The point is that you tap on different points of the body to unblock the energy. It is similar to acupuncture in principle except it doesn’t involve needles. It is used to calm the mind, reduce stress and anxiety, and helps us get rid of fear, worry, or sadness.
Yoga
Practicing yoga is an excellent way to boost fertility at home. As you know, this discipline is coming for India. It is based on the idea that mind and body are connected, so if we want to heal one, we have to work on the other two. It is becoming an increasingly popular method to combat stress and anxiety which results in enhanced fertility. Yoga is incredibly successful in helping you find ways to manage mental and emotional health.
Meditation
We know how fertility changes with age, but meditation is still one of the things that can help. It is also good because you can use it regardless of where you are. You can practice various types of meditation. However, experts say that mindfulness meditation is the best for fertility. Learning how to calm the mind is useful in general when you need to calm the inner critic and create inner calm.
Conclusion
As you can see, we listed several mind-body techniques that can boost fertility! We know that receiving the news about difficulties to conceive brings a lot of stress. However, it is necessary to not underestimate the power of the mind and how it can affect your body. Have you already done some mind-body techniques for fertility? Would you like to share your experience with us?
Author’s Bio: Rachel is a journalist, living and working in California. She is writing for different websites such as Parenthood Routine for about years, mainly covering topics related to women’s physical and mental health. In her free time, she likes to watch documentaries, read, and travel.