Yoga and Fertility

After doing some research on doing yoga for infertility, I came across Yoga 4 Fertility with Brenda Strong. These DVDs seem to mimic pretty closely the style of class and types of poses I've been doing lately and most enjoy. I haven't tried this out myself just yet, but wanted to post my findings. I'll probably be ordering a copy soon and will let you know how it goes. Hope it's helpful!

I've read several things that say yoga is great for fertility because it allows your body to release stress and tension. For some women, stress alone seems to prevent them from conceiving sooner than later.

Even though my issues are deeper than that, I am sure that stress has an affect on my physical and mental health more than I'd like to think.So, even though I am not the least bit flexible (no, I can't touch my toes or the floor... it's more like the middle of my chins!), I decided to give it a shot and signed up for a once a week beginner class at the local community college. If there's one thing I have a hard time doing in life it's taking time out to exercise and just veg out.

Up until this week my experience was so so. On a good week, I would feel somewhat challenged and rejuvinated. On a not so good day, I had a hard time connecting to the poses and would find myself wandering off in thought, thinking of all of the other things I could be doing with my hour and 15 minutes.

And then yesterday's class happened! You should know that earlier in the week I upped my metformin back to 1000mg and was fine, until about 2.5 days after that and then the stomach pains came back. By Thursday, I was feeling like poo again and really wasn't up for going to yoga. But - I made myself and am very thankful I did. I went in feeling like crap, and came out feeling like I had just been at the spa! Seriously - my body was so relaxed and the tension was gone. On top of that, I was craving a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries! I know it sounds weird to be happy about that and to want to do that right after a great yoga session, but when you keep in mind that I haven't really had an appetite on metformin, this was fabulous news! So, Jay and I headed straight to the new MickyD's around the corner and I ate some trans fats and it was great! :)

In all, I think I'm learning what I like and dislike about yoga. I LOVE it's ability to take stress out of your body and let you start fresh and new. I also love that, as a result, I seem to have more energy. The night of the great session I stayed up until midnight and was mentally and physically energized. I hadn't had a night like that in quite a long time.

More specifically related to yoga itself, I like when the poses and movements are in sequence with one another so that there is a constant flow, rather than yoga that is too slow. I feel like I tend to loose focus then. Also, I don't really enjoy yoga that is too challenging... while that sounds like a cop out, it's more that because I am not as flexible as most people, it's difficult for me to get in some of the funky poses, so I tend to not be able to get as much out of them.

I'm really pretty happy with the instructor I have and the way she structures the class. From talking with a friend of mine who also does yoga, it seems that not all instructors verbalize the poses and how to get into the pose while you're doing it. As a result, you're opt to be more frustrated because you have to constantly keep moving out of the pose to look around and see how your body should be moving. Since I would rather do yoga more for the stress relief, distraction like that is a huge factor in remaining focused. I find that I have a more successful session if I am able to really clear my mind, take in the music and concentrate on my breathing.

All in all, I think I'll continue yoga and hopefully it will make a positive impact on my body and allow me to become pregnant more successfully. If nothing else, I will be a more relaxed individual and that's never a bad thing! Oh, and did I mention I got my husband to take the class with me too? Apparently yoga is supposed to be good if you play sports that put an imbalance or strain on your body. He is an avid tennis player so he was interested to see how it could help out his game.

I am going to try and get a copy of Yoga 4 Fertility with Brenda Strong soon and will let you know how it goes!

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