The body centering arts of yoga makes reality out of the dream of motherhood
The Steady Breather
Fertility yoga has grown increasing popular over the years as a therapeutic type of yoga that integrates breath with movements to help women gain balance, strength, and vitality in the reproductive and hormonal areas of their bodied. Practitioners and “success cases” swear by the effectiveness of this type of body-centering in order to conceive.
Touted as a spin-off –of other forms of restorative yoga, fertility yoga was developed by yogis who came across cases of infertility yoga that readied women for motherhood.
One of the yogis made popular for her fertility yoga programs is a holistic consultant and psychologist from Massachusetts, Monica Morell, Ph.D. According to her, this specifically sequenced program aids conception “by offering holistic complements to medical treatments.”A study shows that that 55% of infertility patients who participated in a mind-body program for a 10-week periods, (which included yoga and meditation) conceived. These studies are some of the many that confirm the link between stress reduction and increased conception rates.
Local yoga instructor Monica Eleazar Manzano of holistic hub Bahay Kalipay in Palawan agrees: “Most yoga styles increase the chances of conceiving because all forms of yoga reduce stress and anxiety.” While yoga itself doesn’t guarantee conception, “it’s used as a tool to prepare the body and mind for it,” Since fertility yoga draws from the basic tenets of yoga, “the poses are also practiced in other form of yoga. If your intentions in wanting to conceive will focus on teaching poses most suitable for you.
There are recommended poses for those who wish to conceive. “This include: the “butterfly” which opens up the hips and strengthens the muscles around the pelvis area; the “reclined” hero’s pose” which helps lengthen the abdominal area; “the bridge pose” which helps in hormonal balancing, opens up pelvis area, and strengthens the lower back and abdomen; “the child’s pose,” which relaxes the body and mind. In addition to these, other poses aim to “make your hormones happy,”
