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Fertility and Flexibility

Yoga When You're Trying to Conceive

By Debora Geary

Yoga can also impact a woman's fertility journey at a more psychological level. Kim Biggs of Panama City Beach, Fla., is a typical type A over-achiever, who remains in a perpetual state of disbelief that something she wants so badly and has worked so hard for is still unattainable. She is using yoga during her "sanity break" while getting ready to move ahead with in vitro fertilization (IVF).

"My infertility has made me feel totally out of control for the first time in my life," she says. "Yoga calms me and helps me regain a feeling of control that lasts much longer than the actual amount of time I'm spending on the mat." Biggs really appreciates the tools yoga gives her for controlling her negative thoughts. "Being in control of something at this point in my life is a feeling that is quite addictive," she says.

It's important that we don't forget that trying to get pregnant takes two. Cade Bon suggests that yoga can also benefit couples. "I have found that yoga, practiced with a partner, can be a wonderful way to shift away from the 'trying to conceive' stress that clouds these relationships," she says.

This is not to say that yoga is an instant fertility potion, or that it works for everyone. "I've been doing yoga off and on for a few months now and, while I feel better [physically], it has not benefited my infertility struggle," says Stephanie Barone of Flower Mound, Texas.

As someone struggling with unexplained infertility, Barone believes that most women in her shoes are beyond the simple "quick fixes" like yoga. "Really, it's assisted reproductive technology that helps most of us," she says. However, she does appreciate some of yoga's other benefits. "It gives you an hour or so of quiet time with yourself," she says. "It helps to keep your inner peace, which can be very hard when struggling with infertility."

Want to see more?

• Check out our Article Library.
• Turn up the Heat! Reshape Your Body with Hot Yoga
• Breathe In, Breathe Out: The Art of Yoga
• Healing the Mind, Healing the Body
• Taking It Easy (When Trying to Conceive)
• The Facts to Relax: Cope with the Stress of Infertility
• Talk about it!