Does stress cause infertility?
In our busy, modern world, where there are so many demands and expectations put on women, it’s difficult to talk about fertility and particularly fertility struggles without talking about stress.
Stress and infertility can feel a bit like the chicken and the egg scenario - which came first? In the famous study by Dr Alice Domar from the Harvard Medical School, it was found that the anxiety levels suffered by a woman dealing with fertility issues were as acute and severe as someone who was dealing with a terminal disease.
As healthy fertility and the reproductive function rely so heavily on the delicate balance of female sex hormones and as chronic stress can negatively impact this delicate balance, stress management is an important factor when addressing fertility issues - particularly when they fall under the “unexplained” category.
In my 10 years of teaching yoga, one of the most common reasons a student will start doing yoga is for stress management or stress relief. And while a general yoga class can be a very effective activity for “stress relief”, without the proper awareness it can be less effective as a holistic tool for comprehensive stress management.
Fertility Yoga is the type of yoga that works more on engaging the student in the proper awareness of how to manage stress on a fundamental level. It’s a practise designed to put the practitioner in a consistent state of internal awareness where she is better equipped to learn how to access a more “stress resistant” state, consistently, off the mat and not just on the mat.
Shedding light on what is happening during our monthly menstrual cycle, how this affects our mood and energy levels and choosing practises which are better suited and beneficial to these natural rhythms fortifies our intuition. With a strong connection to your intuition you can begin to crowd out things that don’t serve you and ultimately cause you stress and invite in things that fill you up and make you feel good on all levels of your being - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
When you’re fully engaged in and committed to your fertility yoga practise, this desire to make better lifestyle choices almost happens by magic. Our bodies and minds weren’t designed to thrive with so many external distractions. We have to remember that this world was created by men, for the male experience but the female experience, particularly in the season of motherhood is very different and requires much more introspection and peace than our normal, daily lives are set up for.
A fertility yoga practise offers us this dedicated time and space to do that internal “work”. That quiet, mindful, introspective work which releases physical tension and opens up the lines of communication between the heart and the mind. This is what is required for our intuition to drive the choices that we make for ourselves. Rather than making choices driven by the constant din of external noise we are constantly subjected to if we don’t stop and take the time to slow down.
Can you see how beneficial a practise like this could be for managing chronic stress? And not just that temporary stress relief feeling we get from one yoga class (which may not align with your cycle or what energetic state you’re currently in) or getting a spa treatment or massage. Stress management requires something deeper and longer lasting. Particularly if you’re dealing with a season of deep emotional stress caused by fertility struggles.
Want to find experience a fertility yoga practise for yourself? Join me this Saturday, 9 December at 10am via Zoom and I’ll take you through a full 90 minute practise. If you can join live the REPLAY will be available shortly after and you can hold on to this practise for 2 weeks. Your investment is only €22.
