Yoga can help reduce anxiety when trying to conceive

(Dr. Monica Morell/ Motherly) — When you’re trying to have a baby, every day can be filled with unexpected challenges. The journey is highly charged and all-consuming at times, and we often feel ultra vigilant. But we have to live and work, so we strap on our armor and go out to face the world—determined, fearful and brave.

Yoga helps us tune in to ourselves. It gives us the opportunity to shed that armor and grow the emotional, physical and spiritual possibilities we barely knew existed within ourselves. When talking about her fertility, Nancy, a grade-school teacher and new mom, said, “One of the greatest challenges of coping with fertility for me was in maintaining a sense of calm and a positive attitude throughout the process.”

In a recent study of 111 participants undergoing treatment for infertility at a large clinic, those enrolled in a structured yoga program reported significantly reduced anxiety after 6 weeks of regular yoga.

Aside from stress and anxiety reduction, yoga for fertility is a sequence of specific poses designed to help women who are trying to conceive. (…)