Fertility Yoga: 10 Yoga Poses for When Trying to Conceive

You’ve been trying to conceive for a while now without success. Your doctor has told you that your AMH levels are low and your egg quality isn’t the best. You feel like you’ve tried everything, but you’re still not pregnant.

If you’re going through fertility challenges, you’re not alone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 12% of women in the United States have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term.

There are many factors that can contribute to infertility or fertility related issues, including age, weight, stress levels, and hormone imbalances.

While there’s no guarantee that yoga will help you conceive, it can be beneficial for both your mind and body. Fertility yoga is a great way to increase your chances of conceiving and improving your overall health.

In this post, we will go through 10 yoga poses that can help improve egg quality, increase AMH levels and boost your reproductive health.

Benefits of Fertility Yoga

Yoga can help to improve your physical and mental health, both of which can impact fertility.

Additionally, certain yoga techniques can help to increase blood flow to your uterus and ovaries, support hormonal balance and improve egg quality.

Regularly practicing yoga will make you feel healthier, leaner, more relaxed, and more positive throughout your fertility journey.

When done under proper guidance, fertility yoga can work wonders for your mindset and your body. Aside from boosting fertility, when you practice yoga when trying to conceive (TTC), you benefit a lot more. What are these benefits?

• Yoga boosts libido in men and women
• It strengthens and tones the body
• Yoga posture stimulate various body organs
• Yogic breathing techniques improve relaxation
• It improves blood flow to different parts of your body
• Yoga practice can also improve sperm count and sperm quality in males, thus it improves male fertility too.

Not only does yoga help increase your blood flow and align your pelvis, but it also promotes relaxation.

Relaxing sounds easy, however it can become increasing difficult to stay calm after you’ve been trying without any success!

Best Yoga Poses to Boost Fertility in Women

Everyone can benefit from yoga. Whether you are undergoing fertility treatment or looking for natural ways to get pregnant; yoga can increase your chances of conceiving.

If you’re hoping to boost your fertility with yoga, here are 10 poses to get you started. When trying to conceive, you can practice them in the given sequence or adapt it according to your comfort level.

Always remember to listen to your body and modify the poses as needed.

1. Viparitkarani (Legs up the wall pose)

Regular practice of viparitkarani asana benefits women especially. It reduces the tendency of the uterus to be displaced. This yoga posegoes on to foster a healthy gestation and smooth delivery.

Viparitkarani maintains the elasticity of the muscles of the abdomen and the pelvic region.

How to perform:

• Place a towel alongside a wall and sit on it.
• Then lay on your back on the towel.
• Raise your legs to touch the wall, forming an angle of 90° with the wall.
• Relax your head, neck, throat, and chin.
• Stretch your arms along your sides with palms upwards.
• Hold this pose for about 5-10 minutes.
• Afterward, slide your legs down the wall slowly.

2. Ushtrasana (Camel Pose)

Camel pose is a great way to open up the hips and pelvis, which can help increase blood flow to the reproductive organs.

This pose also helps to improve flexibility in the spine, which is important for a healthy pregnancy.

How to perform:

• Come down to your knees, with your legs hip-width apart. Keep your hips over your knees and squeeze your thighs toward each other.
• Inhale and reach your tailbone toward your knees, creating space between your lower vertebrae.
• On another inhalation, lift your sternum and draw your elbows back, toward each other behind you. Allow your rib cage to expand.
• Keep your chest raised, your core engaged, your spine long, your chin tucked and your shoulders back as you drop your hands toward your heels.
• Press the heels of your hands into the heels of your feet, draping the fingers over the soles. Keep lifting through your sternum.
• Now gently allow the head and neck to extend backward. Gaze at the tip of your nose.
• Stay in this pose for 30 to 60 seconds.

3. Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose)

Vajrasana improves blood circulation in the lower part of the abdominal region and pelvic region. Regular practice of vajrasana maintains reproductive health and improves the health of genital organs.

This yoga posture improves elimination functions such as menstruation and regular bowel movement.

How to perform:

• Sit on the flat floor or a yoga mat by kneeling.
• Fold the knees and ankles backwards and point the feet in line with the legs. The bottoms of the feet should face upward by touching the big toes.
• Sit back on your legs and exhale. Buttocks should rest on the heels and thighs should rest on your calves.
• Keep your spine, neck and head straight. Close your eyes and start deep breathing.
• Adjust your thighs and pelvis slightly backwards and forward until you feel comfortable.
• Keep your head straight and gaze forward. Keep your chin parallel to the floor.
• Keep the right palm on the right knee and the left palm on the left knee with elbows in a straight line.
• Breathe in and out at a natural speed.
• Inhale deeply for four counts and exhale slowly to eight.

4. Dhanurasana (Bow pose)

This yoga posture strengthens the pelvic region & abdominal organs. Thus, dhanurasana helps to relieve and prevent period cramps. Regular practice of dhanurasana helps to stimulate the reproductive organs and promotes hormonal balance.

How to perform:

• Lie on your stomach with your arms by your sides
• Keep your feet hip-width apart
• Now lift your legs and chest up to form an arc
• Try to hold on to your feet if you can
• Hold this position for about 30 seconds

5. Halasana (Plough Pose)

This yoga pose improves the functioning of the thyroid and parathyroid glands by exerting pressure on them. As a result of the above, halasana maintains and improves hormone balance. This helps with successful conception in fertility patient.

How to perform:

• This pose is a variation of the supported shoulder stand pose.
• Get in the supported shoulder stand position.
• Bring your feet to the ground above your head. If you can’t achieve this, add a pillow to support your lower back.
• Hold the pose for 1-5mins.
• Roll your spine back to the mat, forming a 90-degree angle upwards with your legs.
• Lower your legs back down to the mat.

6. Shalabhasana (Locust pose)

It strengthens the abdominal organs and the low back region. As a result of the above, it increases the blood supply to the reproductive organs.

How to perform:

• Lie on your chest with arms along your sides
• Raise your chest and your legs
• Keep your arms pointed backward like you wanted to touch your laps
• Hold the position for about 30 seconds and return to the original posture. Then repeat.

7. Supta Baddha Khonasana (Reclining butterfly pose)

This yoga posture opens up the pelvic region. It relaxes the muscles of the inner thighs and groin.

How to perform:

• Lie down on your back and relax.
• Pull your legs together in a butterfly position.
• Pull your feet as close to your body as you can. Hold them with your hands.
• You can support your posture with a cushion under your hip.
• Hold the posture for 5 minutes while taking deep breaths.
• Then take a break and repeat.

8. Paschimottanasana (Seated forward bend pose)

This yoga asana eliminates fertility disorders arising from Vata imbalance. It prevents and removes unnecessary blood accumulation in the lower abdomen.

Improves the health of the reproductive system in women and men. It helps with stress reduction and improves your mood.

How to perform:

• Sit on your yoga mat with feet stretched out in front of you
• Stretch your arms out sideways, then stretch them towards the ceiling
• Inhale and draw your spine up
• As you exhale, start bending forward at your hips
• Continue to inhale and exhale as you bend forward
• Keep bending forward till you take hold of your ankles. If you can’t reach the ankles, then reach the chins at least.

8. Chakravakasana (Cat-Cow Pose)

This yoga asana is a great way to warm up the spine and release tension in the lower back. It can also helps to increase relaxation and promote blood flow to the reproductive organs.

How to perform:

• Start on your hands and knees, aligning your wrists underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips.
• Think of the spine as a straight line connecting the shoulders to the hips. Try visualizing the line extending forward through the crown of the head and back through the tailbone. This is the position of a neutral spine.
• Keep the neck long by looking down and out.

Inhale and Arch for Cow Pose

• Curl your toes under.
• Tilt your pelvis back so that your tailbone sticks up.
• Let this movement ripple from your tailbone up your spine so that your neck is the last thing to move.
• Your belly drops down, but keep your abdominal muscles hugging your spine by drawing your navel in.
• Take your gaze gently up toward the ceiling without cranking your neck.

Exhale and Round for Cat Pose

• Release the tops of your feet to the floor.
• Tip your pelvis forward, tucking your tailbone. Again, let this action move up your spine. Your spine will naturally round.
• Draw your navel toward your spine.
• Drop your head.
• Take your gaze to your navel.

Let’s hear your yoga for fertility success stories soon.

9. Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose)

This pose is great for lengthening the hamstrings, which can help to increase blood flow to the reproductive organs. It’s also a gentle inversion, which can help to improve circulation and reduce stress.

How to perform:

• To begin, stand up tall with your feet hip-width apart.
• Exhale as you bend forward from your hips, reaching your hands toward your feet. If you can’t reach your feet, place your hands on a block or strap placed around the balls of your feet.
• Inhale as you lengthen through your spine. Exhale as you press down into your heels and lift up through the crown of your head.
• Stay in this pose for 30 to 60 seconds.

10. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)

Bridge pose is another great way to open up the hips and pelvis. This pose also helps to strengthen the back and leg muscles, which can improve circulation and reduce stress.

How to perform:

• To begin, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.
• Inhale as you lift your hips up off the ground, pressing down into your heels.
• Interlace your fingers behind your back and press your shoulder blades together. Lift your chin slightly and gaze toward the ceiling.
• Stay in this pose for 30 to 60 seconds.

Takeaway

When you are trying to conceive, it is really important to take care of your well being with a nourishing diet and healthy lifestyle. It will help you to prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy and easier delivery.

Practicing yoga is a great way to boost your fertility by improving blood circulation, reducing stress and anxiety levels and preparing your body for pregnancy. These 10 yoga poses are especially beneficial for boosting fertility. Practice these poses regularly, and you may soon be on your way to starting a family.

FAQ

1. Can yoga really boost fertility?

Yes, restorative yoga therapy can be applied for fertility support in women and for male infertility too. Out of the many benefits of yoga for fertility, one is stress relief and cortisol balance.

The stress hormone, cortisol, interferes with ovulation and egg quality as well. After all, ovulation is itself under the influence of hormones!

Yoga asanas can help to relieve stress and boost energy levels, thereby fostering fertility.

A series of studies conducted by the Harvard Medical School show that women who have trouble conceiving have much higher levels of anxiety and stress. This is as much as those who have HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases.

Furthermore, the thought of trying to conceive can be stress-inducing on its own. Thus, stress reduction and support in management of mental health will provide a gateway to balanced hormones and regular ovulation.

However, yoga doesn’t cure-all. It won’t address some problems directly related to the Shukra dhatu (reproductive tissues). For example, yoga can’t do much for a blocked Fallopian tube.

2. Which exercise is best for fertility?

As an Ayurvedic Doctor, I often get asked which exercise is best for fertility. While there are many different types of exercises that can be beneficial for a fertility patient, I believe that the best exercise for fertility is yoga.

Yoga helps to improve circulation and increase blood flow to the reproductive organs.

In specific Pranayama and breathing techniques help a lot to reduce stress and anxiety, which can be major roadblocks to conception.

In addition, yoga practice helps to tone the muscles of the pelvis and improve flexibility, both of which can make conception and delivery easier.

If you are trying to conceive, undergoing infertility treatment, or taking support of assisted reproductive technology; yoga is a great way to support your fertility journey.

I recommend practicing yoga regularly during the week.

As always, consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise routine.

References

• Challenge of infertility: How protective the yoga therapy is?
• Yoga Can Improve Assisted Reproduction Technology Outcomes in Couples With Infertility
• Yoga Research: Is Yoga Helpful for Fertility?