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Looking for a safe form exercise that you can continue through an IVF cycle? Interested in a practice that may improve your chances of IVF success? Would you like to learn breathing and mindfulness practices that lower stress levels, increase physical and mental stamina and also come in handy when it’s time to have your baby?
Sounds like you’re ready to join a yoga class. Just make sure to avoid high-impact yoga classes such as:
- Ashtunga
- Hot Yoga (Hatha)
- Power
- Vinyasa
The intensity of these classes could compromise your fertility and/or your pregnancy.
5 Benefits of Practicing Yoga Before, During and After IVF
Here are some of the benefits of taking gentle and/or prenatal yoga before, during and after your IVF treatment(s):
1. It’s completely safe
Exercise is recommended throughout your pregnancy in order to keep your body healthy, oxygenated and de-stressed. It’s also good for pregnant women who want to maintain healthy weight targets throughout their pregnancy. However, too much exercise – or the wrong type(s) of exercise – isn’t good for you because it makes it harder for your body to conceive a baby and make it through a full-term pregnancy. Read, Exercise and Fertility: Are You Taking it Too Far, to learn more about how extreme or regimented exercise programs can compromise fertility.
Yoga is considered on the of the safest forms of exercise during IVF. Once you’re pregnant, we recommend taking a prenatal class, from a certified instructor, so you know the postures you’re executing are safe for you and baby.
2. Increase your chances of IVF success
Studies have correlated women who take yoga and improved IVF transfer rates. One of the most recent, published in the journal of Fertility and Sterility is, Can Yoga Affect IVF Outcomes? Researchers found that, “…yoga can be an adjuvant to improve the pregnancy rates in couples undergoing ART.”
While they “Whys” are still being analyzed, experts feel that the combination of increased blood flow to the pelvis and reproductive organs, combined with reduced stress-levels, promote healthier fertility processes.
3. Consistent stress-reduction
It took awhile for experts to have qualitative evidence that stress does negatively impact fertility. Now that most physicians and fertility experts are on board, we work diligently to provide access to classes, practices and exercises that focus on stress management. Yoga is undoubtedly one of these, and maintaining a regular yoga practice gives you tools to breathe deep, regularly and to de-stress – even when you’re “off the mat.”
4. Immunity boosting
Most of us initially get into yoga as a way to increase muscle tone, stamina and flexibility – however all that extra oxygenation and blood flow winds up helping the immune system too. This protects you from diseases and illnesses, and can also reduce inflammation that contributes to symptoms of infertility factors such as PCOS and endometriosis.
5. Helps you cope with IVF failures
While some women do get pregnant from IVF the first-time around, most women have to undergo repeat IVF cycles before one is successful. Even so, an IVF failure is devastating and repeat failures can really take you down into the depths of heartbreak and depression. That being said, researchers have found that women who practice yoga weather these failures better – and experience less anxiety and stress when preparing for their next IVF cycle.
Your dedication to yoga now will pay off in multiple ways down the road, through your “worst case scenarios,” as well as your healthy journey from pregnancy to birth.
Are you looking for fertility experts who take a holistic, “whole person” approach to infertility and fertility treatments? Schedule a consultation with the Reproductive Resource Center. Our dedication to our patients well-being and fertility success has earned us the reputation of Kansas City’s most trusted fertility center.