Navigating fertility with Ayurveda
Supporting women on their fertility journey has been a passion of mine for many years now. As many of you already know, I navigated this journey through IVF, due to male infertility, which made it impossible for us to conceive naturally and led me wanting to help others faced with fertility issues.
Since then, I have studied as an Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle consultant and have worked with many women who have been desperate to make their dream of motherhood a reality. There are many things I have learned, but especially – and this from my own experience too - that Ayurveda can make a positive difference to our fertility journey.
As a holistic approach to life and healing, Ayurveda (like Reiki and yoga) helps to get to the root cause of any imbalance and supports healing and a return to balance. From a fertility perspective, this may not always result in pregnancy, but the journey it takes us on will certainly open us up to aspects of ourselves that we had either forgotten, or have never realised previously, prompting transformation.
This is because Ayurveda has a spiritual aspect to it; it allows all levels of being, not considering merely the physical, or the emotional or indeed the mental, but ALL of us. And what is really interesting, to me at least, about fertility, is that there is a spiritual timing – the spirit has to be ready to come in.
Furthermore, it is helpful to think of a plant. To grow a healthy plant you need good quality seed, you need good quality land, you need irrigation and the right amount of sun. So it is the same with growing an embryo and creating new life. But it is more than that, because you also need to take into account the time of life, the time of the year and the time of the matching spirit.
From an Ayurvedic perspective the spirit is an important factor because essentially, the spirit decides the parent(s) to whom it incarnates. Thus it is difficult for Ayurvedic professionals to give any time factor to potential pregnancy as a client can follow the Ayurvedic fertility protocol implicitly but still not conceive, at least not in their prescribed timeframe. This, because no one can control or indeed influence the time factor of the spirit.
It has always been my perspective that our child(ren) take us on a journey to better know and understand ourselves if we let them. And I feel that this happens before they even incarnate in many instances, let alone when in utero and through birth. Thus it has been my experience from those ladies who have reached out for help on their fertility journey through a combination of Ayurveda, Reiki and/or Yoga, that the journey itself is one of awakening and deep healing.
Often they are encouraged to process, make peace with, and lay to rest, their burdens and unresolved mental and emotional stuff (especially in their relationship with their parents) and, as a result, make conscious changes in their lives reflecting their shifting perspective and energy, no longer bound down by the past. It is only then, as if jigsaw pieces need to be collected, that the picture of their dreams begins to come clearer – and not always in ways they initially imagined.
This process often gifts them the opportunity for conscious pregnancy, and indeed mothering, and supports their ongoing personal and spiritual development, whether they intended this or not. For others, it can lead to a path previously hidden, and for some an acceptance that they may (instead) birth new ideas and businesses into the world, regardless of having children.
Of course no one wishes to experience fertility issues, and it can be an incredibly emotional time for all involved – the arrival of the monthly menses can be deeply distressing – but women should take heart, because there is always hope, it is just a matter of following the nudges that spirit brings and creating the ideal conditions – seed, land and irrigation system - for an embryo to thrive.
The first step is to check for ovulation and ovulation sticks can be helpful with this. Knowing when a woman ovulates will allow her to attempt to conceive at the optimum time for conception.
Furthermore the eggs and the sperm need to be of good quality. Interestingly, at least from an Ayurvedic perspective, over-indulging in sex (having sex a couple of times a day, or even daily) will likely lower and deplete the quality and number of sperm. Furthermore supressing sexual urges may cause the reproductive system to feel that there is no point in producing sperm. So there is a need to find a healthy balance in one’s sexual life to conceive.
Eating well will without doubt support both the quality of eggs and sperm so changes to the diet may need to be made. Certainly when I was navigating the fertility journey, and knowing that ‘we are what we eat’, I was very focused on my diet being all about healthy eggs and indeed the quality of the womb tissue.
Because this is the other thing, the womb - the field in which the seed will grow - needs to be optimum quality. If there is excess heat in the womb, or not enough nutritional quality to it, then the embryo will not grow and this will result in lack of implantation, or miscarriage or indeed failed IVF. It is imperative that women take this seriously – the womb is a home for the embryo and it needs to be just the right temperature, too hot and it will burn up.
From a metaphysical perspective, the womb is viewed as the power centre of a woman’s being, and a powerful source of creativity, intuition and emotional wellbeing. But trauma, whether from childhood or being in utero, can be stored here and manifest as physical and emotional issues in the reproductive and digestive system.
We are reminded therefore, that the womb is not just a physical organ, but it is also connected to our emotional and spiritual well-being and healing the womb often involves addressing emotional and spiritual wounds, such as past traumas and/or negative thinking and/or limiting beliefs. Thus a holistic approach to healing is extremely helpful – acknowledging that we are not just a body, or a mind, but also a spirit.
Issues in the womb may show up as menstrual irregularities (excessive pain etc), fibroids, endometriosis, digestive issues, emotional challenges related to sexuality, womanhood, self-worth and self-identity, as well as fertility issues.
Excess heat in the womb (and often the body generally), is caused by a pitta imbalance, so following a pitta reducing diet can be extremely helpful. If nothing else, eliminating tomatoes, vinegars, hard cheeses, raw foods and spicy foods such as chilli, can make a huge difference.
Drinking coriander water daily will not only help to reduce the excess pitta, but will help calm the mind and open the energy channels - soak 3 tsps of semi-crushed coriander seeds in a glass of room temperature filtered water overnight, drain the seeds and drink the water upon waking. Please note it has to be the seeds, not the leaf as that will have the opposite effect.
Irrigation and therefore hydration generally is important – think soups, stews, coconut-based curries, foods that are fully of prana and vitality, that will nourish the eggs, the womb and the body generally, and help pacify an anxious and/or overactive mind. Drinking filtered water with meals (not before) and herbal teas (not green) can be really helpful – think about irrigating the field and the seeds.
There are various herbs that can help to reduce excess pitta and support hormonal balance and therefore fertility, and include Ashwaganda, Shatavari, Pushyanuga, kanchanara guggul, chandraprabha, yogaraja, shatavari gopakanyadee, but please consult with a qualified practitioner, as the herbs will work best if taken in powder form and at certain times of the day, not just swallowed in tablet form with breakfast – Ayurveda is a science and honouring its sacred knowledge is important.
The fertility journey can bring with it mental disturbances, such as depression, anxiety, insomnia and a feeling of hopelessness. If there are issues with family members, especially parents, then this can compound matters. Counselling can be helpful, but also reaching out for holistic support through Reiki, yoga and of course Ayurveda can make a huge difference – remember a problem shared is a problem halved and confiding with a trusted professional can ease the burden.
Lifestyle changes can also help. If a woman leads a busy and stressful life then this will likely increase her fire and cause greater pitta imbalance. The key is to slow down. During my journey, I walked daily after work, allowing me to slow down in nature and have the peace and space to process and digest my thoughts. I also made time to practice daily Yoga Nidra, working with the Sankalpa, “I am pregnant with a healthy baby”, to help maintain a positive mindset and stay focused on my journey.
Further, I stepped back from socialising and nourished myself as much as I could with good food, gentle yoga. Long baths and early nights. I also watched things which made me laugh and helped me relax. I read positive books, which uplifted me. I also dug deep into Reiki, Ayurveda and acupuncture.
Also, I didn’t tell anyone apart from immediate family members and practitioners – there is nothing worse than the pity of others, or their gossip, and while people may say they have our best interests at heart, for many it becomes a drama. Plus this is a potentially sacred and special time for partners – people don’t usually tell others when they are having sex to conceive.
Interestingly in Sri Lanka, where my Ayurvedic doctor was raised, women will often go to temples and other spiritual places so that they can align more with spirit and open themselves up to the spirit coming in. In my own life I was definitely drawn to spiritual spaces and found myself visiting Winchester and Salisbury cathedrals during my IVF journey, and Glastonbury and the Fairy Ring and Neolithic Goddess called me to it/her too.
Finally I did my best to avoid self-pity. I write much more about all this in my book Dancing with the Moon, which is available on Amazon. It is imperative to stay positive and not buy into negativity, so a mindset shift is essential and hence having a trusted professional supporting you can make all the difference. The website contains access to free relaxation audios and yoga videos to support fertility, and it is worth downloading our (currently) free Moon and Menstruation Pack, all available here.
If you are reading this and navigating a fertility journey then do not lose hope. Little tweaks to diet and lifestyle can help enormously, but also appreciating that there is a timing to these things and to follow the nudge of spirit. I am always here to help if that feels aligned, and it is my experience that a combination of Ayurveda and Reiki works best, but Yoni Yoga or the Scaravelli-inspired yoga will be a boon too. You can email me at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk and we can set up a session to get you going.
