Your Ayurveda Fertility Plan

Fertility is more than just the physical act of becoming pregnant; it is a spiritual shift into parenthood, which begins with your heart’s calling to begin a new family. This desire serves as an invitation to a new soul whom you will guide on its journey into and through life.

This journey ideally begins, not at the moment of conception where the sperm meets the egg, but months before, as the couple’s wish to bring new life into their world starts to emerge.

In the West we seem to have forgotten this aspect of fertility. Having a baby has been reduced to the mere act of getting pregnant and often listed as another item on our life list; house, car, holiday, baby. When we want one, we think it is going to be easy but that is not always the case. We think that age is all important when it comes to conceiving but it is more about your state of health in body and mind.

With fertility problems on the rise in the West, it is time to revisit the holistic and conscious methods for creating life, as ancient traditions, such as Ayurveda, have been teaching for thousands of years.

When I first got pregnant, I had been following Ayurvedic protocol for a year. I conceived within six weeks of trying, at the age of 35. I had a completely healthy pregnancy with no symptoms of ill health so I have first hand experience of its efficacy.

Ayurveda, put simply, means living in harmony with nature. It is a 5000 year old medical system, or science of life, that originated in India where it is still used today. The guidelines emphasize the pre-conception period as much as the pregnancy itself. The pre-conception time offers a golden opportunity to provide the best of both you and your partner to your future child.

According to Ayurveda, your doshic constitution (or unique body-mind nature) was determined at the moment of your conception by the combination of your parents’ constitutions or doshas – just like a Vedic DNA – and it can never change.

Your physical build, stature, propensity to hold weight, emotional make up, stability, mental agility, behaviours and patterns of ill health come directly from your parents.

We therefore determine the future health and pre-dispositions to certain diseases, imbalances or ill health at the moment we conceive our babies too. Just as an overgrown garden needs weeding to reveal the soil into which we plant our seeds, so too do our bodies need preparing to carry a child.

A six-month pre-conception process is recommended to enrich the four elements – TIMING, PHYSICAL BODY, NUTRITION AND SEED. This process focuses on our body’s natural abilities to cleanse and renew and sees the roles of male and female as equally important in this.

According to Ayurvedic Protocol, our digestive strength and capacity to assimilate our food is key to our reproduction and conception. Our reproductive tissue is last in line of the seven bodily tissues that are fed and nourished by our food, thoughts and emotions. In order for the right nourishment to reach it for conception, it needs a clear path down through the digestive tract and all the other tissues. If there are any problems, the correct nourishment will not reach the reproductive tissue and fertility problems appear.

Factors that inhibit our ability to digest food (and therefore conceive) are incorrect food and lifestyles, wrong eating habits, over work, stress, lack of rest, anxiety, fear, anger, unprocessed emotions and mental experiences. All of this results in physical toxin accumulation.

First Stage – Cleanse (months 1-3)
Before any new growth occurs, we need to cleanse the things that no longer serve us on physical, emotional and mental levels so we can offer our highest and best self to the new life. Physical depletion, fatigue, too much emotional baggage as well as physical toxins and doshic imbalances (too much heat, instability, heaviness for example) can hinder the health of your pregnancy.

It is therefore ideal for both parents to first follow a 3 month cleanse in order to be in optimum health.

Physical cleansing involves reducing toxic substance in our systems (alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, white sugar, white flour) and eating simple, easy to digest fresh, seasonal foods, wholegrains, vegetables and the Ayurvedic staple called Kitchari - that is prepared as per our own dosha – or constitution.

Mental cleansing involves reducing stress and anxiety in the body and mind by following the right lifestyle for your constitution, meditation or yoga, regular massages and self-massage etc. Stress and anxiety about conceiving can be the very thing preventing it from happening and should be a fundamental part of your pre-conception care. Rest and plenty of sleep are also vital components to this.

Emotional cleansing may come in the form of marriage counselling to provide insightful and neutral guidance to help heal old hurts and resentments in your relationship. A practice of gratitude and forgiveness for your partner can be very useful. Prayer and affirmations are also useful for addressing the spiritual aspect of conception.

As cleansing requires a lot of energy, it is also advised to abstain from sex during this time. This may seem counter-intuitive if you want to have a baby! However it is best to leave the body to rest and relieve yourself of ‘trying to conceive’ can have a hugely beneficial impact on reducing stress. Stress disrupts the endocrine system and the hormones needed for menstruation and ovulation.

Second stage – Rejuvenation (months 4-6)
Now we have weeded the garden, it is time to feed and nourish the soil.

This is the time to build our vitality (ojas) – without which there can be no life.

Some foods that nourish ojas include ghee, dates, almonds, figs, mung beans, whole grains, green vegetables and organic milk. Spices to help rekindle our digestion and boost immunity include turmeric, ginger, cumin, cardamom and saffron.

Spending time nurturing your relationship as a couple; weekly date nights, time spent in nature and beauty, self-massage or massaging each other are vital. Regular meditation or yoga, daily journaling, reflections, intentions, affirmations and prayer all bring awareness into your thought processes and emotional states. Rest and plenty of sleep is vital.

Sex can be resumed from four months in moderation but it is suggested that waiting until the six month mark can be more beneficial.

How strange this can seem to our fast-paced, want-it-now modern western minds who get frustrated when our internet page loads too slowly! But these traditions have lasted and persisted – as has the human race – for thousands of years.

Third stage – Conception
Now the time for conception has arrived it is all about optimum timing. Obviously around the window of ovulation is the best time to conceive, within five days before and after. It is also optimum to be in a calm, happy, healthy, and loving state.

It is good to bring awareness back to the spiritual and emotional components and not just the physical act. Intercourse can be an offering of love to each other, a sacred act. It does deplete ojas (immunity) so replenish with the right foods, nutrition, rest and lifestyle practices during this time.

Bad health, stress, anxiety and frustration are the enemy of fertility.

Keeping open to what is and what is meant to be will also help enormously. It is important to have patience and trust that a new soul will come to you when both you, and they, are ready, and not a moment before.

Consulting with a qualified Ayurvedic Practitioner at this time can be invaluable. They can provide you with a tailor-made nutritional and lifestyle plan or fertility cleansing programme so you can overcome any challenges in order to help you achieve a more conscious and healthy conception.

Vanessa is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Ayurdoula, Pregnancy and Postpartum Coach and mother to her 2 children (birthed and raised on Ayurveda). She is touched by the deeper things in life, passionate about nurturing new mothers, combining the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda with modern day birthing, mothering and living, travelling, tea and Satsang.

1. Timing – this covers all aspects from stability in life, settled with responsibilities, peaceful, not a season where either parent’s doshas (constitutions) are out of balance.
   
2. The physical field – the body should be free of toxins (or ama), the relationships free of past hurts, the uterus and fallopian tubes with a clear passage with regular menstruation.
   
3. Healthy and nutritious fluids – strong plasma, blood, balanced hormones, proper nutrition.
   
4. The seed – optimal age (not too young or too old), no toxic substances internally or externally.
   

VISIT ayurvedamama.co.uk

READ Yoga Mama, Yoga Baby: Ayurveda and Yoga for a Healthy Pregnancy and Birth by Margo Shapiro Bachman