Taking time to clear your mind of its nonstop thoughts can help to reduce stress and induce a peaceful state of mind. Women who are under constant stress produce prolactin, cortisol, and other hormones, which can interfere with or even block regular ovulation.

Another fertility bonus to meditation is the start of a new habit, which helps you to gain control over your thoughts; this is the first step in manifesting your pregnancy.

How to meditate

Sit comfortably on a cushion or lie down, take some deep breaths, and clear your mind. When a thought enters your head, just label it as a thought and avoid fighting it, just be. Then get back to focusing on the breath. That thought too shall pass, as does every thought and emotion. Your mind can only focus on one thing at a time, so if you are focused on the breath, your thoughts will stop.

What type of meditation should I do for fertility?
There is a type of meditation called Japa. Japa is the practice of repeating a mantra during your meditation. A mantra is a word that you say over and over during meditation. You want to choose a word that is something you want to manifest in your life, a word that is positive.

Meditation is an effective stress reduction tool that can be done by anyone, any time in most any place.

• Peace
• Tranquility
• Surrender
• Baby
• Love
• Om namaya shivaya
• Our father who art in heaven…
• Mother Mary full of grace…
• (Your favorite baby nickname)

A great book on Japa meditation is by one of my favorite authors, Wayne Dyer It is called ‘Getting in the Gap’. This book helped me a lot with Japa Meditation.

How long should I meditate?
You can meditate for a couple of minutes to start with and every day increase the amount of time spent in meditation. It is not so much how long as it is the amount of awareness you give to your meditation.

Want some help?
There are some great CDs that guide you through mediation if you are someone with an analytical mind and you are finding it hard to slow it down.

Breathing for a healthy reproductive system

Take a deep breath in right now… hold to count of four and exhale to the count of four.
Take another deep breath in… Hold 1 2 3 4 and exhale 1 2 3 4.
And take one last deep breath in… Hold 1 2 3 4 and exhale 1 2 3 4.

Now we can properly talk about breathing.
The breath is one of the most important nutrients of the body. Yes, oxygen is a nutrient needed to sustain life. We can go days without food and water, but we cannot go minutes without oxygen. So how is this important to fertility you might ask? Very. Deep, purposeful breathing enriches the blood with oxygen, releases toxins, and helps to let go of all the tension we are holding inside.

What is the “proper” way to breathe?
Most people do not breathe properly. Look at a baby, when they breath, their stomach and chest move in and out. When an adult breathes, just the chest moves in and out. That means we are not breathing to our fullest potential and receiving all the gifts of oxygen.

How to breathe “properly”:
When you breathe in, let the breath go all the way down to your uterus and visualize the oxygen revitalizing your uterus, ovaries, and vagina. You may even imagine the breath as a color, such as peach or blue. When you exhale, you can imagine all that no longer serves you leaving your body.

Aromatherapy and breathing
Aromatherapy is useful for both mediation and cleansing the air for healthy breathing. I love to have my aromatherapy diffuser running with a specific meditation blend when I am meditating. An aromatherapy diffuser is a little machine that diffuses small particles of essential oils into the air. Then we inhale these amazing gifts into our lungs and receive the benefits from the oils. To learn more about aromatherapy and fertility, click here…

Hethir Rodriguez - Certified Herbalist, Nutritionist, Birth Doula

Hethir Rodriguez is the Founder of Natural Fertility Info.com. She is a Certified Herbalist, has a bachelors in Nutrition Sciences and is a trained Birth Doula and Massage Therapist. As a Natural Fertility Specialist, Hethir is dedicated to helping to provide a source for high quality, research based information and support for those on their journey to parenthood.