Denver Metro, Colorado | WholeFertility@gmail.com
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION
I can show you two ways to meditate that are easy to learn:
Qigong Meditation
Guided Visualization
These two forms of meditation give your mind something to actively focus upon, which is MUCH easier to do than typical meditation practices of watching the breath while your thoughts run wild.
QIGONG MEDITATION
An easy form of meditation to learn is the Qigong practice known as the Microcosmic Orbit. This exercise develops our ability to maintain a single-pointed focus meditation practice while refining our internal energy-body.
The Microcosmic Orbit involves using the breath and concentration to direct the flow of energy in the body through energetic pathways, or meridians. The Microcosmic Orbit is a circuit comprised of two meridians (the Governor Vessel and the Conception Vessel), which move upwards from the base of the spine to the head and downwards from the face to the perineum. There is a focus on specific acupressure points along these channels.
Circulating the Microcosmic Orbit is naturally relaxing because it places the energy body back into an in utero state, which was how the energy flowed when a person was still in their mother's womb.
The MicroCosmic Orbit practice is the foundation for most of the Qigong “Internal Alchemy” practices, including the Taoist Sexual Love arts, which tonify the ovaries, uterus and vagina.
Learning the Microcosmic Orbit is an easy way to develop our meditation ability because we can place our focus on moving Qi (Energy) through our internal energy pathways (meridians), which controls the random thoughts.
Once the Microcosmic Orbit is learned and practiced, then the other circuits of the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians" will be taught (The Dai Mo, The Chong Mo and the MACROcosmic Orbit).
GUIDED VISUALIZATION
When clients attend a hypnotherapy session for any ailment, I can lead them through a guided visualization, which is a form of hypnosis. This session is geared to relax the body while focusing the mind on suggestions to improve their predicament.
I can audio record the session so that the client can listen to it while at home (never listen to these audios while driving). This homework practice would strengthen the work that we do together in session. It is tailored to the client's particular challenges and life history so it would be more effective than a generalized hypnosis script.
By listening to the audio at home, it provides an easy way for the client to meditate on their own. The audio would relax their body while their mind follows with a single-pointed focus, which is the definition of meditation. The audio would engage both the conscious and sub-conscious levels of the mind, which make it exponentially more effective than a typical talk therapy session about the issue.
HOW DOES MEDITATION HELP FERTILITY?
It is widely known that meditation lowers the level of the stress hormone, cortisol, in the body. A Huffington Post article from March of 2013 states, "a new study in the journal Health Psychology shows an association between increased mindfulness and decreased levels of the stress hormone cortisol." Click here to read the article.
The reason that increased cortisol levels can adversely effect fertility stems from our pre-historic ancestors. The stress in life back then was much more evident than the dangers of today. If a saber tooth tiger is chasing you, the cortisol released by that danger directs the body to decrease the blood flow into the central organs to redirect that force into the legs to run or the arms to fight. The body's main focus in that scenario is survival, so the body shuts down the digestive system first (because you don't need to digest your last meal if you might be a tiger's next meal), and the reproductive system next (because you can't procreate the next generation if you don't survive this moment).
In today's world, problems stem from when we experience chronic stress and anxiety without ways to release this stress from the body. Pregnancy struggles increase the levels of stress (and therefore cortisol), which makes getting pregnant all the more difficult. It is a bind that is difficult to break without help. According to study entitled "Preconception stress increases the risk of infertility," that was published in the journal of Human Reproduction in March of 2014 states, "women who had high levels of a biomarker for stress in their saliva took 29 percent longer to become pregnant, compared to those with lower levels, Those with high levels of the stress indicator were also twice as likely as others to meet the clinical definition for infertility." The abstract for this study can be found here, in the Human Reproduction section of the Oxford Journal.
Knowing that stress decreases fertility rates, and meditation can lower stress levels, one can postulate that meditation would increase fertility. This hypothesis has been studied and proven to be true. An October 2013 study done at Harvard University and published in Fertility and Sterility entitled, "Mindfulness-Based Program for Infertility: Efficacy Study," showed that, "women who attended a 10-weed Mindfulness Based Program for Infertility revealed a significant decrease in depressive symptoms, internal and external shame, entrapment, and defeat. Inversely, they presented statistically significant improvement in mindfulness skills and self-efficacy to deal with infertility." For the women who participated in the program, the clinical pregnancy rate was 52%, compared to 20% in the control group. All of these women became pregnant without the need for assisted reproductive technology within 12 months regardless of their age or medical diagnoses. Read the PubMed.gov abstract here.
To research additional benefits of meditation, please read the article published by the Mayo Clinic entitled, "Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress," which can be found here.
If you want to get pregnant, you need to decrease your stress. Intuitively, you already know this. Practically, you might need some extra support to learn how. Creative Fertility can help.
The cost for private meditation instruction is $150 for a 90 minute appointment.