How Yoga Works in Tandem With IVF to Increase Your Chances of Pregnancy Success

Whether there is a clear medical reason, or when infertility is unexplained, life under the weight of fertility treatment can be an extreme struggle. Don’t despair. During fertility treatment, yoga is a magnificent and holistic way to prepare one’s body for pregnancy and birth. The best part? As a pregnancy enhancement tool, yoga is proven to reduce stress, balance hormones, and revamp one’s whole wellness in body, mind, and spirit.

Soft, Supporting, and Nurturing Yoga

Even if you’ve already started an IVF cycle, you can receive support and nurturing from yoga. There are a myriad of benefits from yoga. It can’t be emphasized enough: Always begin with a moderate yoga regimen – not high intensity exercise – and always get pre-approval from your fertility specialist. Look: Too much high intensity yoga or other exercise has been shown to hinder successful pregnancy outcomes.

You will discover a love for restorative or Yin style yoga practices that will nourish your mind and body while alleviating the stress associated with IVF treatment.

Warning: Avoid practicing high intensity yoga, such as:

• Ashtanga
• Power
• Vinyasa
• Hot Yoga

Yoga is easily adaptable to your lifestyle choices. If you have been practicing high intensity yoga methods – pump your brakes and adapt to a more moderate routine.

Remember: Your body will be working hard to produce healthy eggs and make a baby.

• Soft Yoga Routine
• Medium to Low Intensity
• Nourishing Yoga Routine

Yoga Leading Up To IVF Treatment

In the months leading up to the beginning of your IVF cycle, scale back high intensity yoga practice with a more gentle and less forceful routine.

Avoid:

• All twisting postures
• All inversions
• All postures requiring jumping
• All postures requiring unstable movements
• All intense forward bending
• All intense backward bending

Goals leading up to the beginning of your IVF cycle:

• Reduce the amount you sweat
• Breathe steady and evenly – practice pranayama
• Become in tune with your egg growth and ovulation

Yoga During Your IVF Cycle

Once you have started your IVF cycle, make sure you are practicing a very gentle pregnancy-appropriate yoga.

For self-control, include:

• Meditation
• Visulization
• Soft pranayama
• Mindfulness

To honor the intensity of yoga, maintain a ritual afterward:

• Sip a cup of tea
• Enjoy a healthy juice
• Indulge in some quiet time

Egg Retrieval

On the morning of your surgical egg retrieval, allow time for meditation or pranayama.

Embryo Transfer

Practice meditation or pranayama on the morning of your embryo transfer. Then, refrain from any physical yoga in the days following.

IVF Treatment Protocols for Infertility

At New Hope Fertility Center, every one of our patients is provided with a unique IVF protocol. Our array of IVF protocols are specially designed to provide the highest standard of IVF care at the most optimal times for each patient’s body. We welcome patients representing a primary or secondary infertility challenge, regardless of the potential adverse effect on our stellar IVF pregnancy success rates.

• Conventional IVF – large dosages of fertility medication are administered to produce 10+ egg follicles for fertilization in vitro
• Mini-IVF™ – minimal dosages of fertility medications are administered to produce between 3 and 5 eggs for fertilization in vitro
• Natural Cycle IVF – no fertility medications are administered and one good natural egg is harvested for fertilization in vitro

Yoga and Customized IVF Care

Discover more about how yoga can help increase your chances of pregnancy.

It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the experience required to design a customized IVF treatment protocol meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility NYC, call 917.525.5496.