5 Meditation & Mindfulness Techniques to Boost Fertility in Your Clients

By Carolyn Tallents

In the face of an increasingly stressful modern world – and the infertility crisis that is advancing in industrialized nations – it’s crucial to consider the role of meditation and mindfulness techniques in enhancing fertility. As fitness professionals, our primary focus tends to be on exercise and nutrition to improve our client’s overall health, and the quite honest truth is that those will not be enough. There is no factor more impactful on a person’s well-being than one’s mind. This article presents the scientific evidence supporting meditation and mindfulness as powerful tools for increasing fertility in both women and men. By teaching meditation alongside exercise and nutrition, and other foundational wellness habits, you can empower your clients to achieve optimal health and address the pressing issue of infertility.

Let’s take a second to look at the current infertility crisis.
The infertility crisis in modern nations has become an alarming public health issue, with declining birth rates threatening the social and economic stability of some countries. Having unprotected sex every 2-3 days for an entire year will result in conception in the vast majority of couples, but in the UK, for example, 1 in 7 will be unable. The US CDC reports this number as 1 in 5 in America, adding that 1 in 4 women overall would then be unable to carry that pregnancy to full term.

A complex interplay of factors, including delayed parenthood, environmental pollutants, stress, and unhealthy lifestyles, has contributed to a sharp increase in infertility rates among both men and women. The repercussions of this crisis extend beyond individual families, as a shrinking workforce and an aging population can strain social welfare systems and challenge the sustainability of economic growth. To be sure, addressing the infertility crisis requires a multifaceted approach, likely combining advancements in medical interventions, increased awareness of preventive measures (Fit For Birth’s 5 Foundations), and particularly the promotion of holistic well-being practices like meditation and mindfulness.

Fitness professionals have a unique opportunity to make a difference by promoting practices that not only improve physical health but also target the underlying causes of infertility.

3 Scientific Ways Meditation and Mindfulness Effect Fertility
Numerous studies have shown that meditation and mindfulness techniques can have a profound impact on fertility by reducing stress and anxiety, which are known contributors to infertility. Firstly, it is absolutely clear that considering oneself to be “infertile” as in receiving the diagnosis, or just simply noticing difficulty getting pregnant increases stress, as people report elevated anxiety and depression. This next part, however, is particularly important to note: Stress causes inflammation, that common reaction of the body’s defense mechanism that is being increasingly tied to infertility. Even more, chronic stress can disrupt hormonal balance, impair sperm production in men, and interfere with ovulation and implantation in women. Addressing the ambiguous term “stress”, and taking steps to reduce it directly causes beneficial chemical changes in the body, like reduction in inflammation.

  1. Reduces Stress to Increase Fertility. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences found that mindfulness-based interventions “lead to reduced psychological distress and enhanced conception rates in infertility.” The interventions included a single session per week, for 8-12 weeks, of practicing “being aware of the sensation within the body and then expanding this to regulate emotions and thoughts.” The first few weeks of the program focused on becoming aware of what one’s mind is doing, while the second half intends to apply this new awareness to daily life challenges. Studies like this indicate that, despite the potential discomfort this kind of new practice may entail, purposefully focusing on present-moment experiences while embracing attitudes such as curiosity, acceptance, empathy, non-seeking, and nonjudgmental awareness can result in a substantial change in perspective. Overall, mindfulness techniques, like practicing being intentionally aware of one’s thoughts as they appear in the present moment, lead to higher pregnancy rates. Reminding your pre-conception clients in the midst of their sessions with you could turn into the most powerful wellness tool you offer them.
  2. Improves Hormonal Balance. Meditation and mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce cortisol levels, a hormone released in response to stress. Elevated cortisol levels can disrupt the delicate balance of reproductive hormones, leading to fertility problems. By coaching your client’s to meditate at the end of your exercise sessions, you can help train them how to lower their cortisol levels. This is especially important when you consider the “cyclic” impact that you can have on your client’s hormones. Exercise intensity above 60% VO2max induces cortisol. Helping your clients know how to (appropriately) spike their “stress” hormone response, and then, following this peak, teaching them how to feel into the contrasting reduction of cortisol will be one of the most mindful – as well as hormonally balancing – activities you can do with them. Ultimately, your role with your preconception clients is one that is truly priceless in helping to create a more favorable hormonal environment for conception.
  3. Enhances Sperm Quality. Male infertility is also impacted by stress, and studies have shown that mindfulness-based interventions can improve sperm quality. One 2016 study found that yoga-based lifestyle interventions increased sperm motility and counts, improved pregnancy outcomes, and even epigenetically affected various genes improving the “healthy trajectory of the offspring” in part by aiding in “telomere length maintenance.” In this study, which was specifically looking to counter Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL; three or more consecutive miscarriages), male participants followed 2 hours per day of yoga instruction that included: physical postures, breathwork, meditation, and final relaxation lying down. They did this for 21 days.

5 Meditation & Mindfulness Techniques to Boost Fertility in Your Clients
As a fitness professional, you can play a vital role in addressing infertility by incorporating meditation and mindfulness techniques into your clients’ routines. As long as it doesn’t feel stressful for them, encourage clients to set aside time each day for meditation, as the more they practice, the better! That’s how neural conditioning works. Ask them which time frame feels best for them to start: 1min, 3min or 5min. In time, many will naturally increase the duration as they begin to feel the control they have over their thoughts and body chemistry.

Teach clients various meditation techniques, such as these five:

  1. Feeling Meditation: Feeling for tension (or lack of tension) in their physical body. (Body Scan)
  2. Awareness Meditation: Watching thoughts appear and move through.
  3. Focusing/Directing Meditation: Intending to “catch” themselves thinking, multiple times, and each time returning to the still “waiting” with the shadowy colors behind their closed eyes.
  4. Alternative Feeling Meditation: Hold attention on several parts of the body (ie. feet, legs, pelvis, torso, etc) or on each of the main energy centers (ie, perineum, low abdomen, solar plexus, heart, etc). Do this, especially through the heart area, which has an abundance of scientific evidence backing specifically the importance of “connecting” to this area, including reducing anxiety, improving heart rate variability (HRV), improving intuition, and stimulating a relationship called “coherence” between heart and mind.,
  5. Emotional Shifting Meditation: Sometimes called a loving-kindness or compassion meditation, literally intending to feel a positive emotion is a valid technique and one that has also been taught in multiple mindfulness-based research studies.

Set a check-in goal for your clients to practice mindfulness when you are not with them! This means that at some point in the day or week, it would be amazing if your client caught themselves “becoming mindful” all of a sudden. This could be when talking on the phone, doing the dishes, walking the dog, or literally anything. Encourage them to practice non-judgmental awareness in more aspects of their lives, from eating to exercising to engaging in social interactions.

Conclusion
Addressing the infertility crisis is an essential aspect of promoting overall health and well-being on this planet. By teaching meditation and mindfulness techniques alongside staples like exercise and nutrition, you can empower your clients to take control of their fertility. These scientifically proven practices not only improve physical health but also foster emotional balance and self-awareness, leading to a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

 

References

  1. Gallagher, James. Fertility rate: ‘Jaw-dropping’ global crash in children being born. BBC. Retrieved 3/25/23 from https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521
  1. Infertility. NHS UK. Retrieved 3/26/23 from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/infertility

 (n.d.) Infertility. CDC – Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved 3/26/23 from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm

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