When I look at the stories of other fertility yoga teachers, most of them got pregnant because they practised fertility yoga and thus they are teaching it.
Me, I’m teaching it because I want everyone to have inner peace. I suddenly feel like Sandra Bullock, who played Gracie in the movie, Miss Congeniality, when asked about “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” and she said “world peace”.
But I’m serious though. Inner Peace - hold on to that thought for a moment.
My Story
Now my story started differently and it is my deepest darkest secret. And my deepest darkest secret as a yoga teacher is that I didn't practice any yoga when I first started IVF.
I find it’s really hard to practice yoga when you're afraid of negatively impacting the treatment. Plus I really struggled with being older and trying to make a baby and having people judging me.
I wasn't sure if I was doing it the right, and I felt so fat and bloated from all the stimulations. And I had low motivation from my retrieval results.
I was also thinking of the money I would have wasted if something did go wrong. Every time I saw the doctor, I will think of a "safe pose" to ask him, but he never gave me a straight answer. My husband's POV is to LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR and so I did, and so I didn’t do much yoga.
It made me feel like I'm failure not only as woman, but also a yoga teacher because I can't even teach myself.
Why I do yoga
At the back of my mind, I knew that I needed to do something, to not be at the mercy of my negative thoughts, to find peace, and the key to inner peace is yoga!
I know that for sure, because before all this baby struggles - I was in a good place. I was in the inner work of living a life of courage, love and kindness.
I was practicing and teaching a style of yoga that I love - Baptiste Yoga. This practice really transformed my life, relationship with my mom (yes it's so much better) and the way I interact with others and I was a better version of myself.
Was I at peace then? I guess so! It's the ultimate goal of having a consistent yoga practice and it only became my ultimate purpose in my life when I started IVF.
My tipping point was when I went through a long 12 day stimulation on my 2nd IVF cycle, with additional hormone shots, and all I got was 2 average blastocysts. It was the worst of my 4 cycles. I was devastated as that cycle took a lot from me.
Coincidentally, or call it the Universe has my back - I was booked to assist my teacher Baron Baptiste for a Baptiste Level 1 retreat in Phuket, which I nearly cancelled. But I didn’t and so I went. And that experience gave me so much goodness and possibilities in my way of being.
It also inspired me to embark on a search for a Fertility Yoga Support Course and over the last 4 years, I completed 4 including a IVF Yoga module.
WHY AM I SHARING THIS
♥️I am sharing this with you today because I want you to know it's okay if you don't want to practise yoga or you don't have a yoga practice.
I can imagine how daunting fertility yoga is to someone with little or no yoga experience.
Imagine me - a yoga teacher - also struggling.
Yes, yoga need not be your top priority and like other holistic treatments (including IVF), they are not the cure for infertility. BUT yoga can be the foundation to support, inspire and empower you on your IVF journey no matter the outcome.
Yoga will help you calm your mind, release tension and cultivate a sense of inner peace and stillness.
And the bonus is you not only get to nourish your womb and your heart space, you get take a rest from all the thinking and doing, alleviate treatment side effects, and if you join a group class, you'll be with a community of people who understands and are struggling too.
START NOW
If you are thinking of doing IVF, or about to start, don’t make the same mistake I did, and not try yoga NOW.
Even the first sutra in Patanjali’s book of Yoga Sutras start with Atha yoga anusasanam (1,1) or Now, the teachings of yoga or simply NOW YOGA BEGINS.
Do 1 class! Meditate. Do Breathwork. There are so many resources, and some free.
And if you are in the middle of your journey, it is definitely not too late.
WHAT’S NEXT
Now if you like to be guided, and have your questions answered by ME, I'm very excited to announce my NEW and first ever Online IVF Yoga series!
It’s a series of 3 which are themed to the different phases: Pre-Retrieval Phase, Pre-Transfer Phase and the 2WW. It will include asana, meditation, breathework and Q&A at the end of the session. You will also receive an e-guide specific for each phase, with an easy to follow sequence chart.Each session will run for 75 mins, over 3 consecutive Saturdays at 2pm SGT, starting on the 17th June 2023.
If you can't make the live class, a recording of the class will be made available to you.
Registration OPENS on Monday 12 June 2023.
Get on the Waitlist
Last chance to sign up for the WAITLIST for my Online IVF Yoga series. (and get an early bird rate)
