Yoga Do's and Don'ts for Fertility

Rigorous yoga is not recommended, because intense workouts can be detrimental to reproductive health. Here are six more tips for yogis who are pregnant or trying to conceive, from Be Fruitful: The Essential Guide to Maximizing Fertility and Giving Birth to a Healthy Child by Victoria Maizes, MD.


1. Don't do a rigorous yoga practice. Too intense a workout can be detrimental to reproductive health. Be gentle with yourself. Do sequences that feel luscious, connecting, and grounding. Move away from more demanding aerobic practices such as Ashtanga or power yoga, toward a more mindful approach to asana.

2. Don't do deep twists if you think there's a chance you could be pregnant. Twists signal the body to squeeze and expel-not the energetics you want to encourage if you are pregnant.

3. Do work on poses that encourage your hips to open and soften; concentrate on postural alignment to ensure that prana flows most efficiently and freely.

4. Do incorporate poses that encourage apana vayu (downward movement of breath), which is employed during reproduction.

5. Do add poses that open up the hips and pelvic area and encourage breath to flow in those areas.

6. Do have some fun with your partner practicing poses together or doing partner poses.

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