Exercise is vital for optimal health and wellness in our lives. It is important to consider how this can change during our life cycle, not only our monthly cycle but also when planning to start your family, while you’re pregnant, during the postpartum phase, and menopause cycles of life. Whether you have just decided to begin trying to conceive, or you are receiving care for infertility, or using reproductive assisted technology to become pregnant appropriate exercise is very important. In this blog we will discuss how Traditional Chinese Medicine views fertility and how to support this process to support your journey to conception.
According to the Huang Di Nei Jing, the ancient Chinese medical text that is the foundation of oriental medicine written over 3,000 years ago, “for conception to occur, there are certain requirements, namely, strong Kidney qi, the arrival of Tian Gui [regular periods], Chong and Ren are open and flourishing, and Yin-Yang connection.” This means that once a woman has a regular and balanced menstrual cycle, sufficient blood, energy, bodily fluids, and a strong constitution she may become pregnant. This balance is deeply affected by the choices we make everyday, this includes the type of exercise we choose to do, the foods we eat, our sleep, mindfulness activities, and stress we experience daily.
What does healthy exercise for promoting fertility look like?
You may have seen specific classes particularly dedicated to pregnant women where you work out, maybe at your gym, yoga studio, or pilates studio. Just as it is important for pregnant women to be cautious of over exerting their bodies, it is just as important for women to consider the intensity of their work out when trying to conceive. Because sufficient qi and blood is required for conception and intense workouts consume yin fluids, qi, and blood, we must adapt the type of exercise we choose to do. For example, running, bikram yoga, cross fit, HIIT workouts to name a few all require a lot of energy and will cause you to sweat excessively and deplete your energy and body fluids. This is just the energy and resources your body needs to become pregnant and to provide for your growing baby.
The best types of exercise when trying to become pregnant include gentle yoga, yin yoga, pilates, walking, and low impact training without allowing your body to become overly fatigued or sweating too much. Limit activity to around 30 minutes a day. Always remember to make sure your doctor has approved your activity if you are receiving fertility care from a licensed practitioner and that the exercise instructor is aware of your goal. This will keep your keep your qi in check, your Chong meridian flowing with blood free from stagnation or obstruction, and your yin and yang in balance.
So enjoy yourself exercising, just do it properly.