Breathe Your Way to a Baby
Your breath is one of the most powerful tools you have for facilitating change in your physiology. Your breath reflects the state of your body’s stress response, but the key here for us is that your breath can also control the state of that same response.
Without conscious attention, your breath will reflect the state of your nervous system: shallow, and rapid when you are feeling under pressure, stressed out, or threatened; deeper and slower when you are relaxed, calm, and at peace.
Conversely, with conscious attention, your breath can control the state of your nervous system: ie conscious deep, slow breathing will transition you out of the sympathetic “fight or flight” response and into the parasympathetic calm, relaxed, and peaceful “rest and digest” state. If you’re trying to make a baby you want to spend more time here, because our physiology, in its wisdom, understands that the ideal time to make a baby is not when we’re being chased by a lion.
You can literally breathe yourself into relaxation by consciously engaging with and changing your breathing. You absolutely, literally, have the capacity to calm yourself down. (For the record, you also have the capacity to use your breath to pump yourself up — think of athletes before an event, or the Maori haka ritual.)
In addition to a calm and relaxed central nervous system, deep breathing will also increase tissue oxygenation, and increase blood flow to your pelvis, uterus, and the potential baby you hope to house there — a key aspect of reproductive health.
Your schedule:
25 gentle belly breaths, each night before bed, just after lights out.
Your approach:
Lie on your back, close your eyes, and situate yourself comfortably in bed.
Place your hands on your lower belly, just below your navel, palms facing down, right hand on your belly, left hand on top of your right.
Inhale gently (no force), and feel your hands rise as your belly expands.
Relax and exhale naturally, without force.
Your breath should be quiet and without force, yet deep and relaxed.
Repeat for 25 breaths. If you tend to have trouble falling asleep, start at 50 and count backwards from 50 to 1, letting all of your muscles relax even more deeply with each exhale.
You may fall asleep before you’re finished; if you don’t, you can re-start at 50 and count backwards again, or simply stay relaxed and resting in the peaceful dark.
Ready for some help on your health and fertility journey?
Your initial consultation is always free — come meet us in person and learn more.