If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you may have noticed this topic has been a theme lately. As I have dialed in my nutrition in the last few months, I have noticed that there was still something missing. That missing piece is other healing that I need to do. While nutrition plays a vital roll in the healing of our bodies and in being able to bring in a healthy pregnancy and baby there are other aspects that are just as important. Here I am going to highlight some of my favorite non-nutrition healing practices.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times therapy is so important on this journey to healing with infertility and loss. As humans we need connection and women need even more of it than men. Our heritage is a tribal or communal people. We descend from small close-knit communities where we depended on each other for survival. This means deep connections were made and that need has been passed down through our genetic code. To be healthy we need to connection and going through infertility can make us feel so very disconnected. This is why it’s so important to find someone who gets it who can truly understand what you are going through and connect with you over it. I would encourage you to seek out one on one therapy with a therapist that specializes in infertility and even better would be one who has experienced it herself. Another great option is finding a support group where you can safely talk, cry, and heal through the sharing of yours and other’s stories. Resolve is a great place to search for local in person support groups.
Acupuncture is part of traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. It is based on meridians that run along the body that are considered the body’s energy highway system. It is believed now that the points that are stimulated by the needles during acupuncture are connected to the body’s central nervous system. Various points along the body are associated with specific organs and systems and when they are stimulated with the needle or some other form of pressure, they move qi (chi or energy) within that system or organ. By moving energy to that organ, you may be brining in extra blood flow or allowing it to communicate with the rest of your body where before things were stagnant or blocked. Not only has acupuncture been studied and proved to work for fertility in clinical trials it is also an amazing way to bliss out! We all know how stressful infertility can be and how important it is to not be stressed so even if your not sure if you believe in meridians it’s worth a try just for the sake of taking time for yourself to lay down and rest once a week.
Yoni or Vaginal steaming is a wonderful practice for nourishing your womb space. When you do a vaginal steam, you are sitting over a warm pot of herbs. It’s like tea for your vagina. You allow the steam to gently caress you for about 10 minutes. If you work with a practitioner the herbs in the tea will be chosen for your specific needs. Some benefits of vaginal steaming are bringing blood flow to the uterus, breaking down scar tissue from surgeries, and releasing any old tissue that wasn’t fully cleared during your period.
Reiki is an ancient practice from Japan. It involves a practitioner who helps bring in life force energy to you. Many practitioners focus on balancing the Chakras when practicing Reiki. Similar to Acupuncture Reiki can be used to bring energy back into organs and systems but it is really good at helping you to release negative energy that you have stored in your cells from past experiences including sub conscious thought patterns. It’s important though that you follow through with meditation and/or journaling in the days following the session so you can release the negative energies from your body.
There are also two other practices that I haven’t tried yet but have plans to in the future.
While some herbal work is internal and thus nutrition related there are other ways to use herbs. This includes products like poultices, creams, sprays, and baths. Herbs have been used for healing for centuries and there is definitely something so potent in such ancient knowledge. There is also something to be said for absorbing the herbal remedies through out skin especially if you have digestive issues applying what is essentially nutrition to the skin can really help you absorb somethings you are missing due to poor absorption in the gut. There is also so much magic to be had from getting something from nature that is picked with love and care and that hasn’t been adulterated by mass production. I would suggest looking for an herbalist that takes care in how they source their herbs.
Arvigo Maya Abdominal Massage is a combination of ancient mayan tradition and naprapathic methods of manipulation. It is a physical manipulation of the organs in the abdomen. Due to many factors like posture, accidents, and surgery the organs in our abdomen can shift and no longer be in proper position. This can affect the function of the organ due to it being slouchy, folded, or twisted and also lack of blood flow. Arvigo massage uses specific physical manipulation techniques to fix these issues.
There are also some free practices you can do to help your body that I do almost every day. Meditation and Journaling can help your mindset towards your body and relieve stress allowing things to work better. Castor oil packs help with blood flow and lymph drainage allowing your uterus and ovaries to work more efficiently. Warm baths also help with blood flow and relaxation. I do not think that all of these practices are necessary to bring optimal fertility but I do think that including some of them are important. Many of them have ancient roots and just because they are not actively practiced anymore in the west doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be and aren’t beneficial. Trust your intuition if one of these is on your mind and continues to come up for you after reading this you may want to look into finding a practitioner for it.