Photo credit: Caryn Metzger
by guest blogger Holly Walck Kostura, BSN and certified Iyengar Yoga teacher
As a yoga teacher, I regularly hear from my students about the challenges they’re facing: low back, neck, shoulder, and knee pain; high blood pressure; digestive disorders; headaches; anxiety and depression; and infertility are some of the most common issues mentioned.
It was not my karma to have children, and I thought my only (younger) sister was also going to remain childless. However, at the ages of 38 and 39 years old, respectively, she and her husband did an about-face on their “We don’t want to have kids” routine and quickly got pregnant. The resultant “Cookie,” as he is affectionately known, is one of the greatest loves of all of our lives; I personally cannot imagine life without him.
In her book, Yoga: A Gem for Women, Geeta Iyengar offers the following sage advice to all women of childbearing age: “Hence, it is recommended that every woman should begin to practice Yoga before conception, not only to improve maternal health, but also to ensure sound health for future generations.”
The sequence below is my offering to all of the students who have come up to me after class and asked, usually very quietly, “Are there any yoga postures I can practice to help me become pregnant?” It is written especially with those in mind who have the ones suffered the heartache of miscarriage or the sadness of seeing that stick read negative month after month, year after year. It’s of equal value for women and men.
Here’s looking at you, kid(s).
Namaskar,
Holly
A Yoga Sequence for Promoting Fertility (Of All Kinds, Really)
Reverse (T-Shape) Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Reverse Supta Baddha Konasana) (8–10 minutes)
Warrior Pose I & II (Virabhadrasana I & II) on a chair
Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend (Upavistha Konasana) and Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana), with a chair (5 minutes each)
Head-to-Knee Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana), variation (3–5 minutes each side)
Supported Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana) and Half Plow Pose (Halasana), with support of a wall and a chair
Corpse Pose (Savasana…of your choice!)
Holly Walck Kostura uses the healing practices of Ayurveda and Iyengar Yoga to secure her to the core of her being. Combining her bachelor’s degree in nursing with her certification in Iyengar Yoga gives her the ability to approach her students from a place of wholeness and infuse her yoga classes with a unique flavor. Find her online at yogawithholly.com.
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