Fully Fertile

by Amelia Hirota
(East Greenwich, RI, USA)

Fully Fertile, A Holistic 12-Week Plan for Optimal Fertility covers the areas of yoga, nutrition, acupuncture, meditation, relaxation and spirituality.

I liked this book and read it cover to cover, while on the treadmill. It's an easy and pleasant read. If you've been wanting to incorporate yoga into your preconception program, this is the book for you. The pictures of the poses (asanas) and the accompanying instructions make it very easy to create a yoga practice that fits into a busy life.

The book has a very comforting feeling and with 2 of the 3 authors experiencing fertility challenges personally, it's clear that the authors deeply understand the challenges of infertility.

Jeanie Lee Bussell presents a good overview of (TCM) traditional Chinese medicine and how the principles of TCM work to enhance fertility. I especially like that she recommends that both men and women get regular acupuncture treatments.

The fertility diet recommendations are spot on. Although the book is based on yoga fundamentals, the authors promote eating organic, hormone free meat, as they understand how important animal protein is to deeply nourishing the body. They recommend avoiding soy, excess dairy, caffeine, alcohol and smoking. At the same time, they promote consuming organic foods, fish oil, probiotics (like kefir) and non-processed foods.

Fully Fertile emphasizes the negative impact that stress has on fertility and presented a number of helpful ways to reduce stress. I really enjoyed the synopsis of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which broke down the mental afflictions into 5 obstacles or "kleshas." I can see how working on these "kleshas" could calm the mind, reduce stress and open the way for full fertility to be expressed.

Lastly, I found that the breathing and meditation exercises were clearly explained and surprisingly approachable. For people that are completely unfamiliar with mediation, the meditation exercises are easy to do. I was drawn to the last chapter on prayer and was left thinking about all of the things that we don't know about fertility and how small miracles happen every day.

I recommend this book for anyone that would like to use yoga and the principles of yoga to enhance their fertility. Also, it's an excellent guide to reducing stress with breathing exercises (pranayama), meditation and prayer.

Fully Fertile is a holistic program from the Pulling Down the Moon Center, which is an integrative Fertility Center in Chicogo, IL, offering services like acupuncture, yoga classes and IVF.