11 Ways to Reduce Stress While Trying to Conceive
Guest Blog Post by Arielle Pinkston, MA, LMFT, FNTP
Trying to conceive can be an emotional and stressful process, making the journey to parenthood seem all the more challenging. Stress, whether physical or emotional, can impact the body in so many ways. Research suggests that stress can even impact your ability to conceive. While it’s impossible to completely eliminate stress from your life, in this post I'll be sharing effective ways to better manage and reduce it. Below are seven strategies to help you relax a little more and take care of yourself on your journey to motherhood.
How to Reduce Stress When Trying to Conceive
Taking care of your mental health while trying to conceive, is arguably the most important aspect for your emotional wellbeing. As a licensed therapist who struggled to concieve, I know first hand how hard it can be. Trying to get pregnant can be an emotional roller coaster. So here are a couple of tips to help support your mental health throughout the process of trying to conceive.
1. Maintain a Balanced Diet
Nutrition plays a vital role in fertility. Consuming a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can enhance your reproductive health and fertility. Eating a nutrient dense diet has amazing benefits for your mental and physical health.
Additionally, research suggests that maintaining a healthy weight through a balanced diet can improve hormonal balance and ovulation. If you've been trying to get pregnant for awhile, getting professional support from a nutritionist who specializes in women's health and fertility issues can be an amazing way to focus on what you can control.
2. Practice Yoga
Several studies suggest that yoga may have a positive impact on pregnancy rates, primarily by reducing stress, depression and anxiety levels, improving overall well-being, and enhancing blood flow to reproductive organs. However, it’s essential to note that research in this area is still evolving, and findings may not be entirely conclusive.
Yoga mainly works by reducing stress hormones like cortisol. High stress levels are known to impact fertility negatively and can affect menstrual cycles and ovulation, making conception more challenging. Yoga, as a mind-body practice, can help in managing stress and maintaining a sense of calm and balance, potentially creating a more conducive environment for conception.
Consider trying a group yoga class or incorporating some gentle yoga poses into your daily routine.
3. Use Breathwork:
Research suggests that breath work is an amazing tool for stress management and anxiety too. If you're interested in reducing stress levels, try incorporating some breathwork into your daily routine. One of my favorite breathwork practices is called 4-7-8 breathing.
4-7-8 breathing is a specific breathing pattern developed by Dr. Andrew Weil, a well-known integrative medicine practitioner. This technique is designed to promote relaxation and reduce stress by regulating your breath and calming the nervous system. It's a simple exercise that can be practiced almost anywhere and at any time.
How to do 4-7-8 breathing
Find a comfortable seated position or lie down on your back.
Close your mouth and gently breathe quietly through your nose to a count of 4. Inhale deeply and fully, filling your lungs with air.
Hold your breath for a count of 7.
Slowly exhale completely through your mouth to a count of 8. As you exhale, imagine releasing all the tension and stress from your body.
This completes one breath cycle. Now, inhale again and repeat the process for at least four breath cycles in total or until you feel calm.
If you found this helpful and are interested in learning more about breathwork, I have a blog post with 5 of my favorite breathing exercises for anxiety.
4. Engage in Regular Exercise
Research suggests that regular exercise can improve blood flow, regulate hormonal balance, help manage weight and a multitude of other amazing benefits. If you're trying to get pregnant, incorporating movement is an amazing way to prepare for the physical nature of pregnancy, and reduce stress levels. Find an activity you enjoy, whether it’s walking, swimming, yoga, or anything else that sounds fun and make it a part of your daily routine. Bonus points if this activity is outside. Getting your daily dose of vitamin d is so important for your mental health.
5. Establish a Support System
Building a support system of friends, family, can be incredibly beneficial. Sharing your feelings and experiences can help lighten the emotional load and reduce feelings of isolation. If you don't feel comfortable talking to friends and family about what's going on in your life, joining support groups with other women who are experiencing the same things can be a great way to feel empowered, connected and supported.
6. Prioritize Rest and Sleep
Adequate sleep is essential for hormonal balance, mood and overall well-being. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night, and consider incorporating relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or guided imagery, to improve sleep quality. If you notice that getting enough good quality sleep is a challenge for you, consider some ways to improve your sleep hygiene.
Some ways to improve sleep hygiene:
Create a Sleep Schedule:
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Consistency reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle.
Create a Bedtime Routine:
Engage in relaxing activities before bed, such as reading or taking a bath.
Avoid mentally stimulating or stressful activities close to bedtime.
Optimize Your Sleep Environment:
Make sure your sleep environment is cool, dark, and quiet. Consider using earplugs, an eye mask, or a white noise machine if necessary.
Mind Your Mattress and Pillows:
Ensure that your mattress and pillows are comfortable and supportive. Consider replacing them if they are old or uncomfortable.
Be Mindful of Food and Drink:
Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol close to bedtime.
Consider a light evening snack if you’re slightly hungry.
Exercise Regularly:
Regular physical activity can help regulate sleep patterns.
Avoid vigorous activities close to bedtime.
Manage Stress:
Try to manage stress through techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing.
Create a to-do list or journal to manage thoughts that may keep you up.
Limit Naps:
If you choose to nap during the day, aim to make it short, about 20-30 minutes.
Try to avoid napping late in the afternoon.
Limit Exposure to Light:
Get plenty of natural light during the day, and limit exposure to screens and bright lights at night time.
7. Connect With Your Partner
If you've been trying to conceive for awhile, there are so many emotions running through your body and brain at any given moment. All of these emotions can cause a strain in your relationship with your partner. Now more than ever it's important for you to feel supported by your partner. Below I am sharing some of my favorite ways to help you feel empowered to connect with your partner.
Open Communication: Share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences openly and supportively. Create opportunities to talk and be open about your needs and desires, ensuring that both of you feel seen, heard and understood.
Quality Time: Regularly spend quality time together, keeping romance alive. This could be engaging in activities that both of you enjoy to create shared experiences and memories or planning date nights. Whatever you need to do to help you feel like you're getting quality time with your partner.
Physical Affection: Be intentional about maintaining physical closeness through simple acts of affection, like cuddling and hugging. If you find yourself in a rut, keep the intimacy alive by being spontaneous and not just focusing on the fertile window.
Shared Goals: Talk about your future together, not just limited to trying to conceive, to maintain a broader perspective and shared dreams. If getting pregnant is a shared goal, make sure to educate yourselves together about fertility, conception, and pregnancy to feel more empowered and supported. This is your partner after all, dealing with these things together is crucial.
Support and Empathy: Provide emotional support, understanding, and encouragement to each other.Work towards acknowledging and respecting each other’s feelings and experiences during your journey to getting pregnant.
8. Limit Exposure to Triggers:
Try to identify and limit exposure to factors that might heighten your stress levels or lead to negative thoughts. Remember that it's ok if you need to unfollow or mute people who are sharing pregnancy announcements, images of their children, or any other thing that sends you down a negative spiral.
If you've been trying to conceive for awhile, it can be really hard when you see other people sharing the thing you so desperately want. This is a beautiful way to protect your energy and practice self-care.
9. Acknowledge Difficult Feelings
Whether you're in the initial phases of trying to conceive or going through infertility treatment, it's important to acknowledge how you feel about where you're at on your journey. Whether you're trying to figure out how to stop worrying about getting pregnant, or if it's even possible for you to get pregnant, all of your feelings are valid. Create space to honor and acknowledge your emotions exactly as they are. When it's hard to talk about what you feel, journaling can be an amazing way to let go of anything you might be holding onto.
10. Set Boundaries with Friends and Family
Trying to get pregnant and waiting for a positive result in those two weeks post ovulation can lead many women to feel anxious. If you have shared with friends and family that you have been trying to get pregnant, they might even be checking in on you regularly to see how baby making is going. This is where having strong boundaries can be super helpful.
If you like people checking in and asking then there's no need to change anything. But if it's starting to stress you out, it might be a good opportunity to re-examine how much you feel comfortable sharing and any potential boundaries that you might need to set.
11. Get Professional Help
If you're struggling with infertility and noticing that your mental health has been impacted, getting professional support can be super helpful. It's common to experience anxiety, depression and a myriad of other difficult emotions on your journey to motherhood. A mental health professional can provide coping strategies, resources, and a space to express your emotions and concerns. Whether you're interested in joining a support group, or working with a therapist individually, there are a lot of great treatment options out there to consider.
About the author:
My name is Arielle Pinkston and I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner in California. I hope you found these strategies helpful as you continue on your journey to pregnancy. You can check out some of my offerings on www.thattsowell.com. If you liked what I shared in this post, I have a 50+ page holistic pregnancy eBook that includes all things holistic nutrition, mindfulness, yoga poses, self-care practices and journal prompts to help support you on your journey to and through pregnancy.
It's an honor to get to do a guest blog post submission for Kayla Estenson Willams, she is an amazing resource for all things trauma and perinatal mental health. If you have been thinking about starting therapy and live in the state of Minnesota, you can learn more about her services here.