Call (212.213.5785) or email Elizabeth to talk about your fertility challenge.

I have the special privilege of working closely, every day,  with the most incredible SuperWomen seeking to conceive a child in the midst of their SuperWoman lives.   Their challenge is not easy.  Among other things, they must re-direct some of their energy away from the behaviors that make them super successful in the world, toward behaviors that make them more fertile.  The hardest one is getting a handle on worry and control.  To enhance fertility, we want to induce the Relaxation Response. 

As mammals, we are biologically set up to not go into heat or reproduce when there is danger.  That's a hard wired safety mechanism Nature has brilliantly installed.  If your senses are reporting to your brain that you are safe, it sets the chemistry and messaging signals in play that permit reproduction.  If it receives input that you are in danger (i.e. on a daily basis you are telling yourself the story that things are not right--stressed out), it favors the chemistry of the stress response...ultimately competing with reproduction both by restricting blood flow to the reproductive organs and by allowing stress hormones to dock where reproductive hormones would.  Yikes.

You can imagine this is a snowball downhill. The more trouble you have with fertility, the more you want to control the situation and do everything you can and do it perfectly.  Yet, that worry-control-fear factor sends the internal message you are in danger, putting your goal further out of reach.

Below is an email response I sent to a SuperWoman worried and angry at herself today...because she unwittingly made a mistake. She went in for an IUI and found out she hadn't ovulated yet...meanwhile, she had taken the post-ovulation herb formula I prescribed, for just one day:

"Hi [Superwoman],

First, there is rarely a reason to be mad at oneself. Did you do your best? Did you use your very best reasoning to make your decision? Did you have your own and others' best interests at heart when you performed the action or decision? Would you be angry at someone else if they did the same thing? Treat yourself with the respect and kindness you accord others.

Second, you have nothing to worry about. Natural medicine is powerful, yet its intervention works differently than the way drugs work. Herbs are not pharmaceuticals, even though pharmaceuticals are often derived from herbs. Rather, herbs are invitations to the body to perform at a higher level. While each prescription is targeted to enhance the goals of that half of the cycle, they will not harm the other half. Simply use the follicular herbs until you clearly have ovulated.

Third, do your breathing. Find something to laugh at. Enjoy your weekend. And know that you are doing everything you need to be doing. Nothing more is required or possible....except to give your body the leg up it gets when you relax.

Fourth, buy this short, quick read of a book: The Four Agreements. That's your homework."

  Dance with Rachel every Wednesday night!

                Recently I participated in a workshop where we used the dance practice, 5 Rhythms to go deeper into the self and fully integrate the body. So what does that mean? How do we know if we’ve fully integrated all parts of ourselves? I think the best way to find the answer is to look at the opposite extreme, the times when we’ve felt totally disconnected.

                In the workshop, the teacher, Jonathon Horan, spoke about the sensation of being a “walking, talking head.” This was certainly an image to which I could relate. There have been many times when I’ve been so in my head, focusing on my thoughts and obsessions that I am essentially completely disconnected from what’s going on in my body. Often it takes a physical sensation to snap me out of that state such as pain. Pain is always a good indication that we’ve become disconnected from our bodies and sensation. But of course, we’d all prefer a pain-free way to reconnect our bodies! So when you find that your mind is racing, that you’re having imaginary conversations in your head or constantly going over your to-do list, make a conscious decision to come back to your body, to your sensations. One way to do that would be by focusing on your breath. Notice the breath coming in to your belly, expanding your rib cage, causing your collar bones to rise slightly and then slowly exhale with control consciously drawing the navel inward towards the spine.

                Once you’ve become reconnected to your body through noticing one aspect of yourself, such as the breath, turn on some music and begin to add on to that sensation of breath little by little, sensing perhaps your hands and the movement of your fingers. Moving up your arms you can then begin to sense the movement and sensation of your elbows which then leads to sensing the shoulders.  Part by part, using the joints as your guides, you sense and move until you feel the body moving as a fully-integrated whole. In Nia we call this systemic movement.

                You can then take this fully-integrated body out into the world and interact with the people in your life. You may find it is a totally different experience to see, listen and take in sights and sounds around you with your whole self as opposed to that talking head. I like to see my dance practice as a sort of laboratory, a place to experiment and prepare for life in the “real world.” The playfulness of Nia and dance provides a safe space for us to explore stepping into and moving with our whole selves. Come dance and play each week! Let’s see what we can discover!