When we are trying to get pregnant, and it’s not working, it can be a devastatingly painful experience.

I began my work with chronic pain and cancer patients using a combination of reiki, intuition and mindset coaching to move them through the physical and emotional blocks that were holding them back from living the life they wanted.

One of the main principles that’s been studied everywhere from Louise Hay to Edgar Cayce to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is that there’s an emotional cause to the physical condition and when that’s addressed, the physical condition lessens or disappears.

A few years into my work I began to notice many of the women nearest and dearest to me having fertility issues, so I began applying these techniques and one after another, they got pregnant—after years of trying. Since then, I’ve become so passionate about helping as many women as possible move through this.

There are so many key elements that all must align in order for our bodies to conceive—fascinating things like: mindset, energy, unhealed emotional wounds, childhood patterns, external factors… and so much more!

So after closely studying my clients’ inner and outer worlds, I’ve discovered some fascinating facts. I’ve identified 15 external factors that appear to play a huge role in our fertility. And there is one external factor that appears to wreak the most havoc on our reproductive systems, and there are three simple steps to turn it around. We often give our power to everyone but ourselves when we’re struggling with fertility, and this is one step toward taking it back.

So today we’re just going to talk about he number one external factor affecting fertility, and that is (drumroll):

Having a stressful job.

While most people would describe their job as stressful, we’re not talking about any old stress. We’re talking about those of us who are teachers, nurses, caregivers or CEOs. Those of us who are responsible for others, groups or teams of people.

If this is sounds familiar, you’re likely great at what you do, and probably have the tendency to get to work early, stay late and put your all into your job.

But here’s the problem:

When we find ourselves under constant stress, our body’s fight-or-flight mechanism kicks in. And that’s fine (and normal!) now and then, but when those stress responses are triggered day after day, hour after hour, we’ve got a serious biological problem on our hands.

Fight-or-flight is awesome when we’re being chased by wolves, but it’s far from helpful when we’re simply living our modern lives, trying new things or meeting our deadlines.

When we’re in careers where we’re carrying so much responsibility, and are energetically and mentally maxed out—our brain/ego can subconsciously put the kibosh on our lady parts, as if to say:

“We’ve already got way too much on our cellular-plate, we literally can’t take care of another human being!”

Over 75% of my private infertility clients are in these high-stress, high-pressure fields—showing me a definite correlation. And although it’s admirable to be a get-there-early, leave-late, give-it-your-all type of woman, it can be getting in our way. Big time.

Now, you might be saying:

“Great… but I can’t quit my job right now!” or “But I love my job—does that mean I’ll never have a baby?”

Not at all!

So what can we do about it?

1. First, we want to look at some ways we can slowly start conserving more energy.

We can do this by writing a journal entry to explore our current career path. Ask yourself: “Am I in the career that I am meant to be in? Or do I feel obligated to be there, instead?”

I’ve witnessed so many situations where a client had to address this one issue first… before the baby could ever make its appearance. If there’s no extra energy, or extra room in our schedule for a baby to appear, it may not.

(Don’t be freaked out, but most of my infertility clients end up moving or changing their career in some capacity. The fascinating part is: it’s always a much easier process—and far more fulfilling—than they ever could have imagined!)

2. If we usually stay late at work most nights, can we commit to reducing this?

Let’s start by only staying late two days a week this month. Then next month only allow ourselves to stay late one day per week. Then can we wean ourselves to zero!?

And if we are on one or more committees or organizations at work, cut down involvement, or pass it on to someone else.

The more we can reduce this, the better our chances of helping our bodies open up to the possibilities of creating a baby!

Two of my clients who are teachers were involved in several extra things besides their teaching responsibilities like: teacher’s union committee, AP classes, tutoring, department head, taking masters classes, and club advisors. While these are all admirable things, they were sucking their energy dry.

Their brains were trying their best to help—by preventing their bodies from taking on one more responsibility.

But once these two clients removed these external stressors, and dumped some of their extracurricular responsibilities, they finally got pregnant!

Warning: Don’t make the mistake a lot of women make by telling yourself: “When I get pregnant, I’ll cut back.”

This could literally be the very thing preventing that bouncing bundle of joy from springing into our lives… at last!

So take that action now. Shout out to the Universe that you’re ready and willing to make space for this adorable munchkin to show up.

3. Find 10 minutes a day to implement some sort of grounding practice.

Grounding is simply a way to get out of your head and into your body.

Two great ways to get “grounded” are yoga and meditation. But don’t worry: if you’re not into those (yet) we can do something as simple as taking a bath with some essential oils. Or go sit in the park, or near a patch of grass on your lunch break—and connect to the Earth in some way. Listen to some soothing music with your hand on your belly, inviting the baby’s energy in. Or heck: have a solo dance party in your living room to “Eye of the Tiger”—whatever floats your fertility-boat!

I’ve been shocked by how much can be changed with just a few simple shifts. Whether we know it or not, our bodies are far smarter, wiser and more intuitive than we may ever realize. We just tend to listen to our brain/ego more often than our intuition. So doing things that get us in our bodies will help us be able to plug into that intuition more regularly.

I see miracles happen every day in my practice. And my wish for you is that you know you can do this.

All the best on your journey future mama!

Relephant: 

The Blessing (& Curse) of my Infertility.

Author: Andrea Blake

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Jenny Downing/Flickr