Fertility Tips

Anyone who knows me knows I've never had a child, and that, for the most part, I don't want one - or not right now at least. That being said, most people who know me, know that I've learned a lot about home remedies and general health information in my life. And so, over the years I've been asked by many people what kind of tips I know for conception. I was writing a bunch of those tips out for a friend of mine today and thought to myself - hey, there's some knowledge that might be worth posting in a blog... so here we go.

So Tip #1 - Remove or minimize your exposure to harsh chemicals like those found in cleaners. Clean things with very natural cleaners (the types found in healthfood stores for people with chemical sensitivities), or with good old fashioned vinegar and baking soda. Household chemicals cause a lot of miscarriages, so just imagine what they can do to the delicate balance you need to maintain to get pregnant in the first place. That's a good point too... don't just limit them while getting pregnant, avoid the increased chance of miscarriage by not using them during pregnancy either. If you simply MUST use a chemical cleaner in your home, ask your husband to do that piece of the cleaning, and ventilate well before you re-enter that room. It is best if he can stay away from the chemicals too, because males have fertility issues too sometimes (it could just as easily be him as you that is having the hard time), but it's even more vital for the mother to maintain that perfect harmony in her body. Of course, I spoke of household chemicals here, but industrial chemicals are even worse - so try even harder to avoid them if you can. If you have to deal with harsh chemicals at work, try talking to a supervisor and asking if you can shuffle some duties - it never hurts to ask. A few other things to avoid that most people wouldn't think of when they think of chemicals in their lives: Candles (buy/use only soy wax or beeswax), perfume/cologne and scented products ~ try to go fragrance-less except for deodorant, and/or try to go all-natural (even for deodorant if you can - by the way all-natural means essential oils, not anything called "fragrance").

Tip #2 - Buy a datebook and track your menstrual-cycle. This is not just about looking for ovulation times (typically the 12-16 day after your bleeding stops), but about getting in touch with your body. [You can also get into recording temperature - higher temperature without fever usually means more ready to conceive]. It also lets you know whether your cycle is stable. If it isn't stable, that's where to start your work. Keeping a completely dark room (use blackout curtains) to sleep in on all nights except the 3 nights of the Full Moon (day before, of, and after on most calendars) helps re-tune and stabilize your cycle.

Tip #3 - Work on stress reduction. You actually may have gotten pregnant several times already, but cast the fertilized egg aside within days if your stress is too high. This is actually a natural protection process to ensure that parents are ready to handle a child! (It doesn't always kick in unfortunately, but hey, Mother Nature had a good idea if not perfect execution of that idea). And when I talk about stress, I'm talking about 4 things...
Past stress - unresolved issues (usually from childhood or a trauma) that can leave people jumpy/sensitive (this is the "symptom" to look for if you're not sure if you have past stress)
Present stress - frequent arguments either at home at work or with family/friends, stress from too-full days, etc.
Future stress - worry about what may or may not come to pass ~ most especially regarding money and, you guessed it, conception itself.
Body stress - from irregular or not enough sleep, nutrition, exercise, etc.
It's really important to get yourself into a place of good health if you want to become pregnant.

Tip #4 - Gain some weight. I'm not saying here that you should "get fat", it's fine if most of the weight gained is muscle. The key here is to bulk up to a curvier stature. There's a reason why curves are accentuated by many styles and generally considered attractive - they are a sign (which usually speaks to the male subconscious rather than conscious mind) of fertility! Basically put, a gal needs to have a little bit of 'extra' weight on her to be at maximum fertility. Biologically speaking this is so that if a time of famine were to arise she would not miscarry the child, or harm herself, so easily as she would if she had no extra body-stored-nutrition (IE fat). It is about nutrition and balance for your body though, so this one is a little tricky. What you typically want to do is up your fat percentage in dairy and keep your exercise level up (or even increase it slightly) to achieve some of this curvature gain. Milk, it does a body good.

Tip #4B - In some cases, and you'll know if it's you, loosing a bit of weight is more appropriate than gaining it. Being overweight may be good for fertility but it doesn't do your immune system (or overall health) any favours.

Tip #5 - This is the fun one, practice, practice, practice. Some people swear by certain sexual positions to increase fertility because they maximize sperm-delivery... the problem is, which positions do that for you depends on your body shapes and flexibility, so the best advice here is to practice many positions and practice often. Another important point in this category is that it IS proven that fertilization is much more likely to occur if you reach orgasm, and preferably before he does. It's OK if it's way before, say during foreplay, just so long as it's before. It's because this is a signal to your body that you have chosen your mate (rather than being forced into the situation - again Mother Nature with the great plan but less than perfect execution of it) and it allows your body to open up more and increases your circulation in-there; which helps set the ideal (warmer than average) environment for conception.

These 5 tips are just the simple and un-Magickal stuff to work on. Getting into Fertility Magick is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, as the saying goes. Whether you're Magickally inclined or not, I don't think it's as important in what specific way folks get spiritual with their fertility goals, but I do think it helps to get spiritual about it. Magick and prayer share a lot in common. You determine what it is you want and you ask for it. In ideal cases you also open yourself to receiving guidance about how what you want should come to be in your life. So in short what I'm saying here is keep up your prayers and trust... which will also lower your stress.