Fertility Yoga for the Follicular Phase, Spring
Giselle Rouvier
Exercise
34 min
This video offers a guided fertility yoga practice tailored for the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, the period between menstruation and ovulation. During this phase, the body prepares for ovulation, making it an ideal time to focus on boosting energy, enhancing circulation, and stimulating hormone production. The yoga sequences in this video are designed to support reproductive health, increase vitality, and promote a sense of balance. Through dynamic movements and breathing exercises, you'll nurture your body and mind, helping to create an optimal environment for fertility during the follicular phase.
Video Transcript
00:00:00 Hi there and welcome. Today we're focusing on the follicular phase of your menstrual cycle or the spring phase, right after your period ends and before ov ulation. Think of this time as the body's natural time for renewal and growth. Your ov aries are preparing to release an egg and your intomutral lining is thickening to support a potential pregnancy. This phase aligns with a waxing moon which, like your body, is gradually building energy and potential. In today's practice, we'll use poses that will
00:00:29 building energy and potential. In today's practice, we'll use poses that will stimulate the ovaries, improve blood flow to the uterus, and calm your nervous system. You may feel more energized so we'll channel that into strength building and opening up the body. You might want to grab a blanket and a yoga block for extra comfort, but you can totally do this practice without any props. So let's come to our meds to begin. So we're going to start in a sitting So let's come to our meds to begin. So we're going to start in a sitting
00:01:01 position. So if you want to sit on a block, you're welcome to. I'm going to sit online and cross my legs in front of my body, like so. And here I would like to invite you to bring the left hand over your heart and the right hand over your body or your lower belly. And you're welcome to close your eyes here. We're going to start with a brief visualization. So you can begin to notice your lower belly. Notice if there's any tension or any sensations down there.
00:01:48 And without judging, just let those sensations be present with us right now. And now bringing your awareness to your breath. Just gently noticing the inh And now bringing your awareness to your breath. Just gently noticing the inh ales and the exhales without trying to change anything, just noticing and also welcoming. However your breath is right now. Now moving your attention to your emotional and mental state. Just noticing how your inner landscape looks like.
00:02:39 As you gently breathe in and out of your body, such a bring your awareness to your heart. And from your heart, visualize love being poured down into your womb. Feeling And from your heart, visualize love being poured down into your womb. Feeling that space with light and warmth. With each breath, more love, pours down into your womb. Feeling it with warmth and light. Now gently bring your hands together in front of your heart in prayer position.
00:03:29 Now gently bring your hands together in front of your heart in prayer position. And you can connect here to your intention to get pregnant and to connect to your feminine energy and your fertile nature. Gently you can bring your chin down, bowing down to your heart. Gently you can bring your chin down, bowing down to your heart. And slowly blink open your eyes coming back to your class. Now we're going to come into the first position. So you can put your block to the side. Bring your knees to the mat, so you're
00:04:20 in a tabletop position. Bring your toes together behind you. Knees are together as well. And then bring your hips to your heels and slowly bring your chest to your And then bring your hips to your heels and slowly bring your chest to your thighs. So your arms are in front of you. You're going to slide the arms forward like so. Your hands are open and pressing the mat.
00:04:41 And then you're going to come down towards the floor with your head. And we're going to breathe here, slowly filling up your belly with air and exh aling out. I'm going to do this two more times. Inhale and exhale. I'm going to do this two more times. Inhale and exhale. Last one, really filling up the belly with air with an inhale. And slowly exhale. Now from here as you inhale, bring your hands forward a little bit.
00:05:29 And you're going to come up into an all-force position. And you're going to come up into an all-force position. Now you can separate the knees apart. And notice if your knees are right below your hips and your hands right below your shoulders. Now you can tuck your toes like so. And as you inhale, you're going to lift the chin up. Lift the tailbone high, curving the spine, bringing your shoulders down your
00:05:53 back. And as you exhale, you're going to round your spine, tailbone down. And as you exhale, you're going to round your spine, tailbone down. And separate the shoulder blades as you press the mat away from you. Inhale, lift up. Exhale, round. Now let the breath initiate the movement as you inhale shoulders down, chin up. Exhale, round.
00:06:29 Two more at your own pace, your own breath rhythm. Two more at your own pace, your own breath rhythm. Last one, filling up the lung with air with vital energy. Exhale, curving the spine, bringing the belly button in and up just a tiny bit. Coming back to neutral position. From here, you're going to come up into downward facing dog. So slide your hands a little bit forward. And then bring your toes to the floor, lift your hips up and back into downward
00:07:08 facing dog. Now here you can pedal the feet, left and right. And if your feet doesn't touch the floor, it's okay. No problem. When you're ready, come into a still position and down dog. When you're ready, come into a still position and down dog. Just take a breath here, releasing the head, pressing the mat away from you, lifting the tailbone high.
00:07:40 And then exhale, bring your knees to the floor. From here, you're going to come up into a high kneeling position. And we're going to step the right leg as you inhale forward. Now from here, you're going to bring the left hand to the floor, right beside your front foot. your front foot. And I'm going to give you options. You can stay here if this feels okay for you , or you can lift the back knee off the floor.
00:08:09 And maybe move your foot back a little bit so you have more room. As you inhale, you're going to reach with the right arm forwards and then all the way up and open up to the side. Side twist. Breathe here. Breathe here. Inhale. Exhale.
00:08:40 On your next inhale, you're going to reach back with the arm and then circle all around all the way up and then exhale back down. Two more like that. Inhale, lift. Exhale all the way down. Last one. Inhale. Last one. Inhale. And exhale. Now bring both hands to the floor.
00:09:08 You're going to lower the back knee down. Step back with the right leg. Press both hands into the mat and come back into a downward facing dog position . One breath here, pressing the mat away, bringing the heels towards the floor. They don't need to touch. Just the intention. Using your legs to bring you back.
00:09:38 And as you exhale, lower the knees down to the floor again. We're doing the same thing on the other side. So come into a high kneeling position. Exhale here. Inhale, step the left leg forward like so. Then bring the right hand to the floor besides your front foot. And again, you can stay with the back knee on the floor or you can lift it up and straighten the leg.
00:10:08 So this is a pretty wide stance here. Really focusing on opening the area close to your pelvis. Now inhale, reach the left arm all around and up, opening up to the left side. Two breaths here to prepare. Keep pressing the right hand onto the floor and lifting up away from the floor. Keep pressing the right hand onto the floor and lifting up away from the floor. On your next inhale, going to reach the arm all the way around and all the way up.
00:10:43 Exhale. Two more circles just like that. Inhale, reach. Open up. And exhale. Last one, inhale. And exhale. Now this time, you're going to bring both hands and frame the front foot.
00:11:05 And we're going to step forwards all the way to the front of your mat. Fold over your legs. Your knees can be soft here. Release the head and the neck towards the floor. Take a breath here. Inhaling through the nose. Open the mouth. Exhale.
00:11:25 Let us sigh out with a nice and attention from your body. Let us sigh out with a nice and attention from your body. Inhale, you're going to lift only halfway, flaten your back. You can put your hands on your shins. Make sure that your back is flat. And then exhale, fold again. Now bend your knees. We're going to roll up to stand all the way up.
00:11:51 So as you inhale, start to roll yourself all the way up. And the head is going to be the last one to arrive. And the head is going to be the last one to arrive. Keep pressing your feet down, connecting to the earth, connecting to this fertile energy from the earth, into your body. And then lifting the chest, the heart up towards the sky. And here you're going to open the arms, open the heart, bring your arms to the sides, and all the way up, palms touch.
00:12:27 Exhale, bring all that energy to your heart. And again, open up, circle the arms around. Reach up. You can look up and exhale, slowly bring all that energy to your heart. Last time, inhale, open the heart. Reach, reach, reach, stand super tall. And then exhale, bring it to the heart. Reconnecting here to your intention for this practice.
00:12:56 Reconnecting here to your intention for this practice. Your innate fertile energy. And then slowly lower the arms down. We're going to step back with the right leg, all the way to the back of your mat. Your toes are turned towards the side a little bit. And you're going to bend the front knee. Keep that knee aligned with the front toe.
00:13:27 And then open your arms to the sides. You're coming into Warrior II Pose. You're coming into Warrior II Pose. Now keep pressing the back foot onto the floor. And then look up. Forward, I should say, to your front hand. Take a deep breath here. Exhale, lower the back arm hand to your back leg.
00:13:54 Flip the front palm, open to the sky, and then lean back. Reverse Warrior. Reverse Warrior. You can look up if that doesn't hurt your neck, or you can look down if that feels better for you today. Up to you. Opening the side of the body. Really breathing into the side lung.
00:14:16 Exhale, come back into that Warrior II position. And then gently extend the front leg. We're going to turn to the side of your mat. So bring your toes to the right, your left toes to the right. So bring your toes to the right, your left toes to the right. And then you're turning to the side of the mat. We're going to do the same pose looking to the back of your mat. So turn the right toes forward.
00:14:46 Are you really looking towards the back now? Bend the right leg. Press the left leg behind you, into the floor. Like rooting down. Keep the front knee bent, and open your arms to the sides. Keep the front knee bent, and open your arms to the sides. Press here. Come lower if you can.
00:15:10 Notice if your knee is trying to lean in or out towards the left or the right. Keep it aligned with the big front toe. The big toe. And then gently as you exhale, bring the back hand to your back. Now the left leg. Get the front palm open, and then lift up, opening the heart up, and then Get the front palm open, and then lift up, opening the heart up, and then leaning back.
00:15:39 Keep the front knee bent. Deep inhales here. Enjoying the opening on your rib cage so that the oxygen, the lung can really work better. Last inhale. Exhale, extend the front leg. Exhale, extend the front leg. Come to that warrior too again, and then extend the front leg.
00:16:07 Now, we're going to turn the toes to the side again. Bring your hands to your hips, and then you're going to heel toe your legs. Until they reach a little bit wider than hip distance apart. From here, we're going to do some hip circles. We're going to do 10 on each side. We're going to do 10 on each side. So if I ever lose you, you can just count 10 to the left and 10 to the right. So we're just going to start drawing circles with our hips.
00:16:43 Keep that warmth that you are feeling in your body right now going. I'm doing pretty wide circles, really connecting to all the muscles around your pelvis, around your hips, so inner thighs, outer thighs, all of this area. your hips, so inner thighs, outer thighs, all of this area. Imagine that your pelvis is gently rocking from side to side like you're crad ling a baby. I'm going to move over to the other side.
00:17:18 And just that same love that you would feel rocking a baby. You can imagine that same love being sent to your pelvis right now. You can imagine that same love being sent to your pelvis right now. And gently when you finish the 10th circle, you're going to come back to the neutral position, standing position. And we're going to come towards the front of your mat again. And we're going to come towards the front of your mat again.
00:18:01 So stepping with both feet to the front of your mat. We're going to again root down with your feet and then lengthen up, opening the heart towards the sky. Really feeling this connection with the earth, with Mother Earth as you breathe in. Open the mouth, let it out. On the next inhale, you're going to circle the arms out and all the way up,
00:18:26 On the next inhale, you're going to circle the arms out and all the way up, growing super tall here, bring your palms to touch, reach up. And as you exhale, bend the knees, soften them and then fold over your legs. On the next inhale, come to a flat back. Exhale, fold again. Inhale, step with the right leg all the way back, lower the back knee down. Then step with the left and come into a tabletop position.
00:19:15 From here, we're going to go down into the floor. And if you have a blanket nearby, you can use that as just an extra padding or extra pressure to put on your lower belly. to put on your lower belly. If you don't have it, no problem. It's just an option that you could use for this next pose. From here, you're in tabletop position.
00:19:41 You're going to slide forward with the weight of your body so your hips are going to come all the way down onto your mat. And make sure that you have your blanket there if you have one. And then you're going to slide your arms forward, your elbows forward. You're going to come into a spin pose. You're going to extend your legs back. Your toes are touching the floor, pressing the elbows down and back so that you
00:20:12 can really open your chest. Keep pressing the toes down onto the floor. And here you're doing a little bit of a side to side motion. This pose is really useful for gently nudging the ovaries and the pelvic region This pose is really useful for gently nudging the ovaries and the pelvic region of your body to stimulate and to help the release of a good quality egg.
00:20:45 If you like, if you like to visualize things, you can even close your eyes and visualize your body producing this incredible, perfect, healthy, high quality egg for you your body producing this incredible, perfect, healthy, high quality egg for you and building the beautiful, indomitial lining for a baby to come. And then slowly you're going to stop the rocking from side to side. You're going to come to a still position, press the elbows back over the heart,
00:21:26 breathe in and then exhale, come all the way down to the floor. in and then exhale, come all the way down to the floor. We're going to turn with our back to the mat. So I have to move this way because I have a mic, but you can just turn upside down so your belly face is the sky. Then you're going to bring your feet close to your booty, to your hips.
00:21:52 They are parallel. Your knees are facing up. Your arms are on the sides. You can keep the blanket if you use the blanket. You can keep the blanket if you use the blanket. You can keep the blanket right there, no problem. And you can shimmy your shoulders down the back and closer to each other. Now we're going to do bridge pose.
00:22:12 So from here, you're going to lift your pubic bone up towards the sky as you're like imprinting the lower back onto the floor and slowly lift up all the way up. Your hips up. Keep pressing your arms down as you lift up. Keep pressing your arms down as you lift up. Make sure that your legs are not opening up to the sides or internally. Exhale, come down.
00:22:41 We're going to do this two more times. On the last time, the third time, we're going to hold up. So inhale, lift the pubic bone towards the sky and then lift the whole hip up off the mat. Keep pressing the feet down, lifting up. Keep pressing the feet down, lifting up. Exhale, come back down. Last time, and this is the one we're going to stay for three breaths.
00:23:14 So prepare here. Bring your shoulders together. Shoulder blades together, shoulders down. Inhale, pubic bone up. Lift the hips up, press the feet down. And we're going to stay here for three breaths. If this feels like too much today for you, we can always come down to the floor .
00:23:35 No problem. If you want to intensify the opening of your heart, you can bring your hands together, interlace your fingers, and then open up a little bit more. Your arms are straight and pressing down as you lift the hips up. Your arms are straight and pressing down as you lift the hips up. Last breath here. And slowly come back to the floor, hips down, bring your knees to your chest.
00:24:19 Gently give yourself a hug. Maybe sway from side to side, rocking your body. Maybe sway from side to side, rocking your body. And then gently you're going to bring your knees, both of them, to the right. So they're a little bit outside of your mat. And then you're going to open the left arm out and the right arm out into a T position. And you're going to look away from your legs.
00:24:52 If you like a little bit more sensation here, you can use your right hand to press your legs down to the floor as you open up to the other side, up to you. legs down to the floor as you open up to the other side, up to you. Twists are really great for bringing blood, nutrients, and oxygen to the pelvic area. So this is a great opportunity for you to imagine all this incredible flow of oxygen
00:25:26 and nutrients going all the way down into your uterus, into your womb, and nutrients going all the way down into your uterus, into your womb, making it the perfect place, just the perfect optimal place for pregnancy to occur. Gently come back to center with your legs. And we're going to go straight into the other side. So you might need to shift your hips a little bit to the center of your mat if So you might need to shift your hips a little bit to the center of your mat if
00:26:01 they moved too far from it. And then you're going to bring with your left hand both legs to the side. So keep your knees bent. Your legs are not straight down here, they're really close to your chest as close as they can be. Just moving my gear here. And then open up to the side. And here you can enjoy the twist opening the
00:26:27 And then open up to the side. And here you can enjoy the twist opening the chest, but also the compression that you're creating with your legs into your lower belly. So focusing on your breathing, the inhales and exhales through the nose, So focusing on your breathing, the inhales and exhales through the nose, feeling the lung with air with what we call a yoga prana, life force. And last breath here, make it count deep and sweet.
00:27:23 And exhale, come back to center. Give yourself the last little squeeze, your And exhale, come back to center. Give yourself the last little squeeze, your hug. And as you exhale, you're going to come into shavasana, corpse pose. And but this time we're going to do with bharakonasana. So you're going to bring the soles of your feet together. And here you might need the blocks. I like to dispose with blocks, but if you don't have them, you don't need them.
00:27:59 You can bring the blocks to the sides of your mat. You can bring the blocks to the sides of your mat. Bring the soles together. And then open the legs to the sides. So the blocks are really going to stay supporting the legs so that you can really relax into this pose and allow a much deeper opening of your pelvic region. So from here, you can bring your shoulders away from your ears and bring your shoulder blades together down your back.
00:28:37 Your hands could stay just opening up to the sky. And you can close your eyes. And before we relax, we're going to do three rounds of scyobra. So we're going to breathe in through the nose. We're going to open the mouth and just let it all go. All the sensations, all the frustrations of this journey. Inhale. Exhale again, let it all go.
00:29:28 Last one. Inhale deep into the body. Last one. Inhale deep into the body. Exhale, let everything go. Beautiful. Now we're going to stay here for a few breaths. Relaxing deeper into the body, allowing the body to just be. Lowing the body to release and let go so that it can become and ready for all Lowing the body to release and let go so that it can become and ready for all
00:30:07 that's coming up in your life and in your journey. Let go of the breathing, let go of the awareness. Try to just be. Try to just be. Thank you. [silence] [silence] [silence]
00:30:58 [silence] [silence] [silence] Now if you have more time, you can stay in this pose for up to five minutes. It's a delicious way to maybe wind down before bed. If you have to go, I'm going to start coming out of the pose with you. If you have to go, I'm going to start coming out of the pose with you. So gently bring, move into your fingertips.
00:32:11 And then gently bring your legs together, go slow. Bring your feet to the floor. You can get the blocks out of the way if you like. And here I like to do a little bit of a stretch as if you just woken up like a And here I like to do a little bit of a stretch as if you just woken up like a morning stretch. Before bringing your knees to your chest once again, rolling onto the side. And then coming up to a seated position just like we started.
00:32:48 From here you're going to bring your right hand to your lower belly, your left hand to your heart. You can close your eyes if you like, reconnecting to the love pouring down from You can close your eyes if you like, reconnecting to the love pouring down from your heart to your womb, feeling it with warmth and light. May this energy accompany you for the rest of your day, for the rest of your week.
00:33:21 Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for allowing me to guide you through this practice. Have a wonderful day. Have a wonderful day.
