How old is your baby now?
"18 month."

Prenatal yoga – what do you remember was helpful for you?
"Breathing techniques ( golden thread!!!) , calming time for me, keeping active, keeping my body moving."

Postnatal yoga – what is most helpful now?
"Time for me, aid abdominal recovery."

What advice would you give to your younger self setting off on a fertility journey?
"Childbirth prep was amazing for both me and my husband in knowing what to expect. It gave my husband tools to support me ( which he used). Breathing techniques were sooooo valuable as well as advice on pain relief. I used TENS and held off gas and air until the pushing stage."

How old is your baby now?
"9 month."

Did your yoga practice help you on your fertility journey? And if so, what part of the practice was most helpful for you?
"Yoga helped me to reduce anxiety and find peace, especially during the IVF process."

Prenatal yoga – what do you remember was helpful for you?
"I particularly enjoyed the Gita School postures for hormonal balance, yoga nidra, and the mantras."

Postnatal yoga – what is most helpful now?
"When my baby was a newborn, yoga helped me to manage stress and fatigue. Now that my baby is older and that I am back to work, the weekly session with Sarah acts as a reminder that I should take care of myself… and try to lose this mummy tummy!"

What advice would you give to your younger self setting off on a fertility journey?
"If you feel ready, do not wait for the “perfect” moment to become a mother and for your parents to enjoy being grandparents. Taking care of your fertility is also a way to take care of yourself as a whole - body and mind - in a way that I found liberating."

How old is your baby now?
"10 month."

Prenatal yoga – what do you remember was helpful for you?
"Relaxation techniques, being mindful, stretching."

Postnatal yoga – what is most helpful now?
"All of it! Breathing and partner involvement especially."

What advice would you give to your younger self setting off on a fertility journey?
"Think positively and although this isn't helpful, relax!"

How old is your baby now?
"8 month."

Did your yoga practice help you on your fertility journey? And if so, what part of the practice was most helpful for you?
"Yes, definitely. I had struggled with fertility for sometime so I was advised to practise gentle yoga. I mainly practised fertility specific poses and also pranayama and meditation. Yoga helped me in building physical strength before I got pregnant but even more importantly, the pranayama and meditation really helped me stay grounded and sane while I went through my IVF journey."

Prenatal yoga – what do you remember was helpful for you?
"The asanas helped me build strength and agility during my pregnancy and get rid of aches and pains. However, I did practice a lot of meditation throughout my pregnancy which definitely helped keep my body in a state of balance and (believe-it-or-not!) helped with my physical stamina, endurance and pains, when I couldn’t practise asanas anymore, due to pregnancy complications."

Postnatal yoga – what is most helpful now?
"I’ve kept it simple and only opt for a gentle practise (yin yoga) as my body feels very tight and I’m yet to get back to my pre-pregnancy flexibility and strength-levels. I do ad hoc stretches from time to time if I feel any discomfort in a particular area. I have also gotten back to regular meditation which really helps with managing postpartum emotional upheavals as well as physical energy in a sleep-deprived reality."

What advice would you give to your younger self setting off on a fertility journey?
"Fertility is both a physical and a mental journey. The physical limitations are often a manifestation of our mental limitations and subconscious belief systems. It is SO important to think about this and let go of any limiting beliefs we may have been carrying from the past. While you work on the physical, let go of any subconscious doubts about the fertility journey, embrace the feminine and truly believe that it can happen for you. Practise fertility-related positive affirmations. They are so important and helpful."

"I live in Singapore. My children are 3 and almost 1, after struggling with fertility for about four years. As someone who’s always busy, yoga helped me to calm down, to consciously breathe, and carve out time for silence - I don’t want to call it meditation because that is super hard, so for me it’s just silence, in the midst of a loud world. Yin yoga in particular I found delicious, never a waste of my time. Also, when I finally got pregnant, it was when my body was at its strongest and fittest it had been in a long while, and vinyasa yoga helped with my strength.

Once pregnant, prenatal yoga has helped my body stay fit enough so that after birth, it bounced back pretty quickly, I was able to start exercising three weeks after I had my baby. I haven’t done any postnatal yoga.

Advice for my younger self at the start of a fertility struggle would be, to make sure I’m physically very fit - not limited to yoga, also lots of weights and running/cardio, and to start doing my own research sooner. It was only after I started reading about fertility, taking lots of supplements, asking the doctor for specific medication (which the doctors had not told me about), that I got a pregnancy that lasted. Had I not learned about these things, who knows how long it would have taken, or if I would have my children at all."