On today’s solo episode of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, I dive deep into the ancient practice of Pranayama, also known as yogic breathwork, and its profound impact on fertility. Breathwork may sound simple, or even unrelated to fertility, but the connection between your breath, nervous system, and reproductive health is incredibly powerful.

In this episode, I explain how specific breathing techniques can shift your body from a state of stress into one of rest and regeneration, promoting hormone balance, improved digestion, and pelvic blood flow all critical components of a healthy fertility journey. You’ll learn practical ways to integrate ancient breathing practices like Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing), Kapalabhati (breath of fire), Bhastrika (bellows breath), Bhramari (humming bee breath), and Ujjayi breathing into your daily routine.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or simply curious about new tools to support your body naturally, this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways: 

Breathwork regulates the nervous system, supporting hormonal balance and reproductive function.

Ancient yogic practices like Pranayama offer free, accessible tools for stress reduction and enhanced vitality.

Techniques like alternate nostril breathing and humming bee breath can be easily integrated into your daily life.

Breath can help release emotional tension and stimulate vagal tone, a key player in fertility health.

Conscious breathing increases oxygenation, supports digestion, and boosts clarity.

For more information about Michelle, visit www.michelleoravitz.com 

To learn more about ancient wisdom and fertility, you can get Michelle’s book at: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility 

The Wholesome Fertility facebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/ 

Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/ 

Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making any changes to your health or fertility care.

Transcript:

# TWF: 339 (solo episode)

**Michelle:** [00:00:00 ] Episode number 339 of the Wholesome Fertility Podcast. Welcome back to the Wholesome Fertility Podcast. I'm your host, Michelle Orbitz, and today we're diving into a deeply healing and powerful practice that has stood the test of time. It's called Pranayama or yogic Breath Work. You might be surprised to hear just how much breath work could influence your mind and your nervous system, and then in turn influence your reproductive health.

**Michelle:** 'cause we know that the nervous system plays such an important role on reproductive health. So if you wanna find out more about powerful breathing exercises that you can do so easily and they're free, that can influence your nervous system and how you feel. Overall, this episode is for you.

**Michelle:** Welcome to the Wholesome Fertility Podcast. I'm Michelle, a [00:01:00 ] fertility acupuncturist here to provide you with resources on how to create a wholesome approach to your fertility journey.

**Michelle:** So, so today I'm going to cover a very interesting topic, which is Pranayama. so this is an ancient Indian or yogi or yo guine practice that has been done for thousands of years.

**Michelle:** Pranayama or yogic breath work

**Michelle:** is extremely powerful And can really impact the mind and the nervous system. So if you wanna find out more on how to hack your nervous system, and if you've watched some of my earlier videos, I talk a lot about how your nervous system really can influence your fertility health because it gets you into a more rest and digest state.

**Michelle:** And it can also influence your inflammation and your digestion and even create more balance in your hormones. So if you are trying to conceive and you wanna [00:02:00 ] find out how you can really hack your body and mind through pranayama this amazing ancient tradition, this amazing ancient practice, then stay tuned.

**Michelle:** So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is pranayama?

**Michelle:** So in Sanskrit prana means life force vitality. So it's very similar to what chi in Chinese medicine means, and it's the life force vitality that goes through our body. a yma means control or expansion.

**Michelle:** So Pranayama in essence, is the art of controlling your breath to influence the life force vitality in your body.

**Michelle:** So it's not just about breathing more deeply though. That's part of it.

**Michelle:** It is about becoming aware of how your breathing can influence your hormone balance and your nervous system,

**Michelle:** as well as reducing stress. And these are all really important and impactful things when you're trying to conceive.

**Michelle:** So, although this [00:03:00 ] is coming from ancient India, this is something that can control all bodies and all different cultures. and it's one of the many gifts that we get from the ancient Vedas, Which is really linked to Ayurveda and yoga. The yogic tradition is the aspect of the physical, and it's more of the physical therapy aspect of it, but this is all part of really the science of life and how they're perceiving that you're able to, and how they're giving you tools to really access this amazing, intelligent life force that resides in your body.

**Michelle:** So just to kind of give you a little bit of an overview. So Prana is very similar to Q, which is Life Force Vitality, and this is basically the life force that we have that is intelligent and that keeps our body warm and that keeps our body functioning. So this is something that really is intelligent because that aspect of our bodies is [00:04:00 ] what tells ourselves what to do, and it also helps the self-healing mechanism of the body.

**Michelle:** And when we're in fight or flight, and I always come back to the nervous system than our body is more worried about survival. And regeneration is not as much of a priority because survival is more important. But what happens when we're in survival is that everything moves towards that survival, and it's not worried about digestion.

**Michelle:** It's not worried about inflammation. All the things that are running in the background. And it can also impact your sleep because when you're trying to survive, you can't rest, you can't sleep, you can't afford to, you wanna survive, you wanna be alive. So that's ultimately how the nervous system operates.

**Michelle:** But when we're getting that free flow of energy and that we're able to really be enriched with the QI and the life force of Prana, and we're able to get also in a more rest and digest mode, things will flow more easily and they're not gonna be as constricted as it does, as things [00:05:00 ] do happen with stress.

**Michelle:** And ultimately as an acupuncturist, one of the biggest things that I do is I work a lot on pelvic energy flow and blood flow. So when there's more flow in your body, there's more blood flow, there's less constriction. And as we know, many times when people have high blood pressure, you know, your blood vessels are actually.

**Michelle:** Muscle and those muscles tighten and it causes more constriction and more pressure. And we know that stress can even impact blood pressure. So that tightening is what happens when we're stressed, and ultimately that tightening is going to block. Impact, as I mentioned with the liberty, which is really its role, is to get that energy to flow.

**Michelle:** So one of the ways that we can hack really our minds and our bodies is through pranayama. And today I'm gonna talk about a couple of different. Techniques of breathing that you can do that will [00:06:00 ] immediately have an impact on how you feel and how the energy and the prana in your body is able to flow, which ultimately will be beneficial not just for your body and your reproduction, but also your mind.

**Michelle:** And I'm sure you know that if you are on the fertility journey, it can be very stressful. And when you're stressed, there's been studies that show that when you're stressed, you can't really make a clear minded decision. And as we know, when you're on the fertility journey, you need that decision making aspect of your mind because you are going through a lot of different choices and options that are being thrown at you.

**Michelle:** So the first breath that I am going to be sharing with you is called Nadi Shaana, and that is alternate nostril breath. I like to call it the yin and yang pranayama, although that's not really the name, because it balances the yin and the yang in our brain. So both hemispheres of the brain start to function and come [00:07:00 ] together.

**Michelle:** And this is one of the most immediate calming exercises that you can do. And what it does is it basically you alternate sides and you will block one nostril and breathe in, and you can breathe into like the count of four or the count of eight, whatever feels right. But if you slow it also, you'll start to feel a little more peace so you c