Bikram Yoga and Trying to Conceive (TTC)

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BlacknPersian
Participant

February 23, 2013 at 4:00 am

Post count: 2

#2493

Hello Gabrielle (Yoga Doctor!) and Yogis,

I’m new to The Hot Yoga Doctor. Matter of fact, I have never been a member of any online forum, but I LOVE Bikram yoga and I came across your website while doing a google search. I’m so excited to be a part of this online community and can’t wait to see all the classes and additional information your site has to offer.

So, I was wondering what is your take on doing Bikram yoga while trying to conceive. I know that there are a variety of opinions out there. Some say to refrain from practing Bikram yoga in a hot room during the timeframe of ovulation because an egg is usually released at a woman’s coldest temperature out of the month. Hot yoga can potentially raise your temperature to which an egg is not released at your “expected” timeframe during ovulation or worse off, an egg never gets released because your body temperature is “thrown” off by the elevated heat. However, some advise to continue to practice Bikram yoga even if you are trying to conceive, but once you know you are pregnant, stop but practice Rajashree’s pregnancy yoga in an unheated room (However, you can return to moderate heat after your first trimester while still practicing Rajashree’s modified moves.)

My main concern is what advice would you give women who are trying to conceive and still want to practice bikram yoga? Should they continue to practice Bikram Yoga in a hot room, but only refrain from their practice during the timeframe of ovulation? Although I understand that this is a conversation that I must have with my doctor (which I have), I’m just curious what your thoughts/advice is.

I would greatly appreciate your feedback and most importantly, thank you for creating this forum for all HOT YOGA junkies 🙂

Namaste!

Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
Forum Owner

March 13, 2013 at 1:09 am

Post count: 3048

#10370

Hello Azita (I seemed to have left this written for a couple of weeks. I didn’t press submit. I definitely was distracted when I was putting the finishing touches on my new Salads book! Here’s what I wrote:)

Thanks for joining us! 😉

So I would highly recommend popping the word “conceive” into the search facility at the top of the page. You will find 5 very well visited posts on the subject.

In short: If you are well acclimatised to the heat and you know the series, you can keep on doing it!

I thank you for the information about the ovulation temperatures. I think that that would be relevant in some cases from a statistical standpoint. Where I think it could ‘fall down’ is that it wouldn’t take into account the healthiness of the whole system of someone with a regular Bikram practice.

You will read elsewhere that people I know including students and personal friends (students too) who had previously tried to conceive for years and even one particular woman who was told that she would never, ever have children. She has 2 gorgeous girls now, one 7 and one 3.

That’s where I finished 2 weeks ago. Here’s what I added today:

Personally, I could think of nothing worse than doing the series in an unheated room when I love the whole heated experience. I found the altered video experience very unsatisfying (Rajashree vid).

When you make up your mind as to what is right for you you may even choose to continue in the hot room. There are ways to fully participate AND help prepare your body for childbirth.

In the meantime you have probably spoken to your doc. The hot-yoga-friendly or hot-yoga-phobic status of your doc may have influenced you. Ultimately you have to follow your intuition. Many MANY mummies (mommies) have kept the hot yoga going right from before conception to full term. I did! It was a gift. I am sure I mentioned that the top obs/gyn in the area at the time said there was no reason for healthy mums not to do it. Your choice! Always!

Please share your thoughts

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂
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