Fertility massage is an excellent way to prepare the body and womb for any couple planning to conceive. In The Natural Way to Better Babies, Francesca Naish lays out a program that creates the best possible beginnings for a baby. Massage, reflexology, and acupressure are all bodywork modalities she recommends.
My late husband, Sun Butler, was an organic farmer who knew the importance of fertile, nutrient-rich soil for growing plants. He knew that tilling and aerating the soil creates space for a deeper root potential to grow the crops. It is easy to extrapolate that pelvic massage will indeed aerate the reproductive soil, creating space and increasing oxygen flow to all organs and glands, in preparation for growing a baby.
Along with teaching the techniques of fertility massage, I also include the knowledge and timing of ovulation charting that is used to both prevent pregnancy and encourage conception. Like many of the “wise woman ways,” this knowledge of our cycles is lost when young ladies of childbearing age spend all their reproductive years on chemically-induced ovulation timing with birth control pills. To know your own reproductive cycle and rhythm is a dying art. I will often ask students in my course “do you know when you have fertile mucous, called spin?” I rarely find a student under 35 who knows how to determine ovulation using the fertile mucous method. Ovulation information has been largely overlooked due to the fast-paced and instant-gratification lifestyle we have all adopted. Ovulation timing is critical for the client and fertility massage therapist to know because it indicates when to give a fertility massage.
Alisa Vitti, in her book, In the Flo, educates women about their infradian rhythm - the 28-day biological cycle than governs our biochemistry and hormones. She urges women to pay attention to their bodies and recognize and honor that our bodies are not only following a 24-hour circadian rhythm, but they are also hard-wired to our "second clock", the infradian rhythm, which is just as crucial for living a healthy, balanced life. Vitti's Cycle Syncing Method™ helps women harness the power of their feminine cycle by laying out the ideal diet, exercise regimen, work/rest balance, etc. for each of the four phases of our 28-day cycle (learn more at floliving.com). Educating clients about their own body’s cycle is crucial for optimizing the chances for conception, and promoting self-awareness is one of the best gifts that massage offers.
Additional aspects of the techniques I use are specific oils and therapeutic grade essential oils blended to support hormonal balance for both the female and male. My dear friend and mentor, Cynthia Loving, is a master aromatherapist with more than 40 years in the field. She taught me about specific oils to use to support the conception process.
My Venus Oil blend is designed to cleanse the liver and kidneys. Some of the essential oils in this blend help to regulate hormones, and some work on the emotional body, bringing a sense of calmness and grounding. Venus Oil has a soft, flowery, feminine scent.
My Mars Oil blend includes essences that promote semen production and motility. Others cleanse and strengthen the liver. I personally love the scent of the Mars Oil – a woodsy, masculine smell. The essential oil blends for both genders include grapefruit to tone and cleanse the abdominal organs.
The recipes for these oil blends can be found in Claire's DIY Magical Aromas and Sweet Feet Cream Booklet, available as a hard-copy or as an e-book in my online store.
Reflexology is also a part of the Nurturing the Mother® Fertility Massage protocol. When reflexology is performed during a fertility massage session, the focus is on the endocrine system, the reproductive system, and the digestive system. In the Integrative Reflexology® method, working both the digestive area on the feet and the abdomen creates a synergetic therapeutic effect for the client. Digestive massage is an important part of abdominal massage.
It is generally the woman who comes for the massage, yet it may be the male who needs the pelvic cleansing massage, along with lifestyle changes to create an increased volume of healthy sperm. This is truly a time when “more is better.” When your clients are open to the suggestion, it is best to encourage both the female and male client to receive fertility massage. Teaching clients how to give the massage to each other is also an excellent option. This gives them the opportunity to provide fertility support for each other close to the ideal time, just prior to ovulation, when it may be difficult to schedule a massage from your therapist.
Supporting the creation of a family with therapeutic massage is deeply rewarding. Bringing both the mother and the father’s bodies to a relaxed, healthy, and balanced state can only help in creating a healthy baby.
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