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Body Literacy
"Body literacy is the process of learning to read and understand the language of our body. "
- Megan Lalonde
Fertility Awareness practice supports the development of menstrual cycle and body literacy encouraging a deeply intimate and respectful relationship with our body.
For very young adolescents, fertility awareness helps them to better understand their maturing bodies and how they function as they relate to them as individuals and not in relation to another. This can help to increase comfort with their changing bodies, dispel myths or misconceptions about sexual or reproductive health, and empower them to make responsible decisions about sexual behaviour when the time arises.
Fertility &
Preconception
For many of us, we spend the majority of our young adult lives trying to avoid pregnancy and when we decide it’s time to start a family assume that conceiving will come easily.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Underlying hormonal health issues, nutritional imbalances, and lifestyle choices can greatly impact your fertility and chance of conceiving. If you have been on hormonal contraceptives it is especially important to monitor your return to fertility as hormonal imbalances can be masked while on them, and many key nutrients may be depleted. It can also take time for your cycles to return to a regular pattern as your endocrine system recalibrates.
If you are trying to conceive or planning to in the next few years, Fertility Awareness can prove to be an invaluable tool to understand the state of your reproductive health, even if also undergoing other reproductive therapies. Using a combination of FAM, nutritional guidance, and stress management techniques, we will work together to optimize your chances of conceiving.
Natural Birth Control
Fertility Awareness Method is a natural, hormone-free method of contraception. When used properly it has an efficacy over 99%, rivalling that of the birth control pill. It supports reproductive freedom, healthy body ecology, and body literacy.
This is NOT the Rhythm Method, which uses calculations and past cycles to predict future cycles, and doesn’t take into account your personal physiology and unique pattern of fertility which can be affected by things like stress, illness, or hormonal issues. It also assumes that everyone has 28-day cycles and ovulates on day 14, which is NOT always the case.
By charting your cycle on a daily basis using biological markers of fertility, you will know whether you are fertile or not and the likelihood of a pregnancy occurring that day. With proper guidance, FAM can be effectively used even by those with short or long cycles, and those with hormonal imbalances.
Pregnancy is a time of great change, both internally and externally. While it can be a beautiful experience for some, for others it is a struggle and not how you may have imagined it. Your physical and emotional needs are constantly evolving and with so much information available it can be difficult to navigate what is relevant to you. Back pain, constipation, fatigue, and stress are all very common during pregnancy, but there are ways to find relief.
I believe that equal emphasis should be placed on preparing your mind and body for labour and postpartum, as well as staying PRESENT to what your needs are NOW.
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Through nutritional guidance, prenatal yoga, and meditation exercises, we will work together to optimize your pregnancy so you can connect with your baby, nourish your body, and prepare for a healthy birth and postpartum experience.
