fertility

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How to boost your libido with breath work

It has been a long time since I’ve gotten sexy on this blog. In fact, come to think of it, I don’t even think I’ve ever actually talked about sex (except for that one fertility essay, I guess). Kind of weird when you consider that my practice wouldn’t exist without it.

This Valentine’s Day I want to give you a gift to celebrate the generative rise of yang energy that started last week. My gift to you: better sex.

Not only do I hope that this simple qi gong exercise will help raise your libido, but I hope that if you’re trying to conceive it gives you an energetic boost of fertile, springtime energy.

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By Jessica Gustafson, ago

Seed Cycling and Oil Cycling for Fertility

Yesterday’s post introduced seed cycling and oil cycling for hormonal health. Seed cycling and oil cycling are ways to balance hormones over a few months by supporting hormones with lignans, healthy fats, and other nutrients.

But multiple times I warned that this method was not for those who were trying to conceive.

In this post I am going to discuss why oil cycling for fertility needs to be different than oil cycling for hormonal health, why preparing for conception is as important as trying to conceive, and the changes you can make to the process to make seed cycling and oil cycling work for you.

By Jessica Gustafson, ago
Check out these blogtober posts to understand more about how I approach women's health, acupuncture, doula work (and other birth work), herbalism and more!

Seed Cycling and Oil Cycling for Hormonal Balance

Working in the field I do, I’ve heard whispers of seed cycling and oil cycling for the past couple of years. But it wasn’t until I consulted on a difficult fertility case last week that a colleague directly recommended it.

Seed cycling is kind of like vaginal steaming – it’s on the fringe of accepted reproductive science with no peer-reviewed studies to support the process. But the people who love it love it for a reason. It worked for them.

So, what is seed cycling? How does it work? Can it really be the key to regulating your cycles?

By Jessica Gustafson, ago

Sunday Round Up: Bed-sharing, male doulas, and seed cycling

Hey, wow. A third Sunday round-up. This might actually become a thing!

Is anyone else notoriously bad at saying you want to start doing a thing and then not doing it? It can’t just be me.

Anyway, this Sunday round up includes bed-sharing while breastfeeding, a local man working for big change, seed cycling, and my favorite bibimbap recipe that’s nourishing for your body AND your budget.

By Jessica Gustafson, ago

The Water Element: Foundations in the Darkness

Happy Almost Winter, Minnesnowta!

Any other season of the year and people give me the side-eye for an “early” season greeting. But in winter? Snow can fly as early as September! In fact, wasn’t it just last week we got our first flakes?

And even if the snowflakes weren’t falling yet, the world around us is settling into a winter rhythm. Everything becomes quiet and still. The leaves have fallen, the grass is hibernating, jars of pickled herring pop up in pantries across the state.

This spring, I broke the element of wood down in two blog posts – one about how things can be categorized as wood from a health perspective and another about how Chinese medicine looks at imbalances in the wood element. I did the same earlier this month for metal and metal disharmonies.

This blog post will be doing the same for this season’s element, the element of Water.

By Jessica Gustafson, ago

Women’s Water: A Yin Tonic

Yin deficiency signs are pretty clear:

  • flushing face
  • night sweats
  • hot flashes
  • dry throat
  • insomnia
  • racing thoughts when you try to go to bed at night
  • sore back
  • constipation
  • ringing ears/tinnitus
  • dizziness

You know what this sounds like? Menopause. Or for some women, menstruation. Or others just…life.

You see, women are mostly yin. We are yin to the masculine yang. So yin deficiency tends to be a bit more obvious in us. Maybe that’s why in my practice this recipe is the one I tend to recommend the most.

So why is it that this simple tonic can be so helpful for women? Read on.

women's water
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By Jessica Gustafson, ago
It can be frustrating to be told to just relax, but the fact is that stress can impact fertility. But you can fight back with these five stress busting ideas

Five ways to increase fertility by decreasing stress

For a great many of you reading this on the TTC or “trying to conceive” journey, your eyes just twitched. I have to be honest, it hurt a little to type. Out of all the phrases I hated hearing while TTC, that was at the top of the list.

The problem is that as much as we hate it, conventional wisdom has it right:​

Stress impacts fertility.
It’s not something we can argue. We have thousands of years of doctors and sages corroborating all of the studies we’ve done on the subject in the past century. The difference is now we know why – hormones.

By Jessica Gustafson, ago
Acupuncture for fertility is a huge topic. It's actually much bigger than just acupuncture. The fact is acupuncture is an important cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) but it's still a smaller part of a much bigger picture. I thought it was time we started to scratch the surface of TCM approaches to fertility and how acupuncture and other lifestyle changes can help bolster your fertility success. Featured image and cover photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

The Fundamentals of Acupuncture for Fertility

Acupuncture for fertility is a huge topic. It’s actually much bigger than just acupuncture. The fact is acupuncture is an important cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) but it’s still a smaller part of a much bigger picture. I thought it was time we started to scratch the surface of TCM approaches to fertility and how acupuncture and other lifestyle changes can help bolster your fertility success.

Featured image and cover photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

By Jessica Gustafson, ago