Stress directly impacts hormone balance and fertility and can be a roadblock to conception.

When we’re in a state of chronic stress, the body's main focus is survival... definitely not procreation. It’s going to halt ovulation and sex hormone production to hinder fertility.

This makes stress management an absolutely crucial part of supporting fertility and preparing for pregnancy. 

Reflect on all the things causing you stress and make a list of your stressors. Is there anything on that list that you can change? Can you shift your priorities or your schedule to make things work a little more smoothly? Can you ask for help with or delegate to someone else entirely? Or is there anything completely outside of your control that you could let go of stressing about?

Another way to counteract the effects of stress is to implement healthy coping mechanisms. Especially when embarking on this new journey, the best place to start is your mind. How you perceive stress and, therefore, react to it is key.

If you can look to stress as a challenge instead of a setback or can find the positives instead of only focusing on the negatives, you will be able to handle stress more effectively. Practicing gratitude also strongly counteracts stress. Ideally, find a few things you can add daily to cultivate a stress-management routine.

And here’s another thing to remember: obsession and striving for perfection are forms of stress that can negatively affect your body and impede upon your conception journey. 

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To read more posts about all-things menstrual, check out our dedicated section to the topic on our blog, Period Matters. Our seed syncing can help you balance your hormones naturally, shop our organic moon seeds or moon bites today.

This is an excerpt from a post written by Kim Perez, MA, FNTP, a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and owner of Root and Branch Nutrition. She specializes in helping expectant and new moms thrive postpartum and through motherhood while feeling amazing in their bodies after having babies. Kim is passionate about all things women's health and wellness, particularly filling the major gaps in postpartum care and support as well as helping moms overcome challenges like fatigue, chronic stress, hormonal imbalances, painful periods, digestive symptoms, body image struggles, and more. Check her out on Instagram. Abridged content curated and edited by Nayla Al-Mamlouk.