When I first decided to take myself off birth control in October 2012 with the hopes of getting pregnant I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be greeted by my beautiful red cycle anytime soon. I had an irregular period before going on birth control when I was 16 so I assumed that when I finally stopped taking oral contraceptives it might be a bit of a journey to get things back into a healthy balance.

I did a few really simple things that I feel really helped me to bring my body back to balance. I can’t say that I got a totally normal cycle at the end of it but I did end up restoring my hormone levels to a healthy balance and making pretty juicy baby!

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1. FILL YOUR BODY WITH SO MUCH WHOLE FOOD GOODNESS

We need whole foods in their natural state to support hormonal balance which is so important for fertility, pregnancy and postpartum health. First and foremost try to eat locally grown foods. Things get picked early and stored improperly causing fruits/vegetables to lose their nutrient density. Try to eat as close to home as possible to minimize the damage and loss of nutrients. If you can’t buy or eat local foods, eat organic – If we’re not putting hormones in our mouth in the form of birth control then why are we putting hormones in our mouth in the form of food. For me, this included soaked / toasted grains, local/seasonal/organic produce, organic or free range meats/poultry/fish, home made nut milks, less dairy (organic regardless), lots of water and caffeine free tea, and only naturally occurring sugars.

2. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LOVE AND GUIDANCE

Find the support you need in a practitioner you trust and connect with – it makes the self care part of fertility so much easier! I loved seeing my fertility acupuncturist and Naturopath as often as I could. I also found that making the time to go to a restorative or yin focused yoga class really helped me to connect more with myself.

3. BALANCE YOUR BODY WITH HERBS, TEAS, TINCTURES + TONICS

Through my own interest and exploration I decided to start taking a Vitex (Chaste Berry) and Dong Quai (Angelica). Angelica stimulates delayed menstruation by breaking up stagnation in the reproductive system and Vitex is known to help balance female hormones. As well, through my fertility acupuncturist and Naturopath I started taking a variety of nourishing herbs, teas and homeopathics to help support my body and balance my hormones. As with all herbs, it’s important to make sure you’re connecting with a registered herbalist to make sure you’re taking the right does for your body.

4. CALM YOUR MIND, SLOW YOUR LIFE DOWN AND NOURISH YOURSELF WITH LOVE

I have a favourite mantra that I said to myself every day for two years – “I will conceive a happy and healthy baby, I will have a happy and healthy pregnancy, I will give birth to a happy and healthy baby”. In saying this, I was setting an intention to myself of where I wanted to go – where in my heart, I saw myself in two years time. It was a symbol that I was open and willing to help my body get back to balance and build it up to a place where I could hopefully one day make a baby!

At the same time as I was mentally connecting with where I wanted to go, I practiced the idea of slow living. A back to basics way of being – enjoying the smaller, tinier pleasures in life. My goal was to breathe life back into every aspect of my daily adventures. It included less time with technology and social media, daily breathing exercises, more time with my husband, and more time with myself.  The biggest lesson of it all for me was that there are no wrong things to do if you act with intention – after a couple of days you’ll start to listen to your body in a completely different way and you’ll know what you need.