In Luxembourg: A yoga class specially dedicated to fertility

“For a year, I’ve been trying to get pregnant and I can’t,” says Sarah, 37, between two exercises in the small studio at My Happy Place. I had a miscarriage several months ago. Like her, around twenty women signed up for the course of Eileen von Knobelsdorff, yoga teacher, in Luxembourg. The 30-year-old offers them yoga classes that are very different from others, with the aim of improving their fertility.

Legs in the air, lifting of the pelvis… On a relaxing air worthy of thalassotherapy centers, women of all ages and all profiles follow the movements on a mat. “It’s a gentle yoga that will calm the nervous system and help with breathing, explains the teacher. It’s good for stress and the mind. With these movements, we will increase blood circulation in the pelvis and thus improve the reproductive system.

“Coming here does me a lot of good,” says Sarah, after this weekly session. Thanks to this meeting, the Luxembourger can exchange with the other participants, who sometimes go through the same ordeals. “We have the impression of being alone, it’s like taboo, nobody talks about it around us”. “And as long as we haven’t experienced it, it’s complicated to understand what we are going through, adds Eileen, doctors can sometimes be cruel in their words. In my case, I was told that my chance was 5% for in vitro fertilization and finally, I had good results, it was almost a miracle”, according to my doctor.

In addition to generating stress, not being able to procreate like others also impacts self-confidence. An element far from being put aside since the teacher does not hesitate to encourage her students with each movement. According to the fertility coach, two of her participants got pregnant during their session. A success for the teacher. “Obviously, we can’t know if everything is really linked, but it’s sure that the lessons help,” she says. In addition to yoga, various practices promote fertility such as acupuncture, sophrology or even hypnosis, mentions Caroline Schilling, gynecologist at the Luxembourg hospital center, techniques which are “supported” by the hospital. For her part, Eileen would like to go deeper into the workshops in the future. For the moment, the Luxembourger organizes the lessons every Thursday, at 12:30 p.m., at the My Happy Place studio.