Dr. Jiao, my acupuncturist, keeps getting on my case for being too stressed. It's true. Even when I'm doing things like exercise to de-stress, I am stressed: I run fast, charge on the elliptical trainer, etc., etc. I have a stressful life--I have a lot to get done! He can tell on my face every week if I'm on the wrong side of things.

"What's the use of writing great books if you die when you're fifty?"

Good point.

He also told me, last week, about a client who got pregnant with a little acupuncture help. He said she was also a stress-bucket and warned her that if she didn't slow down, she'd lose the baby. She stopped seeing him, he hadn't heard from her for a while, and then, later, he learned she indeed had miscarried.

I've done yoga on and off to help de-stress. I make it a habit to do the "salute to the sun" series every morning, to make sure I get in at least 60 seconds of yoga a day, which is often all I get :(

My husband likes yoga, too, so we've been around the block yoga wise. We've tried the simple stretchy kind, when we were in California we tried Bikram, that "hot-box" yoga where they make you do yoga in a sauna-like atmosphere and of course it smells terrible in the studio...I took a Few yoga classes at Nike World when visiting a friend in Portland, OR, and have dabbled here at home. My husband was nice enough to buy me a ten-pack of classes, but I haven't used them yet. No time!

So it was with a mix of skepticism and hope that I tried out Monica Morrell's Fertility Yoga. I was also curious how yoga could specifically help with fertility, but I guess it can help increase the flow of blood to your reproductive organs, and in backward-bending poses, can help stimulate the thyroid.

Monica has a nice way about her, she makes you feel like a yoga champ. The poses are a good mix of challenging and restful, and she shows modifications you can do if you're too stiff, or injured, or whatever. It's the perfect balance (for me) between the try-not-pass-out hot-box yoga and the slooooooow moving stretchy yoga. I also noticed that after a few weeks my thyroid function (I have an underactive thyroid) did improve (as measured by my basal body temps) and it was nice not to have to practically wear a parka to bed every night. I should note, also, however, being Asian, I had been making myself eat a ton of seaweed, which is rich in iodine and should also therefore help the old 'roid.

In any event, I have to say I actually found this program RELAXING. Whether it's making me more fertile is almost immaterial. It feels very very good, which makes me more likely to continue to do it. And after dinner, my husband and I just drag out our mats and yogify ourselves...no more procrastination, whining about having to leave the house.

I still haven't reached relaxation Nirvana, but I feel I've at least gotten to the first rung...