Fertility Life Raft

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On this episode, I’m joined by leading health psychologist and author of It's All in Your Body: A Practical Roadmap to Healing, Dr Sula Windgassen, to talk all things mind–body connection and what it means for your fertility journey.

Dr. Sula shares her personal experience of living with chronic, debilitating bladder symptoms that left her feeling dismissed by the medical profession.

When traditional medical routes didn’t provide answers, it was as a last resort she began exploring mindfulness thanks to her Dad's suggestion; she finally found relief and this led to a her research and vocation as a health pyschologist.

This is a MUCH needed voice in the mind-body space...

We talk about:

What the mind–body connection actually means (and what it doesn’t)

The difference between stressors, stress reactions, and your response

Reframing your relationship with your body during infertility

Letting go of self-blame

How mindfulness can change your relationship with symptoms and uncertainty

If you found this helpful please leave a review! It takes 30 seconds and means a lot. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING!

Dr. Sula Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_health_psychologist_/

Ready to learn how to take ownership of your mind and live your life even through infertility? Join my coaching membership, shortlisted for Best Coach and Best Fertility Service: https://fertilityliferaft.com/membership

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Want to find your fertility voyager archetype? Click here to take my quiz and receive a personalised self care report: https://fertilityliferaft.com/quiz

Jennifer Edmonds is one of those people you cannot help but be drawn to online! Her hilarious RELATABLE reels combined with gentle invitations to reconnect to your body through yoga and pilates is so needed in the fertility space.

The founder of Elements Pilates & Yoga, Jen, based in Australia but with a global audience, supports women through infertility and pregnancy loss using fertility yoga, pilates and nervous system work.

Jen shares her own fertility journey in this episode, which includes an early menopause diagnosis in her early 30s, which led to cycles that didn’t respond to IVF medication, and years of trying to understand what was happening in her body.

Against the odds, she conceived her daughter through IVF. But when she later faced secondary infertility, multiple failed treatments and pregnancy loss, everything changed again.

It was discovering yoga during the COVID lockdown that helped Jen reconnect with her body, regulate her nervous system, and slowly rebuild trust in herself.

We talk about:

Being diagnosed with early menopause in your 30s

IVF cycles that don’t go to plan

Secondary infertility and the guilt that can come with it

The role of nervous system regulation in fertility

How yoga and spiritual practices supported Jen through loss and pregnancy

So much of the fertility journey happens in the spaces between appointments.

Those days, weeks and months where you are waiting for answers.

How you care for yourself during those stretches makes a huge difference.

Jen's yoga programme link is here (affiliate)

Alice x

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How do you keep calm and stop spiralling when you don’t have
control of the outcome? I KNOW it feels impossible...

So here's my take on how to focus your mind so you feel less spiral-ly when your life is planned around appointments; your mood depends on the next phone call and your brain has already begun examining things that haven’t happened yet.

Your thoughts can feel SO LOUD during fertility treatment.

So, in this episode, I’ll talk about:

What “inner narrative” actually means (in normal
language)

Why thoughts are not facts

How to cope with cancelled cycles and scan anxiety

Getting through the two week wait without
constant symptom-checking

Being there for someone else, while protecting
your own energy

Got a question you'd like me to talk about or a topic you really want to hear? Send me an email to hello@fertilityliferaft.com or a dm to @fertilityliferaft

Alice x

 

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Need help living your life while you try to have a baby?

Take the free quiz to find out what sort of Fertility Voyager Archetype you are: https://fertilityliferaft.com/quiz

I LOVED this conversation with Lindsey Keohane who is bringing such a breath of fresh air to my social media feed.

I knew I had to have her on the pod as - if you've been here a while you'll know - living and waiting at the same time is what we're about.

Lindsey has experienced three pregnancy losses and is now going through IVF with genetic testing...but this conversation really isn't about treatment, even though it is of course a part of the story.

It’s about what happens to your life when everything begins to revolve around “maybe this month.”

We talk about Lindsey's story so far; how she's managing social media and why it's so important to trust your doctor.

We also break down an Instagram post Lindsey shared that resonated with thousands of women: her decision to stop putting life on hold while trying to conceive and how she's planning to do it, including things like:

To buy clothes she enjoys now; not for pregnancy.To plan holidays even if treatment might interrupt them.To do things that bring joy without attaching them to fertility outcomes.

Living does not mean you don’t care, and enjoying your life does not reduce your chances.

If you feel like everything is paused…If you feel guilty making plans…If you’ve been measuring your life in cycles and months…

You're going to love this.

Alice x

Lindsey's account:

https://www.instagram.com/littlebylindsey/
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Take my Fertility Archetype Quiz for free here: https://fertilityliferaft.com/quiz

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Lucky Sekhon, fertility doctor and board certified OBGYN, and author of The Lucky Egg.

She’s guided thousands of women through IVF, egg freezing and conception… and she’s also been a patient herself.

We talk about lots of the things I see every single day in my work.

The belief that if a cycle didn’t work, you must have done something wrong. You worked too much. You exercised too hard. You didn’t relax enough. You ate the wrong thing. You were stressed.

Dr. Lucky explains why, biologically, that usually isn’t true.

We talk about:

Her own experience of cancelled cycles, self-blame and IVF emotions

Why “being perfect” during treatment doesn’t determine the outcome

The overlooked role of sperm in embryo development

Red flags to watch for in online fertility advice

What a good fertility clinic relationship should feel like

Many women try to control fertility by controlling themselves — their food, their routines, their stress, their bodies.

But fertility treatment doesn’t work like a test you can revise harder for.

Human reproduction is inefficient.

Biology is messy.

And when treatment doesn’t work, your brain looks for a cause and often chooses you.

If you’ve ever replayed a cycle in your head…

If you’ve ever believed a failed transfer was your fault…

If you’ve ever thought “maybe I ruined my chances…”

I hope this episode lets you breathe a little easier.

Alice x

PS did you find this helpful? please take a couple of seconds to review this episode! thank you SO much for your support, it means the world.
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