FertileMind App - A New Approach to Infertility
FertileMind is a unique mind/body approach to emotional wellness as you try to conceive naturally or with assistance. This approach includes an app, companion book, this blog and ongoing support. It’s not a relaxation app or cycle tracking app. It’s the most advanced digital wellness app available today.
Don’t let the words ‘mind/body’ put you off - it’s not woo or New Age but grounded in science.
It has nothing to do with thinking positive all the time.
Or sitting in a darkened room chanting crosslegged.
You don’t need to ‘stop’ thinking or empty your mind.
It has little to do with relaxation techniques (surprised)?
Who is FertileMind For?
If you’re tired of feeling out of control and at the mercy of your emotions - FertileMind is for you.
If your partner is also struggling with this life crisis - FertileMind is for you both.
If you wish you could wave a magic wand over you so you could start feeling better - right now - FertileMind is for you (it definitely feels like magic when you learn to use your mind in a new way).
Why the FertileMind Approach is Unique
There’s growing evidence of the benefits of mindfulness interventions for mental and physical health and thankfully scientists are applying this emerging science to infertility and what’s known as Infertility Specific Stress. As you know there’s so much more to just feeling sad or upset when yet another month goes by and you’re not pregnant.
FertileMind is more comprehensive than any other approach as we’ve brought together the top mind/body techniques that are associated with the most improved outcomes and increases in pregnancy rates. We’ve combined mindfulness, hypnosis and breathing techniques into the most advanced fertility support app available today. There’s plenty of ‘fertility relaxation’ apps out there - but with our short video modules you’ll learn why we use different techniques depending on your fertility journey.
We’ve tailored our approach to reduce feelings of grief, shame, sadness and anger while you also learn practices associated with increasing acceptance, compassion and happiness.
What Does That Mean in Real Life?
It means you have the the tools, skills and strategies to deal with painful emotions that come up in the supermarket when you see a pregnant woman, you can short circuit anger, shame, sadness in that moment. The sooner you get unhooked from those thoughts the sooner you feel better. Wouldn’t it be nice to not get stressed going to family gatherings? How would it feel to hear about your best friend’s unintended pregnancy without falling apart for days? How would it feel to take back control of your emotions and get on with living? I’ll tell you how it feels - it feels life changing. Why wouldn’t you give yourself the tools to make this journey a little easier, to support your relationship with your partner, to find more moments of joy even on the darkest days.
The FertileMind App will take you through a series of modules that include short instructional videos and practice sessions. You’ll learn how to start and continue a meditation practice, we’ve also included breathing techniques, affirmations and also hypnosis sessions to use at night to improve sleep and reduce anxiety around any upcoming procedures. Mindfulness is associated with significantly reduced anxiety and depression rates in women having fertility treatments.
Taking a Look Under the Hood
As you begin using the FertileMind app you’re going to get very familiar with how your mind works - and ultimately how to make it work for you during this time, instead of against you, on what can be a lonely path. You’ll learn a set of coping skills that will change the way you relate to what’s happening in your life right now so you can relate to those stressors in a healthier way - even if you can’t change the circumstances. You’re going to learn how to ‘control the controllables’ - and it’s a game changer.
I’m not suggesting you become the thought police and keep a running log of every negative thought you have. Instead, you’re going to do something very, very simple (but it can be hard to remember to do it)…just notice.
Notice.
Notice how your mind is like a monkey and bounces around from one thought to the next thought like branches on a tree from the moment you wake up to the moment you close your eyes at night.
Notice how your mind likes to go to worse case scenario in a split second and can ruin even the most perfect day.
Notice how many of those thoughts are negative (a LOT).
Notice how many of those thoughts are uplifting and positive (it can hard to find those ones eh?)
Notice the tone of how you speak to yourself (that’s SUCH a big topic it deserves it’s own blog).
Notice how we tend to believe everything we think.
So that’s really the first step to mindful meditation. Paying attention to what’s going on between your two ears. You can’t be mindful until you are aware of what’s actually happening. Then you can do something about it (and that’s the profound irony of meditation - you don’t actually need to ‘do’ anything once you’ve noticed a particular thought or feeling other than be curious and kind). You’ll develop the skill of noticing all of the above as an expert witness to your daily experience and instead of chasing a thought down a rabbit hole to misery you’ll notice how a thought has hijacked your emotional state and is yanking you around. You’ll learn how to ‘unhook’ yourself from unhelpful thoughts and emotions so much quicker.
Nobody signed up for this, a few million years of evolution bestowed on you a tricky brain that still thinks it’s in the Stone Age and a body that was built on the genes of those Stone Age relatives. You didn’t ask for the anxiety or depression, you didn’t ask for a reproductive system that isn’t working properly. We just find ourselves in this flow of life with the cards we’re dealt. None of this is your fault so let yourself off the hook.
Stress and Fertility Challenges
The relationship between stress and infertility is hotly debated. If you’ve had your dreams of starting a family shattered it’s very likely that you’re experiencing elevated levels of anxiety and depression, so there’s no doubt that that infertility causes stress and infertility treatments add even more.
FertileMind is not a Relaxation Program
No doubt you’ve been told to ‘just relax’ and it’ll happen or you’ve been recommended some relaxation techniques to reduce your stress. But here’s the thing - yes those relaxation mp3s/massages/walk etc can provide a temporary reprieve to stress.
Yes they’ll release good feeling happy hormones during those 30 minutes. But what about real life, when you’re in a management meeting and someone announces their pregnancy, or you’re in the supermarket and see the cutest newborn or you just got another BFN. Unlike other approaches FertileMind helps you to change your relationship with stressful thoughts (where most of our stress comes from) in real time, as it’s happening. You get to take control of your mindset and short circuit stress and it’s impact on your body almost immediately. We are not avoiding emotions or putting a smiley face sticker over them and thinking positively. We’re noticing challenging thoughts and emotions but not giving them free reign to ruin yet another day.
Infertility and Emotional Wellness
Even 20 minutes of home practice 3 or more days a week is shown to reduce depression by about 50% (there were similar findings for anxiety also).
In one large Danish study of over 40,000 women who underwent ART treatment and were screened for depression prior to treatment, 35% screened positive. In another recent study of 174 women undergoing infertility treatment, 39% met the criteria for major depressive disorder. In one of the largest studies to date, 352 women and 274 men were assessed in infertility clinics in California. 56% of the women and 32% of the men reported significant symptoms of depression and 76% of the women and 61% of the men scored reported significant symptoms of anxiety. Given these numbers starting a mindfulness practice makes absolute sense for your mental and physical health.
Not only are you dealing with the stress of these challenges but this ongoing stress can contribute to your decision making as to whether to continue medical treatment. Research suggests that the stress and suffering caused by infertility leads people to drop out of treatments even when finances aren’t an issue. When we’re stressed we’re literally not in our right mind and if you’ve been trying to have a baby for a while you’re likely to be experiencing chronic stress and for some, it’s a personal crisis.
Mindfulness-based approaches to health are in the spotlight quite a bit recently due the many physical and psychological benefits. In the FertileMind book (available in the FertileMind App and soon on Amazon) I’ve detailed the most recent studies on MBFIs (mindfulness based fertility interventions).
Mindfulness is associated with a reduction in stress, depression, anxiety , anger and shame and an increase in self compassion, positive mood and quality of life.
I’ll take you through a new approach to fertility challenges that has the potential to change your life in a positive way - with or without a baby.
You’ll track your mood as you use the app to empower you to have a more active role over your own well-being. Learning about your mood patterns helps you to better manage your emotions and take action to enhance your emotional well-being. The FertileMind approach isn’t just about reducing stress - it’s about actively increasing your capacity for joy in your life.
We’ll start with the important foundation practices, we’ll explore a specific barriers to a fertile mind such as anger, grief, shame and stress using bite size instructional videos, meditation training and hypnosis for bedtime.
You have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
I’m excited to journey with you as you learn how to hold yourself and difficult experiences with clarity, compassion and insight over the coming months.
Download the best meditation app and start feeling better with the FertileMind App today.
Tracy
