Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018
Fertility Road Magazine
Fertility Road Magazine
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MIND<br />
their existence. One way to unearth<br />
them is to see a therapist who<br />
can help work through past<br />
events, challenge negative<br />
beliefs and reframe the<br />
way you think, enabling<br />
you to recover quickly<br />
and move forward with<br />
your life. It may make<br />
you feel vulnerable, but<br />
over time it can help you<br />
develop inner strength as<br />
you learn to take control of<br />
your mind and the thoughts<br />
that you have.<br />
“To be able to<br />
pick ourselves up,<br />
we need to be<br />
completely honest<br />
with ourselves”<br />
2. Have a balanced diet: It’s<br />
important that you fuel your<br />
body and provide it with<br />
the nutrients it needs,<br />
to make sure you have<br />
sustained energy<br />
throughout the day<br />
and the nourishment<br />
your body needs to<br />
work optimally. It<br />
also helps to create a<br />
nourishing environment<br />
for eggs or sperm to mature,<br />
conception to take place and a<br />
baby to grow.<br />
Why is this important? Negative thoughts can<br />
lead to self-destructive behaviour, which gets in<br />
the way of you accomplishing what you really<br />
desire in life, whilst positive thoughts lead to<br />
you making healthier choices in life and having<br />
healthier relationships with yourself and others.<br />
With greater self-awareness and the right<br />
mindset, you can start to create a new<br />
empowering plan to help get you back on track.<br />
With a direction in mind, focus and intention,<br />
you can then take positive action towards<br />
achieving what you want.<br />
Action<br />
A lot of the time we let our feelings dictate<br />
our actions. For example, if you’re down in the<br />
dumps, you might not feel like getting up in<br />
the morning. Try instead acting in a way that<br />
is consistent with how you want to be. Easier<br />
said than done right? Mel Robbins has a useful<br />
five-second rule that can help you take action<br />
when you don’t want to. Instead of hitting the<br />
snooze button, count backwards from five to one<br />
and launch yourself out of bed, just like a rocket<br />
launching into space. It may sound stupidly<br />
simple, but trust me it works, at least give it a go.<br />
Every day do something, however small it may<br />
be, to help you move forward. This may be just<br />
getting out of your pyjamas, going for a walk<br />
in nature or cooking a nourishing meal. It’s all<br />
about the little wins you can make throughout<br />
your day. To make time for the things that<br />
make you feel good inside, stronger in person<br />
and happier with your life. Here are 10 small<br />
wins to put into action.<br />
1. Keep physically active: Try to schedule at<br />
least 40 minutes of physical activity into your<br />
daily routine. This could be walking to work,<br />
going for a swim or practising yoga. When<br />
you exercise you release endorphins, these<br />
are happy hormones that make you feel good.<br />
Movement can also reduce stress and tension<br />
held in the body and has been shown to help<br />
improve the quality of your sleep.<br />
3. Master your breathing: Learning how to<br />
consciously control your breathing can<br />
enable you to experience both physical and<br />
mental health benefits. Just as your breath is<br />
influenced by your thoughts and emotions,<br />
your thoughts and emotions are influenced<br />
by your breath. For example, when you’re<br />
anxious, worried and upset, your breathing<br />
becomes faster. If you then consciously slow<br />
your breathing down to a gentle wave-like<br />
pattern, you can soothe your nerves, settle<br />
your thoughts and calm yourself down.<br />
4. Get enough sleep: You need sleep to be able<br />
to restore your energy reserves, to allow your<br />
whole body to repair and rejuvenate, as well<br />
as enhance your quality of life. Take note that<br />
if you’re trying to conceive, research indicates<br />
you’ve got more of a chance if you have seven<br />
to eight hours of sleep a night. Try to practice<br />
regular rhythms of sleep, by going to bed and<br />
waking up at the same time each day.<br />
5. Practice daily meditation: Meditation is a<br />
mental exercise where you practice focussing<br />
your attention on one point of reference at a<br />
time, e.g. breathing, movement or attention<br />
itself, to increase awareness of the present<br />
moment, quieten the mind and bring you<br />
into a calm state.<br />
6. Practice forgiveness: Learn to<br />
practice forgiveness, whether<br />
it is forgiving yourself or<br />
others. It doesn’t mean<br />
you condone your<br />
own actions or that of<br />
others, it means that<br />
you learn to let go<br />
and free yourself from<br />
feelings such as anger,<br />
hatred and resentment,<br />
which can otherwise<br />
make you bitter and selfdestructive<br />
in your behaviour.<br />
7. Attitude of gratitude: Gratitude is an<br />
appreciation of what is valuable and<br />
“Every day do<br />
something, however<br />
small it may be, to help<br />
you move forward”<br />
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