One of (in)fertility’s hardest lessons is that - however hard you may work to get pregnant - you’re ultimately not in control of your life. And that is not an easy lesson to learn. On this episode of the podcast - which was originally recorded as part of the Law of Positivism podcast series - I am interviewed by integrative healer Shereen Öberg. Shereen just completed a thesis on how women use spirituality and religions to cope with the difficulties they encounter on their fertility journeys. We discuss how her findings inform the class that she will teach this during my upcoming Fertility Winter Retreat. I also provide a quick walk-through of the program.

You can sign up for the Fertility Winter Retreat at thatfertilefeeling.com/winter-retreat

About Shereen Öberg

Shereen is an integrative healer, spiritual teacher and doula who holds a master's degree in sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has years of experience teaching yoga, meditation and healing, and she is also a licensed acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner. She is the author of the book The Law of Positivism - Live a life of higher vibrations and love, the creator of the Healing Oracle card deck, and is the heart behind the Law of Positivism instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/lawofpositivism/) and podcast (https://www.lawofpositivism.com/lawofpositivismpodcast.html).

The end of the year can be a difficult time when you’re trying to conceive. Another year has gone by without you having a baby to show for it. You’re surrounded by ads and movies that show you what real domestic bliss looks like. And you may be dreading the parties and family gatherings where the conversations revolve around everyone’s kids and where you can expect intrusive questions about your own family situation.

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Meg who runs the popular Instagram account @for_the_barreness. We discuss how you can create holiday rituals that actually make you feel good, how to survive the holiday parties and the importance of setting the right intentions for 2024. We also discuss our favorite books of 2023 and how Meg recently met Daniet Radcliffe. I admire Meg for her vulnerability and all the wisdom that she has to share!

You can sign up for the Fertility Winter Retreat at thatfertilefeeling.com/winter-retreat

About Meg:

Meg created For the Barreness as a way for people who have experienced infertility, pregnancy loss, or any other difficulties in their pathway to parenthood. The compassionate community is designed to be a safe space to connect to one another and feel less alone in their experiences. You can also find her on Instagram @for_the_barreness

As we’re slowly making our way to the end of 2023, it’s important to reflect on how your year has been - fertility wise. What were some of the times you felt really supported and nourished and what were times where you felt really depleted and moving along along, dark road? On this episode of the podcast, I discuss how this will help you set your fertility intentions for 2024 and why that’s so important. None of us chose this journey, but you do have some control over how you feel along the way. And setting the right intentions is THE key first step.

You can sign up for the Fertility Winter Retreat at: thatfertilefeeling.com/winter-retreat

Episode on creating a magical transfer: https://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/podcast/episode/8fb6ac20/episode-12-3-steps-to-create-a-magical-embryo-transfer-or-any-other-medical-procedure

Episode on the magical power of food: https://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/podcast/episode/9150a879/episode-39-the-magical-power-of-food

How can you make sense of your fertility journey - and process everything that’s happening along the way? Especially when you haven’t (yet) made it to the other side. For writer Eveline Broekhuizen, the answer was writing a book. On this episode of the podcast I talk with Eveline how writing a book helped her understand and deal with the challenges of fertility treatment. We also discuss the importance of taking a break every now and then, following your own path and staying with the feeling of surrender.

You can sign up for the Fertility Winter Retreat here: https://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/winter-retreat

About Eveline Broekhuizen:

Eveline Broekhuizen is a writer and a writing coach. She guides entrepreneurs who want to write a book and inspires people to discover, own and express their personal stories. Eveline has just published her first book in Dutch, Zonder verwachting, about her fertility journey. You can find her online: evelinebroekhuizen.com and on Instagram: @schrijfcoach_eveline

Do you feel like you’re trapped on a runaway fertility train? Like everything that you are doing is focused on getting pregnant and that there is hardly any space left for yourself and your own needs. On this episode of the podcast, I tell you how I learned to work with my intuition to break this negative spiral. I describe how you can tune into your physical wisdom, your inner wisdom and your higher wisdom to help you get off of autopilot and identify which next course of action would be best for you.

Top quotes:

-”What I love when it comes to working with your intuition, it's about opening up the playing field and saying, okay, nothing is a given. And let's just allow life to happen for me. Let's see what wants to happen this month, this minute, this day. Let's see what is the right course of action for me and go with that within, you know, the normal bounds of everyday life.”

-”So those were the first two steps. Taking a pause, taking a step back, opening up either by opening up to a new course of action, either by tuning into your body, tuning into your intuition, tuning into spirit. And then you reflect on the message that you get. That's the third step. You reflect on the message that you get. And this is a hard step because this is where the obstacles will also arise.”

Sign up for the winter retreat at http://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/winter-retreat

You can find episode 60 on repairing strained relationships here: https://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/podcast/episode/9159c10a/episode-60-how-to-repair-strained-relationships

How can you use food to increase your fertility without making it feel too restrictive or obsessive? On this episode of the podcast, I talk with fertility dietitian Catherine Chong on the effect your food may be having on the quality of your eggs and how you can incorporate dietary choices into your life that truly nourish you. We also touch on the topic of supplements.

About Catherine Chong:

Catherine Chong is a certified fertility dietitian and has been honoured to be named 'Dietitian of the Year' at the 2023 Allied Health Awards. At the heart of her practice, established in 2019, lies a profound commitment to nurturing women from the initial steps of their fertility journey throughout the transformative phases of pregnancy and into the postpartum period. Her mission is to enhance pregnancy outcomes and ensure the well-being of both mothers and their children, guided by scientifically-backed nutritional strategies. You can find out more about her work at her website: https://catherinechong.com.au/ or on Instagram: @catherine.fertilitydietitian.

When I was trying to conceive, I sometimes heard these stories of people who would just connect to their baby’s soul and get pregnant right after. It felt like an impossible feat - connecting to your baby’s soul. How could other people have so much confidence in their ability to conceive? On this episode of the podcast, I talk with spirit baby and fertility guide Emma Moon about how to connect to your spirit baby in an easy way. One hint: it’s not about having to achieve anything but to call on your baby for wisdom and support.

Top quotes:

Emma Moon: “I found that bringing souls into this world, that preconception fertility window, and when the souls leave our bodies at end of life, which is also where I work primarily as a registered nurse, these seem to be massive intersections of spirituality and science.”

Emma Moon: “It's not about being spiritually perfect, and it's not about feeling or not feeling or not allowing ourselves to grieve or to feel disappointment or to feel fear. It's about when we have those emotions, can we look at them? Can we feel them? Can we see what they came to teach us?”

Emma Moon: “Dream time is my favorite place to begin, simply allow yourself to call in your spirit babies into your dreams. Ask them to visit you, to ground your nervous system, and to fill you with hope and desire and unconditional love, and see what comes through your dreams.”

About Emma Moon:

Emma bridges the power of research, functional lab testing, food medicine, menstrual cycle tracking and supplementation with the magic of herbs, nature, intention and our deep spiritual connection to the cosmos for full alchemical conscious conception, fertility support + spirit baby journeys. She offers 1:1 fertility and spirit baby guidance, group ceremonies, workshops and is the co-creator of an intuitive based pre-conception course with author Emily Greene. You can find out more about her work on her website https://www.emma-moon.com/ or on Instagram @cosmicallynourished

Last week, I organized three panels on improving women’s medical experiences at the Dutch Design Week. We had some amazing medical experts and designers on the panels, who all reiterated that it’s unfortunately still up to us to make sure that our needs and boundaries are respected when undergoing procedures such as IVF.

One typical physical outcome that occurs when our bodies and boundaries are not taken into regard is persistent vaginal pain. On this episode of the podcast, I discuss what happens physiologically, why I feel why there’s such a general disregard for this serious side-effect of gynecological procedures and what you can do to protect yourself.

Towards the end of the episode, I also announce a giveaway of two free online sessions to support listeners on their fertility journey. Email me at francoise[at]thatfertilefeeling.com if you’re interested.

And if you want to learn more about how to improve your gynecological experience, also check out episode 27: https://www.thatfertilefeeling.com/podcast/episode/915e59ef/episode-27-how-to-improve-your-gynecological-experience

What does Maya wisdom tell us about fertility? I’m revisiting this topic with Rosita Arvigo, who’s made it her lifelong quest to find out about the medicinal qualities of plants. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss the mechanics behind traditional Maya abdominal massage and how this may be beneficial for fertility, as well as the more spiritual or emotional dimension. We also touch upon the topic of yoni steaming and how you can use this to improve your overall health - and your fertility. Because in the words of Rosita, “the baby is the second prize.”

About Rosita Arvigo

Rosita Arvigo is a doctor of Naprapathy (an offshoot of Chiropractic medicine), an international speaker, author of eleven books and founder of the Abdominal Therapy Collective. In 1983, she began an intensive 12-year apprenticeship with one of the last living Maya shamans in Central America, Don Elijio Pante. He taught her about native healing plants, the Maya prayers, herbal bathing for physical and spiritual healing and the ancient technique of Maya abdominal massage. You can find out more about her work at www.rositaarvigo.com and www.abdominaltherapycollective.com