Wellness Form Confirmation
YOUR JOURNEY TOWARDS PARENTHOOD STARTS AT HRC
Thank You for Contacting HRC
Thank you for your questionnaire. Inquiring about Emotional Wellness Services is the first step in your healing journey. Our Emotional Wellness Coach will review your questionnaire and will get back to you shortly. While you await a response from our Wellness Coach, please browse the following resources that may help you through this difficult journey.
Coping Skills
Navigating Infertility can be a very stressful experience. Finding coping skills that gives you a “relaxation response” is crucial while undergoing treatment as stress can impact your outcomes. When we elicit the relaxation response we tend to decrease heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, stress hormones, and muscle tension. If we can practice coping skills regularly, research shows that the “relaxation response” has a “carryover” effect. Which allows us to feel relaxed for longer periods of times.
When we are feeling stressed, we tend to engage in shallow breathing. Shallow breathing doesn’t allow our lungs and diaphragm to fully expand. This cuts down the amount of oxygen being delivered to our bodies cells and reproductive organs.
-To practice “breath focus” start off by taking a normal breath followed by deeper and slower breaths. Try to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus on the sensations that every inhale and exhale gives you.
– As you continue taking more mindful breaths, imagine that every breath you inhale carries a sense of peace, safety, and fertility. The air you exhale is removing tension, hurt, pain, stress, and anxiety.
-Try “breath focus” throughout your day especially when you notice your feeling stressed or before and after doctors visit, ultrasounds, lab work, or procedures.
This relaxation strategy helps relieve body tension. In this activity you tense a group of muscles as you breathe in, and as you exhale you relax them. Progressive muscle relaxation is great strategy to help you be present and in the moment.
– For this exercise, start off by taking slow and deep breaths
– After a few deep breaths, breathe in and tense your face as much as you can without causing pain or discomfort; as you exhale relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your shoulders, as you exhale relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your hands and make a fist, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your stomach, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your back, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your pelvis, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your thighs, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your legs by pulling them forward, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tense your feet by pointing or feet towards the sky, exhale and relax the muscles
– Breath in and tens your toes by curling them in, exhale and relax the muscles
– Take a moment to check-in with yourself and examine how your body feels, if you still feel tense practice this exercise one more time
Mindfulness grounds us and brings us back in the moment. Living in the past leads to depression and living in the future provokes anxiety. So this helps us focus on today, on the current moment. <strong> </strong>The interesting thing about “Mindfulness” is that you can be mindful with any task from folding laundry to taking a walk. The trick is to be fully engaged in the activity, training all your senses to what you are doing.
How to do a “Mindful walk”…
– Pick a location with a pleasant route
– Throughout this activity be mindful of your breathing, taking deep and slow breaths
– Walk slowly and fully experience all the sensations of walking
– Smell the aromas
– Listen to the sounds (birds, people, music, cars)
– Feel the breeze of the wind or the heat from the sun
– If negative thoughts intrude, gently bring yourself back to your activity
– Walk for as long as you need
Self-Care is way to celebrate and honor yourself and all the little or big things you have accomplished. From the smallest accomplishments like doing your laundry, to bigger tasks like managing your anxiety, or making it through one more day. Sometimes we forget to focus on ourselves and our needs when we are facing stressful experiences like Infertility.
– Practicing self-care is really just doing activities that bring happiness, safety, and wellbeing into your life.
– Tune into yourself for a second and write down activities that make you feel happy, safe, calm, loved, appreciated, sexy etc…
– Self- care can be going for a manicure or pedicure, meal prepping, getting a haircut or dyeing your hair, getting a massage, calling a safe person, having girl’s night /boys night, reading your favorite book, going on a hike, attending a spiritual service, crocheting, making jewelry, taking a mental health day from work and so many more.
– ;Try incorporating self-care several times a month. When your engaging in self-care try to be fully engaged in the activity of your choice. If negative thoughts intrude, gently bring yourself back.
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