Relaxing stress responses throughout IVF.

IVF can be a long drawn out and potentially stressful time.

Endless appointments, hospital car parks, clinic waiting rooms, injections and timescales, and a body going through a synthetic hormonal rollercoaster.

Using a self hypnosis and EFT program to help you keep calm, emotionally and physically, through the journey will no doubt have an effect on how you feel about the time spent trying to create your family, and hopefully a significant effect on the outcome.

Using mind-body awareness (EFT, Hypnotherapy, Guided visualisations etc) are an easy way to feel that you are helping yourself as much as possible throughout the endless clinic appointments and injections.

One of the most basic things that you can do to help yourself is to remember how to breathe properly.

Breathing properly and deeply, all the way down to the diaphragm is an important part of diluting the stress hormones. Despite all the stressors we have going on in life, it can’t be helped by the fact that so many people only breath into the top section of their lungs.

Stress is almost like a buzzword these days.

It’s also a chronic state of being for most people in most western walks of life.

We do live in an odd society full of demands, endless expectations, non-stop never switching off ever, bad news ridden, drama all around us kind of world… if you spend any time watching tv, reading mainstream internet or magazines/papers.

It’s hard to avoid.

Working hours don’t switch off when you leave the office for lots of people.

People are often frowned upon by businesses if you are not on call to respond to messages at all kinds of hours.

Those that don’t work, don’t necessarily have any easy time either.

We have to remember that stress is all relative, and we can carry stress for others.

That’s all hard enough as it is, but then add in the emotions felt when conceiving isn’t going as easily as hoped.

Life has lots of stress triggers, some we can try to avoid, others not so easy to. But how we react to the stress is something we can influence.

I’m not going to fill this space with scientific information of what happens to your body when experiencing negative stress responses… I want just to say that it’s ok. All is not doomed. The right support and techniques can make all the difference.

So what can you do to park that stress response at such an intense time?
Take up a new gentle hobby (or rekindle an old one); so maybe art, woodland walking, yoga, join a choir, find some easy reading fiction to get lost in (forget the thrillers, ok?!) the list goes on. It doesn’t need to be costly or too time consuming.

Form some new habits. Earlier nights, rise 10 minutes earlier to sit and meditate before starting your day, take up a particular mindful breathing exercise, listen to regular guided meditations, take up EFT (Tapping) as a new self-help tool… the options also go on!

If you have a partner, don’t forget to keep connected with them. A date night doesn’t have to be a costly meal. Don’t forget to hug (great for releasing Oxytocin, which is amazing at reducing adrenaline and stress hormones). Stroke animals (if you like them). Do a good deed and random acts of kindness… they make us feel great.

Or simply do nothing different, but be happy with that. Above all, please be kind to yourself.