Welcome to the Fertile Mindset Podcast! Sarah Holland is the Fertile Mindset Coach and a mother to two children after her own fertility challenges. She understands that when it takes longer than expected to conceive a baby worry, stress and overwhelm soon become part of the picture. But what if it was possible to navigate through fertility challenges feeling calm, strong and empowered? What difference would that make to both your life and your fertility journey? Let this podcast be your guide as Sarah and her guests acknowledge, explore and transform the many emotional aspects of fertility. Whether you’re looking for a way to reduce fertility related stress, are seeking the missing piece of your fertility puzzle, or want to discover how your mind and emotions can support your fertility, you will find all the support and inspiration you need within these podcast episodes. You can receive more support from Sarah and step inside the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary at www.fertilemindset.com/sanctuary
Episodes
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
EP 050: A Pep Talk with Sarah
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
See that number above!! It’s the 50th episode of the Fertile Mindset Podcast! To celebrate reaching this milestone, the fabulous guests who’ve joined me, and the thousands of listeners, I’d love to invite you to sit down with me for a cup of tea and a chat. This episode is something a little different where I share a “pep talk” with you to give you a boost, support, and inspiration to live your life with courage, determination and gentleness towards yourself. So I invite you to take a few minutes out of your day to listen in. I hope you find this short episode useful, and it’s one you may revisit whenever you feel in need of a boost. Listen to the end for an important question to ask yourself… I’d love to hear your answers! Feel free to let share it with me here: https://www.fertilemindset.com/contact-me/
Next steps:
Thursday Nov 18, 2021
EP 049: 3 Empowering Steps to Take Back Ownership of Your Fertility Journey
Thursday Nov 18, 2021
Thursday Nov 18, 2021
While I was having a tidy up of my audio files, I came across this talk from an event I ran a few years ago called Your Empowered Path to Parenthood. In this talk, I share how it’s important to feel empowered on your fertility journey, and the 3 steps you can take to go from feeling out of control and disempowered - which is a common place to get to, especially when you're trying to conceive has been medicalised - and get back to feeling strong and empowered, and having ownership of your fertility once more. I hope you enjoy listening and putting the 3 steps into action.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- How and why we become disempowered on a fertility journey and what the impact can be.
- Taking back ownership of your fertility support team, and the surprising additions you can make to your team that are not people!
- Mastering your emotional response to triggers, the questions you can ask yourself to get clear, and the technique that will make it easy to connect with your most natural and supportive mindset.
- Owning the decisions that you make and freeing yourself of outside influences that can be confusing so you can calmly make good decisions that are right for you.
Next steps:
- Learn how to do EFT and be guided through a tapping round in episode 20
- Your options for one-to-one Fertile Mindset support with Sarah
- Click here to meet me in the Fertile Mindset Café for a cuppa and a chat.
- Join us in the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary - amazing fertility support for just £29 a month!
- Follow me on Facebook
- Connect with me on Instagram
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
EP 048: The Emotional Considerations of Solo Parenthood with Mel Johnson
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Solo parenthood is increasingly becoming an option for many, and Mel is a wonderful guide and supporter for anyone considering solo parenting by choice. She has her own experience of the challenges and realities of deciding to parent as a single mum and now leads amazing communities to bring others the support, insights and friendships she wished she’d had from the start.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- The different places from which a journey into solo parenthood can start, and how it can feel like you’re the first person to ever make this choice.
- Why it’s so important to have clarity and leave comparison behind, and how society can make this challenging.
- How it’s essential to have a support network or Mum Tribe, and how Mel loves to connect people through “solo mum matchmaking”.
- The importance of questioning and reframing beliefs around the fairy tales of marriage and parenting we’ve been brought up with.
Next steps:
- Join Mel’s free Facebook community The Stork and I Mum Tribe
- Visit Mel’s website
- Follow Mel on Instagram
- Listen to The Stork and I Podcast
- Click here to meet me in the Fertile Mindset Café for a cuppa and a chat.
- Your options for one-to-one Fertile Mindset support with Sarah
- Join us in the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary - amazing fertility support for just £29 a month!
- Follow me on Facebook
- Connect with me on Instagram
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
EP 047: Surviving Infertility and Loss with Monica Bivas
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
In this episode, I speak with Mindset and Holistic Fertility Coach Monica Bivas, who through her own experience of fertility issues, IVF and loss has become an empathic and supportive voice in the fertility community. She’s the author of the book The IVF Planner, and she focuses her support for people who are having fertility treatment, are pregnant after infertility, or have experienced pregnancy and baby loss. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.
CONTENT WARNING: As Monica shares her experience there is talk about pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and suicidal thoughts.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- Monica’s story of fertility issues, IVF and loss and why mindset and emotional support was invaluable.
- The experience of grief on a fertility journey and how this can be supported
- Can infertility and loss make us stronger?
- How to keep the romance flame with your partner alive while walking this path.
Next steps:
- Follow Monica on Instagram
- Download her free meditation
- Download her fertility colouring sheets
- Your options for one-to-one Fertile Mindset support with Sarah
- Click here to meet me in the Fertile Mindset Café for a cuppa and a chat.
- Join us in the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary - amazing fertility support for just £29 a month!
- Follow me on Facebook
- Connect with me on Instagram
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
EP 046: My Adoption Story
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
In this second episode about my own path to parenthood I share what happened when we decided to try for another baby, and how this ultimately led to us adopting a baby boy and completing our family. If adoption is on your radar in any way, you may also find episode 42 useful to listen to, “Why don’t you just adopt?”. And you can find the first part of my own story on episode 45, My Fertility Story.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- The surprises we faced as we tried for baby #2.
- The challenges of coming to a joint decision when changing from TTC to adoption, and how we managed it.
- My experience of the whole adoption process from the first moment we considered it to when we brought our baby boy home.
- The things we did that made it so easy for us to bond with our baby, and helped him get to know us too before we even met.
Next Steps:
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
EP 045: My Fertility Story
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
After touching on our adoption experience in episode 42 “Why don’t you just adopt?” I received lots of messages asking me to share more about our adoption story. Before I do this, I thought I should start where it all began, when we first decided to try for a baby. So, this week’s podcast is My Fertility Story and next week’s will be My Adoption Story. My stories may have similarities to yours or be completely different, and no two experiences are ever the same. But I hope you find support, inspiration and hope within these two episodes, and more understanding about why Fertile Mindset exists and how my experiences help me support you with empathy and understanding.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- Why my fertility story began at age 10, and most likely before I was born.
- How EFT helped me make the biggest and best decision of my life.
- Advocating for myself and my fertility, and walking out on my fertility doctor.
- The adrenaline fuelled dash that led to me finally becoming a mother!
Next steps:
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
EP 044: The Power of Self-Compassion on a Fertility Journey with Alice Rose
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
It was an absolute delight to speak with the lovely Alice Rose. You may know Alice from Instagram where she has an account, started after having IVF herself, to support and inspire the fertility community. She’s also led some brilliant social media campaigns to advise and educate others on how they can best support people facing fertility issues. Over time Alice has developed her support offerings and has also recently qualified as a transformational coach to be able to offer even more support. I was thrilled when Alice agreed to join me on the podcast and we had a wonderful conversation about the mindset piece and emotional side of the fertility experience. I hope you enjoy listening!
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- Alice shares how her fertility story began and how it quickly became overwhelming.
- The one book that Alice read that changed everything for her (and no, it’s not a fertility book!).
- The support team she created and how this made a difference to her fertility journey.
- What self-compassion means, how we can bring it into our lives, and the strength it connects us to.
Next steps:
- Follow Alice on Instagram
- Listen to Alice’s podcast Fertility Life Raft
- Read more about Reclaim
- The book that Alice recommended (I’ve now bought a copy!)
- Your options for one-to-one Fertile Mindset support with Sarah
- Click here to meet me in the Fertile Mindset Café for a cuppa and a chat.
- Join us in the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary - amazing fertility support for just £29 a month!
- Follow me on Facebook
- Connect with me on Instagram
Thursday Oct 07, 2021
EP 043: 4 Easy Ways to Find Strength on Your Fertility Journey
Thursday Oct 07, 2021
Thursday Oct 07, 2021
It can feel impossible to stay strong during a long and challenging path to parenthood. You may think of yourself as a strong person, but fertility issues can truly test our limits. As each month passes and you’re still not pregnant, you may ask yourself “How much more of this can I take?”.
When people contact me for one-to-one support they tell me that they feel like they want to give up, but there’s also a contrasting need to keep going on their fertility journey. Does that sound familiar to you?
This is when a fertility journey can turn into a difficult uphill struggle, which takes every ounce of your strength and resilience. If you feel you’re running on empty and you’re not sure how to keep going, then the tips I’m going to share in this podcast on how to find strength are for you.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- Where we can borrow strength from when our reserves are running low.
- Why it’s so important to give yourself some slack.
- What “extreme de-stressing'' is and how you can easily practice it.
- How connecting to faith, hope and trust can also connect you to your strength.
Next Steps:
- Learn how to do EFT and be guided through a tapping round in episode 20.
- Your options for one-to-one Fertile Mindset support with Sarah
- Click here to meet me in the Fertile Mindset Café for a cuppa and a chat.
- Join us in the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary - amazing fertility support for just £29 a month!
- Follow me on Facebook
- Connect with me on Instagram
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
EP 042: “Why don’t you just adopt?”
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
As an adoptive mother myself, the topic of this podcast episode is close to my heart. Have you ever been asked, “why don’t you just adopt?” This is one of those unhelpful pieces of advice given by people who don’t have much, or perhaps any, understanding of what it’s like to have fertility issues. It seems that once they find out that’s what you’re dealing with, they feel compelled to say something as ridiculous as “why don’t you just adopt?”. In this episode, I share my own thoughts on adoption which I hope you find helpful, whether you are currently considering adoption or maybe just want to have it in the background as an option for now.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- How it feels to be told you should “just adopt” and what is actually behind making that decision.
- The unique challenges involved in the process of adopting and being an adoptive family, and the gifts it brings too.
- The practicalities of adoption and the steps you’ll need to take towards adopting a child.
- The mindset side of adopting and the one thing that helped me to have a successful and enjoyable adoption process.
Next Steps
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
EP 041: How your mindset can optimise your fertility at 40+
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
On the podcast today I’m sharing a talk I gave a few years back at an event called Fertility at 40+. However what I share here could apply to anyone facing fertility issues, whatever their age.
When we think of the emotional side of fertility, most of us will think first of the stress related to fertility challenges. But there are many ways our emotions, thoughts and beliefs can impact our fertility journey, and in this episode, I share three key areas which I believe most people will benefit from addressing.
Here’s what is included in this episode:
- How recognising and letting go of certain beliefs you have around your fertility could have a positive impact on how your fertility journey plays out.
- The importance of ease and clarity when exploring your fertility options and possible paths to parenthood.
- Using extreme stress management as an excellent approach to self-care and emotional wellbeing.
- How to address these issues and the one technique I recommend for authentic, positive change and an invitation to join the Fertile Mindset Sanctuary: https://www.fertilemindset.com/sanctuary/
Next steps: