Tag Archives: i want one

Conscious Conception: What It Means to Me, and Why It’s So Important

A few months ago in a group that I’m part of, someone asked what conscious conception was.

Here is what I said:

“To me, conscious conception is about approaching the time before you start trying to conceive as a sacred time of growth and preparation.

As your baby’s first home, there is much you can do to ready yourself – emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

So often the conversation begins once you are ready to start trying to conceive, or even more commonly once struggles arise or you become pregnant.

There is so much beautiful and transformative work that can happen before that point that can open up the entire experience on an even deeper level.

It’s a really magical time.”

This is my invitation to you to get curious about what your journey could look like if you brought consciousness and awareness into your life starting right now.

What would you keep exactly as it is?
What would you tweak so it felt just right?
What would you want to completely overhaul?

How could you be okay with where you are right now?
How could you make this moment the place of shift?
How could you see yourself now as this sacred vessel?

Your future baby is already growing in your heart. Why wait to create the perfect first home for her?

I’d love to hear what conscious conception means to you. Please join the conversation in the comments below.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Toxins, Preparing for Conception, and Simplicity

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Do you know what's in your products

It’s really all about simplicity. When I interviewed Dr. Laurel Standley for the Creating Fertile Ground Conference, she shared that even as a scientist, she doesn’t know what all of the ingredients in our products are. After all, there are over 6000!

So what are we supposed to do?

Memorize lists of ever-changing chemicals to be concerned with? I tried that; it’s not so easy.

Ignore the issue and hope for the best? The stakes seem too high for that, as we’re talking about not just our health, but also the health of generations to come.

As I’ve learned more and more over the years, especially when it comes to toxins and the childbearing years, I’ve come to discover a way to do the best you can without getting yourself overwhelmed by tons of information – keep it simple.

I recently had an in person session with a client. She and her husband are planning to start trying to conceive soon, and she is thinking about what’s in her products in an entirely new way now that she’s thinking about her future baby. It was a deep dive into this topic, and after our time together she said, “Thanks again! It was all really helpful and encouraging.” Encouraging. That’s key. You can gather all the information you want online, and you’ll likely find some of it to be helpful and much of it to be scary. That’s not really my idea of helpful, simple, or empowering at all.

Here’s what I taught her about simplicity when it comes to the products we’re using on a daily basis:

Use fewer products. On average, women use a dozen products daily. How many do you use? Often, many of them are ancillary to our needs, and they come at a huge price. One thing that my client realized was that she was seeing the same ingredients again and again as she checked her labels. Not only are we exposing ourselves to these chemicals, but we’re getting exposed multiple times by our products. How can you use fewer products in your routine?

Keep the ingredients list short and readable. One exercise that I have my clients do is you write out all of the ingredients that are in their products. For each one, they make two columns – the ingredients that they recognize and know what purpose they serve and the ingredients that they don’t recognize. The same reaction comes up again and again – so many of the ingredients are difficult to spell, let alone understand. Looking for products that have simple ingredients (ideally 10 or fewer ingredients and that you can recognize) is a great way to release the fear and overwhelm about your products. Check your labels. Do you know what you’re putting in and on your body?

Don’t feel like you need to do all the research on your own. We are surrounded by so much information these days, much of it full of unnecessary fear, much of it contradictory, and it can easily be overwhelming and confusing. Getting lost in a sea of information is not my idea of simplicity. Is it yours? If not, choose simplicity by starting where you can and finding support from those who have a passion for digging for the information and sharing just what you need to make this journey an empowering one. How can you reach out to get support so you can find more simplicity?

I’d love to know what was most helpful and how you plan to bring more simplicity to your daily routine. Join the conversation by sharing in the comments below.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Birthing Your Dream through Visioning

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I create vision pages in chunks. When I participate in one of Hannah’s programs, I find myself catching up with 10 prompts in one night, scraps of paper flying, recycling bag filling, as I rip, cut, glue, repeat. Again and again. And then, when I stop to take a breath hours later and look back at what I’ve done, I’m in awe.

Sometimes it’s a few days later, sometimes a few months, that the messages on the pages begin to have meaning for me. During the recent intense full moon energy (did you feel it?), I didn’t know what the messages coming across meant. At one point I did something unusual for me – I pulled off some words that I had glued down. Suddenly, they didn’t feel right.

The next day the energy was still with me, and two more pages came out, in black and white, and they terrified me. I’ve kept them open on my desk. As I shared with friends my fear in these words, they helped me peel back the layers so I could begin to uncover the meaning. I was scared because of what I thought they could mean. Then I opened up and accepted what they did mean.

“Look, it’s hard to let go, take the leap…”

And just like that, I hired an amazing virtual assistant (who I know in real life) to help me with parts of my business that drain me so I could let them go.

“The making of magic, search for excellence…”

And then I had a conversation with an incredible woman who has worked in the infertility field for 30+ years (and probably held me in the NICU when I was born) and we are meeting for lunch to discuss how we can work together to support women during this incredibly intense time.

“Authentic life, designed by you.”

Another women signed up to work with me and I was so aware of how freeing it feels to get to create my own schedule and work with women who are ready to do what it takes to see their dreams fulfilled.

This all came just from the last two pages, black and white, from a couple of days ago.

I’ve been so enthralled with these pages that I have barely begun to comb over the 16 pages that led to this. Well, except for my favorite. Here’s C.C.:

And here’s one that I created a while ago for you but finally glued down the other night:

When we open ourselves up to the process of visioning, we get to imagine and begin to create the life we want to be living. We get to breathe life into our dreams.

The soulwork around visioning is an incredibly powerful place to start your journey (or the next leg of your journey) because you get to throw out all of your preconceived ideas, what you think you should be doing or thinking or feeling, what others think you should be doing or thinking or feeling, and you get to play. You get to step into that place of possibility and say this is what I want. You get to claim it.

When we gather for the Creating Fertile Ground Circle at the beginning of June, our first month will be all about stepping into the vision. From there, we’ll get to explore how to bring that vision to life, bit by bit, as we explore deeper each month.

Visioning will continue throughout the 6 months because there are always new messages, new layers to uncover and explore.

If you are ready to begin to breathe life into your dreams, if you’re curious about what creating a vision for your future can help your manifest, I encourage you to join us for the Circle.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

What Can You Do to Create Fertility for Your Future Self?

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In this week’s video I answer an important question – what can you do now if you’re thinking about having a baby in 5-7 years.

Check it out and be sure to join the conversation when you’re done!

If you’re ready to get started on your journey to motherhood, you can join us here!

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Why Toxins are Key to Healthy Conception and Pregnancy

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Peace lilies are great for cleaning toxins out of the air. Note: Toxic to cats.

There is a balance of energy in our bodies – that which creates life and that which impedes it. At the beginning of my journey to prepare myself for my future baby, I recognized the importance of focusing on the energy that creates life but I saw that I needed to clear out the negative energy, the clutter, and the toxins before I could create a sacred and luscious space where my child could grow.

Toxins can be a scary and overwhelming topic, but the risks that we open ourselves to unnecessarily on a daily basis are far scarier and more overwhelming. In fact, when we can be in service of our best health, and therefore our baby’s best health, the topic of toxins becomes one of empowerment. You learn what you can begin to control and in doing so you let go of so much fear.

So many of our fears – infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy and birth complications, birth defects and health related issues as our child grows up – are often deeply connected to the toxicity that has found its way into our bodies. By taking the steps towards learning about the connections between toxins and your health, you see what steps are in your control to reducing the risks of so many of your fears.

And it’s easy. That’s right, I’m starting off the week of the Creating Fertile Ground Virtual Conference with the easy first step. That’s not to say that it’s easy to eliminate all toxins from your life – that’s impossible. It’s easy to begin to take the steps that fit into your lifestyle and that fit into the vision of the world that you want to see flourish for your family.

In many cases, a few simple changes to the products you use can significantly reduce your toxic burden. In some cases, the changes are not practical right now, but there are actions you can take to mitigate the impact. In all cases, you step into a place of empowerment.

This is something that you can do right away, to treat yourself as sacred ground as you begin to prepare for baby. You want to reduce your exposure now so the environment you grow your baby in, from the very moment of conception, is comprised of as much energy that creates and nourishes life as possible. You can do this by reducing the negative toxic energy, both physically and mentally.

The women who will be sharing with you are going to teach you what you can be doing now and why it’s important, but you also might hear suggestions that feel like too much to implement right now, and that’s okay. You’ve empowered yourself with knowledge and you can put it into practice whenever you feel ready.

Clearing out the toxins is a beautiful foundation on which to grow everything that comes next. In order for plants to grow and thrive, they much have fertile and nontoxic soil. That is where it all begins.

If you’re ready to learn more about what you need to know and what you can do about toxins and your fertile health, join us for the Creating Fertile Ground Virtual Conference by registering here.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Why Now is the Time to Create Fertile Ground

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When we are struggling to conceive, we show up in fear and we talk about it.

When we take that test and discover that there is a being growing inside of us, we wonder what we ‘should’ be doing or what we ‘should’ have been doing, and we talk about it.

When we feel the desire growing so strongly in us for this role of mama, but we’re paralyzed by whens and ifs and all of the potential fears, we keep it inside.

It’s time for this to change.

We, as women, have a power deep inside. I like to call it mama spirit and I believe it is never too early (or too late!) to begin nurturing and nourishing this part of ourselves.

She is our essence, full of creative capacity, and until we take divine care of her, she’s not at her best and strongest self.

This conference, this gathering of women, is just a small part of a much larger vision. It is a way to start the dialogue, to let women know that it is amazing to have this desire to be a mama and to show them how they can step into this role right now.

It is not enough to go to your doctor and say, “We’re thinking about start a family, what should we do?”

It is not enough to secretly harbor this desire as you take steps to grow your mama spirit (I did this, and I deeply felt that lack of much needed support and community).

It is not enough to say “this is a future dream, so I’ll just shut down this desire for now.”

I want you to fully awaken your desires.

I want you to begin taking steps on this beautiful journey right now.

I want you to feel empowerment and authenticity radiate through you.

I want all of this in service to your and to your future baby.

In the years that I’ve been growing my practice, I’ve heard two main things:
– Women before they conceive? That is a hard group to find!
– And from mamas, I wish I’d know about you when…

So here I am, calling you forth. Step into this dream now, claim it as yours. Know that this conference is a gift straight from my heart to you.

We can’t wait for others to call the shots, to tell us what we need to know and do. We need to find what we are searching for and dive in, heart first.

If the idea of your future baby is in your heart and on your mind, welcome to the path that will help guide you to your little one.

Ready to take that next step? We’re waiting for you here.

Next week, I’ll be sharing with you why the five topics that we’ll be covering are, to me, the foundational pieces of this journey.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

What You Need to Know to Ease Your Fears about Conception and Pregnancy

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I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and that you got to relax a bit over the holiday weekend. The picture below is my view while relaxing in a hammock in my parent’s backyard.

On the 4th, my husband and I also put to rest a question that we’ve had for the last 8 years – we discovered that we don’t have access to the roof of our apartment building to watch the fireworks (no surprise there from a liability standpoint, but we’ve been wondering for a while). We also discovered that even from the 12th floor, we couldn’t see the fireworks that we were hoping to see.

Isn’t it funny that it took us 8 years to actually check to see if we could get on the roof? It didn’t take much time or effort to uncover the answer, but year after year we put it off. Sometimes we just don’t want to know the truth.

Truth can be scary, but it’s so important, right?

As I always seek to share with you from a place of love and not fear, I often struggle with how to share the things that are really important without making you feel overwhelmed or worried.

But here’s the thing, without the truth, you will find yourself even more overwhelmed.

You’ll be searching for answers and coming up with all sorts of information. The best-case scenarios may leave you feeling negatively about yourself if your own experience doesn’t live up to those stories. The worst-case scenarios may leave you feeling full of anxiety and worry when there is no need for it.

Finding this middle ground can be a challenge in and of itself, and I’m here to help you with that.

In a couple of weeks I am going to be opening registration for a free video series that is going to help you be able to embrace the truth with love and compassion.

For now, here’s what I want you to know that will help make this an empowered journey:

Focus on what you can control

Release worry around what you can’t control

Find ways to bring joy into your daily life (yes, this is important for fertility!!)

Remember to be patient and compassionate with yourself

When you start with these, you are setting the groundwork to accept the truths that will support you.

I’d love to know what you’re hearing or reading that brings up more fear than you want it to. Leave a comment and let me know, and I’ll try to address your concerns in these upcoming videos!

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

I Waited 3 Years for This… (is there ever a perfect time to have a baby?)

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You know how the old saying goes, right? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

I found love on the 4th of July in 2000.

We got married on July 1st in 2007.

We welcomed our daughter into the world on April 6th (my grandparents’ anniversary and husband’s great-grandmother’s birthday!) in 2010.

It doesn’t all have to happen at once!

We put SO much pressure on ourselves, don’t we?

When my husband and I got married 6 years ago, we had already been dating for 7 years. Shortly after we got married, the ‘I want one’ bug hit me – everything baby was on my mind. They suddenly came out of the woodwork and I was seeing them everywhere. And I wanted one!

It didn’t help that friends of ours got pregnant around that time, and the idea of having our children grow up close in age was really appealing.

My sister-in-law, then 11 years old, who had been asking if I was going to be her sister probably since the age of 5 or 6 (this is what happens when she’s got 3 brothers!), immediately shifted her question to “when am I going to be an aunt?”

Internal and external pressure can be stressful, frustrating, and confusing. It can make tuning it to what feels right for you very difficult at times.

So what do you do when you reach this time that may or may not feel like the right time for motherhood for you?

You prepare.

You take better care of yourself.

You commit to the things that bring you joy.

You honor the power that you have within you.

Maybe motherhood is just around the corner for you, and maybe, as it was for us, it’s still a few years away.

Instead of letting yourself get wrapped up in the stress and overwhelm, you can empower yourself to become the person you want to be once motherhood does arrive.

Where can you release the pressure? Share with us in the comments below.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Clearing Up the Difference Between Fertility and Infertility

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I’ve got a really important message for you this week.

This is something that I’ve thought about for a very long time and I’ve wondered how to talk about it, when to talk about it, and finally last week I decided to stop wondering and just do it.

I think for many women reading this, what I am going to tell you will make you feel so much better. My hope is that if you have a ball of tension around your heart when it comes to this topic, that it will begin to ease a bit now (I wrote about this on the blog a few weeks ago).

This is a reframe – an opportunity for you to look at something in a new way.

This is a chance for you to feel empowered by your body instead of full of fear, anxiety, guilt or shame about what your body can or can’t do.

This will help you to embrace what’s within your control and to let go of what you can’t control.

In letting go, you free up space for the magic to happen. Tweet This!

I recently shared with someone that when it comes to fertility and infertility I think too often women get lost in the language. I told her that I think for a lot of women, when they hear “fertility” they think of struggle, of having difficulty conceiving, of not being fertile. “Oh my gosh, you’re right!” she said, “I think that’s how I’ve thought about it too.”

I raised the question on Facebook with a word association game – “When you hear the word fertility, what comes to mind?”

One woman wrote, “struggle” while another wrote “confusing, hard, mysterious, a pain, not precise, too precise…”

If that’s how you think about it too, I want you to be open to a new possibility.

What if you flipped this on its head? What if you could separate fertility from infertility? What could that open up for you?

I want you to feel empowered when you hear the word fertility, no matter what your journey has been like in the past, no matter what stories are part of your narrative.

Think of fertility as being proactive, about creating the best and most nourishing environment in your body, mind, and spirit that you can, about cultivating a space that is full of joy, love, and all that you need for growth.

Hold compassion for yourself as you step onto this path.

I want you to step into this feeling of fertility as what you can do first and foremost for yourself. And remember, fertility is not just about preparing yourself to grow a baby; it is about preparing yourself to live your life to the fullest, with passion and joy.

By thinking about fertility in this way, you prepare yourself to bring more gentleness and kindness to yourself if infertility does become part of your story. You will know that you have set a strong foundation, and you will move forward on your journey feeling more empowered than overwhelmed.

I’d love to know what fertility means for you, and what this perspective opens up for you. Leave a comment below and let us know!

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Planning for Pregnancy?

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We just spent a wonderful weekend celebrating a dear friend’s wedding. There’s not much better than celebrating love and joy with some of our favorite people.

One thing that you almost always overhear at weddings is talk about that next step. You know how the old saying goes – “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.”

I know I heard at least a few people talking about the future family of our friends, and it’s not at all surprising.

Recently, I was talking with a woman who owns a bridal shop (actually, the same place where I bought my wedding dress years ago), and she shared something interesting with me. She told me that many of her brides are stopping their birth control while they are preparing for their weddings, because they are preparing for something else as well!

And it makes sense to prepare. We prepare for big life events. We prepare for college (we spend 4 years of high school doing that!), we prepare for careers, we prepare for our weddings. Why wouldn’t you prepare for what is probably the most life changing step you will ever take?

Stop taking birth control pills. Make sure that you’re getting enough folic acid. These are the things women hear most often in terms of what they can be doing to ready their bodies for healthy conception and pregnancy, but many of them are left wondering, “What else can I be doing?”

In the age of the internet, it can quickly get overwhelming with a never ending list of search results, but you may never find what you need to know.

I’m here to tell you that it’s not about staying up all night searching and searching and bogging yourself down with more information.

It’s not about reading every book you can get your hands on.

It’s not even about asking your health care providers what you should be doing.

None of these things offer you a complete picture of what you need.

It is about learning to trust yourself.

It is about bringing awareness to where you are right now.

It is about making a commitment to yourself as you prepare to make a lifelong commitment to your future baby.

Are my newly married friends thinking about starting a family anytime soon? I don’t know, because it’s not my business until they decide to share that information with me.

What I do know is that now is always the perfect time to start preparing, because if you’ve ever prepared for something in your life, you know that you always end up wishing you’d had more time.

Have you scheduled your complimentary Creating Fertile Ground Strategy Session with me yet? This is your next step if you’re even dreaming about becoming a mama. Let’s spend 30 minutes together and see what path it illuminates for you. Are you ready? Click here to schedule your session today.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,