Are you struggling to create happiness during isolation?

How to • Infertility Resources • Mental Health • Mindfulness
May 12, 2020


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When we think of an individual, we like to explore their wellness from seven key areas. Here they are in a nutshell:

  1. Survival & Safety – Family, Home, Trust, Prosperity, Tribe, Roots

  2. Creativity & Sexuality – Pleasure, Movement, Emotions, Nurturance

  3. Identity & Personal Power – Individualism, Vitality, Will, Energy, Self-Esteem, Proactivity

  4. Love & Relationships – Intimacy, Compassion, Acceptance (of self & others)

  5. Communication & Truth – Words, Listening, Willpower, Choice, Congruency (walking your talk)

  6. Insight & Intuition – Imagination, Visualizations, Dreams, Vision, Self-Evaluation, Feelings of Adequacy, Ability to Learn from Experience

  7. Connection & Information Processing – Understanding, Enlightenment, Belief Systems, Higher Power

We’ve all heard this term “work life balance” before. When we think of these seven areas, we’re not looking only at your work vs. your life balance, what we’re working towards is finding balance across ALL seven areas. We like to think of it as approaching you from a 360 degree view aka a holistic approach.

For some of us, we feel safe in our roots, but we might not feel as solid in our ability to express our thoughts/emotions. For others, they might be super excessive in their ability to communicate, but their heart space or Love & Relationships is armored so they never let love in. Neither is right or wrong, it just is. 

Sure, some days, months, years you’ll feel really good in one area or heck all seven (high five!), and then life throws a curveball your way and things get out of balance (insert pandemic or infertility here). When that happens, know that you can choose to bring things back into balance with this simple exercise.

It’s called STOP, START, CONTINUE.

How does it work?

For each area, consider what you want to STOP doing, what you want to START doing, and what you want to CONTINUE doing. Here’s a quick example using Communication & Truth: 

STOP shutting down when your partner asks you what you’re thinking/feeling in that moment?

START pausing to tune into your thoughts/emotions, and use your words to articulate how you feel in that given moment.

CONTINUE creating space between input and output so that you’re expressing your needs/desires from a place of compassion, respect, and kindness for yourself and those around you.

It’s your turn. 

Use this workbook to review all seven areas and determine for each one what you want to STOP, START, & CONTINUE from here on out. It’s ok if you don’t have all three for each area. As we mentioned before, you might feel really good in one area and that’s great! And it’s ok if you have more than one stop, start, or continue in one or more areas. Be open to what bubbles up.

If you find you like this exercise and you’re looking for more where that came from, download Reset Your Fertility Mindset. This 125-page workbook was designed to get you thinking, daydreaming, and working towards the fertility experience you desire. It guides you through 31-days of self-reflection activities to help you tap into what you truly want deep down. By the end, you will reframe how you want your infertility journey to look and feel moving forward.