Honoring Your Grief In Infertility

When you feel ready,

Close your eyes.

Take a couple of deep breaths,

Engaging both the belly and the chest.

On each inhale,

Fill up the belly and then rise the breath and fill up the chest.

With each exhale,

Release the breath from the chest,

Then the belly,

Letting go of all holding and tension in the body.

Take a moment to ground and breathe.

Grief takes many forms at different moments.

In the moment,

You might be feeling shocked,

Angry,

Or sad.

You may be bargaining with the universe,

Hoping that if you do things differently,

You'll be successful this time around.

There's no right or wrong when it comes to grief,

So just allow yourself to be where you are right now,

No judgment.

Take a deep breath and feel the warmth of self-compassion envelop you.

You are hurting,

You are grieving,

And you need tender,

Loving care as your companion to cope with this time.

Take a deep belly breath,

Then let go of any tension on the exhale.

When you are going through infertility,

There are layers of loss.

These are called secondary losses.

These losses can be less visible,

But equally as devastating.

Secondary losses can be the loss of time,

The loss of a right of passage into parenthood,

The loss of a sense of justice and fairness in the world,

The loss of faith,

The loss of confidence in yourself,

The loss of intimacy.

Take this moment to honor the extensive losses you have experienced.

Deep belly breath,

Letting go of tension on the exhale.

Your grief is an expression of your love.

In addition to feeling the layers of loss,

Allow yourself to expand and feel the love,

The yearning that is driving you towards parenthood.

Expand and breathe.

When grief asks to be seen,

Meet it and embrace it as you would an old friend.

One more breath,

Expressing gratitude to yourself that you took this moment to honor yourself to honor where you are in your grief.

Thank you for practicing today.