This week, I was back for my second interview on the Jump Start Your Joy Podcast with Paula Jenkins. It’s a treat to be on Jump Start Your Joy to talk about how I developed a positive mental attitude, not letting the virus steal my joy, and how I’m advising fertility patients to approach treatment during the coronavirus pandemic.
Paula and I have known each other since we were kids, and it’s been a treat to get to work with her (on my show), and to see her caring manner and genuine love of her craft and how she helps me with everything she knows.
What I loved so much about this conversation is how I was able to share about how I discovered and created a mindfulness practice for myself in medical school. Knowing that I had anxiety around taking tests, I sought out a class with a professor that taught test taking skills.
I was able to take the skills that I learned in that class, and along with the anxiety I felt about an uncertain outcome in test taking to inform how I approach working with my patients. Here’s how I explain it:
“And so he taught me the skills and the skills that he taught are just so basic. And I teach them to my patients too now because it’s the same thing. I’m like, pregnancy is nine months, and then you’re doing treatments. Your treatment is this big exam that you’re going to take. And then, Oh my God, what’s going to happen if it doesn’t work?
They’re very simple tools: pick a mantra, have a breathing exercise you can go to, have a happy place, and just remember that you have to take care of today. That’s it. And if you do your best in this day and then the next day, you’ve already taken care of the day before and you know you’re getting closer to that goal. Right? So rather than fast forwarding in your head over and over and over and over, I just remind myself, take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.”
In this episode, Paula and I talk about:
-What and who inspired my unique way of treating patients with such care
-What’s changed for fertility patients (treatment-wise, and emotionally) during COVID-19
-How to learn more about your fertility: understand when you are fertile, how fertility declines over time
-The TUSHY Method for getting a snapshot of your fertility: T is for Fallopian tubes, U is for Ultrasound of your uterus, S is for Sperm, H is for Hormones, and Y is for Your Genetic profile
-Why sperm is important to the fertility equation
-How to approach a doctor with the questions you have
-That more people should trust their intuition when it comes to health questions
-My mindfulness and meditation practice
-How to sign up for Egg Whisperer School
