Go With The FLOW Free Sample Edition

Go With The FLOW: Fertile Living Outline Workbook FREE SAMPLE EDITION | Page 1
Free Sample Edition
Go With The FLOW
The Fertile Living Outline Workbook:

Inviting Fulfillment & Abundance in Your Infertility Journey
Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com
By Keiko Zoll
Go With The FLOW The Fertile Living Outline Workbook: Inviting Fulfillment & Abundance in Your Infertility Journey
-- FREE SAMPLE EDITION -Written by Keiko Zoll
Copyright 2012 by Keiko Zoll & The Infertility Voice. Cover art and photographs by Keiko Zoll.
All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For more resources on your infertility journey, please visit The Infertility Voice! www.theinfertilityvoice.com www.facebook.com/theinfertilityvoice | twitter.com/KeikoZoll
Table of Contents for Free Sample Edition

Introduction & Welcome! ...........................................................................................................4 How to Use this Workbook .......................................................................................................5 The Six Fertile Facets .................................................................................................................. 7 Connection ..................................................................................................................................9 Exploration ................................................................................................................................ 10 Movement................................................................................................................................... 11 Nourishment ............................................................................................................................ 12 Creation ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Balance........................................................................................................................................ 14 Discovering Your Fertile Intentions.................................................................................... 15
Order your copy of the complete Fertile Living Outline Workbook for only $5.50 online: www.theinfertilityvoice.com/shop
Introduction & Welcome!

Thank you for downloading the Free Sample Edition of Go With The FLOW: The Fertile Living Outline Workbook! Hello and welcome! Im Keiko Zoll, Founder of The Infertility Voice, writer, advocate, and all-round geek. This workbook was created out of a personal necessity to reinvigorate my life in the wake of my infertility diagnosis. There were many dark days in those first few months after I was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure and lots (and lots and lots) of waiting over the last few years. Oh the waiting it feels endless sometimes, doesnt it? Thats why I wrote this workbook. Because, hey why not fill all that time spent waiting with something of value and meaning? Why not live the most fulfilled, abundant life you can? Why not celebrate yourself a little? Living a fertile life isnt just about the occasional treat or day of pampering; its about cultivating a lifestyle of wellness. You deserve this. I hope this Free Sample Edition gives you a good idea of what to expect when it comes to living a fertile life. To get the most of out this practice, to really experience what living a fertile life means and what that can look like for you, I encourage you to purchase the complete Fertile Living Outline Workbook for only $10 thats 28 pages of intense self-discovery and intention-focused fulfillment just waiting for you to take action. Wishing you much abundance and joy,
Keiko Zoll
How to Use this Workbook

There are a variety of ways to approach this workbook. The Fertile Living Outline Workbook breaks up aspects of your life into six Fertile Facets, which then develop into Fertile Intentions, that you use to build your Fertile Blueprint. Think of the FLOW like this:
Your Life
Your Goals
Fertile Facet
Fertile Intention
Your Action Plan
Fertile Blueprint
You can explore each Fertile Facet individually by reading through its introduction, laying out its Intention and then mapping out its Blueprint. Or, you can work through all six Intentions before working on your Blueprint. Maybe you only pick one or two Intentions to work through this month or select an Intention as a theme for this year, or perhaps this cycle, and chart your Blueprint accordingly. The Fertile Living Outline Workbook is flexible enough for you to pick and choose what works for you. You might find it helpful to have a journal handy to write down your thoughts, or if youre a blogger, make it a series of blog posts. When you see a symbol, youll be asked to reflect and write. Theres no right or wrong way to approach the activities in this workbook. Just go with the FLOW!
What Is Fertile Living?

fertile {frtl}
Adjective.
[Origin: 142575; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin
fertilis fruitful, akin to ferre to bear.]

1. (of soil or land) Producing or capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops 2. (of a seed or egg) Capable of becoming a new individual 3. (of a person, animal, or plant) Able to conceive young or produce seed 4. (of a person's mind or imagination) Producing many new and inventive ideas with ease 5. (of a situation or subject) Fruitful and productive in generating new ideas
Take a look at this definition of fertile youll see it refers to many things we already associate with the word: fruit, production, conception, seeds. The word implies possibility. But if you look at its word origins, youll also notice that fertile has roots in carrying or bearing. When we think of carrying or bearing, we might think of something weighing us down, of carrying something heavy, of having a burden to bear. Thats not exactly what most people think of when they hear the word fertile. But when you look at the word origins, you can see that fertile, and thus fertility it implies a sense of arms being full, of abundance. All of this imagery suggests the capacity for abundance, fullness and ultimately, fulfillment. So what does Fertile Living really mean? Its not just about preparing the way for pregnancy or parenthood. Its about cultivating growth in your life. Its about creating abundance. When we think of infertility, we think of it in terms
like barren or empty - abundance then becomes something we crave and need in our infertility journeys. Living a fertile life means focusing and enriching aspects of your life until you find fulfillment, meaning and abundance. By using FLOW as a guide, you will recognize what aspects of your life and infertility journey could use abundance and where to stop and appreciate the abundance that already exists within your life. Instead of trying to turn your life completely upside-down to reveal all of the areas you most need fulfillment and abundance, its easier to break it all down into little chunks. To understand how Fertile Living is achieved, lets break down all the aspects of your life into the six Fertile Facets.
The Six Fertile Facets

The six Fertile Facets are Connection, Exploration, Movement, Nourishment, Creation and Balance. Think of where you are in your infertility journey right now.
Write It Out!
Which of these Fertile Facets jump out at you right away, either as things that pique your interest or areas you can already identify as places that need a little extra attention, a little more abundance? Which ones resonate with you right now? These Fertile Facets truly do FLOW into one another. They are each distinct but not necessarily mutually exclusive. On the next page, lets examine just how interconnected each of these Fertile Facets are to one another.
The Interconnectedness of Fertile Living
Exploration + Connection = Nourishment
When you discover what brings connection in your life, you nourish your purpose.
Connection + Movement = Balance
To achieve balance, you must know how to connect the movement in your life, to know in which directions you are being pulled in order to make a conscious decision to attain stillness.
Exploration + Movement = Creation
When you engage yourself in trying something new, you have the potential to create so much!
At the center of all these Facets is you, your life and your purpose. Creation, connection, exploration, movement, nourishment and balance all come back to you and the fertile, abundant life you seek to create. Now lets look at each Fertile Facet in more detail.
Connection
Do you ever feel completely disconnected from the world around you some days? When were in the thick of our infertility journeys, we can often feel disconnected from the world and people around us, for a variety of reasons. You may feel disconnected from friends and family who already have children, who were able to achieve pregnancy without complication. You may feel disconnected from your job as you wait for test results to come back in the middle of the work day, or even having to take time off from work to make doctors appointments. You might feel disconnected from your faith as you wonder if a higher power might be punishing you (I promise you, they are not). You may even feel disconnected from your partner due to feelings of guilt, shame or even blame. When we disconnect from the people we care about, we begin to lose intimacy. With regards to a partner, it could be a very real loss of intimacy if sex has become more of an exercise in timed baby-making and less of a spontaneous physical celebration of your love. In our infertility journeys, we often get so set into such detailed routines: hormone injection schedules, morning temp charts, ovulation predictor kits, timed intercourse, two-week waits, etc. When we get so pegged into these regimented schedules, its no wonder we start to disconnect from the things and people around us. Thats why connection is so vital to Fertile Living. Connection grounds us, brings us closer to the people and experiences that matter to us. Connection cultivates fulfillment and abundance when we connect to that which sustains and completes us. On Connection: There are two things that make me optimistic. We as humans are curious and we have a deep desire to connect. These two things will make us move us forward to a better place. -Tiffany Shlain, filmmaker
Exploration
Do you ever feel like sometimes, in the middle of a cycle, youre wearing a pair of baby-making tunnel-vision goggles? Do you feel like all you can see and hear and think about is implantation, betas, pregnancy and babies? And conversely, if youve ever had a pregnancy scare, its like the only commercial on television is for pregnancy tests and diapers? When we get so wrapped up in these milestone moments in our lives: engagements, weddings, buying a home or moving into an apartment, moving to a new city, starting a new job these activities fill our mental landscape. They take up as much room as they can in our brains and crowd our peripheral vision. Exploration is such a vital experience then, when were in the midst of these mind-clogging times, if only to give our brains something different, a refreshing change of pace. Exploration also gives us the permission to try something new, to test out new ideas and experiences. In doing so, we nurture our brains and indulge our hearts longings. Think of it this way: what do you have to risk by taking a step back from all of the baby-making in your life? What could you gain by exploring something new, by exploring more about yourself and the world around you? What risk is there to exploring and maybe even enjoying what you discover? On Exploration: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain, author & humorist
Movement
Do you ever feel like sometimes your infertility is in control of you more than you are in control of it? Do you feel stagnant and stuck in a rut of cycle after cycle after cycle? Do you long to connect more deeply with others, take off the baby-making goggles and just get out of this place in which youre stuck? Movement is key. Movement can mean many things in terms of Fertile Living. Movement can refer to physical movement by changing your scenery, by getting your body active. Movement can also mean moving on emotionally confronting an emotion for what it is and then moving past it. When we get in these ruts, when we feel stuck, like our feet are dragging through muck and mire, we start tapping into our basic instinct: fight or flight. Either response requires us to act, to move, to make a decision. Have you ever noticed that when you cant make up your mind on something, it feels like youre stuck? Its because our minds and bodies are telling us: do something! Move! Make a decision already! Movement paves the way for more intentional living, for commitment to action. Positive movement implies purpose we must be moving toward something. Conversely, perhaps we need to move away from something negative or destructive in our lives. Movement requires the courage to act. It forces us to truly think, experience, and act in the moment. And when we act with intention, when we move ourselves with purpose, we regain some of the control that infertility tries to take from us. On Movement: To me, if life boils down to one thing, it's movement. To live is to keep moving. - Jerry Seinfeld, comedian
Nourishment
What nourishes you? What sustains you? Im not talking about foods or calories or nutritional supplements in this moment Im talking about the experiences, people, places and things that fuel your soul. Its a new way of thinking about nourishment that guides this Facet of Fertile Living. We need food and water in order to keep our bodies functioning. What does your heart need to function? Your mind? Your emotional wellbeing? Its just as important to nourish all of these parts of our selves as much as our bodies. Lets bring it back to infertility for a moment. By giving our minds, hearts and emotional wellbeing the attention and nourishment they deserve, we only serve to strengthen our bodies. And at a time when we would really love it if our bodies would just, oh, cooperate already? its crucial we do what we can to be both as gentle and as respectful to our bodies as we can be. Theres no reason you cant be gentle and respectful of your body through physical nourishment, either. If you feed your body well, your body will do well by you. When thinking about nourishment as a Fertile Facet, let yourself be pulled toward the notion that fits your life best: physical nourishment for your body and/or experiential nourishment for your soul. Theres no right or wrong choice and theres no reason you cant work on both notions. Whether you feed your body or feed your soul, youre giving yourself the fulfillment and abundance you deserve. And yes, you do deserve it! On Nourishment: People need dreams, there's as much nourishment in 'em as food. - Dorothy Gilman, author
Creation
I have often said that what I cant create in biology, I make up for in words. Im drawn to writing to as a form of cathartic release but also as a means of creative expression. Writing has been my salvation on some of the darkest moments of my infertility journey. We struggle when our bodies fail to create that for which weve worked so hard, undergone so many tests and diets and fads and old wives tales all this to create a child of our own. Creative expression then, no matter what we create, becomes such an emotionally charged and emotion-releasing outlet during our infertility journeys. Creation doesnt mean you have to become the next art master. In a very broad sense, creation comes down to making something in this world that wasnt there before. The key to creation as a Fertile Facet is that whatever was made is made by you, your talents and your gifts. You do so many good things for both your brain and your heart when you engage in creation. As you sculpt, build, paint or photograph or however you choose to creatively express yourself you fire off so many stimulating synapses in your brain. And if you really enjoy the creative work in which you engage, you can completely get lost in what youre doing as well. From an infertility standpoint, its a great way to shut off all the negative self-chatter that often streams in our minds on a daily basis. When you complete your creation, you feed your heart by having a feeling of accomplishment. It doesnt have to be a masterpiece for you to feel good about having created something for yourself. On Creation: The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. - Charles Dickens, author
Balance
Our lives pull us in so many different directions, by the gadgets we carry around with us, to our calendars filled with appointments. Its as though our own lives are in competition with everything that crowds our schedules on a daily basis. Its no wonder then when our bodies and spirits crave a sense of balance, a sense of stillness to calm our souls. Just relax. The phrase most whove been through infertility wish were stricken from the record. Balance is simply more than just relaxing. Balance is about taking the time to find your inner calm and to let that stillness spill over in quiet ways into your otherwise busy life. With infertility, balance is essential to weathering the many storms and squalls that beset our journey toward parenthood. One of my favorite yoga poses is called Vrksasana: the tree pose. It requires the yoga practitioner to stand on one foot, the sole of the other foot planted firmly against the opposing inner thigh, knee bent, arms outstretched and reaching upward. The pose is basically balancing on one foot, but the bent knee and raised arms make it that much more challenging. The secret to this pose isnt having a strong core or even good motor coordination. To stay in this pose for any prolonged amount of time, you must calm and quiet your mind, invite stillness into your heart, bring evenness and balance to your breath. Vrksasana has taught me more than just physical balance; its given me the tools to bring balance and stillness into all aspects of my life. On Creation: I always try to balance the light with the heavy - a few tears of human spirit in with the sequins and the fringes. - Bette Midler, actress, singer, dancer
Discovering Your Fertile Intentions

Now its time to explore each Fertile Facet to determine your Fertile Intentions. Through a series of prompts, youll be given the opportunity to reflect on each Fertile Facet as it applies to your life.
-- END OF FREE SAMPLE -Want access to all of the details for creating a Fertile Life for yourself?
Purchase the complete Fertile Living Outline Workbook for only $5.50!
Click here to purchase your copy today and get on the path to living the fertile life you deserve! The complete Fertility Living Outline Workbook totals 28 pages, including: 4-6 unique prompts for each Fertile Facet to get you digging deep into your life, your goals and your Fertile Intentions Intense exploration of what success means to you Detailed guiding prompts to walk you step-by-step through forming each Fertile Blueprint Motivational tips to make Fertile Living a lifestyle practice
Order your copy of the Fertile Living Outline Workbook for only $5.50 here!
About The Infertility Voice
The Infertility Voice is an online resource for infertility patients seeking support and compassion during their infertility journeys. Launched in 2012 by founder and writer, Keiko Zoll, The Infertility Voice seeks to free infertility from cultural shame and silence and to catalyze a national, open and compassionate dialogue about infertility as a disease. The Infertility Voice exists for the entire infertility community: patients, prospective parents, legislators, leaders and organizations who seek to raise awareness of and advocate for the infertility community. Through one-on-one Fertile Life coaching, writing workshops, retreats, eBooks and extensive media and public speaking engagements, Keiko gives voice to the infertility communitys needs, experiences, universality and above all else, the validity of our communitys desire to one day parent. If you are interested in seeking personalized, one-on-one Fertile Life Coaching or participating in therapeutic writing workshops with Keiko, please contact her by visiting www.theinfertilityvoice.com. For more resources on your infertility journey, please visit The Infertility Voice online: www.theinfertilityvoice.com www.facebook.com/theinfertilityvoice | twitter.com/KeikoZoll

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Go With The FLOW: Fertile Living Outline Workbook FREE SAMPLE EDITION | Page 1

Free Sample Edition

Go With The FLOW

The Fertile Living Outline Workbook:

-- FREE SAMPLE EDITION -Written by Keiko Zoll

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Table of Contents for Free Sample Edition

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Introduction & Welcome!

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

How to Use this Workbook

Your Action Plan

What Is Fertile Living?

fertilis fruitful, akin to ferre to bear.]

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

The Six Fertile Facets

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

The Interconnectedness of Fertile Living

Exploration + Connection = Nourishment

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

Discovering Your Fertile Intentions

About The Infertility Voice

Keiko Zoll 2012 | The Infertility Voice | www.theinfertilityvoice.com

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