Go With the FLOW Free Sample Edition

8/2/2019 Go With the FLOW Free Sample Edition

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

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

Go With

The FLOW

The Fertile Living Outline WorkbookInviting Fulfillment & Abundanc

in Your Infertility Journe

B Keiko Zoll

Free Sample Edition


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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 ofAmerica. This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by anymeans, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent ofthe 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


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Table of Contents for Free Sample EditionIntroduction & Welcome!...........................................................................................................4How to Use this Workbook .......................................................................................................5The Six Fertile Facets .................................................................................................................. 7

Connection ..................................................................................................................................9

Exploration ................................................................................................................................10

Movement................................................................................................................................... 11

Nourishment ............................................................................................................................ 12

Creation...................................................................................................................................... 13Balance........................................................................................................................................ 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


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Introduction & Welcome!Thank you for downloading the Free Sample Edition ofGo 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 timespent 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 deservethis.

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


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How to Use this WorkbookThere 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:

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!

YourLife

FertileFacet Y

ourGoals

FertileIntention

YourA

ction

Plan

FertileBlueprint


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What Is Fertile Living?

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

1. (of soil or land) Producing or capable of producing abundant vegetationor crops

2. (of a seed or egg) Capable of becoming a new individual3. (of a person, animal, or plant) Able to conceive young or produce seed4. (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 newideas

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


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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 breakdown all the aspects of your life into the six Fertile Facets.

The Six Fertile FacetsThe 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.


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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.


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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 feeldisconnected 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 asyou 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 curiousand we have a deep desire to connect. These two things will make us move us forward toa better place.-Tiffany Shlain, filmmaker


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Exploration

Do you ever feel like sometimes, in the

middle of a cycle, youre wearing a pair of

baby-making tunnel-vision goggles? Doyou 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, movingto 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, wenurture 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 thatyou didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from thesafe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain,author & humorist


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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 andstuck 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 keepmoving.- Jerry Seinfeld, comedian


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Nourishment

What nourishes you? What sustains

you? Im not talking about foods or

calories or nutritional supplements inthis 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 justas 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 dodeserve it!

On Nourishment: People need dreams, there's as much nourishment in 'em as food.-Dorothy Gilman, author


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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 butalso 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 outletduring 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: thata thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is lovedbefore it exists. -Charles Dickens, author


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Balance

Our lives pull us in so many different

directions, by the gadgets we carry

around with us, to our calendars filledwith 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 inwith the sequins and the fringes. -Bette Midler, actress, singer, dancer


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Discovering Your Fertile IntentionsNow 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 aFertile Life for yourself?

Purchase the completeFertile Living Outline Workbook

for only $5.50!Click here to purchase your copy today and get on the path toliving the fertile life you deserve! The complete Fertility LivingOutline Workbook totals 28 pages, including:

4-6 unique prompts for each Fertile Facet to get you diggingdeep 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 ofthe Fertile Living Outline Workbook

for only $5.50 here!


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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 visitingwww.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 Free Sample Edition