The most commonly doled out advice when people discover that you’re having trouble getting pregnant has to be “just relax and forgot out it.” Everyone knows someone who tried to get pregnant for years and when they finally gave up and stopped focusing on conception, they conceived. Research studies seem to be conflicted as to whether stress and trying too hard to conceive have any affect on infertility but since stress overall is bad for your health, doing a bit of relaxing and forgetting definitely can’t hurt.
“But I can’t stop thinking about trying to get pregnant,” you say. Of course you can’t. That’s why you need a distraction. Here’s a list of eight ‘projects’ you can start in Dallas to get your mind focused on something besides trying to conceive:
Get a fish tank – fish are beautiful, soothing and good for feng shui but most of all, they are very time consuming. Just think about how absorbed you can become in this hobby as you shop for a tank, fish, rocks and accessories. Dallas has several great stores to get you started including Dallas North Aquarium and The Fish Gallery.
Join a biking group – OK, so Dallas isn’t the coolest place to take up bike riding, especially during the summer, but believe it or not the city and surrounding areas have some amazing bike trails. LB Houston is a great trail for beginners and Rowlett Creek offers trails for beginners and advanced riders alike. There are more than 20 trails to choose from and DORBA, the Dallas Off-road Bicycle Association, is the club to join to meet fellow bike riders and get to know the terrain. And there’s no shortage of great bike shops in Dallas to get you outfitted including Richardson Bike Mart and Plano Cycle.
Go back to school – Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn? What better way to distract yourself than learning to make pottery or taking a creative writing class. You can choose a DallasCountyCommunity Collegethat is close to home or go with a larger university such as SMU, UTD or UNT.
Get a pet – there’s nothing like house-breaking a new puppy to get your mind off of everything else. And puppies can be good training for having a baby because they needs lots of love and attention. Or if a dog isn’t your thing, how about a kitten, bird or hamster? Visit one of Dallas’ local shelters such as the SPCA or Humane Society where you can adopt or even foster a new pet or check out one of Dallas’ many pet stores such as PetLand.
Volunteer in your community – Instead of sitting around stressing about your infertility, why not give of your time by volunteering for a cause that’s special to you? The Volunteer Center of North Texas can help match you with an opportunity that’s right for you or check with a church, nursing home or local school to see how you can help.
Learn Zumba – to melt away your stress. Dallas Zumba claims they will party and bring the house down combining high energy and motivating music that allow you to dance away your worries. Learn more about where to Zumba in Dallas.
Learn to cook – Most everything you read about TTC says you need to eat healthy and exercise. But both of these are sometimes easier said than done. Why not take a cooking class and learn to prepare healthy foods for yourself. You’ll be taking your mind off of your stress, increasing your cooking skills and improving your health all at the same time. Central Market offers lots of cooking classes to choose from, as do many other cooking schools in Dallas. Tina Wasserman of Cooking and More offers private lessons so why not start an “infertile women” cooking group and make it a girls’ night out?
Join a support group –I know this doesn’t seem like it would help you stop obsessing over trying to conceive, but it can help you find ways to more effectively deal with the stress. Dallas-based Susan Leonard teaches a fertility mind-body connection workshop based on the one begun over twelve years ago by Dr. Alice Domar, a nationally known infertility psychologist at Harvard's Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston. Now at Boston IVF, Dr. Domar has worked with thousands of women experiencing infertility. Her work has shown that a reduction in stress and tension is very beneficial to program participants.
Comments
I loved the article and the ideas for distration and beleive that stress does have a significant impact on fertility, so much so that my company (www.circlebloom.com) has a program to help women manage the stress that life and infertility brings. What ever you decided to do - finding the distrations, finding the way to manage the stress is so important!
Susan, thank you so much for the Web site. I can't wait to check it out.
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