What the F — Rise Beyond Fertility

EP. 42 - When you’re surrounded by people but still feel alone

Loneliness on a fertility journey doesn’t always look the way we expect it to. You can be surrounded by people who love you and still feel emotionally alone. Carrying thoughts and feelings you don’t know how to explain, or holding back because you don’t want to burden others or make things uncomfortable. In this episode, we explore emotional isolation during fertility — why it happens, how it shows up and why it doesn’t mean you’re failing at coping or support. This is a gentle space to acknowledge what you’ve been holding and to remind yourself that wanting to be understood is deeply human. If this journey has felt lonely in ways you can’t quite put into words, you’re not alone in that experience. Journal prompts to reflect on after listening: * In what moments do I feel most emotionally alone in this journey? * What parts of my experience feel hardest to share with others? * Where have I been minimising how I feel to protect other people? * What kind of support do I actually need right now? * What would it feel like to let myself be supported, even a little? You don’t need answers. Just awareness. Before we finish today, I want to share something with you. If this episode connected to you especially the part about feeling alone and isolated but also constantly on edge, I’ve created something special to support you with that. It’s called Rise Beyond Fertility: The RISE Reset — A 5-day Journey back to yourself. This is a free live experience where I’ll guide you through nervous system regulation, breathwork, visualisation, EFT and meditation. Not to fix you. But to help you feel steadier in your body while you’re in the middle of treatment. If you’re tired of just surviving this chapter and you’re ready to move through it differently, I’d love for you to join us. You can find the link in the show notes. And as always, you don’t have to do this alone. Here's the link to register [https://www.tinafertilitycoach.com/the-rise-reset] Connect with me You can follow me on Instagram @tinafertilitycoach for ongoing support and conversations around the emotional exhaustion and trauma of fertility. You’re also very welcome to send me a DM — I read them all and I’d genuinely love to hear from you. To read my full story and learn more about how I support women through their fertility journey, visit www.tinafertilitycoach.com [%20https:www.tinafertilitycoach.com] Disclaimer This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Any insights shared are based on my personal experience and my work as an NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach. Always speak with your doctor, fertility specialist or healthcare team regarding medical questions or decisions. If you’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress, low mood or feel you need additional support, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

Ep. 41 - Why IVF feels so mentally exhausting

IVF isn’t just physically demanding. It’s mentally exhausting in ways that noone else can see. The constant planning. The remembering. The decision-making. The waiting and second-guessing. The feeling that your mind never really switches off (because it doesn't!) In this episode, we explore why IVF feels so mentally draining, even on “quiet” days, and why feeling exhausted doesn’t mean you’re not coping or doing enough. We talk about mental load, uncertainty and the pressure of holding so much internally for long periods of time. This is not about pushing through or trying to manage it better. It’s about naming what you’ve been carrying and softening how hard you’ve been on yourself and really giving yourself a mental break. If IVF has left you feeling worn down, foggy or emotionally tired in a way that feels hard to explain and put into words, you’re not alone. Here are the journal prompts included in the podcast: Journal prompts to reflect on after listening: * What parts of IVF feel the most mentally heavy for me right now? * What am I constantly holding in my mind, even on days when nothing is happening? * Where have I been expecting myself to cope better than feels realistic? * What kind of rest do I actually need right now — emotionally, not just physically? * If I allowed myself to slow down even slightly, what might change You don’t need to act on these answers or come up wit solutions or fixes. Just noticing is enough. And if you’re reading this thinking, “I don’t want to keep doing this alone anymore,” I’ve created something just for you. I recently opened a free WhatsApp group for women on the fertility journey. It’s a quiet, safe space. No medical advice. No pressure to post. No forced sharing. You can join and just sit quietly if that’s what you need. It’s there so you don’t have to carry all of this by yourself. So you don’t have to keep pretending you’re OK and you're fine when you’re not. If that feels supportive right now, please join us [https://chat.whatsapp.com/KwM9XnhLD7YDM5qT5Wdm9g?mode=gi_t], I'd love to have you there. Connect with me You can follow me on Instagram @tinafertilitycoach for ongoing support and conversations around the emotional exhaustion and trauma of fertility. You’re also very welcome to send me a DM — I read them all and I’d genuinely love to hear from you. To read my full story and learn more about how I support women through their fertility journey, visit www.tinafertilitycoach.com [%20https:www.tinafertilitycoach.com] Disclaimer This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Any insights shared are based on my personal experience and my work as an NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach. Always speak with your doctor, fertility specialist or healthcare team regarding medical questions or decisions. If you’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress, low mood or feel you need additional support, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

Ep. 40 - When “just stay positive” makes you want to lose it

“Just stay positive” is usually meant with good intentions, no harm or people being intentionally cruel. But when you’re already overwhelmed, exhausted or emotionally stretched, those words can trigger you and make you completely spiral. In this episode, we explore why being told to stay positive can feel so unsupportive during a fertility journey. We talk about emotional honesty, the nervous system and why forcing optimism isn’t the same as being resilient. This is a space where you don’t have to be upbeat, hopeful or okay. You’re allowed to feel what you feel, without judging yourself for it. If positivity feels like too much right now, this conversation is for you. Journal prompts to explore after listening: * What happens in my body when someone tells me to “stay positive”? * What do I actually need in those moments instead? * Where have I been forcing myself to be okay when I’m not? * What would self-kindness look like for me today, without needing to feel positive? You don’t need to fix anything here.  Just notice. Connect with me You can follow me on Instagram @tinafertilitycoach for ongoing support and conversations around the emotional exhaustion and trauma of fertility. You’re also very welcome to send me a DM — I read them all and I’d genuinely love to hear from you. To read my full story and learn more about how I support women through their fertility journey, visit www.tinafertilitycoach.com [%20https:www.tinafertilitycoach.com] Disclaimer This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Any insights shared are based on my personal experience and my work as an NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach. Always speak with your doctor, fertility specialist or healthcare team regarding medical questions or decisions. If you’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress, low mood or feel you need additional support, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

Ep. 39 - When you feel like you’ve lost yourself in this

Honestly, fertility has a quiet way of completely taking over your life. At first, it’s appointments, timelines, cycles, supplements and exhaustion. Then it’s plans on hold, decisions postponed and then you take a look in the mirror and you don’t quite recognise yourself anymore. In this episode, we talk about what happens when fertility stops being just a journey and starts shaping your identity. The emotional whirlwind, the constant waiting and the feeling that life has paused while everyone else moves forward with theirs not even realising. This isn’t about fixing anything or rushing yourself to feel better. It’s about noticing what’s been happening inside you and remembering that you’re still a whole person, even in the middle of uncertainty. If you’ve ever felt like you’ve lost yourself in this, you’re not alone. Journal prompts to reflect on after listening: 1. Who was I before fertility took centre stage in my life? 2. In what ways has my world become smaller recently 3. What part of me is quietly asking for attention right now? (rest, joy, love, connection) 4. What part of me is quietly asking for attention right now? 5. If fertility wasn’t the only lens I saw myself through, who else am I? Take your time. There is no right answer with this. Connect with me You can follow me on Instagram @tinafertilitycoach for ongoing support and conversations around the emotional exhaustion and trauma of fertility. You’re also very welcome to send me a DM — I read them all and I’d genuinely love to hear from you. To read my full story and learn more about how I support women through their fertility journey, visit www.tinafertilitycoach.com [%20https:www.tinafertilitycoach.com] Disclaimer This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Any insights shared are based on my personal experience and my work as an NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach. Always speak with your doctor, fertility specialist or healthcare team regarding medical questions or decisions. If you’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress, low mood or feel you need additional support, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

Ep. 38 - Why am I so angry on my fertility journey?

Anger is one of the most misunderstood emotions in infertility and is something that pretty much all women feel at one point in their journey. I know I can honestly say that I was angry at times for many reasons. In this episode, I break down why anger shows up so intensely during fertility struggles, what’s happening in your nervous system, and how NLP can help you shift the emotional charge instead of being so overwhelmed by it. You’ll hear:  • the real reasons you feel anger, irritation or rage  • how the brain reacts during infertility and why emotions feel out of control  • a powerful NLP-based tool you can use that's super easy but so effective and really helps  • journal prompts to help you release what you’ve been holding If you’ve ever thought:  “Why am I so angry?  "This isn’t me,”  This episode will help you understand what’s really going on and how release and soften it so that feel more at peace and grounded.   Connect with me You can follow me on Instagram @tinafertilitycoach for ongoing support and conversations around the emotional exhaustion and trauma of fertility. You’re also very welcome to send me a DM — I read them all and I’d genuinely love to hear from you. To read my full story and learn more about how I support women through their fertility journey, visit www.tinafertilitycoach.com [%20https:www.tinafertilitycoach.com] Disclaimer This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Any insights shared are based on my personal experience and my work as an NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach. Always speak with your doctor, fertility specialist or healthcare team regarding medical questions or decisions. If you’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress, low mood or feel you need additional support, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.