The holiday season sparkles, twinkles, glows and explodes in your face with the invitation to be jolly. And then there’s how you really feel. Even if you have the incredible mental muscle that will allow you to join relatives and friends at what this year may feel more like an unavoidable obligation than a happily anticipated event, your heart may not be in it. It’s so difficult to be with other people’s babies and bellies.
So here’s a little piece of science that may inspire you to use your mental muscle to feel better. Have you heard the famous story about Norman Cousins? He was a vital 50-something who suddenly found that he was terribly compromised on the tennis court. He was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a severe inflammation of the spine and joints, with no known cause or cure. With his doctor friends in support, he checked himself out of the hospital into a hotel room near the medical facility. His wife arranged for a movie projector and gathered every comedy film she could find. He spent his days laughing, the only other “medicine” being an IV drip of vitamin C. Soon he was back on the tennis court in defiance of predictions.
Laughter truly is medicine. Studies have shown that humor lowers stress hormones. Optimism is associated with longer life and less illness. Hope has been described as the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn’t permanent. Keep at it. Your time will come. ‘Tis the season to heed the advice of the comedienne Loretta La Roche: “defend yourself against the plague of terminal seriousness”—even in the face of infertility.
Announcement: Mind/Body stress reduction classes at NYU Fertility Center begin again on Monday, January 9th. If you are interested, please get in touch with me ASAP as I will be out of town from January 2 – 8.
Class 1 of the 4 part series is “Using Your Mind to Enter Your Body for Stress Reduction.” You can expect to learn the theory behind the kind of stress reduction interventions that have an association to improved rates of pregnancy. And then you’ll learn these techniques!!! There is no obligation to take all 4 classes but most people do.
We meet in the 6th Floor conference room of NYU at 660 First Avenue, corner of 38th Street from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. This 2 hour class is $75.00 and is insurance reimbursable. You do not have to be a patient at NYU to attend. Please phone me to register at 212-758-0125 or email me at helen@mind-body-unity.com even if it is after January 2nd.