Ground to Grow

Ground to Grow Steady, compassionate support for the fertility journey.

Gentle practices and courses to help you move through the waiting, the uncertainty, and everything in between.

One of my patients in clinic yesterday shared how much she’s dreading Thanksgiving.After experiencing a recent loss, she...
10/09/2026

One of my patients in clinic yesterday shared how much she’s dreading Thanksgiving.

After experiencing a recent loss, she’s been finding it difficult to feel grateful for much of anything. What makes it even harder is the guilt she feels about not feeling grateful.

It’s something I hear often from people navigating fertility challenges. Holidays like Thanksgiving can be especially difficult. There may be unwanted questions, reminders of what you’ve lost, or the painful distance between where you are and where you hoped you’d be.

And then there’s the expectation to feel thankful.

If gratitude feels out of reach this year, that’s okay. You can feel sad, angry, disappointed, or exhausted without judging yourself for any of it.

A few gentle suggestions for navigating the weekend:

1. Start small. Gratitude might feel like too big a leap right now. Instead, notice a small moment of appreciation. The warmth of your morning tea, the autumn colours, or a familiar voice. Small moments can offer some nourishment during difficult times.

2. Savour what’s good. When something pleasant catches your attention, pause for a few extra moments and allow yourself to be touched by it.

3. Make a plan. If you’re gathering with family, prepare a response to questions you’d rather not answer. Give yourself permission to take a break, leave early, or decline an invitation altogether.

And through it all, see if you can offer yourself a little kindness.

You can be grieving and still experience moments of appreciation. Both can be true.

If you’re navigating fertility challenges or pregnancy loss and would like some support, our next Ground to Grow live mindfulness group begins October 22.

Over six weeks, we’ll explore practical ways to work with stress, difficult emotions, and uncertainty, with short guided practices and the support of others who understand.

Learn more through the link in bio.

Wishing you a gentle Thanksgiving weekend.

10/06/2026

Much like a poorly seasoned cast iron pan, the difficult stuff of our lives tends to stick. While the good is often more like teflon and needs a little bit more help to land.

Here’s a simple practice for taking in the good:

1. Notice it.
Be aware of a pleasant moment as it’s happening.

2. Linger for a moment.
Stay with it for a few extra seconds. Let yourself really take it in.

3. Feel it in your body.
Notice where you feel the pleasant experience. Maybe there’s warmth, softness, ease, or simply a sense that something feels good.

You may have heard the phrase, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” Our brains are shaped by what we repeatedly experience and pay attention to.

The more often we pause and take in these moments, the more available we become to notice them.

And when so much of our attention is being pulled towards trying to get pregnant, it can be meaningful to let ourselves be touched by the moments that feel good, or even just okay.

If you’d like to learn more practices like this, the live online Ground to Grow groups begin Oct.22 and on-demand programs are available anytime.

Learn more through the link in bio.

10/02/2026

At the end of a retreat I led last weekend, someone reflected on what had touched her during our time together:

The recognition that this moment, just as it is, is enough.

She was visibly tender as she spoke, and named that there was grief in letting that be true.

And alongside the grief, there was a palpable softening that everyone in the room seemed to feel, too.

09/27/2026

When you’re trying to get pregnant, there can be so much noise.

The analysing. The anticipating. The symptom spotting. The endless trying to figure out what something means, or what might happen next.

One of the readings I shared at today’s “mini retreat” was a reminder that the loudest part of our mind isn’t always the wisest. Sometimes we need enough space to hear what’s underneath all that noise.

A little something to carry with you into the week ahead.

And for those of you here in Victoria, I offer these half-day gatherings every 4–6 weeks. The next opportunities are November 1 and December 13.

You can find more information and register through the link in bio of my clinic Elements of Health Centre

An important conversation today about pregnancy loss care in BC.Patient partners and health care providers from across t...
09/25/2026

An important conversation today about pregnancy loss care in BC.

Patient partners and health care providers from across the province came together to share what is working, where the gaps remain, and what better care and support could look like.

One of the health care providers shared this reflection:

“Statistics are people with the tears wiped off.”

Behind every number is a person and a story. And there were so many stories shared today with incredible vulnerability, courage and honesty. A deep bow to those who shared their lived experiences, and who are willing to bring some of the most tender parts of their lives into conversations like this in the hope of making care better for those who come after them.

It was also powerful gathering alongside health care providers from across BC, including OB/GYNs, nurses, social workers, counsellors and others who care deeply about this work and want to do better. As one clinician reflected, even amidst the grief and difficulty, this work can be incredibly meaningful.

So much gratitude as well to Rana Van Tuyl and Cheryl Heykoop for bringing these voices together and for the important research they are doing. Today made clear how much there is still to listen to, learn from and change.

I’m hopeful about where this work can lead, and how it might help make support easier to find, easier to access, and more integrated into pregnancy loss care across BC.

What do you see as most needed in pregnancy loss care and support?

09/23/2026

Trying to get pregnant can already ask so much of you.

So as we settle into fall, perhaps the question isn’t what else you could be doing, but where you might make a little more room for being.

Research on habit formation tells us that small, specific actions, repeated consistently, are more likely to become part of our lives. It can also help to connect a new habit to something that’s already part of your day.

So keep it simple.

Maybe it’s drinking your morning tea without scrolling, and looking out the window instead. Noticing the changing light or what’s happening in the garden.

Maybe it’s a 15-minute walk over lunch every Tuesday and Thursday. No podcast. No phone call. Just walking.

Or taking 30 seconds before answering an email to feel your feet on the floor and pause before you begin to type.

Choose something small enough that it feels possible to return to, again and again.

And remember, consistency doesn’t mean doing it perfectly. Missing a day doesn’t mean you’ve fallen off track. You simply begin again.

Sometimes having a little structure and support helps, too. Ground to Grow’s next live groups begin October 20 & 22, and the on-demand programs are available anytime.

Both offer guided practices and practical ways to support yourself through the uncertainty of trying to get pregnant and pregnancy loss.

Details at the link in bio.

What’s one small thing you’d like to commit to for yourself this fall?

Trying to conceive can take up so much space in your mind and heart.The waiting. The uncertainty. The appointments. The ...
09/12/2026

Trying to conceive can take up so much space in your mind and heart.

The waiting. The uncertainty. The appointments. The disappointment. The constant wondering what comes next.

This October, I’m leading two small, live Ground to Grow groups for people trying to conceive and those who have experienced pregnancy loss.

🌿 Trying to Conceive
Thursdays, Oct 22–Nov 26
5–6:30pm PT / 8–9:30pm ET
*after Nov.1st 7-8:30pm ET

🌿 Through Grief & Loss
Tuesdays, Oct 20–Nov 24
5–6:30pm PT / 8–9:30pm ET
*after Nov.1st 7-8:30pm ET

These groups are a chance to learn and practise together, ask questions, and be with others who understand how hard this can be, without naming the details of our individual fertility or loss experiences.

Groups are small, with 10–15 participants.

On-demand options are available too if the live times don’t work for you or you’d prefer to move through the program at your own pace.

Details + registration at the link in bio.

09/05/2026

A little reminder that rest doesn’t need to be earned.

Not every moment needs to be productive. Not every bit of space needs to be filled.

Wishing you a little space to rest this long weekend.

For weeks leading up to an embryo transfer there are appointments, medications, decisions, preparation.And then suddenly...
08/31/2026

For weeks leading up to an embryo transfer there are appointments, medications, decisions, preparation.

And then suddenly, there is very little left to do.

There is simply the waiting.

Someone recently shared this with me after using the free Ground to Grow practices created for this part of the fertility journey:

“It’s proven really helpful during a tenuous wait.”

That’s exactly why I created these practices.

To help when your mind starts spiralling into the what-ifs. To ease some of the stress of waiting and give you somewhere to place your attention when there is so much you simply cannot know or control.

There are four free guided audio practices: two for around embryo transfer, and two for the wait for hCG blood work.

They’re free to access through Ground to Grow. Link in bio.

08/28/2026

Somewhere along the way, mindfulness became another thing to practice. Another thing to fit into an already full day.

I regularly ask in my classes, “Who has an extra abundance of time? Raise your hand.”

Nobody does. Everyone laughs.

Because life is full. And finding more time can become one of the biggest barriers to engaging in practices that might actually support us.

But what if it doesn’t always require more time?

Especially when you’re trying to conceive, there can be so much pulling your attention toward what might happen next. The next appointment. The next result. The next decision. Sometimes it can feel like your mind is living several steps ahead of you.

And those little moments when our attention might naturally come back to what’s around us are increasingly easy to fill.

Before every spare moment could be filled by a phone, there were more little stretches of simply…

being.

Waiting for the bus, watching condensation drip down the window. Sitting in a waiting room. Going to the bathroom without taking anything with you. 😆

We probably didn’t call any of that mindfulness. But our attention was grounded somewhere. Tethered to something real and immediate.

That’s what I love about the feet example in this Reel.

Your feet were there the whole time. You didn’t need to stop what you were doing or carve out extra minutes you didn’t have. You simply became aware of something that was already part of your experience.

This kind of practice can be woven into the life you’re already living in a thousand tiny ways.

Sometimes it really is as simple as noticing more of the life you’re already living.

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