Life Choices
September’s Feature Article…
Most women look in the mirror every day and hate what they see.
What is even worse is that most of us also hate how our bodies feel, work, and move; our energy levels are often low and, no matter what we do, it seems that changing our body’s appearance (as well as the level of health of that body!) seems far beyond our power to influence.
I see and hear this in my office daily.
This is a problem of serious proportions in terms of our physical health and emotional wellbeing, and it spills into the activities of our daily lives. Generally, when we were adolescents, there was a capacity for our bodies to self-regulate and keep us functioning in a manner near to compliance with the “nature of the beast!” Ah….but then there were the abuses and assaults heaped upon us by others and ourselves–the stressors of life began taking a daily toll. This, not to mention the factors of the developmental process of aging in both genders. (By age 30 to 50, women are in the throes of hormonal shifts.)
Let me give you an example. Daily, we are subjected to all of the pollutants and traumas our Mother Earth has endured; they filter into the daily lives of her inhabitants, both male and female of all species. And so, we find that the food we eat (reinforced with hormones) is subtly shifting the reproductive capacities of males who are becoming more estrogenized and females who are over-estrogenized, leaving in its wake a loss of reproductive potency in males and contributing to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in females. This is only one aspect of a tragedy of global dimensions.
Lifestyle questions demand that we change if we hope to survive and be productive in our work, in our relationships, and in loving ourselves enough to build powerful, creative Selves.
There are things which can be done….evaluations of health risk factors, changes in diet, exercise, and supplements. There are shifts in body functioning at the cellular hormonal level which can precipitate total body changes. Remember, change the mind and you can change the body. Change your mind and you can change your world.
This is the difficulty for all of us: How do we consciously choose change and make it last? How do we actively choose more healthy selves and a more healthy world? How do we live what we desire for ourselves and those around us? This is the activity of a mind free to choose and our health, our bodies, our levels of energy will be determined by manifesting those choices.
__This article also appears in September, 2001, WomanSpace.
Other Stories
Ask Dr. Quinn….
Dr. Quinn–
Much of your teaching of course does come from New Age thinking. You must know this. Even my husband recognizes Shakti Gawain as a prominent New Ager.
Certainly we can learn from the medical and physical disciplines of the East. But the essential difference between New Age thought and Christianity is that in the first the self (or as you would probably say, the Self) is on the throne; in the latter, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is on the throne. We need to learn to trust God, not ourselves.
Anyway, I think you’re a nifty lady, and I believe that you are just temporarily mistaken as I was.
–G. A former New Ager
Dear G.:
Thank you for your thoughts…as you can see by my show I must speak to all levels and all persuasions.
That which we reject is as telling about our own spirits as that which we accept. I am for all people. That is the whole idea about diversity and learning to accept one another. It is why I quote from many sources of religious experience, many of which you probably will not recognize. (How wonderful that your husband is so well read and exposed to enough literature to have an awareness of Shakti Gwain…many men do not even pick up a book!). Vatican II and the whole of ecumenical efforts worldwide, as well as the imperative for local and global peace requires this kind of understanding. We all have so much to learn from each other…so many ways to dance the dance…..weave the tapestry.
_an ongoing column designed to address your needs! Feel free to write to askdrquinn to have your concerns or questions answered in this column!
