We were never meant
to be so static. We are designed by
nature to be dynamic, cyclical, and yes, moody.
We are moody bitches, and that is a strength - not a weakness. We evolved that way for good reasons; our
hormonal oscillations are the basis for a sensitivity that allows us to be
responsive to our environment.
Moodiness - being
sensitive, caring deeply, and occasionally being acutely dissatisfied -- is our
natural source of power.
Drug companies are
spending billions of dollars to turn normal human experiences like fear and
sadness into medical diseases. They
aren't developing cures; they're creating customers.
Understanding the
meaning and utility of your moods is empowering.
In our digital
distraction we've lost a basic truth: fresh air, sunlight, and movement make us
feel better.
It is understandable
to respond to the man-made madness of this world with tears and frustration;
those feelings of distress are a pathway toward health and wholeness.
We need to tune in
to our discomfort, not turn it down.
Being sensitive, being irritated, and being vocal about our needs and
frustrations will improve our lives.
By evolutionary
design, women's brains have developed to encourage empathy, intuition,
emotionality, and sensitivity. We are
the caretakers and the life givers.
Feeling deeply may,
at times, be difficult to navigate, but it's also a powerful tool, in the
workplace and at home, and it's essential for growth.
We are built to be
highly attuned and reactive, and embracing that truth is the first step in
gaining mastery of our inner lives and health.
Stuffing down your
feelings is going to make you miserable.
The suppression of anger in particular is a crucial factor in
depression.
You have two
competing systems in your body:
sympathetic and parasympathetic.
The sympathetic is the fight-or-flight system, while the parasympathetic
is the rest-and-digest system.
As children, we were
molded by our parents' reactions toward us.
We put away bothersome behaviors, suppressed our emotional intensity,
and hid our needs in order to make their jobs easier.
We re-create our
childhood environment as we project our hurts, insecurities, fears, angers, and
anything else from our traumatic pasts.
Mindfulness
strengthens that final frontal inhibition, the "don't do it or you'll be
sorry" part of the brain.
In yoga, the
postures that you hate performing are the ones your body likely needs the
most. That's why they're the
hardest. They reveal your weakest, most
inflexible parts. In life, the people
whom you find the most challenging inevitably are the ones who have the most to
teach you.
Negativity is
invisible abuse that is toxic to the relationship.
A tuned-in parent
can help produce a healthy child. What
our kids need most is our genuine presence.
The mantras for
marriage hold for mothering. Same
team. Conflict is growth trying to
happen.
Mothering is as much
about raising yourself to be an authentic, empathic woman as it is about
raising your daughter to become herself.
Actual menopause
lasts one day. It is the one-year
anniversary since your periods have completely stopped.
Resilience is a key
component of mental health. It is your ability to bounce back, to adapt to
adversity, and particularly to recover from trauma, whether physical or
psychic. More resilience means staying
healthy in the face of tragedy and stress.
Less resilience means becoming overwhelmed, getting stuck, breaking
down, and getting sick.
Artificial
sweeteners trigger insulin release as much as or more than real sweeteners.
Intuitive eating
means really listening to that inner voice that will tell you honestly what
your body requires to stay healthy. It
means trusting and believing your hunger, and making healthy choices.
Inactivity taxes the
body as much as obesity does, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes,
and many cancers.
Sunlight needs to
hit your retinas to exert its direct antidepressant effect.
