Tracy W. Gaudet - Consciously Female: How to Listen to Your Body and Your Soul for a Lifetime of Healthier Living

Table of Contents

To my passionate, committed, and Loving husband, Rich Liebowitz, and
To the Love of my mom, my dad, Hexi, and Noodle

Someone dancing inside us has Learned only a few steps; the Do-Your-Work in 4/4 time, and the What Do You Expect waltz. He hasnt noticed yet the woman standing away from the Lamp, the one with black eyes who knows the rumba, and strange steps in jumpy rhythms from the mountains of Bulgaria. If they dance together, something unexpected will happen. If they dont, the next world will be a Lot Like this one.

BILL HOLM, ADVICE

Praise for Tracy Gaudet and Consciously Female

Dr. Tracy Gaudet is the sort of doctor that every woman wants.
Her unique approach to womens medicine blends the wide
expertise of an integrative-medicine physician with the deep
insight and personal understanding only one woman can offer
another. In Consciously Female, she shows us how to untangle the
net of mind, body, emotions, and spirit and weave it into a fabric
far stronger than we have ever dreamed. If you are a woman, you
owe it to yourself to read this one.

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author, Kitchen Table
Wisdom and My Grandfathers Blessings

A veritable cornucopia of wise and practical information and
compassionate guidance from a physician who practices what she
preaches and is a highly respected advocate of a truly integrative
medicine. Consciously Female may be the ally, friend, and expert
you so sorely need and miss in todays rapidly changing medicine.
It is a specific and scientifically based prescription for optimizing
health and well-being, a true gift to women of all ages, and a
source of comfort and reassurance that honors the universe of the
feminine in matters of soma, psyche, and relationship, including
importantly, with yourself... consciously.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., author, Coming to Our Senses: How We CanUse
Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World

This book is about waking up, becoming conscious of not only
our body but our mind and spirit as well. It is about using deep
intuition along with rational discernment in making smart choices
about our health. Let us be grateful for the blessings of scientific
medicine, but let us also honor the consciousness, soul, and spirit
that lie at the heart of Dr. Gaudets elegant medical vision.

Larry Dossey, M.D., author, Healing Beyond the Body,
Reinventing Medicine, and Healing Words

Tracy Gaudet has written an inspiring guide to health and the
healing journey. Its a fabulous bookintelligent, alive, and
practical. She shows how a new medicine is not just adding new
drugs or herbs or treatments: it depends on a deeper understanding
of healing and of being human. She is pointing to the direction we
now need to take in medicine. Its the book to give to the women
you care about most in your life.

John Tarrant, Ph.D., author, The Light Inside the Dark:
Zen, Soul and the Spiritual Life

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The greatest blessing in my life has been the extraordinary individuals whom I have had the opportunity to know, to learn from, and to grow with. Each has influenced my life, my career, and the creation of this booksome directly and others indirectly. Attempting to capture this on paper is a daunting task indeed.

To start, I would like to acknowledge my family: my mom, Mary Louise Williams, who was the embodiment of unconditional love, with a sharp intellect and clever wit; my dad, Earl Kenneth Williams, who taught me the power of determination, hard work, and ingenuity; my sister, Wendy Williams, with whom I have grown through our many shared life experiences; my beautiful niece, Jessica, whose depth and honesty I cherish. My greatest support has been my incredible husband, Rich Liebowitz, who is passionately committed to our path together and whom I am blessed to have as my life partner. At long last our relationship has the chance to outlive the process of this book! And along with Rich, I have been blessed by his wonderful children, Corey and Josh; his mother, Edie, and her husband, George; and his brother, Ron, and his wife, Jessica.

The path of my life has been guided all along the way by inspiring teachers and friends: Todd Welch, Kelly Guthrie Bruneau, and Virginia McCabe Keelerthe deep friendships we shared in our teens were profound gifts that taught me the mysteries of soul mates; the Reverend John Robertson, who was always there for my family and for me; Mark Gaudet, who joined with me in this journey and with whom I have learned and loved so very much; Debbie Kredich, my medical school advisory dean, and my friends Katharine Liu and Michael Battistone, who were always there to support me. My many thanks to all the people at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio who helped me form the foundation of who I am as a physician: the nurses on Labor and Delivery; the midwives, especially Jan Olsen; my fellow residents, most notably Barbara Schroeder, Shannon Turner Abikhaled, Julie DaVolio Novak, Mark Funk, and Animesh Agarwal; my dear friend Elly Xenakis and her father, Phrixos, who adopted me into their family when it felt like I had lost my own; Craig Witz, my first chief resident, friend, and doctor, who taught me about the finer points of female anatomy; Carann Easton, with whom I went to my first alternative medicine conference; Karin Brewer; the faculty who supported my learning, my growth, and my leaving to go to Arizona, particularly Carl Pauerstein, Oded Langer, and Robert Huff; and Chris Northrup, who taught me and mentored me while I was still a resident and who has supported me each step of the way since.

Many talented and passionate people dove into the unknown with me and helped to create the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona: Dean James Dalen, who had the courage and vision to support the program, and his wife, Priscilla, who shared his personal caring and support; Joe Alpert, who took a chance and hired a young ob-gyn faculty member in his Department of Medicine to lead a controversial new program; Andy Weil, who, along with his willingness to share the breadth of his knowledge, gave me the freedom to create and the opportunity to lead; Sue Fleishman and David Rychener, who were the program in the beginning; Colleen Grochowski, who joined us early on as we pulled it all together and who became a wonderful friend; Sharon Scott, who was always there, personally as well as professionally, with passion and loyalty; Roger Kirkpatrick, who guided us in many ways and who became a wonderful partner in my life journey; John Tarrant, who created the container for change, in which the fellows as well as the faculty learned to embrace their own woundedness and see the light inside the dark, and who blessed me personally with his deep friendship, presence, and poetry; the first class of fellows, Russ Greenfield, Karen Koffler, Wendy Kohatsu, and Robbie Lee, who were true pioneers and great colleagues, and all of the fellows who followed. I also need to thank the many faculty members who helped to build the curriculum and my learning: Marilyn Ream, Roxanne Whitelight, Ruth Langstraat, Dan Shapiro, Carol Locust, Harmon Myers, Cindy Thompson, Christy Allen, Margo Parker, Ilene Spector, Francis Brinker, Jeff Beeley, Steve Gurgovich, Kathy Grant, Susan Phillips, Marty Hewlitt, Donna Swaim, Gary Schwartz, Linda Russek, John Misiaszek, Jim Gallaway, and Nancy Koff. Thanks, too, to the other members of PIM, who gave from their hearts because they believed in the vision; other key people who helped along the way, especially Gail Patrick, Pat St. Germaine, Fayez Ghishan, Lyle Bootman, Sy Reichlin, John Duval, Francisco Garcia, Nikki Rogers, Jane Barth, and Barbara Raney; Alice Ferrell, who was a tremendous assistant and friend; Patty Popp, Marlene Callaghan, and Mary Helen Kaiser, who donated their time and talent to support us and were the first of many volunteers; my other friends who supported me limitlessly, Mary Koopman, Linda Freidman, Sabine Weil, Alice McKittrick, Barbara Anderson, Rosemary and Rod Parrish, Nancy Lowe, Kathy Reed, Joyce Rychener, Chris Grochowski, and Ted Koff; Richard Baxter and David Thorne, who each helped me broker the chaos, the politics, and the insanity, and helped me to remember what Rumi says: There are many ways to kneel and kiss the ground; Pat Blessington, whose wonderful work with me as a Jungian and a friend helped me to grow and learn through the challenges; and Barbara Prested, whose gifted hands and heart replenished my body and soul.