Northrup - Womens bodies, womens wisdom: creating physical and emotional health and healing

Christiane Northrup, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn, is a visionary pioneer; beloved authority in womens health and wellness; and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom, and The Wisdom of Menopause. Her third book, Mother-Daughter Wisdom, was voted Amazons #1 book of the year in both Parenting and Mind-Body Health in 2005. Following a 25-year career in both academic medicine and private practice, Dr. Northrup now devotes her time to helping women truly flourish on all levels through tapping into their inner wisdom.

Website: www.DrNorthrup.com

ALSO BY CHRI STIANE NORTHRUP, M.D.

The Wisdom of Menopause
Creating Physical and Emotional Health and
Healing During the Change

Mother-Daughter Wisdom
Understanding the Crucial Link Between
Mothers, Daughters, and Health

The Secret Pleasures of Menopause

The Secret Pleasures of Menopause Playbook:
A Guide to Creating Vibrant Health through Pleasure

The Wisdom of Menopause Journal

Womens Bodies,
Womens Wisdom

Womens Bodies,
Womens Wisdom

Creating Physical and Emotional
Health and Healing

NEWLY REVISED AND UPDATED: 2010

Christiane Northrup, M.D.

EBook Edition published by Christiane Northrup, Inc. www.DrNorthrup.com
Print Edition Published by Bantam Books: www.bantamdell.com

Copyright 2010, 2006, 1998, and 1994 by Christiane Northrup, M.D.

All rights reserved.

EBook Edition published by Christiane Northrup, Inc. 2008
Fully revised EBook Edition published 2010 All rights reserved.

Print edition is available through Bantam Books
www.bantamdell.com

Illustrations by Scott Leighton.

Copyright 2010 by Christiane Northrup, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote the following:

Excerpt from Circle of Stones: Womans Journey to Herself, by Judith Duerk.
Copyright 1989 by LuraMedia. Reprinted by permission of LuraMedia, Inc., San Diego, CA;
excerpt from Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healing, by Stephen Levine
Copyright 1991 by Stephen Levine. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division
of Random House, Inc.; excerpt from When Society Becomes an Addict, by
Anne Wilson Schaef. Copyright 1987, HarperSanFrancisco; Geneen Roths Eating
Guidelines from Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth, published by Scribner,
copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Reprinted by kind permission of Geneen Roth
and Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Northrup, Christiane.
Womens bodies, womens wisdom : creating physical and emotional health and healing /
Christiane Northrup. Rev. and updated.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-553-80793-6 (hardcover) / 978-0-553-38673-8 (trade paperback)
1. GynecologyPopular works. 2. Holistic medicinePopular works. 3. Generative organs,
FemaleDiseasesPopular works. 4. WomenHealth and hygiene. I. Title.
RG121.N59 2010
618.1dc22 2010011802

Printed in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Author photo by Charles Bush Photography

EBook Published by Christiane Northrup, Inc.
is a registered trademark of Christiane Northrup, Inc

For more information about Dr. Northrup and her work,
please visit: www.DrNorthrup.com.

This book is for all who believe that it is possible to flourish, regardless ofour present or past circumstances.

It is for all who acknowledge the daily presence in our lives of mystery,uncertainty, and hope.

It is for those who yearn to be well and know that there is somethingmore to healing than simply external substances or techniques.

This book is for every physician, nurse, health care practitioner, healer,or patient who keeps an open heart and an open mind and acknowledges thefact that scientific truth is constantly changing.

It is for those who know that we heal and flourish to the degree that weconsciously invite the Sacred into our lives.

This book is dedicated with appreciation to the scientists and healers ofthe past, present, and future who have had and will have the courage tospeak their truth and go forward in faith, hope, and joy, despite the deadeningeffects of conventional thinking.

Contents

Part One
From External Control to Inner Guidance

Part Two
The Anatomy of Womens Wisdom

Part Three
Womens Wisdom Program for Flourishing and Healing

One of the central outmoded ideas governing our health care system is the notion that the processes of a womans body are designed to cause suffering and pain, and that women require a great deal of medical care and testing to stay healthy. Though this is certainly the experience of countless women, there is another waya better way.In fact, the female body was designed by our creator to be a source of pleasure, fertility, movement, strength, and well-being. Our bodies connect us with the moon, the tides, and the seasons. We are meant to flourish. We, the human race, have come to a crossroads, a turning point when old, unsustainable ideas and behaviors are breaking down all over the planet. The current health care crisis is just one example of this breakdownan example with which Im intimately familiar. There is no need to fear the crumbling of the old, for it opens a space for new, more sustainable, and healthier systems and ideas to be created in all aspects of the human experience on earth, including how we handle the experience of living in a female body.

Over the past three decades, my experiences as an ob-gyn physician, new mother, and midlife woman have led me to a revolutionary new approach to womens health and wellness that acknowledges the seamless unity of our bodies, minds, and spirits. Though this wasnt obvious to the mainstream medical community back in the 1980s and 90s when I was first field-testing the approaches outlined in this book, it is now abundantly clear to us all that a womans state of health is highly influenced by the culture in which she lives, her position within it, her experiences, and her day-to-day thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.

It is possible to thrive in a female body instead of simply waiting for disease to happen. It boils down to this: Regardless of our individual circumstances, our pasts, or our ages, each of us has inner guidance available that we can tune in to in order to create vibrant healthnow. We are born with this inner guidance, which comes in the form of the emotions and desires that lead us toward things (including thoughts) that feel good and are good for us, and away from things that feel bad and are bad for us. Its that simple. We are hard-wired to seek love, joy, fulfillmentand health. Though weve too often been talked out of our desires as children, Ive learned that we can trust those feelings that make us want to get up in the morning. Our desires are the way that the healing life force comes through us and replenishes our bodies. They are what make life worth living. They make up our hopes and dreams. And they invariably hold the keys to healing not only our bodies but our entire lives.