Because women so often dream of houses—a very concrete symbol of our psyches and our bodies—I have depicted the female hero’s journey as a journey through a house. Each room of this house contains challenges that we must face in order to find the treasure that also awaits us in that room.
A girl’s father and his attitudes about women create an indelible imprint upon her psyche about her own worth and also about what to expect from a man. If he is warm, loving, and attentive, then she’s apt to choose a man who is similar. If, on the other hand, her father is cold, distant, abusive, or possessive, this will also influence a daughter.
We learn our first lessons about what to approach and what to avoid from our parents. As we get older, they also teach us more complicated lessons about how to act in public and in private. These instructions get laid down in both the orbitofrontal cortex, which says, “Yes, it’s okay to feel that and go after that,” and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which says, “No, better not do that right now. Look before you leap. That’s not appropriate.” We need both parts of our brains to be fully functional.
From infancy on we are forming ideas about what sexual love between people looks and feels like. Our relationships with our mothers and fathers, their relationship with each other, what we see in the media and watch going on among the people who live in the world around us—all of these, for better or worse, have emotional and biological effects on an individual’s inner love map.
Our bodies are permeated and nourished by spiritual energy and guidance. Having faith and trust in this reality is crucial for lasting health and happiness. When a woman has faith in something greater than her intellect or her present circumstances, she is in touch with her inner source of power.
Imagine living in a culture where sex was sacred and not a sin! The cultures that honored the divine feminine, existing for over 30,000 years, knew that our sexuality was a positive expression of the life force. Sexuality and spirituality were never seen as separate in these cultures, and only became split during the patriarchal […]
Urinary incontinence, the involuntary leakage of urine, is a major health problem that affects approximately thirteen million people in the United States. Though 10–30 percent of women age 15 to 64 experience urinary incontinence at least some of the time, the condition tends to increase in frequency with age. It often makes itself known during […]
Most women will experience a few UTIs over their lifetime. The “honeymoon cystitis” our mothers were told about speaks to one of the primary causes of UTIs—the milking action of sexual activity, which can cause bacteria from the vaginal or anal area to get into the bladder and urethra. Neglecting treatment of a UTI can be dangerous because the infection can ascend into the kidneys.
Many women suffer from digestive problems at midlife, often along with weight gain. In fact, GI tract problems such as heartburn, bloating, gastric reflux, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers are the second most common reason why people seek medical attention in this country.
Heavy bleeding (menorrhagia) is often a symptom of perimenopause, when estrogen dominance causes the lining of the uterus to overgrow and then break down in a disordered way resulting in spotting or irregular heavy bleeding. Emotional stress of all kinds can make this worse.
