The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change, 2nd Edition
by Christiane Northrup
from Bantam
Menopause doesn't have to be a dreaded curse of aging during which we can look forward only to hot flashes and whacked-out hormonal mood swings. According to Christiane Northrup, M.D. (Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom), menopause often marks the beginning of a woman's most sexually passionate, creatively inspired, and professionally productive phase of life.
While this may sound like wishful thinking, Northrup backs up her good news with solid medical expertise. As an obstetrician and gynecologist, Northrup has specialized in using a mind-body approach to women's health for decades, which means she doesn't just write about hormones, but also examines how a woman's lifestyle, emotions, and beliefs are affected by menopause. With the right diet, attitude, and perhaps some supplements along the way, women can actually look forward to a resurgence of energy and a revolutionary opportunity for personal growth--one that rivals the hormonally driven period of adolescence in its scope and urgency, she claims. And yes, at just under 500 pages, The Wisdom of Menopause does explain how to have a positive and healthy menopause in concise detail. Northrup has indeed "written the book" on menopause.
It helps that Northrup has been through menopause herself (she vowed she wouldn't write a book on it until she was on the other side). Readers have the sense that they are gleaning advice from a knowledgeable holistic doctor as well as a sage aunt whose life was radically altered by the "change of life" (Northrup divorced at the onset of menopause). After she shares her personal story of "the change," Northrup delves into a significant discussion on how self-sacrifice catches up with women in midlife. Suddenly, hormones are directing women out of the caregiver role and into an inwardly focused assessment of life and its meaning, she explains. Resentments (not hormones) are what spur the notorious surges of anger, as women reexamine the agreements surrounding their relationships with colleagues, friends, and family members.
From here, Northrup guides readers into a thorough section on menopausal hormone changes--a discussion that is scientifically informative, yet entirely accessible. While acknowledging the need for hormone-replacement therapy and the tremendous relief it can provide (helping to alleviate insomnia, hot flashes, and depression), Northrup encourages women to avoid synthetic hormones and instead consider "bioidentical" hormones (such as estradiol, estrone, and estriol). She also devotes an entire chapter to foods and supplements that support hormonal balance. By the way, she says to skip the wild Mexican yam creams: "they certainly don't provide the documented benefits of progesterone." Be warned: some readers may find the advice in Wisdom of Menopause too alternative for their liking. For example, in her discussion on insomnia, one of Northrup's recommendations is to cover the mirror at night, following the ancient Asian design principles of feng shui. (Skeptics will find Northrup's medical assertions carefully cited and footnoted in the rear of her book.)
Northrup gives a solid and practical diet plan that supports hormonal balance while countering the weight gain that so frequently plagues menopausal women ("focus on portion size, not calories," "eat protein at every meal," and cut down on refined and high-carbohydrate foods). Readers can also expect a thorough mind-body discussion in subsequent chapters that cover breast health, bone loss, and cultivating midlife beauty, along with chapters titled "Sex and Menopause: Myths and Reality" and "Creating Pelvic Health and Power."
She concludes with a list of mail-order and online resources, such as retailers for bioidentical hormones, progesterone cream, Chinese herbs, soy products, weight-loss audiocassettes, lubricants, and Kegel weights. Northrup takes a truly comprehensive approach to all the effective treatments of menopausal symptoms so that women can make their own highly informed and wise choices. --Gail Hudson
Through her bestselling books, groundbreaking PBS specials, and up-to-the-minute clinical knowledge, Dr. Christiane Northrup has earned a place as one of America’s most trusted medical advisors.
In The Wisdom of Menopause, she once again challenges convention with this inspiring look at one of the most commonly misunderstood female health issues. The “change” is not simply a collection of physical symptoms to be “fixed,” Dr. Northrup claims, but a mind/body revolution that brings the greatest opportunity for growth since adolescence. The choices a woman makes now–from the quality of her relationships to the quality of her diet–have the power to secure her health and well-being for the rest of her life. Through her personal story and many fascinating case histories, Dr. Northrup shows:
• How menopause jump-starts changes in the brain, issuing a dramatic wake-up call to body, mind, and emotions
• How to ensure the long-term health of breasts, bones, and heart
• How the body adjusts naturally to changing hormones
• Why bestselling drugs like Premarin may not be the best choice
• How to deal with metabolism shifts, weight gain, sexual problems, and appearance issues
• How to negotiate the challenges of “the empty nest” and midlife marriage
And much more.
In a book destined to be a classic, Dr. Northrup shows women how they can make menopause a time of personal empowerment and positive energy–emerging wiser, healthier, and stronger in both mind and body than ever before.
The Wisdom of Menopause Journal: Your Guide to Creating Vibrant Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Your Life
by Christiane Northrup
from Hay House
This journal gives you everything you need to create vibrant health in midlife on all levels—not just in your heart, bones, pelvic organs, breasts, and brain . . . but also in your sex life, your relationships, and even your beauty regimen! It enables you to record your current health and concerns, as well as the steps you want to take to achieve your goals in each area. You’ll also find powerful affirmations, inspiring quotes, and plenty of blank pages for journaling, so you can create a record of your thoughts and feelings during this important time.
Dr. Northrup’s insights enable you to see menopause not as a burden to be endured, but as an empowering opportunity to reinvent yourself right down to the cellular level. The key is learning to tap into the profound wisdom that emerges during this life stage—wisdom you can fully trust to guide you toward enormous happiness, joy, and fulfillment.
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom
by Christiane Northrup
from Bantam
Quite possibly every female over the age of 12 will find this huge book enlightening, pain saving, and perhaps even lifesaving. Think of it as a much more empowering and holistic Our Bodies, Ourselves. Northrup is a gynecologist who acknowledges the power of natural therapies and herbs, but also maintains that allopathic treatments, including surgery, are sometimes best. In Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, she covers the treatment of many physical concerns--among them PMS, menstrual cramps, breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis, infertility, depression, childbirth, abortion, cystitis, and menopause--explaining how many of these physical problems have roots in emotional upsets. For example, a woman who is unhappy with her marriage may be infertile because deep down, she knows that her husband is not the right man to have children with; a teenager who has cramps may be having problems accepting society's expectations of her as a woman.
Some readers may be put off at first by Northrup's obviously unconventional ways of thinking. Her medical approach is decidedly feminist, blaming our "addictive" and patriarchal society for many of the health problems plaguing women. She clearly illustrates her ideas, however, by drawing upon two decades of experience from her medical practice and citing dozens of her patients' remarkable personal stories. Northrup also delineates the best way to go about tuning in to one's body and mind in order to start the healing process, a self-induced therapy of sorts. She also includes in the book a copy of the eye-opening health inventory she gives her clients. It includes unusual questions such as "Are you bored with your life?" and "Do you have enough friends or neighbors?"
This book will be of special benefit to women who are pregnant or entering menopause. Northrup is an unequivocal believer in natural births and her dialogue on the birthing process will remove the fears of even the most petrified mother-to-be. She criticizes episiotomies (she should know; she's given birth without one) and supports midwifery. She also warns against the harmfulness of cesarean births and includes illustrations of acupressure points that help turn around a breech baby.
For women in perimenopause or menopause, Northrup will help turn this life phase into one of peace and personal growth instead of one of suffering. She was one of the first doctors to use natural progesterone to treat menopausal symptoms, and this revised edition includes a clear primer on the latest in hormone replacement therapy and how to determine if it's right for you. Northrup also expounds upon the benefits of acupuncture and herbalism--as well as emotional self-analysis--for alleviating hot flashes and mood swings. --Erica Jorgensen
A groundbreaking book on women’s physical and emotional well-being, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom has become a classic, with more than 1.25 million copies in print. Here in this revised edition is the most up-to-date information available on women’s health issues.
Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
Christiane Northrup’s vision of mind-body wellness has received an extraordinary response from women all over the world. Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom powerfully demonstrates that when women change the basic conditions of their lives that lead to health problems, they heal faster, more completely, and with far fewer medical interventions.
Dr. Northrup brings us vital information about the best techniques of Western medicine and the best alternative therapies, showing how to incorporate both into a complementary whole. She guides readers through the entire range of women’s health problems and offers innovative, positive perspectives on normal processes, such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. This edition includes:
• A nutrition chapter emphasizing individual dietary needs and body chemistry
• Information on improving fertility after age 35--and how to cut the risk of C-section by 50 percent
• A comprehensive program for menopause, including how to decide whether natural hormone replacement is right for you
• Holistic ways to prepare and heal faster if surgery is necessary
• Plus dozens of natural treatments and a wealth of hard-to-find health care resources
Filled with dramatic case histories from her medical practice in Maine, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom is contemporary medicine at its best, combining new technologies with natural remedies and the miraculous healing powers within the body itself.
Intuitive Listening 6-CD: How Intuition Talks Through Your Body
by Christiane Northrup
from Hay House
Helping thousands of people achieve better health and more vibrant lives, Drs. Schulz and Northrup have created Intuitive Listening to help you tune in even more deeply to the inner guidance available to you by understanding the language through which your body talks to you daily. This CD set is divided into the following six major health areas:
The New Feminine Brain: Developing Your Intuitive Genius
by Mona Lisa Schulz
from Free Press
Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz reveals the intricate science behind women's intuition in The New Feminine Brain, and shows that while ignoring one's sixth sense can devastate the body, honoring its messages can lead to greater creativity, improved physical well-being, and joy. Coming from the pen of a board certified neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and medical intuitive, the topic receives just as much clinical attention as it does the breathe-out-and-tune-in type. Schulz begins with a crash course in neuropsychiatry to illustrate how the female brain's innate adaptability has caused women to literally rewire their thinking for survival in today's (man's) world. Unfortunately, the body doesn't always buy what the new feminine brain is selling. The result can mean disaster to a woman's health. Pinpointing the true source of one's physical aches, infections, diseases, and psychoses requires an honest look within.
Embracing her own Attention Deficit Disorder, Schulz zooms from rich discussions about gender brain wiring to quick patient stories, to questionnaires that help readers learn how their own brains are "wired for mood," "wired for fear," or wired for early senility. It's an interactive ride punctuated by dizzying lists, charts, and checklists that involve frequent page-flipping. Schulz point out that detailed descriptions of prescriptive medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements (complete with dosage recommendations and cautions regarding drug interaction), all include a caveat: simply medicating the body doesn't promise long-term physical and emotional health. Here, intuition must preside. Schulz responds with multiple strategies to help women nurture even the tiniest inner voice, and become their own best medical intuitives.--Liane Thomas
Ever wonder why most women can handle the kids and careers and the renovation but men can concentrate on either the newspaper or a game on TV? This is because female brains have more interconnections that allow them to multi-task and split their attention. The New Feminine Brain is the first book by a medical doctor, who is also a psychiatrist and a brain expert, to show how modern life challenges are physically rewiring the brain and to address the particular challenges that women face as a result. The female brain today is not your grandmother's brain - it has even more connections and skills, but with that can come more physical problems, including an increase in attention and memory deficits and chronic mood and health conditions.
The New Feminine Brain combines the insights of Dr Schulz's research and stories of clinical experience as a neuropsychiatrist treating people with tough brain disorders with unique self-help and expert health advice. Readers will discover and cultivate their special genius and intuitive style with provocative self-tests, so they can hear and heal their depression, anxiety, attention, memory, and other brain problems. 'Rewiring' exercises, herbs and nutritional supplements will improve their physical, psychological and emotional health.
Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health
by Christiane Northrup
from Bantam
It's a rare book that delivers so completely on such a broad promise. Mother-Daughter Wisdom is written to connect the dots between a number of separate parts: logical and emotional morality, physical and mental health, friends and family, and in an overarching sense, the relationship between being a woman's daughter and raising a daughter of your own.
Because of the scope of information presented, it can be tricky to pick up the book and look for quick guidance on a particular topic such as adolescent weight issues or childhood asthma; more use, and more pleasure, will be found if you add it to your permanent reference shelf to look through in stages. Author Dr. Christiane Northup (Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom) seamlessly blends personal stories with clear research in a way that creates a compelling read from start to finish, even if the specific topic isn't necessarily one that concerns you. Information is a welcome mix of old school medical advice and new school nutrition and stress relief. In Northup's world, whole foods and loving communication can play just as important roles as antibiotics.
The book is categorized somewhat loosely by age, beginning with pregnancy and labor, and continuing through infancy, childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Each section is quite specifically tuned to relating to daughters: Mothers of sons will get some use out of sections on breastfeeding, vaccinations and the like, but emotional concerns and physical recommendations are tailor-made for women and girls, right down to the resource guide that ends the book. By itself, that resource guide is an excellent starting point for further reading, both online and in print. When added to the whole, it is just one more reason you'll reach for the book on a regular basis. Jill Lightner
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Applying the unique holistic approach that made Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause such transforming forces in the lives of millions of readers, Dr. Northrup has created an uplifting, enlightening, entirely new map of female development. Mother-Daughter Wisdom blends soulful truths with groundbreaking clinical discoveries to help women of all ages thoroughly rebuild their health. Whether coming to terms with a painful memory, letting go of harmful beliefs about themselves, or celebrating the love that is passed down from mother to daughter, generation after generation, readers of this book will come to see this intimate bond in a completely new light. Dr. Northrup has provided Amazon.com customers with exclusive discussion topics and questions, intended to enrich your reading of this important and inspiring book. Download Amazon.com exclusive content now.
More by Christiane Northrup, MD
 Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom |  The Wisdom of Menopause |  Mother-Daughter Wisdom (Audio CD) More Audio Books |
With such groundbreaking bestsellers as Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause, Dr. Christiane Northrup is one of today’s most trusted and visionary medical experts. Now she presents her most profound and revolutionary approach to women’s health. . . .
The mother-daughter relationship sets the stage for our state of health and well-being for our entire lives. Because our mothers are our first and most powerful female role models, our most deeply ingrained beliefs about ourselves as women come from them. And our behavior in relationships—with food, with our children, with our mates, and with ourselves—is a reflection of those beliefs. Once we understand our mother-daughter bonds, we can rebuild our own health, whatever our age, and create a lasting positive legacy for the next generation.
Mother-Daughter Wisdom introduces an entirely new map of female development, exploring the “five facets of feminine power,” which range from the basics of physical self-care to the discovery of passion and purpose in life. This blueprint allows any woman—whether or not she has children—–to repair the gaps in her own upbringing and create a better adult relationship with her mother. If she has her own daughter, it will help her be the mother she has always wanted to be.
Drawing on patient case histories and personal experiences, Dr. Northrup also presents findings at the cutting edge of medicine and psychology. Discover:
•How to lay the nutritional foundation to prevent eating disorders and adult diseases
•The truth about the immunization controversy–and the true meaning of immunity
•How we can change our genetic health legacy
•Why financial literacy is essential to women’s health
•How to foster healthy sexuality and future “love maps” in our daughters
•How to balance independence with caring, and individual growth with family ties
Written with warmth, enthusiasm, and rare intelligence, Mother-Daughter Wisdom is an indispensable book destined to change lives and become essential reading for all women.
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom Healing Cards
by Christiane Northrup
from Hay House
Empowering Women Gift Collection 4-CD set: Revised Edition!
by Louise Hay
from Hay House
Louise L. Hay is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher and the bestselling author of numerous books, including You Can Heal Your Life and Empowering Women. Louise offers penetrating insights on how women of all ages and backgrounds can experience self-love, self-worth, self-esteem, and a powerful place in society.
Carolyn Myss, Ph.D., is a pioneer in the field of energy medicine and human consciousness. Since 1982 she has worked as a medical intuitive: one who "sees" illnesses in a patient's body by intuitive means. She will help you to break free of patterns that limit your ability to create a healthy body and a healthy life. She is the author of Entering the Castle.
Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., is a noted speaker and the bestselling author of many internationally renowned books, including Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, and End the Struggle and Dance with Life. With inspirational, yet practical advice, Dr. Jeffers will show you how to move into the flow of all your experiences with a feeling of harmony, trust, gratitude, and love.
Christiane Northrup, M.D., is a visionary in women's health, bringing together the best of conventional, alternative, and mind/body healing. A board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist, she is co-founder of Women to Women, an innovative health-care center in Yarmouth, Maine. She’s a best-selling author and the host of five successful public television specials.
Life Touches Life: A Mother's Story of Stillbirth and Healing
by Lorraine Ash
from NewSage Press
Igniting Intuition
by Christiane Northrup
from Hay House
In this six-CD program, Christiane Northrup and Mona Lisa Schulz teach you how to identify, work with, and transform your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors along health-enhancing lines.
As Mona Lisa says, "This program is like an owner's manual for how to understand your intuitive language, and it speaks to you through your body, mind, and soul."
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