Women have always known that we are cyclical creatures, strongly influenced by our daily, monthly, and yearly rhythms. Finally, we have a book that examines these natural cycles as gifts rather than weaknesses or curses. Dividing the female life span by the mystical number of seven years, Joan Borysenko reveals the biological forces that drive our physical, emotional, and spiritual development. This is a pragmatic book filled with groundbreaking medical research; it is also a book that dares to explore the link between female biology and female mystery.
From Booklist
Borysenko, author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind (1988), is back with a holistic approach to what's right about being a woman. The Harvard-educated scientist, author, and spiritual guide uses the latest hormonal and neurological research to show the "life path" down which each woman travels. What she terms a "bio-psycho-spiritual feedback loop" reveals its gifts gradually as a woman completes 12 seven-year cycles of renewal and metamorphosis, each one preparing her for the next. There are three such cycles in each life "quadrant": childhood, young adulthood, midlife, and late adulthood. The thirteenth cycle is death. Borysenko explains the evolving capacities of each period, traces the waxing and waning of feminine consciousness, and assures women that midlife is a stage, not a crisis. The book is laced with fascinating insights from experts such as Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Estes, gynecologist Dr. Christiane Northrup, and cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish. An appendix of medications and prayer practices rounds out the work. This is an intriguing, provocative look at the way women should view their bodies, their minds, and their spirits. Patricia Hassler
Book Description
Biologist and psychologist Joan Borysenko helped chart new territory in mind/body medicine at Harvard Medical School-and created a new map of that territory in one of the first bestsellers in the field. Now the author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind reveals the interconnected loop of mind, body, and spirit in women. This pioneering book will teach women how to maximize their health and well-being as well as discover the extraordinary power that comes with each stage of the feminine life cycle.
Woman's Book of Life: Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle ANNOTATION
"...explains the connection between emotions and physical states, teaching women how to cope with the physical changes each hormonal and life cycle brings."
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A Woman's Book of Life teaches women how to align with the physical changes that occur at every stage of life in order to maximize health and well-being. In the growth of early childhood, hormonal ups and downs, the possibility of childbearing, and growing older are powerful keys to unlocking a woman's potential. Those notorious temperature changes in menopause are not hot flashes, they're power surges, and A Woman's Book of Life traces the compelling biopsychospiritual reality of the move into authentic power at midlife. This is a book for any woman, of any generation. It allows the reader to look back and see the forgotten gifts of childhood, or to look ahead in celebration of what's to come. Whatever her age, no woman will be able to come away from this book without a greater appreciation for who women are, in their bodies, their emotions, their souls. Borysenko offers a rare chance to understand the gifts of being female and to celebrate the power of the feminine life cycle.
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