Are you Bodywise?
24 Jan 2017
Have you ever felt run-down or exhausted for no good reason? Do you struggle to lose weight, even with exercise and a healthy diet? What about chronic pain, anxiety or allergies?
In Bodywise: Discovering your body’s natural intelligence for lifelong health, holistic health expert Dr Rachel Carlton Abrams teaches us how our bodies can heal themselves – if only we take the time to listen.
Did you know that married men live longer than single men? Yet married women – particularly those in unhappy marriages – typically die younger than single women.
Dr Abrams, a former GP, hypothesises that women are so busy taking care of our loved ones that we forget to take care of ourselves. We ignore our bodies – the need to sleep, eat, love and move – until our bodies are forced to revolt. And what does this bodily warfare look like? The answers include ailments like chronic fatigue, insomnia, depression and autoimmune conditions.
Dr Abrams explains that around 75% of her female patients suffer from this same “constellation” of complaints – and that they are all inter-connected.
Bodywise is a manual for all women – and those who love them. It focuses on improving the five fundamentals of health:
- Eating
- Sleeping
- Moving
- Loving
- Finding purpose
With frank honesty, Dr Abrams shares her own story and the stories of the women she has treated. She explores why Western medicine isn’t always the answer (and why, sometimes, it is), and how women of all ages can heal themselves by listening more closely to their bodies.
The end result lies somewhere between a self-help book, a memoir, and a how-to guide.
Each chapter opens with a handy questionnaire so you can gauge how well you’re doing in each of the five areas of your life, and pinpoint where you might need to improve. There are also simple exercises scattered throughout to help you practice “tuning in” to your body.
So even if you’re not quite ready to start meditating, or ascribing colours to your feelings (as Dr Abrams suggests), you’re bound to find something you can use. With helpful tips on nutrition and mindfulness, and thoroughly interesting – if somewhat spooky – accounts of women whose intuition has saved their lives, Bodywise offers a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.
Dr Abrams many fans include:
Alanis Morisette, singer
Martha Beck, O Magazine columnist
Patrick Hannaway, MD, President of the Institute for Functional Medicine
Gladys Taylor McGarey, MD, the “Mother of Holistic Medicine”
About the author
Dr Abrams received her medical degree at the University of California San Francisco, and a Masters degree in Holistic Health and Medical Sciences from the University of California Berkeley.
She was a GP for seven years before she decided to open her own practise focusing on holistic medicine and preventative care.
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