From Amazon.com
One of the greatest challenges women face is learning how to nurture themselves. The tendency, of course, is for women to put themselves last on the list--taking care of everyone and everything else before they tend to their own emotional, physical, or spiritual needs, according to author Alice D. Domar, Ph.D. Yet, ironically, when women put themselves last on the list, they find themselves stressed out, depleted of energy, and unable to give their family members or jobs the full attention they need. As the director of the Mind/Body Center for Women's Health at Harvard Medical School, Domar has developed a comprehensive, year-long program to help women learn the crucial art of self-nurturing.
The book is divided into a year of seasonal themes, starting with winter, which represents a time of "primal self-care." Domar offers specific meditation and relaxation exercises as well as essays that help women contemplate their role in the family. In springtime, Domar emphasizes physical strengthening and healing through exercises, yoga, and creating a more positive body image. Ultimately, Domar leads women into a discussion of spiritual strengthening--how to bring the soul into the workplace, and why it's essential that women commit to a connection with God or one's unique spirituality. Fortunately, Domar has been teaching this path for years, which means her advice is tried and tested (she's somewhat famous for treating stress-reduction techniques to chronically infertile women and helping the vast majority to conceive). Her approach is inviting, funny, and (best of all) practical for women of all walks of life. --Gail Hudson
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Distinguished from other books on managing women's particular stresses by Domar's expert credentials and the respect, collegiality and purpose with which she addresses her audience, this book persuasively argues that all women should commit as much effort to their own creative, emotional and spiritual self-care as they do to the needs of others. At a Harvard fertility clinic, psychologist Ph.D. Domar introduced a variety of stress management techniques to women whose high-tech fertilization procedures were not working. The high pregnancy rates that followed were widely covered by the media. As a result, Harvard funded a Mind/Body Center for Women's Health at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, directed by Domar, to explore the effects of stress on women's illnesses. Well versed in the literature and research of mind-body practices, Domar (Healing Mind, Healthy Woman) synthesizes popular and effective stress-reduction techniquesAincluding Benson's Relaxation Response, breathing work, muscle relaxation, meditation, mindfulness and yogaAand recommends their specific application. She draws from the work of Maggie Scarf, Julia Cameron and Thomas Moore, as well as from her practice and her own life, to illustrate their effects. Contemporary but by no means faddish, the book encourages keeping a journal and using affirmations, nurturing one's body, and performing acts of kindness. Moreover, it effectively demonstrates the need and value of these practices in women's lives. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
