Women’s Health & Wellbeing

Women’s Health covers a diverse range of areas, we are complex beings, and rightly so, we are the creators of life! Taking care of our health is an ever increasing task, and needs to be our number one focus. The World Health Organization 2019 defines heath as: “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

Our thoughts play a huge role in how healthy we are. Your cells are listening to everything you say!

Blackburn & Epel 2017 won a Nobel Prize for their work on Telomere’s, and put a new player in the game of health and longevity in life. Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces. Without the coating, shoelaces become frayed until they can no longer do their job. TA Sciences 2019

Any Negative Thinking needs to become our Resilient Thinking!

You know the mental chatter that goes on in your mind, this can have a huge effect on your health, every single day. We can get into rumination, where we go over and over in our minds, rehashing a problem, for hours, for days. It feels awful and it is not helping solve anything. It is effecting our health. Blackburn & Epel 2017 say the more women ruminate after a stressful event the lower the telomere’s, and lower telomeres equals premature aging, mentally, physically and spiritually.

Ever looked at another women who said she is 40 but looks and feels 50, and a 50 year old women that looks and feels 40? Is it their telomere? We can do something to change this, the first thing we can do is change our thoughts, become more aware, by changing our thinking to Resilient Thinking, we then change what our cells are listening to. Have your cells have had enough rumination, negative mind wandering and pessimism. Resilient Thinking encompasses many therapies, such as mindfulness, and changing your relationship with your thoughts.

Activities that will help this transition include meditation, and other mind-body practices that support you to focus less on the negative thoughts about yourself. Women are more often the ones needing to focus on their health as they are responsible for many aspects of life including nurturing children, working, cleaning, cooking, love makers, and negotiators, being there for everyone, every day.

When you feel these negative thoughts creeping into your mind, sit back, close your eyes, relax and just witness the thoughts coming in, and then watch them drifting away, do not judge yourself, just let it flow past. You can also imagine your hands and feet are taps, turn them on and let all the stress and worry of today drain away, let it all go, until there is just a trickle, you feel lighter and more relaxed. Try it now!

What you eat also impacts on your mental, physical and psychological wellbeing as well as your telomeres. Blackburn & Epel 2017 state that this can cause a range of health issues for us, including inflammation, insulin resistance/diabetes, cardiovascular risks etc. Food and diet along with resilient thinking can reverse damage.

Foods that can help reverse the effects include oily fish, nuts, flaxseed, and leafy greens, these are all rich in omega-3 Blackburn & Epel 2017. Taking care of your telomeres will increase your health and vitality, exercise plays a role in your overall health, even walking at least 3 days per week is a great start.

Developing a holistic approach to life is the best start for any women, paying attention to mind-body connections of thoughts, diet and exercise, and making time for therapies that nourish the soul. Meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, and whatever works for you.

Looking at health from a different perspective, and dealing with women only health issues, Myss, 1996 discusses how each of the 7 Chakra can affect our everyday wellbeing. The term chakra is Sanskrit for “wheel.” Rightfully so, chakras are regularly depicted as spinning, colored wheels of energy.

Briefly the 1st Chakra is about Tribal Power, 2nd Chakra is about Power of Relationships, 3rd Chakra is about Person Power, 4th Chakra is about Emotional Power, 5th Chakra is about the Power of Will, 6th Chakra is about Power of the Mind, and the 7th Chakra is about our Spiritual Connector. Myss, 1996.

What Chakra is giving you a little trouble?

What does this have to do with our health? Everything! When our Chakras are misaligned, we are out of balance physically, spiritually and mentally. Changing our attitude to different areas of our life, being more aware of the mind-body connection, and how our thoughts affect our wellbeing, our life in general, and if this not dealt with can creates illness in our bodies. Below you will see some of the physical and emotional imbalances and the effect they may have on us, this is not a full list.

Root Chakra 1st Emotional imbalances-basic survival, money, food, shelter. Physical imbalances-legs, feet, immune system. Do you feel unsupported, unsafe in the world? Sacral

Chakra 2nd Emotional imbalances- relationship issues, sexuality, addictions. Physical imbalances-urinary problems, hips, kidneys, lower back- Are you honoring self or others?

Solar Plexus Chakra 3rd Emotional imbalances-personal power, self-esteem, inner critic. Physical imbalances-high blood pressure, diabetes, gallbladder, colon issues. Do you feel a lack of respect, compassion, assertiveness or confidence?

Heart Chakra 4th Emotional imbalances-over loving, clingy, jealous, bitter, or isolated. Physical imbalances-asthma, heart disease, lung issues, upper back, shoulder issues, arm, or wrist pain. Are you may feel lack of joy, unforgiving, lack of gratitude in your life?

Throat Chakra 5th Emotional imbalances communication issues, lack of power, no will power, out of control. Physical imbalances- thyroid issues, sore throat, loss of voice, or ear trouble. Do you feel at a loss for words or not being honest or truthful, and not listening to self or others?

Third Eye Chakra 6th Emotional imbalances- moody, not facing fears, unable to tell between truth or illusions, or no insight. Physical imbalances- headaches, poor vision, hearing loss, or hormone problems. Are you feeling unfocussed at times, not open to receiving wisdom and insight from others, feeling closed?

Crown Chakra 7th Emotional imbalances-rigid thoughts on religions, have prejudices, fear of being alienated by others. Physical imbalances-depressive feelings, sensitive to light, sound and general environment, inability to learn. Are you living in the now, are you following your own inner guidance?

You may feel you have issues with more than one Chakra, and that is not uncommon… we are all dealing with lots of stuff in our everyday life. It is time to take a step back, reflect on how attitude, beliefs and behaviors are affecting our wellbeing. You can seek someone to realign and balance your Chakras, and do some soul searching around your own attitude, beliefs and behaviors, and as with the Telomeres, start to make some small changes, for your own health, longevity and wellbeing in to the future.

Charmaine Sinclair is an Intuitive Healing Practitioner providing a range of modalities, including, but not limited to Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy, Holistic Counselling, & Intuitive Healing in Mind Body & Spirit. She can be contacted on 0418 826 122. 

References:

1. Blackburn, E. & Epel, E. 2017 The Telomere Effect: Living younger, healthier, and longer. Hatchette UK Company

2. Myss, C. 1996 Anatomy of Spirit. Batman AU/NZ

3. TA Sciences 2019 https://www.tasciences.com/ Retrieved 16/8/19

4. World Health Organisation 2019 https://www.who.int/ Retrieved 16/8/19