This week in the news, Gwyneth Paltrow admitted to having suffered from Postpartum Depression after the birth of her son Moses in 2006. In her weekly newsletter on GOOP, she not only talks about her personal experience with Postpartum Depression, but also has another mother and several doctors share their experiences and insight about this condition. The article is enlightening as
well as a good reminder of this very serious condition that is estimated to occur in about 10% of women postpartum. The article discusses symptoms to watch for as well as suggests treatment options.
Love is energy. It is energy given and energy received. Think about it. A positive, loving thought expends energy just as definitively as the action of lifting your arms to hug someone expends energy. There may be more energy expended in the act of giving a hug than in the firing off of synapses to carry this complex emotion of love around your brain, but both actions are utilizing your body's energy ... and energy takes fuel. And, although it is hard to conceive of, love requires a different kind of fuel than is commonly thrown around at it this time of year. (*Cough* Ahem, chocolate.) And so, in this season of love, here are a couple of quick tips to heighten your energy, mood, and confidence, to replenish your sense of well being and positivity so that you have love to spare.
Read MoreWe live in a fast-paced world, full of obligations, deadlines, and stressors of all sorts. It’s hard not to feel tossed about in a sea of worries. Many of us manage to meet our daily demands, but it is usually at the expense of our spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical bodies. Physiologically, stress can turn into a sort of ‘stuckness’, or what is termed qi stagnation in traditional Chinese medicine.
Shoulder and neck tension, depression, poor breathing habits, and digestive disorders are some common embodiments of stress. Stress-induced qi stagnation can also impede circulation and create constriction where we would like to see suppleness, as in the body’s tissues and organs. The reproductive system (and every other system in the body!) thrives on the healthy circulation of energy and blood. How can we release constriction and encourage the free-flow of energy and blood? That’s right, by moving our bodies!