Customer Reviews

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (Revised Edition): Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing

5 star:		(175)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

This is the first major book to look at women's health systematically from a holistic perspective. My sister, an ND, gave this to me many years ago. I have referred to it many times since I first read it and my friends always want to borrow it. It's a great reference.

If you are looking purely for an objective scientific book on women's health then don't bother with this. There is a lot of scientific info but there's a lot of "non-science" as well. Read the lowest reviews first which fairly summarise the weaknesses of this text. I agree that this book comes across as flaky in places however it is a breakthrough work in terms of systematically exploring the integration of mind and body and the effect of this balance on health.

While I applaud the effort to make people realise how their mental state can impact their health, the other side of that sword is that women feel they are to blame for having the "wrong state of mind" which leads to poor health.

For instance in one story a woman became infertile because, in the author's opinion, she didn't feel her husband was the right person to have children with. If you're pragmatic you can hear this story, consider if it applies to you and discard it if it doesn't fit. But some women could develop a guilt complex over something that is upsetting on its own without the added blame.

Ultimately, the problem with this kind of thinking is that it leads to a vicious worry cycle: you worry that you might not have the right state of mind for good health... and then you worry that your worrying risks your health further! But to ignore this altogether also poses risk. Stress does cause disease and an integrated approach to health cannot exist without considering a person's state of mind.

Because this book provides significant medical information, the reader could be lead into taking all the author's opinions as fact. Take the opinions as just that and you will find the book enjoyable. It is informative and thought provoking.

I am a person who reads a lot, and I learn a great deal about myself by sifting through the wisdom of writers. There have been many books over the years that have touched me deeply and positively impacted my life; of all of them, this book is probably the most personally important book I have ever read. Dr. Northrup has a lot of facts about various conditions and ailments, but her book goes FAR beyond that. Her message is that we all have the ability to be completely whole, healthy people, in every aspect of our lives, and that each of us has the power to change our own lives for the better. She talks about how emotional issues of every type can affect our physical health, and illustrates over and over again how problems in our body are actually our souls' way of teaching us how to heal and grow. The stories she tells about her own and her patients' healings are amazing; her message of hope is the most real and specific I have ever read.

This is a compassionate, extremely well-written book that gets to the core of the physical and emotional issues related to every aspect of women's health. The idea here is NOT to instill self-blame for getting ill, but rather the issue is to instill self-love through understanding of our bodies and illnesses. Best of all, it's about health, not just illness.

This is a very empowering, healing book for women that includes the hardcore clincal data & references, the stories of actual women, and the nutritional, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healing. It accomplishes all of this in clear, easy to read laymen's terms. It helps to debunk a number of misconceptions that affect our approach to health.

This book is by and for women. This book treats women with respect and acknowledgement for what we instinctively know about our bodies and our health. Every woman should own a copy of this superb health reference source.

Dr. Northrup's appearances on PBS specials, Oprah, and others along with her leadership at the Women to Women health care center, and her past presidency of the American Holistic Medical Association, to name just a few, provide all the credibility anyone could ask for. Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, as the name implies, is about and for WOMEN. It succeeds on every level.

The cassette tapes are of a lecture by Dr. Northrup. Although it is entertaining it does not have the depth of information you may be expecting from an "audio book". The lecture is lacking in that she shows information to the audience present at the taping which is not verbally discussed to transmit the information to the audio-only audience. If you are desiring Dr. Northrup's knowledge of the medical profession and the metaphysical knowledge of women's bodies, buy the book. Jana Sulliva

After seeing Christiane Northrup on PBS I immediately ordered my first copy from Amazon. This book is not to be read in one or two sittings. It should be read one chapter at a time, to digest every morsel of her expertise and knowledge. Keep this one close by, so you can pick it up on those bleak days. This book is remarkably low priced to make it affordable for everyone. It's the best gift you can give to any woman in your life. My three daughters will be getting each one at Christmas along with a weekend retreat at a lovely place that I found in Maine by the ocean. This will be my gift to them, so that they can take some time out of their very busy lives and get centered on the importance of taking care of spirit, body and soul. You can't be for others if you don't take care of yourself. You can't give what you don't have, if you push yourself beyond your limitations you get very negative, burnt out, depressed and overwhelmed. It's not easy to stay focused and centered but it is a must, if we are all going to survive in this sometimes very noisy world. Christiane Northrup, I salute you for taking the time in your busy life and giving of yourself in seeing this book published. Other books that have help me become more centered: Care of the Soul-Guide to every day by Thomas Moore and Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss.

Dr. Northrup is a wise and compassionate master of the healing arts, simply put. She's a wonderful role-model for me, professionally, since we share the same career field. But more importantly, her books and tapes, her words, her "knowing" has inspired me to further my own studies beyond that of conventional medicine, to seek to be a true "healer" as well.

Every woman should read this book, not only for the practical and sound medical advice it provides, but for the truth that resonates throughout it's pages. Our Bodies ARE our Wisdom and Dr. Northrup articulates this eloquently and humbly. Highly recommended.

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom is a thorough, informative, creatively written guide for health for any woman. It presents the unfortunately revolutionary notion that menopause in a healthy and natural milestone in our lives rather than the abnormality that it has been labeled by MALE physicians. Dr. Northrup helps us to value our bodies and our selves as worthy human beings without labeling us as various "women's" disorders. I vehemently reccommend this book to all women from 1 to 100. Thank you, Dr. Northrup.

Excellent book for women about women's bodies. Contains a lot of information that we should have have been told in health class in the 5th grade. Presents a common sense approach to women's health and reproductive organs and provides insight to many of the problems affecting women's health (cervical cancer, fibroids, PMS, fertility, menopause, etc.). Provides an understanding of specific women's problems and enables the reader to take an active approach to healing with their physicians. You become equipped with the knowledge go to a doctor's office and actually understand what they are talking about instead of just nodding your head!

I read this book a year ago, and because of Dr. Northrup's candid and holistic way of defining women's health problems and causes, I was able to deal with a cyst on my ovary without falling apart, and without losing my ovary. We women sometimes forget to acknowledge the damage "stuffing" our emotions can do to our bodies. Dr. Northrup and Carolyn Myss are wonderful, intuitive women who have literally saved my life. I love this book so much that I bought a copy for my best friend and my two sisters; I think every woman should have a copy!! I have also attended a seminar where Dr. Northrup entertained and educated the packed auditorium. Her expert knowledge combined with her refreshing humor relating lots of what is in her book(s) and some new things as well, was worth every penny I paid and every mile I drove to hear her. In addition, Dr. Northrup publishes a monthly newsletter which is well worth the $69 subscription. I learn many things every month and anxiously await its arrival in the mail. For those interested, her office in Maine also has an 800 number for providing referrals to health care professionals with the same holistic approach to women's health (most of us know it isn't easy to locate doctors like Dr. Northrup). Read the book -- it'll be the best money you every spent on yourself!! (Dianne Garrett, dgarrett1@voyager.net

A friend gave me this book shortly after I was diagnosed with endometriosis, thinking it would be helpful. She was mistaken.

Dr Northrup apparantly thinks that my endometriosis results from my difficulty in accepting/understanding my role as a woman, or some unprocessed sexual abuse, or some other new-age, victim-mentality psychobabble.

Little actual, relevent medical information appears in this book. Some of the herbal and natural remedies are useful, but this is *not* a good reference if you have any condition more serious than premenstrual bloating.

For years, I was told that the extreme misery I suffered (due to my endo) was in my head. I find it very hurtful that a self-identified feminist physician would perpetuate a variation of that myth.

Buy "Our Bodies; Ourselves" by the Boston Women's Health Collective instead.