Table Of ContentChristiane Northrup, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn, is a visionary pioneer;
beloved authority in women’s health and wellness; and the author of the New
York Times bestsellers Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, and The Wisdom of
Menopause. Her third book, Mother-Daughter Wisdom, was voted Amazon’s #1
book of the year in both Parenting and Mind-Body Health in 2005. Following a
25-year career in both academic medicine and private practice, Dr. Northrup
now devotes her time to helping women truly flourish on all levels through
tapping into their inner wisdom.
Website: www.DrNorthrup.com
ALSO BY CHRI STIANE NORTHRUP, M.D.
The Wisdom of Menopause
Creating Physical and Emotional Health and
Healing During the Change Mother-Daughter Wisdom
Understanding the Crucial Link Between
Mothers, Daughters, and Health The Secret Pleasures of Menopause
The Secret Pleasures of Menopause Playbook:
A Guide to Creating Vibrant Health through Pleasure The Wisdom of Menopause
Journal
Women’s Bodies,
Women’s Wisdom
Women’s Bodies,
Women’s Wisdom
Creating Physical and Emotional
Health and Healing
NEWLY REVISED AND UPDATED: 2010
Christiane Northrup, M.D.
EBook Edition published by Christiane Northrup, Inc. www.DrNorthrup.com
Print Edition Published by Bantam Books: www.bantamdell.com
Copyright © 2010, 2006, 1998, and 1994 by Christiane Northrup, M.D.
All rights reserved.
EBook Edition published by Christiane Northrup, Inc. 2008
Fully revised EBook Edition published 2010 All rights reserved.
Print edition is available through Bantam Books
www.bantamdell.com
Illustrations by Scott Leighton.
Copyright © 2010 by Christiane Northrup, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote the following: Excerpt from Circle of Stones:
Woman’s Journey to Herself, by Judith Duerk.
Copyright © 1989 by LuraMedia. Reprinted by permission of LuraMedia, Inc., San Diego, CA;
excerpt from Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healing, by Stephen Levine
Copyright © 1991 by Stephen Levine. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division
of Random House, Inc.; excerpt from When Society Becomes an Addict, by
Anne Wilson Schaef. Copyright © 1987, HarperSanFrancisco; Geneen Roth’s Eating
Guidelines from Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth, published by Scribner,
copyright © 2010. All rights reserved. Reprinted by kind permission of Geneen Roth
and Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Northrup, Christiane.
Women’s bodies, women’s wisdom : creating physical and emotional health and healing /
Christiane Northrup. — Rev. and updated.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-553-80793-6 (hardcover) / 978-0-553-38673-8 (trade paperback)
1. Gynecology—Popular works. 2. Holistic medicine—Popular works. 3. Generative organs,
Female—Diseases—Popular works. 4. Women—Health and hygiene. I. Title.
RG121.N59 2010
618.1—dc22 2010011802
Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Author photo by Charles Bush Photography
EBook Published by Christiane Northrup, Inc.
is a registered trademark of Christiane Northrup, Inc For more information about Dr. Northrup and her
work,
please visit: www.DrNorthrup.com.
This book is for all who believe that it is possible to flourish, regardless of our
present or past circumstances.
It is for all who acknowledge the daily presence in our lives of mystery,
uncertainty, and hope.
It is for those who yearn to be well and know that there is something more to
healing than simply external substances or techniques.
This book is for every physician, nurse, health care practitioner, healer, or
patient who keeps an open heart and an open mind and acknowledges the fact
that scientific truth is constantly changing.
It is for those who know that we heal and flourish to the degree that we
consciously invite the Sacred into our lives.
This book is dedicated with appreciation to the scientists and healers of the
past, present, and future who have had and will have the courage to speak their
truth and go forward in faith, hope, and joy, despite the deadening effects of
conventional thinking.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction to the Fourth Edition: The Medicine of Empowerment
Part One
From External Control to Inner Guidance
1 The Patriarchal Myth: The Origin of the Mind/Body/Emotion Split
Our Cultural Inheritance
Patriarchy Results in Addiction
Fundamental Beliefs of the Dominator System
Reclaiming the Authority of Our Own Feelings
2 Feminine Intelligence and a New Mode of Healing
Energy Fields and Energy Systems
Understanding the Bodymind
Feminine Intelligence: How Thoughts Become Embodied
Beliefs Are Physical
Healing Versus Curing
3 Inner Guidance
Listening to Your Body and Its Needs
Emotional Cleansing: Healing from the Past
Dreams: A Doorway to the Unconscious
Intuition and Intuitive Guidance
How Inner Guidance Works
4 The Female Energy System
The Matter-Energy Continuum
Earth’s Energy
The Chakras
The Lower Female Centers: Chakras One to Three
Other Chakra Issues
Part Two
The Anatomy of Women’s Wisdom
5 The Menstrual Cycle
Our Cyclical Nature
Our Cultural Inheritance
Menstrual Cramps (Dysmenorrhea)
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Irregular Periods
Excessive Buildup of the Uterine Lining (Endometrial Hyperplasia, Cystic
and Adenomatous Hyperplasia)
Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (DUB)
Heavy Periods (Menorrhagia)
Healing Our Menstrual History: Preparing Our Daughters
6 The Uterus
Our Cultural Inheritance
Energy Anatomy
Chronic Pelvic Pain
Endometriosis
Uterine Prolapse
Fibroid Tumors
7 The Ovaries
Anatomy
Ovarian Cysts
Polycystic Ovaries (PCO)
Ovarian Cancer
