Entries from December 2009 ↓

When I hear the global reality of girls and women from Nicolas Kristoff and the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, it is hard for me not to hate men.

I hope I never understand the hatred that makes men behave in such a vicious, vile and evil way towards the sacred feminine of the earth.

I take a breath and remind myself that screaming at the dark never, ever diminishes the dark.

The only way to sooth my soul is to bring light to the darkness. Visit Oprah.com’s For All Women Registry for ways to be the light in the world. I love that it costs the equivalent of a dinner out to be an International Diplomat.

I remind myself I have to focus on the good men. The ones who save, defend and protect the feminine of the world. Nicholas D. Kristof is my definition of a Prince.

From Time Magazine’s article The Year In Health,

A session of yoga for teens with anorexia, bulimia or other eating disorders may provide more than spiritual and physical boost; it could also help them get over their illness, according to a new study of 50 adolescents, mostly girls. The girls were seriously ill – nearly half had been hospitalized because of their eating disorder – and were being treated at an outpatient clinic at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. While the non-yoga control group showed improvement, they relapsed a month afterward. In the yoga group, improvement started slowely, but a month later, the teens were showing steady gains. The researchers suspect that yoga may help by reducing obsessive concern about weight associated with eating disorders. One participant said, “This is the only hour in my week when I don’t think about my weight.” A larger study is planned to confirm the findings.

In my experience, what Yoga did for these young women, what it did for me, and what it can do for anyone with any type of disordered eating or any other addiction or habit is stop the cyclic negative thinking that imprisons the person in their addiction. It creates a new pathway in the brain, where the previous pathway kept using an addictive substance or behavior to resolve the same issue or cyclic negative thought. Yoga, in my experience, is brain training and produces a more disciplined mind, primarily by teaching it how to be still.

Just watch, yoga will be scientifically proven to prevent and cure a whole host of physical ills, addictions, psychological diagnosis and conditions.

Two great resource for yoga (including free world-class yoga practices) include Hillary’s Yoga Practice and Elsie Escobar’s Yoga Kula.

For more information about how the brain creates pathways and the phenomenon of addiction watch What The Bleep Do We Know.

In Golf Magazine’s self-proclaimed “Greatest Survey Ever,” 21% of men say they could beat Tiger Woods.

Twenty-one percent of male golfers believe they are better than the best golfer in the world. Better than a gifted prodigy.

Do they have to be better golfers than Tiger to believe it? No.

Do they have to prove they are better golfers than Tiger to believe it? No.

They just get to feel awesome about themselves every time they think the thought, “I could beat Tiger because I am an exceptional golfer.”

If golfing is to men what beauty or body image is to women, tell me how many women would you estimate believe they are sexier or more beautiful than Angelina Jolie?(chosen because she received 58% of the vote in a Vanity Fair survey.)

How many girls believe they are better performers, singers or more beautiful than Hannah Montana?

I’m confident the percentage would be nearer to zero than twenty-one.

Who do you think feels better about themselves? The man who thinks the thought, “I could beat Tiger because I’m a great golfer,” or the women who think, “I could never look as beautiful as Angelina Jolie,” or “I’ll never measure up to Hannah Montana” or “I’d be happy if I was just a size 0 like Kate Moss?” The answer is obvious.

Even the most beautiful women in the world are self-deprecating about their own skills, talents, looks, etc. I’ve seen them trash themselves on Oprah. Oprah herself is self-deprecating as hell about her body. If you’re arguably the richest, most powerful woman in the world, shouldn’t you be allowed to feel good about yourself even though you’re rocking a size 16?

Men are not self-deprecating. Perhaps that is why they hold more public office and higher positions in business. Who wants to elect, hire or promote someone who believes the size of their thighs determines their worth, or who believes the other candidate is better looking and more qualified than they are?

Self-deprecation doesn’t serve us. It’s not getting us where we want to go.

The next time you look in the mirror realize you’re making a choice: to self-deprecate or self-appreciate.

Choose the thought that makes you feel good, instead of the thought that makes you feel bad.

Like those delusional golfers, you don’t have to prove you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, but the only person stopping you from feeling like you are is you.