Ever feel like there’s an unwanted part of you that is making decisions that is against your better self? A part that makes choices based from fear rather than from your own spiritual, and cerebral intellect? Ever feel like it’s just NOT YOU who is in control of YOU? Through my developed awareness practice, understanding of consciousness (and unconsciousness), and wisdom of working with the body’s bacterial landscape, I discovered a phenomenon that I was fortunate enough to experience. I have always understood the value of a person’s consciousness or Spirit (as defined in Traditional Chinese Medicine as that which expresses the life of an organism) in being a key element to a person’s health. The Spirit guides us, animates us, enkindles us, and gives us true satisfaction and passion in life. It is what is worth living for.

Listen Closely. I want to let you in on a big and very well kept health secret. Ready? Here it is. The active and deliberate pursuit of pleasure – and the ability to receive it – are essential ingredients in creating and maintaining optimal health. Please read that again. And take a moment to remember the last time you really soaked in something pleasurable. I know, I know. You think you’re too busy to experience pleasure. Or maybe the thought of pursuing pleasure as an important goal makes you feel guilty (the term guilty pleasure comes to mind immediately, right?). Here’s the deal: most of us were brought up to believe the “no pain, no gain” theory of health. Me, too. It’s ingrained in our culture.

Yep, I’m a huge proponent of sleep. I’m not joking – two nights in a row of only six or seven hours of the zzz’s leaves Christine a very broken, and more than willing to break something over your head, person. I’m more of a 8-to-9er. Caffeine only breaks my adrenals down further when I haven’t gotten enough sleep, so never mind trying to get good work outta me if my head didn’t stay on that pillow from 11pm-7:30am. That’s part of what this new wave feminism is getting at: women can work smarter if they get enough sleep, instead of working longer hours in order to fit into the ever elusive Boy’s Club. Ok, I can dig that. But Naomi Wolf, one of my favorite female voices of reason, makes a darn good point: