Lifestyle Choices

A jutting or receding chin often causes grief to its owner but, whereas a great many people seek cosmetic surgery for noses, far fewer even know that anything can be done to the chin. Sometimes, in fact, it is the shape of the chin that throws an otherwise innocuous nose into undue prominence and a surgeon may suggest correction of the former rather than the latter. In a few cases, however, surgery for both the chin and the nose may be aesthetically beneficial.

The chin is, of course, part of the jaw but surgery for the chin is a different matter entirely from surgery for the entire jaw. The latter is a major procedure in which usually the teeth need realignment too because deformities of the jaw affect bite. Such surgery is not carried out by cosmetic surgeons but by oral and maxillofacial surgeons, working together with orthodontists. Chin surgery is concerned only with the small part of the jaw that sticks out under your mouth but it is not undertaken by all cosmetic surgeons. Ask for guidance from your general practitioner. (more…)

You will notice at the base of the fingers that it says “ears” and “eyes.” With your right thumb, press on the pad just about where the fingers join your left hand. Use a press-and-roll motion here as you search out tender spots. When you find a sore spot, keep working it for a few seconds to release a flow of electrical life force into the congested area, thus giving nature a helping hand in healing whatever the malfunction might be. (more…)

On no account should you attempt to diagnose yourself. Only a qualified doctor can do that! (Even doctors go to other doctors when they need to be examined and treated!)

There is no substitute for a periodic medical checkup, which should include regular visits to a qualified dermatologist. The recommended frequency of such examinations varies with the specific circumstances and should be discussed with your doctor.

That said, the more aware you are of your physical (and, for that matter, spiritual) self, the better you might be able to seek appropriate help and advice when it is needed. (more…)

When I was a child growing up in Portsmouth, the naval town on the south coast, and we saw someone who was grossly obese, my mother would say pityingly, in a knowing stage whisper, ‘Trouble with their glands, dear.’ In those days Portsmouth was full of sailors of all nationalities and anyone who was very fat was unusual. Now, when I go back to my home town forty years later, the sailors have all gone and people who are very overweight are so common as to be unremarkable. The attitude to these heavyweights has also changed. They are no longer the subject of pity, but of a kind of loathing. Fat today says greedy, slothful and self-indulgent. As I will show you, hormones and obesity and intimately bound together. Trouble with your glands is indeed part of the obesity equation, including a gland that has only in the last decade been discovered to be secreting hormones — fat itself. (more…)

Moles(nevi) are collections of nevus cells derived from the pigment- producing melanocytes. Almost everyone has at least one nevus, which can be flesh-colored, brown or bluish-black. Some are flat (Junctional), some slightly elevated (compound), and some dome-shaped (dermal). Nevi occur in about one percent of all newborn babies; the number of nevi increases in childhood. The size and pigmentation may increase throughout life, especially during puberty, pregnancy, with oral estrogens such as the Pill, and after sun exposure. Although some women such as Elizabeth Taylor are known for their distinctive “beauty marks”, many moles are unattractive or irritating, and others may change in appearance. These should be removed for microscopic examination. (more…)

Stomachs very commonly sag after pregnancy, sometimes after one, certainly after several. They also sag as we age or after significant weight gain followed by significant weight loss. Abdominal surgery of various kinds may often leave the stomach muscles slack and the skin covering flabby. Whatever the cause, the effects are very commonly distressing. In western culture, a flat stomach is perhaps too much prized and admired but prized and admired it is, if more by women than by men. Abdominoplasty, surgery to reduce the stomach, restores muscle tone and smooth stomach appearance. The cost, however, inevitably, is extensive scarring. (more…)

Meditation has been practiced for centuries in many spiritual traditions as a way of purifying the mind. Basically, meditation involves quieting the mind so that the mental chatter that fills your waking consciousness can be stilled, if even for a moment. Through quieting the mind, you cultivate a sense of calm, and come to know yourself in a deeper way. Meditation helps you to become aware of habitual patterns of thinking so that you can make better choices about how you are living. Meditation is an excellent way of relieving stress, because when the mind is calm, the body naturally follows. Many people experience feelings of deep peace and clarity through meditation. Experiment with the different meditation techniques that follow and find those which appeal to you. (more…)

A tycoon millionairess once told me that she found a business easier to run than a home. I’m sure she’s right. I’ve never yet been able to make the housekeeping show a profit, but my system is to run it in the same way as I run an office, with a planned budget, purchasing and filing department (all me). This is not nearly as clever or complicated as it sounds. Any sane woman in a perfect world wouldn’t bother, but if like me you’ve lost two vacuum cleaners and £140 worth of laundry in one year you’ll know it’s worthwhile.

The equipment: All you need to get organized is a writing surface, a chair, a kitchen drawer, a large cardboard box or a bit of shelf space on which to store two wire office trays or a couple of shopping bags (IN and OUT), eight double-sided envelope files with which to start a filing system, a duplicate book, two notebooks, envelopes and writing paper, a handbag diary and notebook, an address book — and some pretty postcards. (more…)

Posture is another important part of movement. But for most women posture is an ugly word, reminiscent of agonizing school periods in which one was urged to “Pull your stomach in, for heaven’s sake, and stand up straight.” No matter how hard you try or how long you hold your breath you can never seem to get it right. That is because this kind of posture is something imposed on the body from outside. It should be nothing of the sort. Good posture is quite simply the most efficient use of the skeleton to keep the body erect and give it freedom of movement. It is a way of standing, moving, and sitting that doesn’t put excessive strain on the muscles or joints anywhere in the body. It comes from within and is most natural. (more…)

There is more health and beauty through natural movement than you will get from vigorous aerobic exercise alone. For no matter how far you run, no matter how fine an athlete or dancer you are, unless your muscles and joints move freely through the full range of motions possible for them you quite simply won’t feel fully alive. Neither will you have full freedom of locomotion nor will you get the complete enjoyment of your sensations.

The body is the medium of experience. Everything you do—walking, writing, playing, working, making love—you do through its movements. In fact, all life is made up of the action of living flesh and muscle on moving joints and bones. These movements are composed of finely controlled positions and motions. When your joints and muscles are supple and mobile your body remains free, glowing, alive and highly resistant to stress. To get it that way, unless you are a child or unless you happen to be gifted with exceptional flexibility, you need to teach your muscles to stretch to their limits and encourage your joints to move fully. (more…)

Most women become aware of the poor condition of neglected muscles when a strain occurs, but there are various tests you can run on specific muscles to find out how strong and resilient yours are. One in particular probably gives more indication than any other of how susceptible you are to back pain. It is used by one of Europe’s top back experts, who taught it to me. And it is particularly useful for women after childbirth.

Lie flat on your back on the floor. With one hand stretched out and fingers together, press the tips of the fingers against the center line of the abdomen at the navel. Now raise your head off the floor. If the rectus abdominis muscle (the long, flat muscle on the front of the abdomen) parts, allowing your fingers to press easily into the abdominal cavity, then your abdominal wall is definitely not strong enough. (more…)

Other things contribute to back troubles too—like poor nutrition, which results in stored waste in the tissues and the accumulation of fat, which puts far too much strain on heavily taxed muscles. You shouldn’t sleep on a bed that is too soft either—it won’t give enough support to your spine

and there is always the danger of hanging on to muscle tension left over from the daytime or putting too much of an unnatural curve in your spine during sleep. But you needn’t go out and buy an expensive orthopedic mattress. A simple, firm mattress on top of a board will do fine. (more…)

Every woman has two kinds of energy, male and female. Male energy is like the sun—invigorating, stimulating, creative, and powerful. The male postures in yoga call forth this dynamic energy and release it.

Female energy is recuperative, calming, nurturing, and gentle. The female postures are restoring to body, mind, and spirit. Yoga attempts to release male and female energies and ultimately to fuse them in union—to integrate the person.

The first four postures are male. They are done standing and they revitalize you. The last four are female and calming. In order to achieve the best balance and effect, it is best to do them in the order in which Geoffrey recommends them. (more…)

1. When you breathe, breathe with your whole chest and abdomen too. Most of us breathe only with the top part of our body, which means we are not fully lowering the diaphragm and expanding the lungs and so are not making use of their full capacity. This kind of restricted breathing stifles emotional expression and is often linked with anxiety, depression, and worry. To check for abdominal breathing, put your hands on your tummy. Does it swell when you breathe in and sink when you breathe out? It should. Lying flat on a firm surface, practice breathing fully and gently until you get the feel of it.

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These are not very good for your skin. Soaps are made of fatty acids taken from animals and treated with caustic soda. Many of them are also full of antiseptics that can cause irritations to the skin and be very drying. If you bathe every day, you don’t need soap to get clean. If you do use it, choose a neutral soap (one that is not alkaline) or one of the pH balanced detergent bars that are mild on the skin and don’t remove the natural acid mantle from it. Even then you probably only need it under the arms, around the genitals, and on the feet unless you have been out in the mud and genuinely need to wash away grime. Bath foams and other detergent-based products can contribute to vaginal infections such as trichomoniasis and candidiasis. (more…)

EYES

This exercise is excellent for the eye area, which usually goes slack faster than any other part of the face. It is particularly designed to prevent or eliminate crow’s-feet. It is in two parts.

Part one Looking into a mirror, lower your chin to your chest and open your eyes looking straight ahead. Then, slowly and in eight definite steps, close your eyes by bringing the lower lids up to the upper, all the while looking into the mirror until the very last moment. Hold this position with your eyes tightly shut for four counts, then release in the same eight definite steps. Repeat four times. Once you can control these movements in definite steps, you are ready to go on to the toughy that really does the work. (more…)

If your clothes are getting too tight, do not go out and buy a bigger size. Resolve absolutely to make those clothes comfortable again. Analyse the situation and think of all the things you could do. You could get out your Picture in Words and remind yourself of all the reasons why you started this process and how you do not want to be back at the beginning again.

Catch yourself early. Most people manage their weight, but the difference is that people with a weight problem tend to let it go much further and have to take far bigger and more drastic action later on. They do not tend to take early action, whereas people who tend to be successful at managing their weight take action much sooner, at the first sign of their clothes getting a little bit tight. (more…)

What Kind of Shampoo is for You?

Taking into account the things already said, you can choose the cheapest one you like the smell of, since your hair will carry the scent in it of your shampoo for a day or so afterward. But there are certain kinds that are particularly good for certain kinds of hair.

Lemon: These shampoos are especially good for oily hair, because they help remove the oil without leaving the hair lackluster and lank.

Balsam: This is a good ingredient to choose if your hair is very fine or lacks body. Balsam is a resinous substance from the bark of certain trees. In a shampoo, it coats the hair shafts, lending them thickness and strength. (more…)

Stress during labour

Childbirth can be a time of intimacy, excitement, wonder and openness. It can also be a time of fear and pain, sometimes in a place that is forbidding and lacking in warmth. There may be all kinds of left-over feelings, which are usually repressed. First of all, the birth hurts you — it is quite natural for some women to be angry about this. Secondly, you may resent the way your delivery was handled. Unfortunately, the case history above is not an isolated example. I have heard of so many similar and worse cases that it sometimes makes me feel ashamed of my profession as a doctor. The resentment is usually related to lack of consultation on decisions. Medical interventions are sometimes carried out (for instance, routine episiotomies, injections to speed up the birth of the placenta) without any explanation of side-effects. If the side-effects occur, the natural reaction is anger, but this is often repressed, with the explanation that the doctor knows what is best. It is this attitude of the patient handing over authority to the doctor and the doctor taking assumed authority over another’s life that may lead to later feelings of resentment. Some women have told me they felt like a nonentity, going through a process that was designed by the hospital to maximize speed and efficiency. Others have told me that it felt like being taken over by machines and fingers. The residue of resentment may go very deep and is usually repressed, with a resultant depression of spirits in general. (more…)

`No, I think all women need to spend time doing and thinking about things unrelated to children. I appreciate that some women may not think this way, but Ifeel that you are a person in your own right, not just somebody’s mum.’

Jackie, 36, accounts clerk/estate agent

`If we win the Lottery perhaps. Yes, I could, especially when both boys are at school. I would like to do my own thing during school hours and be therefor them when they come home.’

Judy, 37, lecturer/musician

`I couldn‘t go back to being a full-time mother. I value my independence and love being in the working environment. I love dressing smartly and would not make so much effort if I did not work.’

Gillian, 48, accounts manager

`No, I need to work. Looking back, my mother didn’t and when we’d grown up, she had nothing.’

Pauline, 31, paediatric endocrine nurse specialist (more…)