Woman's Belly is Soulful, Not Shameful: Eating Disorder Therapists Relish Gutsy New Approach to Building Body Confidence

So often the diets that target "trimming the tummy" lead to additional weight gain and disordered eating. Eating disorder professionals are now hailing a gutsy new approach to building body confidence that honors the belly as the site of our soul-power. Yoga and bodywork therapist Lisa Sarasohn, author of The Woman's Belly Book, reveals how to recharge the "energy battery," the core life force, abiding in the body's center. Power-centering yoga moves and breathing patterns nourish the soul, fulfilling the spiritual hunger that eating disorders vainly attempt to satisfy.

Asheville, NC (PRWEB) January 5, 2005 -- Two sobering facts accompany all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight: Most diets fail—actually resulting in additional weight gain. And dieting can lead to life-threatening eating disorders.

Regardless of the season, more than half of all American women are on a weight-loss regime; four out of five girls are dieting by the age of ten. Why? Typically, they're trying to "trim the tummy." The belly has become the focus of women's shame and self-hate.

But a recent conference on eating disorders,"Hungers, Health and Healing" hosted by the Renfrew Center Foundation in Philadelphia, revealed a gutsy new approach to building body confidence: Honoring the body's center as the site of our soul-power. Reclaiming the belly as sacred, not shameful.

"Starving or stuffing our bellies cannot satisfy what's truly a spiritual hunger," says yoga and bodywork therapist Lisa Sarasohn. "Eating disorders represent our hunger for a soulful sense of self in intimate connection with a nurturing universe. When we try to satisfy this hunger with food, the belly becomes the container for a futile struggle."

Author of The Woman's Belly Book, Ms. Sarasohn introduced conference participants to dynamic yoga moves and breathing patterns that recharge the "energy battery," the core life force, abiding in the body's center. "Cultures around the world know the body's center to be the source of our physical and spiritual vitality," says Ms. Sarasohn. "When we energize our bellies with movement and breath, we nourish our souls."

The Woman's Belly Book has received enthusiastic response from eating disorder professionals and their clients. Dr. Margo Maine, a leader in the field and author of The Body Myth: The pressure on women to be perfect, hails it as a "soulful antidote to the cultural indoctrination into body hatred experienced by contemporary women of all ages. Many other books inspire us to 'talk the talk' of making peace with our bodies, but The Woman's Belly Book shows us how to 'walk the walk.'"

Dr. Sheila M. Reindl, author of Sensing the Self: Women's recovery from bulimia, adds: "This book is a rich resource for women recovering from eating disorders, especially as they dare to open themselves to a fuller relationship to their body...and their womanhood."

Among many appreciative readers, one woman exclaims: "What a glorious book! I have decided to end my eating disorder after thirty years of spectacular bingeing and starving and this book is a marvelous resource and support for me!"

Gürze Books, specializing in educational resources for eating disorders professionals and their clients, includes The Woman’s Belly Book in its catalog. The book is available from Gürze at 800-756-7533 as well as through online bookstores.

Lisa Sarasohn is an honors graduate of Brown University with a concentration in Biology; she has received the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation Feminist Theology Award for her work. Her articles on revaluing the body's center have appeared in publications including Yoga Journal, SageWoman, Radiance, and Personal Transformation. She has conducted workshops on "losing the weight of shame" on college campuses and at learning centers including Omega Institute, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Journey Into Wholeness, and the Sufi School of Healing.

Contact Information:

Lisa Sarasohn

Self-Health Education, Inc.

http://loveyourbelly.com

Journalists:

To arrange for an interview with the author, contact Lisa Sarasohn directly through her website at http://loveyourbelly.com.

Ordering information:

The Woman's Belly Book: available from Gürze Books toll-free at 1-800-756-7533 and through amazon.com and other online bookstores.

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