Oprah Winfrey Show
I taped the 
Oprah Winfrey Show last weekend. My segment will air the first week of February, and I’ll be part of a group of guests discussing what it means to grow older. I think it’s going to be an exciting and inspiring show. Hitting my 40s was a big deal for me—after all I work in Hollywood, where woman over 35 are viewed as ‘older.’ Now my daughters and their friends are in their late teens, and it’s upsetting to see that they are dealing with the same body and image issues that my generation did. As women our sense of worth is often wrapped up in our looks and our desirability, and it can be hard to embrace ourselves for our intellect and spirit instead.
With Living Healthy I’ve really tried to devise a program that is primarily about keeping your mind, body and spirit balanced and healthy. The fact that your will also look better is an added bonus. I hope that as you read and follow the book you will become more loving and accepting towards yourself. When you have a few minutes to close your eyes and calm your mind, accept any mean voices that pop into your head to say “You’re ugly,” or “You’re stupid.” Listen to them, then calmly dismiss them, by saying “I’m beautiful, I’m worthy, I deserve to be loved.” It’s corny, but you can say it to yourself quietly, and no one needs to know!
They say that real beauty comes from loving yourself, and it’s true, because if you don’t love yourself you will be too full of anger, frustration and pain to love anyone else. It can take years and years to learn this, but it’s a great relief to finally realize it. Tune into Oprah, and I’d love to hear your own thoughts about your wellness journey in the comments section!
One question I’ve heard a lot is from wives who want to inspire their husbands to follow a healthier lifestyle. This is a huge issue, and it has to be handled carefully—the easiest way to prevent your spouse or partner from improving their diet or exercising is to nag them about it. It can also be scary for the partner who feels they are in danger of being ‘left behind’ by their loved one’s new lifestyle—and this can cause them to dig their heels in and resist it even more.
u turn off your alarm clock and stand up. Hold the inhale for five seconds, then exhale with an audible sound of release. Remember to take the feeling of rest into your standing body. Your challenge this morning is to take a long, deliberate breath before every small task you do, from the moment you awaken until the moment you leave the house. Breathe at the toilet: one deep inhale and exhale. Breathe before you turn on the taps and splash your face with water. Breathe before you take off your nightgown or T-shirt. You get the picture! As you go about your morning concentrate on breathing – it will slow your day down very little, but help improve your efficiency and reduce your stress as you calmly focus on the little tasks at hand.
As you inhale, draw energy up through your core, and let it travel up through the spine to the top of your head. Take a moment to move your head around, finding the place where your head naturally aligns with the spine; your head knows when it find center. Bring your chin slightly back so that the neck and spine are aligned. Gently gaze past the tip of your nose or a few feet ahead of you on the ground. Open your mouth, and allow your jaw to be soft. Find that place of connection to the ground you stand on. Breath 5 long breaths through the nose.
If you are still on the fence about starting the program, experiment with some of the ideas in the book, and see how they make you feel. Try changing a few small things; a more healthful breakfast, perhaps a twenty minute walk after work, or two minutes of silence in the morning. The first thing you’ll notice is a decrease in the ‘background noise’ that most of us experience day-to-day. “Background noise” may be the jittery, nervous feeling you get from a coffee jag, or the anxious, angry voices who criticize your day-to-day actions. It could be the constant over-stimulating distractions of TV, the internet and radio. However you experience it, the background noise is hugely debilitating; and getting rid of it will free you up to concentrate on the more meaningful things; health, happiness and wellness. Commit to a week where you screen out as much background noise as possible, and see how much calmer and focused you feel at the end of it.
day to project this illusion of perfection; like so many women I battled with the demons of low self-esteem, what I think of as an ‘potentially-addictive’ personality, and a compulsive need to please others. For much of my twenties I tried to literally ‘starve’ my demons – running to the point of exhaustion, eating as little food as I could while still functioning. It took years to realize that this was not ‘Healthy Living,’ and that true health came from a more reflective, holistic approach to mind, body and soul. With Healthy Living from the Inside Out I’ve taken all I’ve learned over the last few decades, and distilled it into a program for other women dealing with the ups and downs of modern life.