I just spent the week hanging out with amazing women…and I feel better!
I was feeling low and questioning pretty much everything about my existence – but then being with my women friends and my spiritual community of women has lifted me up!
Being with supportive women is deeply healing! And not just because it’s fun and it’s a get-away, but because it actually changes our body chemistry and our emotional state. Being with women is truly a healthy habit.
Here are 5 ways women make you healthier:
Being with supportive women…
1. Boosts oxytocin which lowers cortisol
- Oxytocin is known as the hugging hormone. It’s released when we are with other women and feeling connected. Oxytocin lowers Cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone. So being in the company of other women that are nurturing makes us less stressed, and our cortisol lowers. Lowering our cortisol impacts every other hormone in a positive way. Balanced hormone = happier us = healthier us!
2. Positively challenges our habitual and sometimes negative outlooks on life.
- It’s easy to see the glass half-empty. It’s actually human nature to look for the bad things in life in an attempt to protect ourselves from harm. Being with other supportive women encourages us to look at the glass half full. What’s interesting is that this shift often comes because we are encouraging our women friends to see the positive and see their own brilliance. This supportive stance rubs off on our own outlook.
3. Reduces isolation and loneliness
- This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Being with supportive women makes us feel connected and less alone. This crazy, busy – always electronically connected world we live in – can still sometimes feel mighty lonely. Being in connection with other wonderful women is powerful.
4. Reminds us that we are all human
- It’s easy to compare your insides to other women’s outsides. Compare your “outtakes” to someone else’s “best of” reel. I call this dynamic “compare and despair.” The great thing is that when we are with other, real and supportive women, we realize that everyone has stuff going on, no one is perfect. We can relax on feeling bad about not being perfect, because thankfully, we’re all human.
5. Inspires!
- Women are amazing! Everyday I’m wowed by the creativity, resiliency and power of women – and it rubs off! Seeing other women step into their authentic selves, be brave, and live life fully, inspires us to do the same.
So, reach out to your girlfriends – make a date, plan a weekend away, arrange a potluck, go for a walk – just find a way to put yourself into the company of other supportive women, because it’s so deeply nourishing!
I’d love to hear how being with supportive women impacts you!
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Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every women deserves to feel good in their own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life! She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com
She helps busy women look and feel their best. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food. She helps women step into a new wellness paradigm that makes it real and do-able and makes self-care a sustainable healthy habit.
She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
