Let's celebrate women! I see the tremendous ripple effects that happen when a woman is nurtured, healthy, and feeling whole. It's woman's health week, so let's take the opportunity to zoom in on the essentialities for maintaining and achieving great health as a woman.

In the countless hours I have spent with women talking about their health, their emotions, and their wishes, I have come to realise that to achieve excellent health as a woman, you need to begin by accepting that you are wondrously complex. With the example that a woman's hormones go through continuous changes throughout life, you are never going to require just one type of health care or one type of exercise or one type of supplement... or diet regime. To put this simply, as a woman, you must understand that you are a continually evolving being that inevitably has to go through continuous change month after month and decade after decade.

So, what does a woman need to do to maintain and achieve excellent health? Despite the complexities to a woman's health, I have simplified the foundation of women's health here—the most crucial facts from my research and my clinical experience that you can address right away:

1. Make cooking your art; the art of nurturing your body, mind, and spirit. Cooking has become unpopular; it's viewed as a time-sucking activity and a chore. I strongly argue against this. Cooking is the only way to achieve the foundation of long-term health. Cooking for yourself or your family is the ultimate act of love and nurturing. By no means does cooking have to be fancy or complicated. I'm a mother of three girls and am a firm believer that great food is simple food. To quote Michael Pollan, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

2. Your bones are your longevity ticket. Without strong bones, life will feel fragile. To maintain and build strong bones (alongside the point above), exercise is non-negotiable for a woman. The way to keep your bones strong is to stay active with a combination of three things: Flexibility, weight-bearing exercise, and free-flow movement, aka, cardio. Additionally, focus on a diet that provides you with plenty of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K.

3. Your hormones are your internal symphony orchestra. Your hormones are what dictates almost everything within your body, so we must look after them and listen to the signals they send if things are not working well. Tuning into your monthly cycle is crucial to ensure you know how you are doing. I believe in prevention (preventative healthcare), and if you know exactly how your monthly hormonal ebbs and flows are tracking, you will easily see the signals of your body, which is telling you if you have silently slipped into too much stress or if you are in need of further support. Listening to your body on a hormonal level is your greatest gift to pick up on the subtle and important messages you get regarding your health. 

4. Your mental health and your lifestyle are more important than you think. We are such overly intellectual human beings, and sometimes, we can tangle ourselves into knots with mind chatter and self-degrading thoughts. Exploring (if this is new to you) the practice of Vedic meditation will unravel any mental turmoil and is now a proven technique to reduce stress and improve health, as well as mental and physical performance. Lastly, a book I often recommend to women on the topic of mental and emotional health is The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner.

I would like to encourage you to embrace this week to focus on you: your lifestyle, your diet, your physical health, and your mental health. Check in with yourself and listen to the subtleties and welcome your inner intuition to guide you in your health and well-being.