Christiane Northrup, MD, obstetrician/ gynecologist, is internationally known for her visionary, empowering approach to women’s health and wellness. As a practicing physician for over 20 years, Dr. Northrup is a leading proponent of medicine and healing that acknowledges the unity of the mind and body, as well as the powerful role of the human spirit in creating health.

Her pioneering work has shown that conditions such as PMS, endometriosis, breast symptoms, and uterine conditions are the language through which women’s bodies speak of wounding they have experienced in a culture which has been unsupportive to women and to those values we call “womanly.” Her years of clinical experience have taught her that life-threatening, chronic, or acute illness is often a catalyst for significant inner growth and change. The lessons learned from the thousands of women with whom she has worked over the years have taught her that we needn’t wait for illness to make health-enhancing adjustments in our lives. Regardless of one’s starting point, vibrant improvements can occur on all levels of a woman’s life and health when she learns how to respect and care for herself.

Dr. Northrup stresses that to improve our health, we women need an entirely new way of thinking about and caring for our bodies. Currently, our culture equates health with “disease screening,” such as Pap smears and physical exams, and though these are important, the main focus is still on avoiding or finding disease, not preventing it. Lasting health and wholeness are only possible when we learn and practice the skills and behaviors associated with true health and wholeness. She asks women to ponder the following questions:

• What would it be like if you reclaimed the wisdom of your body and learned to trust its messages?
• What would your life be like if you no longer lived in fear of “germs” or cancer?
• How would your life be different if your body were your friend and ally?
• How would your life be different if you learned how to respect your body as though it were a precious creation — as valuable as a beloved friend or child? How would you treat yourself differently?
• Dr. Northrup knows that the only way to change the system is for women and men to reclaim their inner wisdom, learn to trust “what they know in their bones,” and become active participants in their own healthcare ideally before problems arise. The intent of her work is to help women (and the men who love them) learn how to create health daily in their lives by understanding that their bodies are largely a barometer of the quality of their thoughts, relationships, diet, and environment. Once people learn that their bodies are not an external circumstance that just happens to them, they are in a position to change their lives from the inside out. They become empowered to change the way they see themselves and can gradually shift their focus from disease to health, regardless of starting point.

As a business owner, physician, surgeon, mother, writer, and speaker, Dr. Northrup is committed to creating health and balance on a daily basis in her own life, while assisting individuals, organizations, and businesses in creating the same in theirs. Her work acknowledges our individual and collective capacity for growth, freedom, joy, and balance regardless of our starting points. Her philosophy includes blending the best of conventional medicine, complementary medicine, feminism, global ecology, and 12-step and related spirituality.

Her practical and in-depth approach to health concerns has much to offer, regardless of one’s starting point. Her first two public television specials, “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Minds,” and “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Choices,” debuted nationally in March of 1998 at over 100 stations. The success of these programs led to two more, which debuted in August of 1999: “Your Diet, Your Health” and “The Wisdom of Menopause.” Through her monthly e-letter, Women’s Health Wisdom and this website, Dr. Northrup has created a “virtual” healthcare center for women that provides integrated support, education, and health assessment services to help women make changes in their lives to achieve optimal health on all levels.

Dr. Northrup is also the author of the New York Times best-selling book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (Bantam, revised 1998), which was #1 on Amazon.com in 1999, has been translated into 11 languages, and has sold over 1.2 million copies. Her work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, The View, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Good Morning America, and the Today Show. She has also appeared on Donny & Marie. Her newest New York Times best-selling book, The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change (Bantam, 2001), #1 on Amazon.com in 2001 and 2002, explores the gifts and challenges of this midlife turning point, during which we have greater potential to create the foundation for a happier and healthier life than ever before. She is also at work on a book that will explore how the mother–daughter bond sets the stage for a woman’s health throughout the lifecycle. Dr. Northrup lives with her family in Maine.