The recent crisis in the Gulf brought to mind, as I’m sure it has for many, how we take care of our home.  The earth, our terrestrial home is under siege and it is heartbreaking to watch the damage she is suffering.  We can use this macro lesson in caring for our home to bring to our awareness how important it is to take care of another home – our bodies.  When we abuse the earth or don’t take proper care of the earth – there are consequences – some greater than others.  when we abuse our bodies, the same applies.

Most of us don’t think of our bodies as our home but in fact they are.  We get one body at birth. We live in that body-home until we die.  The food we eat, whether or not we are active, how we nourish our bodies in general will have consequences.  If we smoke, we damage our hearts and lungs.  When we eat foods that are highly processed, we send out inflammatory cells to all parts of the body which over time cause wear and tear on the body organs.

As we look at the disaster being played out on our TVs in the news, I wonder what headline news it would take to get all of us to take our body health as seriously.  While the media is churning out more and more studies about how “bad” obesity is, we forget that scare tactics never work.  We must all refocus what has been called the war on obesity into a partnership to put health first, then weight. If we saw ourselves in the same light that we see the poor creatures of the sea; if our hearts would open to our own need for caring, then perhaps changing how we treat ourselves, our bodies would make sense. Because, to me, it doesn’t make the most sense that we try to get everyone to “just be thin.”  There are many thin people who are unhealthy.  So thin is definitely NOT the answer.

But anyone who takes care of themselves, who views their bodies as their friend, not adversary, who is a good steward of this home will be as healthy as humanly possible.  Perhaps BP’s oil spill and the crisis in the gulf can serve as a wake up call for us all to take care of all the homes under our guardianship – from our bodies to the earth itself.

Millions of people suffer with food issues.  They may have been diagnosed with an eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder or they are overweight or obese or just confused by all the misleading information about food currently on the market.  For many, these issues with food have led to disordered eating patterns that can result in other problems such as malnutrition or under nutrition, depression and anxiety, insomnia and digestive complaints.  Dr. Ross developed a unique approach to treating these problems and researched  (link to the research article) the efficacy of her approach that uses dietary supplements and herbs.

To help consumers make informed choices about dietary supplements that may help them with their food issues, Dr. Ross founded Numinous Enterprises, LLC which offers a unique line of dietary supplements and herbal products to those seeking to recover from eating disorders or obesity.

Dr. Ross has also detailed her approach in her books, Healing Body, Mind and Spirit: An Integrative Medicine to the Treatment of Eating Disorders and  The Overcoming Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook (due 2009).

Dr. Ross’s first book, Miracles in Healing  describes how she came to be committed to integrative, wholistic approaches to healing and what she calls the Seven Secrets of Healing.