A Plastic Surgeon's Perspective:
Beauty, Wellness and the Mind Body Connection
The Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University once gave an evening lecture on the mind-body connection and the relationship between stress and disease. He said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health was to be married to a woman... and, that one of the best things a woman could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends! At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.
While men rarely sit down with buddies to talk about their feelings, women do it all the time. This soul-sharing activity among sisters, mothers and girlfriends, provides support systems that help women deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps to create more serotonin - the neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and creates a general feeling of well being.
Since stress has been noted to take a physical toll on the mind and body, the reduction of such stress can only be beneficial. In fact, reduction in stress goes hand-in-hand with improvement in overall health, wellness and...beauty. Evidently a woman's relationships with other women are just as important as jogging or working out at a gym! While there is a tendency to think that when we are relaxing with friends, we are wasting our time, this is simply not true. In fact, the failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans can be as dangerous to our physical health as smoking.
So next time you schmooze with a gal pal, just raise your beauty boost smoothie; launch your inner mind-body connection; and repeat after me: Gesundheit! L'Chaim! Salud! Na zdarov 'e! 'A votre sante'! Salute! Congratulations are in order, in every language. Cheers! Here's to beauty, wellness and GOOD HEALTH!
