Mothers and Daughters:
Cultivating a Legacy of Health
Women are unique in their needs--physical emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Each season of her life requires certain vitamins, minerals, hormones and enzymes. This nutritional balance should begin early in her formative years as it often determines the outcome of her health and well-being into her older years.
The second chapter of Titus instructs us to teach (and to learn) what is in accord with sound doctrine. Older women must be taught what is good so they can train the younger women in order to live according to God's word. Mothers and grandmothers have passed down rituals, relationship and recipes for centuries, but a few very important areas of our growth and development--health, wellness and body-image-sometimes get passed over in the life process. In following Titus 2, we mothers and grandmothers must teach our daughters about the effect of nutritional balance in their feminine bodies. We must teach the younger women to believe that being well is their God-given birthright.
I invite you, dear reader, to ponder for a moment and reflect on your early instruction in health, nutrition and over-all well being. Who influenced you the most in this area of becoming a strong, healthy woman? If your messages about food, weight and body-image were negative, misguided or even damaging there is hope for restoration and renewal. Research and technology provide numerous resources to gain the knowledge and guidance necessary for making healthy choices today. There is no excuse for continuing to live in the shadow of poor or incomplete teaching. It's never too late to become healthy--it could bring about a positive change that inspires and influences many young women in your family tree.
Christiane Northrup, renowned physician and author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health, states:
"The mother-daughter relationship is at the core of every woman's physical and emotional health. Because our mothers are our first and most powerful female role models, our most deeply ingrained beliefs about ourselves as women come from them. Once we understand our mother-daughter bonds, we can rebuild our own health, whatever our age, and create a lasting positive legacy for the next generation."
Studies show that the immune system of those in nurturing and healthy relationships is stronger. Negative thoughts and attitudes suppress the body's immune function and slowly deteriorate a healthy body in much the same way as junk food and soft drinks. A mother's or grandmother's belief or attitude about food, body-image and overall health and wellness may be passed down to her daughter/granddaughter often without their awareness.
Our mothers, grandmothers and even great-grandmothers may subtly influence us as we select our food, prepare our meals and reflect on our self-image. Whether our choices are healthy or not-so-healthy, they most likely come from previous teaching or experiences. Remember the Christmas ham story where the young bride cut the ham in half before putting it in the baking dish . . . just because that's the way it had always been done? When the "rest of the story" was revealed, they discovered that her great-grandmother had to cut the ham in half because she only had one small baking pan!
Springtime is a perfect time for mothers and daughters to share their questions, discoveries and joys about being women. As the earth unfolds God's glory, mothers and daughters can use this time to tend their "inner gardens" as intentionally as they would tend a flower garden or prize tomatoes in an outdoor garden.
We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that our bodies belong to God and that God's Spirit lives in us. We should care for our body as a sacred temple. Body image in 2010 is sadly misguided. Our young daughters and granddaughters are growing up in the "age of raunch." Motherly wisdom provides essential guidance in teaching our daughters how to protect their temple.
I pray that this Mother's Day will be a time of renewal and rejoicing for you and the women in your family. Please take a few moments to review your relationship and make revisions or repairs if necessary. If any hurtful or unhealthy thoughts or attitudes are present in your relationship, I urge you to allow God to step in and bring healing . . . sometimes we don't get a second chance to make things right. There is only one you and only one me--yet in our roles as mothers, daughters, grandmothers, sisters and aunties we touch many lives. Are we touching them in a way that promotes a healthy vibrant life?
It truly is a blessing to be graced by the women who have gone before and left their imprint on our life's path. Whether their memory brings a smile or a grimace their journey forms a layer of our life's path and our journey will become a layer in our daughters' path. Walk wisely dear woman and "be in health even as your soul is well" for there are young women following and watching.
Mothers, teach your daughters . . .
- to dine--savoring their meal experience by choosing wholesome, natural God-created foods; limiting eating-on-the-run and gulping processed, packaged non-nutrient foods
- to listen to their inner feminine wisdom and become aware of their inner seasons
- to maintain a wellness belief, attitude and lifestyle
- to include daily activity that stimulates circulation, breathing, digestion and clears mental clutter
- to laugh--laughter is indeed healthy for the body, mind and soul
- to appreciate a regular diet of good books, enriching movies/plays and quality music
- to REST! God rested, Jesus rested but mothers often forget this important element of health. Rest doesn't always mean sleep. Step aside from the daily duties just to say "thank you Jesus."
- to choose a wardrobe with accessories that beautifies and protects their sacred temple
To use this article, you must add "Reprinted from WellnessForAllSeasons.Com". Please drop us a note and let us know that you've selected one of our articles for your organization's newsletter or website.
