As a doctor, let me tell you what self-love does: It improves your hearing, your eyesight, lowers your blood pressure, increases pulmonary function, cardiac output, and helps wiring the musculature. So, if we had a rampant epidemic of self-love then our healthcare costs would go down dramatically. So, this isn't just some little frou-frou new age notion, oh love yourself honey. This is hardcore science.

All over the world today, many girls still get the idea that their bodies are somehow not as good as a boy's body. These girls - who later grow up to be women with girls of their own - get the message that they are weaker in spirit, not worth educating, somehow cursed because of their menstrual cycle, and so forth.

You don't need to deteriorate with advancing age.

I keep my center by [surrounding] myself with like-minded people who I can call and visit with and simply be with.

Consciousness creates the body. Our bodies are made up of dynamic energy systems that are affected by our diets, relationships, heredity, and culture and the interplay of all these factors and activities... We cannot hope to reclaim our bodily wisdom and inherent ability to create health without first understanding the influence of our society on how we think about and care for our bodies.

Your emotions are your inner guidance system. They alone will let you know whether you are living in an environment of biochemical health or in an environment of biochemical distress. Understanding how your thoughts and your emotions affect every single hormone and cell in your body, and knowing how to change them in a way that is health-enhancing, gives you access to the most powerful and empowering health-creating secret on earth.

Learning to love yourself should not become a life-long challenge that most of us never meet.