I imagine you're wondering, Is this book for me? Will it make a difference in my life?

This book is about knowing your body's center — your belly — as your center of being, the site of your soul power.

The life force focused in your belly activates your physical, emotional, and spiritual vitality. It's the source of your passion and creativity, your courage and confidence, your capacity to love fully. It's the starting point of your intuition, insight, and sense of purpose. The vital energy centered in your belly is your release from stress, your guide to good health. It is the origin of your inner strength. It's your connection to the source of life itself.

You can develop the Source Energy concentrated in your body's center. You can direct its expression to enhance every dimension of your life. This book is a guide for doing exactly that.

But still, is this book for you? It's for you if any of the following are true for you:

• You've dieted to trim your tummy or you've crunched your abs to make your stomach flat — without getting the results you want. You're fed up. You want to try a different approach.
  
  
• You've had enough of feeling bad about your body. You realize your belly will never be board-flat. You're ready to feel good about yourself as a whole.
  
  
• You suspect that if only you could make peace with your belly, you could tap into a wealth of creativity, wisdom, and inner guidance.
  
  
• You want to take charge of your sexual energy and fully own your pro-creative power.
  
  
• You're getting ready to have a child, and you want to address your concerns about giving birth, mothering, and body image even before you get pregnant.
  
  
• You've had a hysterectomy or given birth by C-section and still feel torn up. You want to feel whole again.
  
  
• You're passing through menopause and want to access the core energy that's becoming all the more available to you at this stage of your life.
  
  
• You already enjoy yoga, qigong, tai chi, martial arts, African dance, or belly dancing, and you want to experience another approach to body-centered movement.
  
  
• You're looking for an invigorating, power-centering exercise program you can easily do in five to seven minutes.
  
  
• You're seeking a body-centered path to personal and spiritual empowerment.
  
  
• You're a health educator, movement instructor, counselor, bodywork therapist, or health care provider working with women who have any of the concerns listed here.

In addition to a wealth of other material, this book presents The Gutsy Women's Workout as a belly-energizing practice for women with all levels of experience — including no experience at all — in movement arts such as yoga, qigong, tai chi, and belly dancing. And even if you're not interested in developing a movement practice at this time, there's plenty here to engage and reward your attention.

This book may be for you — in conjunction with appropriate medical or psychotherapeutic attention — if you've struggled with an eating disorder, experienced abdominal pain or illness, or survived an assault focused on your belly. Please consult with your health care provider to determine whether and how this book can serve you.

This book is for you to enjoy with the other women in your family as a foundation for fostering respect across the generations.

This book is for you and your friends to use as a basis for mutual support as you find ways to value your belly, your body, yourself.

In these times, it takes guts — courage, determination, and daring — to consider honoring your belly and the soul power it contains. And so I welcome you, a gutsy woman, to The Woman's Belly Book.

© 2006 Self-Health Education