Perspectives

From girlhood onward, women learn that their bodies will be noticed, judged, compared, desired, criticized, and sometimes controlled. This essay explores the cultural expectations women absorb about beauty, sexuality, aging, safety, and bodily autonomy—and asks a larger question: who should hold authority over a woman’s body?

Begin With the Body When the Mind Won’t Sit Still For many people, meditation sounds perfectly reasonable until they are asked to sit still and do it. Within thirty seconds, the mind has reorganized your closet, considered next week’s meal plan, and begun investigating whether the refrigerator is making a new noise. Some of us do not find stillness by beginning with stillness. Sounds a bit like a Japanese koan, doesn’t it? Yoga offers another doorway. When movement follows th

Anxiety often arrives as if it has taken over the whole room. One minute you may be going through your day, answering emails, driving to an appointment, making dinner, or trying to fall asleep. The next minute your body is tense, your chest feels tight, your thoughts are racing, and everything feels urgent. Even when part of you knows, “I am not actually in danger right now,” your nervous system may be sending a very different message. This is one of the hardest parts of an

by Janet K. Nash, MSW, LISW-S, CCTP, C-IAYT, RYT500 Fifty years ago, Roe v. Wade solidified a woman’s Constitutional right to obtain a legal abortion. This week the Supreme Court completely shattered the principle of stare decisis—the legal doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent in making their decisions. In Latin, stare decisis means “to stand by things decided.” My question now becomes, “What other legal precedents will the Supreme Court overturn? And how can precede