As we approach the new millennium, traditional Western Medicine is becoming increasingly aware that there may be other ways to treat medical problems and disease. Indeed, there are other ways to heal, to avoid disease, and to treat a patient. They are learning that a patient is not a disease, but a person - a human being, and that all of that person's being is involved in any disease process. I use the word they, because even though I was schooled and credentialled in the traditional medical halls of academia, I am not, nor have I ever been, considered a "traditional" physician. I have used a combination of whatever means it takes, both traditional and alternative care, to make a person better - to heal - be that in mind, body or spirit. In coming issues, we will look at alternative and non-traditional therapies used to treat and heal, what they are, when they are used, and if they work.

While it may be new news to most of the medical community, the awakening of spirituality and the knowledge of your spiritual self are two of the most important aspects of a person. The coming of the new millennium has awakened the search for spirituality within women. It is a journey that is begun by thousands of women daily as they become aware and endeavor to get in touch with it, to know it, and to sort the belief systems that make them who they are.

WOMEN BECOMING . . . it is a journey I see happening every day where ever I meet women. Perhaps it is more evident in women because in some way they have always inherently known that part of their being was there - perhaps hidden, perhaps so put away that it seemed non-existent, but always present. Your self-awareness and spirituality is the key to who you are. Part of the awareness needed to be gained is that you are a unique, worthwhile and valuable being. While in theory we all know this, the difficult part of the concept is believing it. The destruction caused by low self-esteem is mind boggling. It allows abuse to happen, illness to become and lives to be ruined.

This journey to self is not an easy one. It is the most difficult task anyone ever faces in life. It is a path that when chosen, one walks every day of your life because is it WHO you are, not WHAT you do. No one can make this journey for you; you must walk it alone. And yet you are never alone. Other women are there for you, urging you on. They know that it is the journey of a lifetime. When you know your spiritual self, you realize you have a power within you that gives you life. This power is what makes you unique, what drives you, what manifests your destiny.