How can we maintain both intimacy and autonomy in our lives?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:We all want to feel free, but we can't feel that way if we're being manipulated. We resent it. To the degree that we are more aware of our inner well-being, then we don't need another person to provide that for us. We can enjoy others for who they are, not for who we want them to be.
By focusing on our feelings, our communication and our relationships can become less manipulative, leaving both people feeling freer. We don't have to choose between being independent but isolated or being intimate but swallowed up and controlled by another person. We can relate to each other in ways that maintain both our intimacy and autonomy. In her book, Intimate Partners, Maggie Scarf describes different exercises that can be used to enhance both intimacy and autonomy.
Find out more about this book: Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scie...
We all want to feel free, but we can't feel that way if we're being manipulated. We resent it. To the degree that we are more aware of our inner well-being, then we don't need another person to provide that for us. We can enjoy others for who they... More
