You've blended your detox drink, chanted your daily
affirmation, thanked your body for all the hard work it's doing on your behalf and acknowledged your female ancestors. Feel good? Then you're well on your way to becoming a thoroughly Modern Woman.
Welcome to the new girly gospel according to former PR guru Lynne Franks. This daily ritual is something she is passionate about. The world, she believes, needs women to rebalance its feminine energy in order to create a positive future for humankind. So it's vital for those of us who want to learn how to successfully juggle careers and relationships to learn first and foremost to love ourselves.
Franks wants to show us we needn't make the same mistakes she made when she was at the height of her international career. It seems to be working for her.
We're sitting in her west London kitchen - all reclaimed wood - and she's looking distinctly serene. Wearing her favourite sky blue skirt and top, her long hair is loose and she's sipping uncarbonated mineral water. On a countertop behind her, one basket contains boxes of herbal tea and another is full of dietary supplements. Her wine rack is forlorn, but her fridge is crammed with bottles of wheatgrass juice. She's already been trampolining in the living room and has done a bit of morning meditation. The former rottweiler of
public relations - an inspiration for the manic Edina in TV's Absolutely Fabulous - seems sorted.
''I am absolutely thrilled with my new baby,'' she announces, referring to her new book, GROW (an acronym of Gorgeous Real Original Woman). It discusses health and wellbeing, spirituality, careers, relationships, sexuality, family and social change. To say its message is a far cry from her previous lifestyle is a screamingly
obvious understatement.
We're at the same kitchen table at which, aged 21, she started her own business with her then husband, the fashion designer Paul Howie. Lynne Franks PR became one of the best-known public
relations firms in the world, representing Brylcreem, the Labour Party and Tommy Hilfiger. It promoted Katharine Hamnett's Choose Life T-shirts, created London Fashion Week and introduced us to designer jeans.
Lynne herself became notoriously high-octane, running 50 staff, chanting the Buddhist chant and travelling around in a chauffeur-driven Merc. In those heady days, Franks was the epitome of yuppy 1980s London. She had a home in Clapham, two young children and a shitzu. Then, in 1992, Howie left her for one of her friends and they sold LFPR.
It was at this time that Ab Fab was becoming a TV sensation. Franks reacted dramatically to what she perceived as
public ridicule by Edina's creator, her friend Jennifer Saunders. She fled the UK for California and embarked on a journey of self-discovery with a variety of spiritual leaders. Boyfriends included a Rastafarian drummer, a German farmer, a psychiatrist and a fire-eater.
She returned last summer, after five years. Now aged 56, she is happily single and works blissfully from home, delivering GROW workshops and advising women entrepreneurs on SEED, her 10-stage
programme on how to create new
businesses based on feminine values.
She lives close to her mother, her comedian son Joshua and his partner, her daughter Jessica and her new grand-
daughter Lola Mae. She is content to
cultivate her own garden and has even considered buying a farm in Scotland from which to run GROW retreats.
''It was total burnout,'' is how she explains her very public breakdown. ''Back then, I was over-busy all the time. I'd
totally missed the obvious warning signals that all was not well.''
So is she saying women can't have it all? ''I'm not saying that. I'm saying we can have the things we want if we look after ourselves, but we shouldn't try for
everything to be perfect. Life isn't perfect, it's real.''
She believes that in the 1980s and 1990s, women failed to listen to their true selves because they were too busy trying to be like men. Now we can effect change by staying true to our feminine values.
''GROW will, I hope, speak to women in their 20s who are starting out in life,'' she says. ''I've written it in a language that will relate to them and, of course, to others.''
There are affirmations at the end of every chapter. ''I acknowledge the power and wisdom of the Goddess within me'' is just one of them. Then there's her ''Tutti Frutti MANifestation Spell'', in which women are urged to select six fruits which represent the six qualities they most desire in a partner, blend them to make a smoothie drink, and to recite: ''As I drink this magic potion/my manifestation I put in motion/May this spell I now create/ bring to me my perfect mate.''
Doesn't she feel she's risking ridicule anew by committing certain parts of her philosophy to print? ''Actually, that's about consciously being aware of the qualities and values you're looking for in a partner. There's a serious side to that and this is a fun way of doing it,'' she says, without flinching.
She adds that the sexuality chapter - in which women are encouraged to acknowledge the
connection between
sexuality and the divine - has to be in there too.
''Women are so much in denial. Some of us
go through phases of
celibacy by choice. Sometimes, you use up too much energy in a relationship. But I think women should at least be aware of their own sexuality, whether they're practising or not.''
She adds: ''It's about 21st century
feminism - for Thatcher's grandchildren, actually. It's about moving into our real power. This time around, we don't have to be parodies of men. We don't have to be aggressive. This time, we can really honour our feminine values and our feminine ways. We can be leaders in whatever we're doing, with the things we're good at - nurturing, relationship-building, multi-tasking.
''I think women are really hungry for this. That's why young women in their
mid-30s are leaving the corporate world.''
She speaks quietly but precisely, in the kind of focused monotone that assumes collaboration. She doesn't hesitate, even when discussing spiritual journeys and finding the sacred feminine. Her
conviction is catching. Trying, or even wishing, to interrupt is a bit difficult. It seems the old Lynne Franks hasn't gone completely.
''I still have to be
careful not to fall back into my old patterns and belief systems,'' she admits. ''I work really hard and I do sometimes get myself into a state of extreme stress. But the difference is that I know what to do about it now. I have the tools to deal with it.''
The new Lynne Franks has even
reconsidered her feelings about Edina. ''I think I over-reacted at the time, and I'm now able to take a far more objective outlook,'' she claims. ''Edina wasn't really based on me at all. Jennifer Saunders
actually asked me to be in one of the shows and now I really wish I had. I was very silly to react the way I did. It was a symptom of burn-out. I have nothing but affection for Jennifer.''
So has changing her life generally been a good thing? ''Oh yes,'' she says, looking around her peaceful home. ''I just
surrendered and let it all go - and it's been wonderful.''
l GROW - The Modern Woman's Handbook, by Lynne Franks, is published on Monday by Hay House Publishing, priced (pounds) 14.99.
l On Monday, March 15, from 1-2pm, Lynne Franks will be book-signing at Ottakars, Unit 38a, The Plaza, East
Kilbride. From 7pm, she will deliver a talk at Waterstones, 128 Princes Street,
Edinburgh. For tickets telephone 0131 226 2666.
l Further information at the websites www.growexperience.com, www.seed-fusion.com, or www.lynnefranks.com
Lynne Franks' easy steps to fulfilment
Total Detox Morning Juice
Ingredients
2-3 stalks of celery
2 peeled cucumbers
6 broccoli flowers and stalks
Half a lemon
1 piece of ginger
Optional: courgette or other greens
Zap them all in the blender, and drink.
Daily Affirmation Workout
l I am a wise, beautiful, sexy woman.
l I live my truth, I walk my talk.
l I am the fulfilled, joyful woman I was
born to be.
Modern Woman's Guide
to Nurturing Yourself
l Dance with abandon.
l Fill the house with flowers and plants.
l Wear sensual fabrics.
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