This powerful song for women always gets my blood pumping and my feet moving! I mean c’mon, who doesn’t love a good Bey anthem?!

The older I’ve grown, the more I’ve felt like I’m totally out of touch with my physiological and emotional body. I mean, don’t get me wrong I do understand a lot, but I’ve found myself in this odd space between understanding what I know and feeling utterly clueless…and I’m not ok with the latter. 

So when it comes to knowing, and fully understanding, what it means/feels/looks like to be a female, how do we know what we’re supposed to know?  And yes, for those of you reading this who are laughing inside because you’ve got is allll figured out, there are tons of others around the world just like me…so be kind 😊

I’m not going to get into too much detail about the human body and mind and how it all works, blah blah blah.  At some point in our lives, we at least understand the basics, right?  Right!  Or at least I sure hope so!

So what do we truly need to know and why?

Let’s start with our monthly cycles and the array of fun emotions and experiences that they bring! (insert sarcasm and dramatic eye-roll here).  I’ll be posting another blog getting into a bit more detail about the monthly cycle and its importance; however, we should certainly understand the basics of it.  According to Webmd.com (haha just kidding!)…in all seriousness, the average monthly cycle is anywhere between 21-35 days in length (counting from the first day of your period to the first day of your next period).  Most adolescent young ladies have their first period around the age of 12 (that was me!…a horrifying experience for another blog post lol), but anywhere between ages 10-15 is still fairly average.  My two youngest daughters have had their periods for several years now, but still experience irregularity semi-frequently.  They’re often concerned, but at such a young adolescent age, period irregularity is quite normal!  And of course, with our monthly cycles, come tons of hormone fluctuations (see blog post, “Is It Me or Is It My Hormones?” for more detailed info on our female hormones).  For example, those pesky PMS hormones right before the onset of our period can leave us feeling like a ball of mush, experiencing irritability, sleepiness, hanger pains (yes I meant to type hAnger), or a combination of all of the above in the typical PMS roller-coaster-esque fashion.  Is that normal?  Absolutely!

As females, we are also prone to certain types of cancer such as breast cancer, cervical cancer or ovarian cancer.  Depending on family history, we may be advised to test for these types of cancer earlier in life than, say, a woman who has a healthy family history and no record of breast cancer among immediate relatives.  As females, we are at higher risk for developing conditions such as Osteoporosis and poor bone health. We are susceptible to gynecological disorders such as vaginitis, uterine fibroids, vaginal and ovarian cysts.  We experience pregnancy issues such as miscarriage, preterm labor, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and lactation issues.  We experience fertility issues such as endometriosis, PCOS and diminished ovarian reserve (DOR-see my blog post “Fearless Fertility” for more on my journey with secondary infertility).

All in all, there are a TON of emotional and physiological experiences that are unique to simply being a female!  Chances are you or someone you know has been impacted by an illness, disease or condition related to “femalehood”, am I right?

Rather than feel like we’re overwhelmed and undereducated about our female bodies and minds, it’s so important for us to understand the foundation of how we function emotionally and physiologically so that we can “know what we should know”, and be proactive in getting the appropriate healthcare when needed, as well as understand red flags in our health when our bodies and minds alert us that something is wrong!

Are your cycles very short, very long, very heavy or very irregular?  Get checked out by your gynecologist!

Are you at a higher risk for any cancers such as breast/ovarian/cervical?  Get your mammograms and check-ups regularly!  Not at a high risk?  Make sure you are educated on the appropriate age to begin regular cancer screenings.

Experience fertility or pregnancy related issues?  Ask your OBGYN or fertility team lots of questions about your health condition, prevention and what you can do to increase your health and health outcomes.

Do you experience rapid emotional ups and downs?  Are you unable to ground yourself when you become overwhelmed?  Are you unmotivated to the point of not functioning in your normal daily activities?  Seek a therapist or psychiatrist to better evaluate your mental health and provide the support that you need to cope with life’s challenges…we can ALL benefit from this one regardless!

Do you have mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and lots of female friends?  Talk to your tribe! 

You are certainly NOT alone in your journey 😊

All of this informations lays a foundation that we can use to better understand what we should know, when we should ask questions, and what kind of questions we should ask…and that, my fierce female friends, is quite important as a female!

I hope this has helped even one reader better understand where to start in understanding how us females “tick”.  Of course all of our experiences are different, so by all means this is not an all-inclusive mention of everything we can possibly experience as females…but I truly hope it’s a good starting point for everyone.

Let’s continue on life’s journey together, and FIND OUR FEMALE WITHIN!

Helpful Reads:

“Wild” by Cheryl Strayed

“The Real Life Body Book: A Young Woman’s Complete Guide to Health and Wellness”, by Hope Ricciotti MD and Monique Doyle Spencer