Body Literacy means to read and understand the language of your body.
Body literacy is self knowledge about the menstrual cycle as a vital sign and a measure of overall health and wellness.
To learn to observe, chart, and interpret our menstrual cycles can create a world of possibilities for self mastery and better advocacy.
We use the scientifically proven signs of fertility and infertility to understand when we become fertile and when we are not, as well as using this knowledge to measure our hormones and inform us about a range of reproductive health issues and beyond.
Body literacy is a helpful tool which enhances reproductive freedom and informed choices through the power of observation.
Because we are taught to distrust our bodies, we often must rely solely on doctors to find out pertinent medical information. Sometimes this results in a cycle of dependency, and having to accept inadequate strategies to address our menstrual, reproductive, hormonal and metabolic needs.
Body literacy forms the foundation underneath the framework of fertility awareness based methods. The body literacy skills you attain empower you to navigate your health as you grow, and to use your cycles as markers of time.
A More Complete Picture
Body literacy helps widen our understanding of the menstrual cycle beyond just the bleed.
We start to look at the whole cycle, where every cycle phase is important and tells us something about our health.
Knowledge Throughout The Menstrual Life Cycle
Body literacy helps us understand the menstrual life cycle, empowering us in each stage to understand our bodies. With this perspective, the menstrual cycle is not just important for reproduction, but for generating ovarian hormones throughout the life span.
Body literacy empowers us with inner knowledge.
This personalized knowledge gives you the ultimate power to make informed decisions about your sexual and reproductive health. It helps you connect your menstrual cycle to all other body systems.
Body literacy acknowledges the interrelationships between the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual that combine to create the whole you. This is quite different from the western medical approach where medicine is divided into specialities. Body literacy teaches us to understand that the menstrual cycle is a vital sign which connects to all the other major body systems in concert to protect your health and longevity.
This work is intergenerational.
The transition to body literacy will encourage you to examine the intergenerational connectedness to your own body. We can learn a great deal from our heritage and food customs, as well as knowledge of medicinal plants, mushrooms, and other holistic techniques for wellness. These techniques don’t work against clinical medicine, but can be an asset to better diagnosing and treating people. Each person should draw upon elders and peers in your community, as well as their current environment for healing inspiration.
Understanding this also means that the health challenges people are facing are not in a vacuum. We must recognize that there are powerful social forces which control our lives and impact our health. To learn more about this, please visit the Reproductive Justice and Birth Justice pages.
Experiencing yourself with wholeness.
Body literacy involves more than just data collection. The goal is to understand the incredible patterns that arise when you chart across time. When we spend time experiencing ourselves as truly complex beings, we can begin to make sense of each cycle, and ultimately each phase of our lives.
Understanding the science behind how the body works informs us with the fluency to understand how our body is speaking to us. This is part of understanding pain, or a medical condition, but it’s also a part of understanding what is normal for you, and how to identify if/when that changes.
We begin by taking data about the physical changes to the body that represent the three fertility signs, and we learn to identify emotional signs our body makes known to us as we cycle through life. It also helps us to understand that change is a part of us, and how to contextualize the changes that come in reproductive and menstrual life.
Body Literacy Revolution
Body literacy has enormous capabilities. The skill of understanding what your body is telling you through observation, charting, and analyzation is very useful and facilitates informed consent and better, more personalized healthcare decision-making.
The internet, and phone apps have changed the way we organize our lives, and that includes menstruation. But far from just “period tracking,” fertility awareness charting and the skill of body literacy opens up a whole new realm for the possibilities of autonomist control over ones body. You still have the choice whether you decide to go full analog or utilize technology as a tool.
Learn Body Literacy Collaboration
To read more about the origin of the term “Body Literacy,” read this blog by the founder, Laura Wershler. THANKS LAURA!
There are many kinds of practitioners and healers out there who are ready to help you on your journey of self mastery.
Join a group program, work with me one-on-one, or join the Learn Body Literacy community server to connect with others who are working on knowing themselves more deeply.
