Inhabiting Our Bodies
As women, we are told to love ourselves, trust ourselves, and speak up for ourselves. But how can we do that if no one ever taught us how to truly know ourselves?
We cannot inhabit what we’ve never been invited into.
And for so many of us, that invitation never came.
We were taught to hide our periods, to feel ashamed of our hormones, to stay silent when we felt too much, and to power through when our bodies were begging us to rest. From a young age, we were given messages, spoken and unspoken, that our bodies were confusing, messy, and inconvenient.
But what if we were told the truth instead?
That our bodies are wise. That our cycles are sacred.
That our changing emotions are signals, not flaws.
That learning about ourselves is the first step to trusting ourselves.
When we teach young girls to understand their bodies and menstrual cycles, we’re doing far more than teaching biology.
We are offering them the foundation of:
Body autonomy - the right to understand and care for their own bodies
Clear communication - the ability to name what feels true for them
Emotional safety - the permission to seek support without shame
Resilience - the power to listen inward in a noisy world
When a girl knows her cycle, its phases, patterns, and power, she begins to trust herself, and when she trusts herself, she is harder to shame, harder to manipulate, and harder to silence.
This is how we raise girls who inhabit their bodies, rather than live at war with them.
In a patriarchal world, women are often expected to live in straight lines: to be consistent, productive, and emotionally neutral. But we are cyclical by nature. We move in waves, inward and outward, tender and strong.
When girls learn that their cycle has seasons, inner winter, spring, summer, and autumn, they stop seeing themselves as "too much" or "not enough." They begin to understand:
Why they feel tired or social at different times of the month
When they need rest, expression, or support
How their inner rhythms shape their outer life
This body knowledge becomes self-knowledge.
And self-knowledge becomes power.
Ensouling Doula Services.