DISCOVERING WHO I AM
Although women have fought for more equality with men, we can forget that we are actually women, and our bodies dictate a lot about who we are. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading books about sexuality, menstrual cycles and self-awareness. Whilst looking to better understand who I am as a woman, this is what I have uncovered so far:
1) I have absolutely no idea how my body works
Despite, getting to 31, having eaten an average of 3 meals every day, having had a baby and having had numerous years of periods whilst not on the pill and withdrawal bleeds whilst on the pill, I’ve realised I have absolutely no idea how my body works. I don’t know how to optimise my energy levels, when to take rest or how to provide the best nutrients for myself. I don’t know about my hormones or what I can do to improve my experience of each part of my menstrual cycle and how to improve the health of my bowels. I know a little bit, and that little bit is dangerous because for years, I thought I knew enough.
2) Comparing myself to others is completely pointless
We compare ourselves to others because we don’t know another way to measure ourselves. We recognise that we are skinnier or fatter than someone else, have less or more energy than someone else, have higher or lower anxiety levels than someone else. We are so busy comparing ourselves to others that we don’t think to learn about ourselves. I’ve had various occasions where I’ve managed to achieve more or have struggled more than my friends or colleagues. When you achieve more, it is easy to fail to understand why others can’t achieve the same. When you struggle more, it is easy to fail to understand why it happens to you but doesn’t seem to happen to others around you.
3) Most people are just as ignorant about themselves or the need to know more
I’ve spoken to a number of people regarding what I’ve been learning and how it could make a difference for me and others. The responses have been interesting. I’ve had a mix of themes, from interested, supportive, cautious, concerned, dismissive and conditionally supportive. Examples being from “Good for you, I’d be interested to read that book” and “I’m glad to hear you are exploring this, hopefully it really helps you” to “I’d support the idea of that for my employees as long as their job still gets done” and “Careful you don’t become too woo-woo” or “I guess some people need that, but others are fine. I just got on with it”.
What action am I taking?
Joining a community
In order to understand my body better and get support from other like minded individuals, I’ve signed up to The Flow Collective by Maisie Hill, the author of Period Power. The Flow Collective is a monthly membership for people who want to harness their hormones and get their cycle working for them.
Monitoring my emotions and energy levels
Each evening, I’m taking a moment before bed to record how I felt that day.
Communicating how I feel and what I need to my husband
Through what I have learned so far, I have realised the importance of making those around us aware of how we feel so that they can support us. We become so good at ignoring how we feel or covering it up, that even we find it difficult to know what we need. By communicating it, not only can my husband support me in what I need, but I have to accept what I am feeling myself, and therefore act on it.
Thank you to Kreated Media for the free photo from Unsplash.