What is Body Literacy? Why Every Woman Must Learn to Read Her Body
Body Literacy: The Forgotten Language of the Feminine
We live in a world that often teaches women to ignore, suppress, or override their bodies’ messages. From a young age, many of us are taught that our menstrual cycle is an inconvenience, our symptoms are “normal,” and our intuition is irrational.
But what if we were never meant to disconnect from our bodies? What if our bodies speak a deep, cyclical, intuitive language that we were never taught to read?
This is where body literacy comes in.
What is Body Literacy?
Body literacy is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the signals of your own body. It means recognizing your body as a source of wisdom rather than a problem to be fixed or a machine to be controlled.
For women and people who menstruate, body literacy includes:
Understanding the phases of the menstrual cycle and how they influence your energy, emotions, and needs
Tracking fertility signs and hormonal shifts with awareness and confidence (like cervical fluid, basal body temperature, and cervical position)
Recognizing symptoms not as isolated “issues,” but as messages pointing toward deeper imbalances
Honoring the body’s cyclical nature and making aligned lifestyle choices based on inner rhythms
Body literacy is about reclaiming your sovereignty—not relying solely on external authorities to tell you what’s “normal” or “healthy,” but coming into direct relationship with your body’s truth.
Why Body Literacy Matters
1. It’s a tool for empowerment.
When you understand your body, you make informed decisions about your health, fertility, contraception, rest, or movement. You no longer outsource your wisdom to “authorities.” You begin to trust yourself deeply.
2. It brings menstrual cycle awareness to life.
Menstrual cycle awareness is a powerful practice, but without body literacy, it stays in the mind. Learning to read your body brings the cycle down into the soma (the body). You begin to live it, feel it, and embody it.
3. It helps prevent burnout and hormonal imbalance.
When you can sense when your body is asking for rest, nourishment, or emotional support, you can respond before you crash. You begin to flow with your cycle rather than fight against it.
4. It supports healing.
Symptoms like painful periods, irregular cycles, fatigue, or PMS are not random. They are signals. Body literacy gives you the framework to decode those signals and take meaningful steps toward healing.
5. It reconnects you with ancient feminine wisdom.
Before modern medicine, body literacy was passed down through generations. Women learned through experience and shared wisdom how to read their bodies' messages. Reclaiming this knowledge is an act of resistance and remembrance.
How to Begin Cultivating Body Literacy
Start tracking your menstrual cycle
Use a cycle tracker (I have a free one here), journal, or app (my favorite is Read Your Body) to note how you feel physically, emotionally, and energetically throughout your cycle. Patterns will emerge.Learn your body’s signs of ovulation and menstruation
Cervical fluid, basal body temperature, breast tenderness, mood shifts—these are all ways your body communicates with you. Learning the Fertility Awareness Method of tracking these changes empowers you to know when you are ovulating or about to get your period. This can support you in preventing or achieving pregnancy, planning your life around your cycle, or simply connecting with and understanding your body at a deeper level.Pause and tune in daily
Even a few moments of somatic presence—placing a hand on your womb or heart, taking a breath, asking, “How am I feeling?”—begins to build trust.Work with a mentor or guide
Sometimes we need support as we learn a new language. Working with a somatic menstrual mentor (like me!) can help you navigate your cycle with compassion and clarity.
Body Literacy is a Feminine Reclamation
This is not just about health. This is about power, pleasure, and self-awareness.
When you learn to read your body, you step into an ancient, sacred, and deeply healing rhythm. You begin to live life in tune with your body’s wisdom, not in resistance to it.
And from that place, everything changes
Ready to reconnect with your body and cycle?
Explore my 1:1 somatic menstrual cycle mentoring offerings or download my free Cycle Tracking Starter Guide to begin your journey toward body literacy today.
About Ebb & Flow: Ebb & Flow is the holistic women’s coaching practice of Emma Brinkman. Through menstrual education, women’s mentoring, ritual and somatic practice, Ebb & Flow works to connect women to the power and wisdom within their bodies, in order to live more easeful, sensual, vibrant and empowered lives. Follow along to stay up-to-date on blog posts and articles, and check out all of Emma’s offerings, which include 1:1 mentoring, monthly donation-based online women’s circles, and custom ritual guidance for navigating life’s transitions.
