Learn Body Literacy (2026)

15/01/2026

Let me upgrade you! ✨🌈

Googling images of the female reproductive system can be disheartening as a menstrual health educator. So when I set out to create my own graphics and specifically the female reproductive system graphic in my book, The Body Literacy Visual Reader / Coloring Book, I wanted to make sure I was intentional. Because the version most of us learned is… wildly oversimplified. (swipe to see the typical uterus "look")

Better illustration adds anatomical details that are often left out or misrepresented, including:
- Cervical crypts (where does that cervical fluid COME FROM?! Hard to understand if we can't see it depicted visually!)
- The pockets of Shaw (how are our "dry days" regulated? PoS here to help explain!)
- Uterine tubes shown as separate structure (they are not actually attached to the ovaries)

For too long, reproductive anatomy has been siloed in medical texts, taught using diagrams that flatten complexity, erase function, and quietly reinforce misinformation. When visuals are wrong or incomplete, it affects how we understand our bodies, our symptoms, and our health. It even affects how doctors understand us.

My work focuses on visual accuracy and creativity as a form of body literacy. When people can see their anatomy clearly and correctly, they gain language, agency, and confidence in their own physiology. It's magical to see in practice.

For me, it's about upgrading how we learn/teach, and how the public more generally discusses reproductive health. More visuals = more exploration = more embodied experience = more respect for the body. Check out The Body Literacy Visual Reader and Coloring Book via my bio link!

11/01/2026

Denise () is joining us Day 2 at The Body Literacy Symposium (Jan 24-25) to speak with us about "Ovulation: The Key to Overall Health"

She tells us that "Growing up, we are taught that our menstrual cycle is just about reproduction. But what if I told you that our overall health and well-being stems from our menstrual health. That our cycle impacts everything from bone density and cardiovascular health to mental and breast health. That’s why supporting our cycle isn’t as simple as taking a supplement or two. And to make things more complex, you may not be ovulating every cycle. In this presentation, I'll go over why ovulation is key to our health and how we can truly support our cycles in a holistic, sustainable way."

Denise is a clinical herbalist, cycle and sexual health educator. She is the owner of Eclipsic Herbs, where she teaches in-depth cycle tracking and personalized cycle health support. Denise's work focuses on bridging together body literacy and plant medicine. She believes that our cycle is not our shackle, it is our compass. That our cycles goes beyond just for reproduction, it's core to our health and wellbeing. Her formal education and experience is rooted in western herbalism and weaving in folk herbalism from Colombia. She is certified as a Fertility Awareness educator, with a focus on hormonal imbalances and pregnancy prevention.

Some things I'm thinking about before this talk are...
- To explain how someone can tell if they’re actually ovulating if they’re having regular periods! And how the medical assumption is that cycle regularity = ovulating.

- And what do you see in your practice today as some of the most common disruptors of ovulation in the modern world?

Very grateful to Denise for expounding upon this important topic! The menstrual cycle and ovulation are truly and deeply interconnected to the rest of our body!

10/01/2026

Don’t forget! ✨ The Body Literacy Symposium is almost here (Jan 24-25) and I’m deeply honored and so excited to be hosting this. I did not know how this was going to go when I dreamed up this virtual conference a few years back, but wow! Over 200 people have already signed up! Amazing, inspiring, encouraging! The idea was to convene 😏 Again, major gratitude to all our presenters for giving their time to this public forum.

A gentle reminder: while some presenters have generously agreed to share their talks on YouTube later, not all sessions will be available afterward. If you want to experience the full depth of the symposium, live attendance is strongly encouraged.

Speaking of! Being there live means you will ask presenters your questions in real time and join meaningful discussion with our growing community! Win, win really.

I can feel already that this gathering will be something special, and I hope to spend the next few weeks sharing the rest of the wonderful presentations to come in this conference. If you have the capacity and are called to, share this with your loved ones, peers, fellow professionals, and friends.

And see you soon at the Body Literacy Symposium!

09/01/2026

A look at Day 2 at The Body Literacy Symposium! Starting with Holistic Care for Fibroids presented by Kate Douglas! ()

Kate Douglas is a Fertility Awareness Educator passionate about body literacy at all stages of life. She is the founder of Earth Body, an online hub for classes in cycle health for individuals and holistic professionals. She currently serves as the head of the Research Committee at the Association of Fertility Awareness Professionals and brings a multidisciplinary background to this work with training in bodywork and horticulture in order to center the wholeness/nourishment of a client and their local ecosystem.

Holistic Care for Fibroids will focus on holistic strategies to manage uterine fibroids and related symptoms, and Kate will also bring her personal experiences with fibroids to the discussion. Some things I'm thinking about before this discussion are related to fibroid occurrence as we age, and the best strategies for post-operative care. I'm really delighted to welcome her to the Body Literacy Symposium on January 25th!

Join us by registering for FREE at the link in the bio or at www.learnbodyliteracy.com/symposium

03/01/2026

I'm up next!! I'll be presenting "The Immuno-Menstrual Axis: Emerging Connections In Reproductive Health" at the Body Literacy Symposium, which is just 3 weeks away! I've wanted to create a conference like this for several years and I'm so happy to be joining my peers and colleagues to discuss this important topic.

This presentation will examine the emerging concept of the immuno-menstrual axis, which describes the communication between the immune system and the menstrual cycle. Across the cycle, hormonal fluctuations shape distinct immune environments within the reproductive tract. Menstruation itself is an immune-driven process, requiring the coordinated infiltration of immune cells to support normal function. Acute immune events, such as viral infection or stress result in changes in cycle presentation. Furthermore, chronic immune dysregulation is an active component in most prevalent reproductive health conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, and PCOS. Understanding the immuno-menstrual axis not only deepens our knowledge of reproductive physiology but also highlights the menstrual cycle as a meaningful indicator of systemic immune health.

When I did my first study in 2022, on COVID-19 vaccinations and their effect on the menstrual cycle, I dove in to what little research exists about immune events and the menstrual cycle. I noted that many scientists and doctors created excuses / dismissals as to the WHY behind menstrual events (heavy bleeding, bleeding after menopause, delayed / absent ovulation) with vaccination. This opened up a lot more interest in researching the connections between the immune system and the menstrual cycle, and how medicine / surgery often disregards menstrual status. In 2024, I did another study on my cervical fluid under the microscope, where I learned that cervical fluid is also immunologically active. This led me to name the concept the "Immuno-Menstrual Axis" - That's what brought me to this presentation! I'm really excited to share it with you!

Remember to sign up for the Body Literacy Symposium via the link in the bio or by visiting my site! IT'S FREE!

01/01/2026

Cervical fluid is a dynamic secretion originating from the cervix that is made of water, electrolytes, and various molecules, including glycoproteins, mucins, and enzymes.

Cervical fluid undergoes significant structural and functional alterations throughout the menstrual cycle.

This is because of the crucial role that cervical fluid plays in:
- Facilitating s***m transport
- Providing nourishment and protection for s***m in the cervix
- Selecting high quality s***m to meet with the egg
- Serving as a reliable diagnostic biomarker for real-time fertility assessment
- Protects the environment from pathogens by altering the pH & microbiome profile

We've been studying cervical fluid as long as we've had the technology to (since the 60's)

- Erik Odeblad provided the first human cervical mucus classification system. This is the classification system we still use today to categorize cervical fluids

- M. Cortes - applied these fluid categories to heifer (cows) at oestrus

- M. Menarguez / L. M. Pastor / E. Odeblad - Measured the range of values for each category by cycle phase

Today, with modern fertility awareness methods, self reported fertility assessment of cervical fluid can be charted on a graph and analyzed with a fertility awareness charting methodology. When we mark down our daily "cervical fluid" (visual) or "vaginal sensation" (sense of touch/feel), or even the feeling of slipperiness vs resistance when we wipe with toilet tissue, what we are measuring and quantifying on our graphs are the changing levels within cervical fluid's components: mucins, glycoproteins, water content, electrolytes, and enzymes. That's pretty amazing! And these changing levels are determined by the hormones that turn on or turn off different epithelial cells in the cervix that produce the fluid.

Cervical fluid holds so much power: we are always learning more about our bodies unique patterns, our personal cervical fluid peaks and dry sensations, and how to determine our fertility autonomously.

23/12/2025

There's still time to join us at The Body Literacy Symposium! Don't miss this deep dive into COVID and the Reproductive System: Fertility Awareness in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, presented by Jamie Blumberg () and Erica Evans ()

This presentation will explore what current research tells us about:
- COVID-19’s effects on the menstrual cycle
- Reproductive hormones and ovulation
- Pregnancy and fetal health
- Why fertility awareness matters now more than ever

And let's just say the research has been MOUNTING, both of these lovely people have been doing the hard work of compiling it for us and putting it into context, so I do hope you will attend!

Some questions I'm thinking about before this chat...

How can fertility awareness charting be used as an early warning tool for identifying post-viral or long-term reproductive disruption?

How have gaps in research, data collection, or public messaging about menstrual and fertility changes during COVID impacted informed consent and patient autonomy?

Do you have any questions for our presenters? Drop them below!

Use the link in my bio and click "Symposium" to sign up for FREE and see this incredible presentation live at The Body Literacy Symposium, Jan 24-25

22/12/2025

New study! 🚨 "Exploring the Combination of Traditional Chinese and Allopathic Medicine in the Treatment of Polycystic O***y Syndrome ( ) from the Perspective of Modern Medicine” from Drug Design, Development and Therapy (2025) Hu et al.

This is a great new paper that aims to critically synthesize existing research on combining allopathic (Western) and TCM approaches for PCOS as an integrated management strategy rooted in modern biomedical understanding.

Something remarkable here is that this paper starts out by correctly identifying PCOS as not just a reproductive disorder but as a systemic metabolic and endocrine syndrome. This is exactly how I framed my course, PCOS Intensive, but this perspective is still somewhat outside the mainstream, so it’s encouraging to see research such as this gaining traction!

The paper also correctly identifies the limitations of clinical options for PCOS, such as their focus on individual symptoms and their inability to adapt when patients fail to respond to some of the conventional treatments. This is yet another reason why people come to see me for PCOS, either their treatments aren't working or the side effects are making the whole situation worse.

This work is advocating for multimodal strategies, and I’m inclined to agree. And although my work is mostly through the lens of herbal pharmacology, I love learning about TCM approaches because they’re very effective. Chinese medicine is a great accompaniment because it focuses on herbal medicine, acupuncture, and lifestyle or integrative practices that can address certain patterns identified by the practitioner.

The idea of a mixed method approach is to target the roots of PCOS: such as hormonal dysregulation, insulin resistance, inflammatory states, nutritional deficiencies, and gut-microbiota dysfunction. These authors are advocating for better integration between TCM and western methods. With more rigorous research and cross disciplinary approaches such as those I advocate for in PCOS Intensive, we can make a huge difference for the millions of people living with PCOS today.

Check out the full article, it can be found here:

https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S574929

18/12/2025

We need to talk about how women/PwM, especially those deemed morally or socially deviant, are subjected to state control over reproduction in the name of “public welfare”. Although one could argue overt eugenic practices are less visible today (heh, are they really though?), the moral logic behind them has yet to be stomped out.

As we learned this year in my series “The State of Body Literacy,” contemporary legal battles over prenatal conduct cannot be fully explained by property interests or state power alone. They reflect a deeper impulse to punish “vice” and social status.

Whether it was Mercedes Wells, the Black woman who went to the hospital in Indiana in labor and was turned away, only to give birth unassisted in her car a few minutes later… or the case of Adriana Smith, who was denied medical care only to die while pregnant in Georgia where her body was force-kept on life support until her fetus was able to be extracted via c-section… these are present day reminders to all of us that law often serves society’s desire for moral vengeance, punishing women's/PwM's behavior or conduct not because it causes direct harm, but because it violates perceived moral norms.

This passage, from Policing the Womb, is powerful. Law can normalize cruelty when it aligns with dominant moral anxieties. Punishment of pregnant women/PwM is less about genuine health prevention and more about channeling collective resentment toward those who symbolize disorder or moral failure. Women/PwM are always targets. Especially so if they are non-white.

Legal systems rely on scapegoating vulnerable women to reaffirm social values. Pregnant women who are poor, addicted, or otherwise marginalized become visible embodiments of “vice,” making them convenient targets for public discipline. We must understand what we are up against, that society has an almost insatiable social appetite for moral punishment, one that the law too often legitimizes rather than restrains.

TLDR; they're coming at us from ALL angles. We have to stay prepared to support each other.

I hope to continue my advocacy for our most marginalized women, menstruators, and birthers, we are really all we got out here!

16/12/2025

✨ Not Until I’m Due ✨
Body literacy doesn’t stop at avoiding pregnancy. In this powerful talk at The Body Literacy Symposium, Carmen will explore how fertility awareness supports conception, pregnancy, and birth. Can't wait to learn more about this through her real-life experiences and to absorb some practical guidance for staying deeply aligned with your body during the perinatal journey. Carmen Mojica (.negra ) is a Black Dominican woman born and raised in the Bronx. She is a certified professional midwife, educator, author, and social justice activist with a focus on birth justice.

Really excited for this one. I love this idea that body literacy doesn’t end with conception, it evolves! Two things I've been thinking about before this talk are:

1. How can body literacy and fertility awareness support emotional and physical trust in the body during pregnancy and birth, especially after prior fear, loss, or medicalization?

2. What are some practical ways people can continue practicing body literacy during the perinatal period when external guidance, protocols, or opinions may override internal cues?

Do you have any questions for Carmen's talk? Drop them below!

Save the Date! Jan 24-25, 2026 📍 Body Literacy Symposium: A Virtual Event
Sign up FREE via the link in the bio or visit www.learnbodyliteracy.com/symposium

15/12/2025

I didn't design Endometriosis Essentials as just another course. It’s for the person who’s tired of planning life around pain and needs to start making moves now.

If you’ve ever had to
– cancel plans last minute due to pain
– wondered if the pain will ever end / self normalize to cope
– felt dismissed by doctors
This is a helpful resource.

Endometriosis Essentials wasn’t built to overwhelm you with info, although I don't mince words about the existing science. You WILL leave informed. But really, it was built to help you finally understand your body, cut through the misinformation and noise, and make evidence based decisions from clarity, not desperation.

Healing starts with knowing what’s actually happening. And this is a HUGE missing piece in endometriosis care.

Each module represents 8 shifts every person with endo deserves. A roadmap towards healing. I genuinely hope that this thoughtfully designed course continues to be one that brings everything together, without overwhelm, toward action.

You don’t have to “heal everything” right now, either. Endometriosis Essentials is simply the place to start. Don't forget your handy soft cover workbook!

If you're not sure if the course is right for you, you can always watch my FREE webinar on youtube, Healing Endo, available via the link in the bio! The full course: Endometriosis Essentials is available on my site www.learnbodyliteracy.com

11/12/2025

2026 Body Literacy Calendar GIVEAWAY 🌈 a 12 month calendar with images from the Body Literacy Visual Reader and some of my favorite menstrual quotes ✨ I’m picking a winner TOMORROW so act fast 👯

To enter:
1️⃣ comment “2026” below!
2️⃣ share this post!

🫶🏻❤️🎁🔬🩸💦🌡️📈

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