If I Could Teach a Woman One Thing About Her Undercarriage Before 20

If I could teach every young woman one thing about her undercarriage before she turns 20, it would be this:

Your body is always communicating with you — your job is to listen.

Honestly, I’d love to hear the wisdom of this community on this one. Because so many of us, if we’re honest, weren’t really taught how to listen to our bodies. We were taught to push through, to perform, to look good, to achieve. But not to pause and pay attention.

When I look back at my late teens and early 20s, I wish I had known the importance of nutrition and sleep.

I was so focused on “calories in, calories out” — counting, restricting, and overworking my body — while surviving on wine at night and pots of coffee in the morning to keep me going through classes, jobs, and exams. What I didn’t realize was just how much both nutrition and sleep would shape not only my energy, but my hormones, cycles, mood, and long-term health.

I wish someone had told me that food has the ability to heal — and that it’s not about perfection or rules, but nourishment. I wish I had known that sleep isn’t something you earn after working hard enough — it’s a requirement for your hormonal health, fertility, and the way every system in your body functions.

I’d tell my 20-year-old self about insulin resistance — how what we eat and when we eat can affect our hormones, our energy, and even conditions like endometriosis and PCOS. I’d tell her that “balanced” doesn’t mean boring — it means choosing foods that include protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs that actually fuel you.

And most importantly, I’d tell her this:

Pain is never normal.

Cramps that make you miss school, exhaustion that feels unbearable, cycles that stop showing up — these aren’t just things to “deal with.” They’re signs that something deeper might be going on. I’d tell her to ask questions. And if she doesn’t get answers that feel right, to keep asking — to get a second, third, or even fourth opinion until someone listens.

I’d tell her to embrace her period — not dread it, not hide it, but to understand it. Because having a regular cycle means your body is functioning in harmony. And if it’s not, that’s something to explore, not to suppress with a quick prescription or a “just take birth control” answer.

If I could give one message to every woman before she turns 20, it’s that her undercarriage isn’t something to be embarrassed about — it’s a powerhouse of information, strength, and connection to her health.

So now, I’ll turn it to you:

If you could teach one thing to a young woman about her undercarriage before 20, what would you say?

Let’s build this wisdom together — woman to woman.

Let’s Talk About Shame and Women’s Health: You’re Not Alone

If you’ve ever felt embarrassed to ask a question about your body — you’re not alone.

So many of us grew up learning to whisper about our periods, cover our pads in our sleeves, or avoid saying the word vagina out loud. Society has conditioned women to see their reproductive health as something private, even secretive — something to manage quietly and politely, no matter what we’re feeling.

And that silence? It’s created shame.

Shame for asking questions.

Shame for not knowing.

Shame for caring too much about what’s happening in our own bodies.

But here’s the truth: your body is not something to be ashamed of.

Your undercarriage — the intricate, powerful, and beautifully designed system that carries so much of your health, identity, and strength — deserves to be understood, cared for, and talked about openly.

The shame didn’t start with you. It started with a society that taught us not to talk about what makes us women. For generations, women’s health has been under-researched, underfunded, and overlooked — leaving too many of us confused, dismissed, or even gaslit when something doesn’t feel right. We’ve been told to “tough it out,” “deal with it,” or “that’s just part of being a woman.” But it’s not.

And that’s exactly why this community exists.

Undercarriage was built to be a place where you can show up as you are — with your questions, your curiosities, and your experiences — and be met with understanding, not judgment. This is a space where we trade shame for curiosity, isolation for connection, and silence for conversation.

Because the more we talk, the more we learn.

And the more we learn, the more we reclaim power over our own health.

So if you’re feeling that twinge of shame for wondering, asking, or not knowing — take a breath. You’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to do: listening to your body, getting curious, and seeking community. That’s strength.

Let’s normalize the questions.

Let’s normalize learning about our undercarriage.

And most importantly — let’s normalize women supporting women in every stage of their journey.

Your body’s job is to communicate.

Yours is to listen — without shame.