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Women often follow workout schedules created by men, but because our bodies have different hormonal activity, we need different things at different times. Through cycle syncing, women can switch up their exercise routine to support each phase of their menstrual cycle and its hormonal activity.
The hormones of your cycle follow a predictable pattern that affects not only your reproductive system, but also other areas of the body including your brain, metabolism, and musculoskeletal system. Theoretically, you can “cycle sync” many areas of your life from self-care, to nutrition, to exercise.
When it comes to cycle syncing exercise, it is important to understand this phrase: “Women are not small men,” coined by Dr. Stacy Sims. We need to qualify the physiological differences between men and women because, while they both experience hormonal cycles, they’re vastly different. Men have a 24 hour cycle, dominated by testosterone, whereas women experience a month-long cycle with several hormones at play.
If you want to create an exercise routine that works with your body and your cycle, here’s what you need to know:
The Follicular Phase
Estrogen and testosterone surge during the first half of the cycle, the follicular phase. Women usually experience more energy, confidence, muscular strength, and power. Your metabolism actually decreases, but you have better blood sugar regulation (i.e. foods like carbs won’t spike blood sugar as easily). Women have better depth perception and cognitive skills during this phase. Plus, bone density increases and soft tissue recovers faster! Essentially, you’re able to push yourself through more challenging workouts, with less likelihood for injury and burnout.
The Luteal Phase
During the second half of the cycle, the luteal phase, progesterone is the dominant hormone. It acts as a mood stabilizer and promotes feelings of wellbeing. Progesterone increases your metabolism, shown by a rise in resting temperature. This is your body’s signal to increase calories in case of pregnancy. With progesterone dominant, you physiologically need to eat more food. If you over exercise during this phase of your cycle, the body might interpret that as too much stress. In response, your body may decrease the production of stabilizing hormones, like progesterone, and increase the creation of stress hormones, like cortisol.
Some Practical Tips
During your period, your hormones are similar to a man’s because they are stable and low. Most women typically don’t feel like pushing themselves, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid exercise altogether. If you’re someone who regularly trains hard, try to include a deload week around your period or focus on muscular power. You’ll do less exercise in terms of volume, but the intensity can stay high. If you exercise casually, heavy days of bleeding are a great time to rest or perform restorative exercises such as walking and stretching.
As you transition into your follicular phase, your intensity and volume of exercise can gradually ramp up and peak near ovulation. During this phase, your athletic abilities, strength, and power increase, and you have an easier time recovering from intense activity.
In the luteal phase, after ovulation, your intensity and volume should gradually decrease as you transition to more endurance-focused exercise. It’s a good idea to avoid higher intensity exercise as you get closer to your period because progesterone increases your joint and ligament laxity. You’re more prone to injuries of those tissues. With your naturally increased metabolism, you need an extra 100-500 calories per day. It’s helpful to increase your fluids and electrolytes, because heightened levels of progesterone thicken your blood, making it harder to pump. Finally, you’ll likely sweat more because your body temperature has increased.
Prioritize quality nutrition, adequate sleep, and restorative exercise
Before exercise, eat a small snack or meal to avoid activity in a fasted state. Ingest some protein within one hour after exercise. Without adequate nutrients, your body tends to break down muscle to fuel and repair. And you can’t build muscle if you’re constantly breaking it down!
Stress can both delay ovulation and deplete your body of the nutrients required to create progesterone. Your exercise routine can either be good or bad stress on the body. Make sure you have a plan to fuel, rest, and exercise cyclically to support your unique female physiology.
We sat down with Dr. Jillian Stecklein, PT, DPT to talk about our pelvic floor muscle, its role in women's sexual functioning, and to answer some of your questions about this core muscle.
Renée Roden (RR): How did you find pelvic floor therapy as a career?
Jillian Stecklein (JS): I've been a physical therapist for a little over seven years now, and specifically for the pelvic floor for three years. When I moved to rural Kansas, closer to my husband's family, I thought: What care can the women of my area really benefit from? I wanted to offer them care from a Catholic perspective — care that upholds their dignity.
RR: So, let's rewind a bit. What is the pelvic floor muscle?
JS: There are three layers of muscles at the base of the pelvic floor that surround your vagina, urinary tract, and anal sphincter. The pelvic floor has five functions: sphincter, bowel, and bladder control, sexual function, and a deep core and stability function.
Pelvic floor muscles give a lot of support to the upper trunk and your lower extremity. So, if something's off in the pelvic floor, it's going to affect the rest of the body.
RR: Readers have asked if there are exercises women should be doing for the pelvic floor to maintain health.
JS: Definitely. I have somewhat generalized exercises that I send to people as something they can do. But if someone has specific symptoms where they have pelvic floor pain, or they have difficulty utilizing a tampon, they might need additional guidance from a pelvic floor physical therapist to make sure that they're getting the right muscle activation.
Someone who's weakness-dominant will see more symptoms like urinary incontinence issues, or they may not be able to activate their muscles. They may have prolapsed, where they feel like their uterus is falling out - which it possibly is.
Tightness-dominant means they would probably have pain with intercourse or pain with tampon use, or they might experience tightness or discomfort with sitting or running or any of those types of activities they do.
I dealt with my pelvic floor being tight from running. If you don't have good core strength already, and then you add some sort of load that requires a lot of jumping or single-leg impact of running a ton, or heavy-duty lifting, you're going to strain your pelvic floor muscle. This overcompensation of the pelvic core will lead to tightness.
RR: That's really good to know. How do the pelvic floor and other core muscles interact with the female orgasm?
JS: An orgasm involves the autonomic nervous system, which means there will be a mix of sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. If I was going to pick up a gallon of milk, I can control it - that's a sympathetic muscle reaction. Parasympathetic reaction means you don't actively control the muscle activation.
An orgasm is triggered by a series of neuroendocrine events in your brain and hormones. It's a reflexive response to stimulation that occurs involuntarily at sexual climax.
During sexual stimulation, the bulbospongiosus muscle, part of the pelvic floor muscles that surround the vaginal opening, begins to activate, which reduces the outflow of blood from the area.
Maintaining this blood supply allows the clitoris to become erect and able to be stimulated with increased sensitivity. At climax, the pelvic floor muscles around your vagina and anal canal will contract rhythmically.
Women will experience orgasm in different ways: some involve more of the altered mental state and feelings of euphoria. And, usually, some sort of contractions of the lower abdominal and pelvic muscles.
RR: Is there anything women can do if they have difficulty orgasming?
JS: Many women find themselves experiencing sexual dysfunction, including anorgasmia (lack of orgasm). The most common reasons involve stress or anxiety, insufficient arousal, lack of time during sex, lack of lubrication, body image, and pain.
There are a lot of factors to anorgasmia: your general health, your stress level, environment, history of trauma, pain, or mind blocks.
So a lot of things can play into it. It's also about two people: your communication, your comfort level, your safety level, and your relationship - it's not just physical. Because orgasm is a parasympathetic reaction, the body has to be in a little bit more of a relaxed state, and this is not something you can control. You want your environment to be relaxing so you can be mentally present during sex.
While there is no one specific position to assist with climax, the position that allows for improved stimulation of the woman's clitoris will allow for maximum stimulation during intercourse. Everyone’s vaginal area looks different so people experience sex differently. It’s all normal - it’s just your anatomy!
RR: The good news is that it sounds like because an orgasm is an emotional, mental parasympathetic reaction, if you're tuning into these deeper emotional needs, you can probably make it work.
JS: I'd say there are not really many medical issues that truly inhibit an orgasm. There are some spinal cord injuries. But a lot of it's really kind of working through the psychological factors above.
Our sexual curve is much different than that of men, and learning the rhythm of our bodies fosters authentic love between one another and encourages authentic communion. Seeking the woman’s pleasure as well as the man’s fosters communication, trust, and life-giving love.
RR: What about pain during sex or during orgasm?
JS: I've treated women with pain during orgasm. They had trigger points in some of those low pelvic muscles. By training those muscles and decreasing that nervous system response there, they were able to have a pain-free orgasm.
Following birth, many women experience various changes in their pelvic floor with pregnancy, pushing during a vaginal birth, pressure and strength changes following a C-section birth, delayed healing, or trauma following vaginal tearing.
You might not get that same blood flow to the vaginal hood area, which is going to make the tissue less responsive or less sensitive. And so it can either take more time or more stimulation to get to that same peak.
RR: Thank you so much for helping us learn about a part of the body we had a lot of questions about!
JS: Thank you! We definitely need to talk about these things. It's so important to get these messages out there. Women deserve excellent care! If women have more specific questions, they can send me a message at MyCatholicDoctor.
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We’ve all been there: The new job or recognition or relationship that we just can’t enjoy because we’re plagued by self-doubt, certain that we don’t deserve this and that, as soon as they find out, we’ll be exposed for the frauds we are.
Impostor syndrome is nothing new. St. Hildegard of Bingen struggled with it in the Middle Ages.
Hildegard (1098-1179) was one of the great geniuses of her age: a poet, composer, herbalist, historian, theologian, botanist, and playwright. But she was so plagued by impostor syndrome that she hid all her brilliance for decades, certain that her informal Latin education meant she couldn’t possibly have anything to contribute.
The tenth child in a noble family, Hildegard was more than just a precocious kid. By three years old, she was receiving mystical visions (though she didn’t tell anybody). At the age of eight, she was sent to live with a 14-year-old anchoress named Jutta, who was to provide for Hildegard’s education.
Unsurprisingly, this 14-year-old was unable to offer everything that the young genius needed. A visionary herself, she gave Hildegard a strong religious education but didn’t teach her the intricacies of Latin grammar. This rudimentary Latin education nagged at Hildegard for years - though her later writings show profound mastery of the language, she always felt like an imposter.
In adulthood, Hildegard became a Benedictine nun and was the leader of her religious community by the time she was 38. But while she studied much over the years (and learned even more through her visions than through her reading), Hildegard kept it to herself. Even when God himself ordered her to write down her visions, Hildegard hesitated. However brilliant she might be, she didn’t have the credentials that would earn the respect of the men who ran the world. When she finally did begin to write, she prefaced her famous work Scivias with an explanation of her delay, saying, “But although I heard and saw these things, because of doubt and low opinion of myself and because of diverse sayings of men, I refused for a long time a call to write, not out of stubbornness but out of humility.”
Once she began to write, though, she was soon making up for lost time. She wrote about her visions, of course, about the Saints and Scripture and prayer and theology. But Hildegard was no one-trick pony, and now that she had found her voice she was using it on every conceivable matter. She wrote music that’s still performed today. She researched botany and natural history. She wrote about morality and medicine and even invented a completely new language, written in a completely new alphabet.
Many were initially suspicious of this “ill-educated” woman setting herself up as an authority. But Hildegard’s evident holiness and brilliance made it hard for them to silence her, particularly when the Pope got ahold of some of her writings and asked her to leave her cloister and go out preaching - a thing that was utterly unheard-of for any woman, much less a cloistered nun. Hildegard went on several preaching tours through Germany, no longer uncertain in her gifts but proud to be the woman God had made her to be, whatever the naysayers might have thought.
It was this confidence in her identity in Jesus that empowered Hildegard to voice uncomfortable truths, to correct bishops, an emperor, and even the Pope. But by that time, she was far from the timid genius she had been well into middle age; she was a woman alive with the certainty that God had made her good. She didn’t need men’s approval. She didn’t need credentials. She only needed the gifts she’d been given by the Creator of the universe. Those were plenty.
Hildegard continued to struggle against her detractors, men who were threatened by her brilliance and suspicious as a result. They eventually put her and her monastery under interdict (refusing them all Sacraments) because she wouldn’t bow to them on a matter of governance. But by this time, Hildegard had no difficulty standing firm in what she knew to be the truth. She held fast under this persecution and was ultimately vindicated - both in life and in death. St. Hildegard of Bingen was eventually canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church, a genius who overcame self-doubt because of God’s love.
If you struggle with feelings of inadequacy, you’re in good company. Take a page from St. Hildegard of Bingen’s book and choose to believe the truth that in Jesus you are enough.
There was no way I wasn't going to like Disney Pixar's Turning Red. I’m an Asian American whose pre-teen years fell in the early 2000s. I made straight As and landed the career my parents wanted for me. And, for a brief period in college, I was known to my friends as a red panda (I’m still unsure as to the exact reason, but was never upset because red pandas are pretty cute). I went into watching this movie with a positive bias, already impressed with the writers for capturing some of the cultural mainstays of my childhood: boy bands, virtual pets, strict parents, dim sum, and loud aunties. But what I didn’t expect was Turning Red’s powerful message about accepting the different parts of ourselves.
Meet Meilin Lee
Turning Red tells the story of 13-year-old Meilin Lee, a Chinese-Canadian girl with an overbearing – yet proud and nurturing – mother and an impressively supportive girl gang of misfits.
Her life is proceeding as smoothly as an adolescent’s can until she discovers a big, red surprise upon waking up one morning: the secret to the maternally-inherited spiritual strength of her family depends upon the women involuntarily transforming into giant, smelly red pandas when experiencing strong emotion. “There is a darkness to the panda,” she’s told, and she must prepare to vanquish the animal along with the strength and silliness that comes with it.
Turning Red’s surprising power
Surprisingly to me, the unique power of the movie didn’t come primarily from the fact that it told the story of Asians in Western society. It didn’t come from the fact that the central conflict involved two giant red pandas screaming at each other during a boy band concert. It didn’t even come from the fact that it portrayed an adolescent experiencing lust for the first time, or the fact that it will hopefully spark unabashed, uncensored conversations about menstruation.
Personally, the power of the film came at a moment when Meilin realized the vulnerability of her mother as a teenager just wanting to gain the approval of her own mother. It was in this ethereal world of red panda chimers that she reached out her hand to a portrayal of her younger mother’s self and guided her out of despair.
Accepting the different parts of ourselves
And that was all I needed to see. The insecurity of “never feeling good enough” doesn’t go away after middle school – the pressures just change. The push to be a certain way in adulthood comes from career mentors and cultural norms, from in-laws and mommy blogs.
But the pressure is mostly from myself: a daughter who still wants to please her mother, and a mother who wants to be perfect for her daughter.
I’m a woman who struggles with the messy, violent parts of myself and the quirky, dark truths of my family. I’m an American who continues to lament structural racism as the original sin of my country. I’m a physician who recognizes the deep, disturbing inequities in our healthcare system. I’m a Catholic who wrestles with the dark parts of some people in our Church, and who prays for the grace to remember that our salvation history is made through a broken family tree.
So you, whoever you are, should watch this movie. Because red pandas are adorable and don’t get enough publicity. Because there aren’t enough movies about mother-daughter relationships. Because if you’re an Asian kid, you should be able to grow up seeing people who look like you on the big screen. Because periods are real and beautiful and natural and we should talk about them. But, most importantly, because you might need a simple reminder to love the nerdy, the gentle, the ugly, and even the dark parts of yourself.
When we become an adult, we’re given no lengthy manual or formal training - we’re just thrown into the world and forced to navigate all the responsibilities that come with the territory. As we’re presented with never-ending bills, sketchy dating experiences, big decisions, hard transitions, and bodily changes, it’s easy to get lost and find ourselves far removed from our inner child. When we aren’t connected with our inner child, we’ll not only know it intellectually, we’ll also experience it physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
The loss of our inner child is often accompanied by grief, confusion, shame, and anxiety. It can lead to persistent stomach aches, headaches, and tightness. It can fracture relationships, sabotage friendships, and make us shy away from new opportunities. It can even impact how we connect with our faith and experience God.
The irony is that, in order to bring more order, freedom, and joy into our life, we don’t need to learn how to be better adults - we need to learn how to embrace this child within.
It may sound strange, but our inner child holds the best, most honest, and most authentic part of ourselves. Think back to your own childhood. You can probably recall a version of yourself that slid down the tallest slides, unapologetically shared subpar artwork , felt unashamed to show emotion, and lived with wonder, creativity, and openness. This version of yourself still exists! This inner child is alive within you waiting to be seen, heard, known, and loved. When we embrace this part, we have an opportunity to reclaim who we truly are as children of God. We receive the opportunity to live.
But embracing your inner child also means embracing what your child self experienced, and all the ways those experiences have shaped you. When we embrace our inner child, we embrace the goodness, purity, and beauty of our child self and we embrace the wounds, insecurities, false roles, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and behaviors that our child self adopted.
As we learn how to do this work, we learn to turn towards ourselves with greater love, curiosity, and compassion. We also learn how to navigate adult challenges knowing that we have child parts that might impact how we perceive and interact with those challenges.
How to Embrace Your Inner Child
How can we begin doing this important work today and start living our best adult life? Consider these three tips for how to embrace your inner child.
1. Get to know your child self again.
Look back at old pictures and home videos, watch your favorite old movies or listen to that song you played a million times. Ask your mom and dad questions about what you were like as a child. Read old journals or school assignments. This information will help you remember this authentic part of you that holds many of your natural strengths, interests, and passions - and it will help bring out this part of you more often.
2. Be curious about your experiences.
When you’re faced with a cycle that feels eerily familiar, feeling intense emotions, unsure of what career to choose, or struggling in relationships, ask yourself: Were these feelings present in childhood? Do any of these experiences mirror what I experienced as a child? Is it possible that these feelings are my inner child’s feelings? Are my behaviors truly a reflection of my adult self? The answer to these questions will help you recognize the wounds your inner child holds and her deeper needs that may still be unmet.
3. Respond to your inner child with love.
Think about who your child self is - including her joys and her sorrows - and the way she learned to cope with those sorrows. When you see that present in your adult life, you know you’re encountering your inner child. It’s important to not shame, ridicule, hide, or punish this part of you that comes up. Instead, try to better understand it. Be open and extend compassion. You can even dialogue with this part of you to develop a healthy relationship with your inner child, and even reparent this part of you.
If we do this, we find that those adult challenges, transitions, and anxieties are actually manageable. We have an internal world that helps us experience adulthood courageously.
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At FemCatholic, we believe that women are the greatest untapped resource in the Church, and that women’s gifts and leadership are essential to the Church’s flourishing. To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting 100 women who currently serve in the Catholic Church across the United States. They lead at every level of the Church from their local parishes and schools to their dioceses, and even nationally at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
We agree with Pope Francis that “the feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions” as a Church. These women have a seat at the table and their voices are heard in the Church. May they be a witness and inspire other women to rise up in leadership, too.
Diocesan Leaders
These women work formally for the Catholic Church’s hierarchy in dioceses, which lead geographic groups of parish church communities.
Director of Archives
Diocese of Cleveland
Director of Parish Evangelization and Faith Formation
Diocese of Orange
Director of Young Adult Ministry
Archdiocese of the Military Services
Director of Archdiocesan Music
Archdiocese of Omaha
Chief Digital Officer
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
General Counsel
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
General Counsel
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Executive Director for the Office of Marriage, Family, and Respect Life
Diocese of Arlington
Director of the Office of the New Evangelization
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Director of Peace and Justice Commission
Archdiocese of St. Louis
Chief Operating Officer
Archdiocese of Chicago
Chief Financial Officer
Diocese of Dallas
Chief Financial Officer
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Chief Operating Officer
Diocese of Albany
Chancellor
Diocese of Pittsburgh
Director of Catholic Schools
Diocese of Pittsburgh
Chancellor
Diocese of Manchester
Director of Canonical Affairs, Judge
Diocese of Dallas
Director of Worship
Diocese of Dallas
Tribunal Director
Diocese of Baton Rouge
Executive Director and Superintendent
Diocese of Sacramento
Superintendent of Schools
Diocese of Burlington
Superintendent
Diocese of Baton Rouge
Chief Financial Officer
Diocese of Beaumont
Chancellor
Diocese of El Paso
Superintendent
Diocese of Raleigh
Executive Director, Evangelization and Discipleship
Diocese of Raleigh
Social Ministry Leaders
These women lead organizations that provide social services to those in need, in partnership with the Catholic Church.
Director
Misericordia
Clinical Director
Catholic Charities
President and Chief Executive Officer
Catholic Charities Chicago
Social Justice Leaders
These women lead organizations that address the needs of those on the margins or in underserved populations, in partnership with the Catholic Church.
Executive Director
Awake Milwaukee
Co-Founder and President
Eden Invitation
Co-Founder and Director of Community Care
Eden Invitation
Executive Director
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Leaders in Evangelization
These women lead organizations that share the Gospel, educate on the Church’s teachings, and train others to serve as leaders.
Executive Director
Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI)
Coordinator of Pastoral Juvenil Hispana
Diocese of Birmingham
Mission Supervisor
St. Paul’s Outreach
Youth Officer
Caritas Internationalis - Rome
Young Adult Empowerment Team Member for the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Representative on the Youth Consultative Body for the Dicastery of Laity and Family Life
Girls ECYD Director
Chicago
General Partner and Executive Director
Seton Education Partners
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Catherine of Siena Institute
Executive Director
The GIVEN Institute
Parish Leaders
These women serve in leadership roles at Catholic churches.
Communications and Young Adult Ministry Coordinator
St. Thomas More, Diocese of Raleigh
Director of New Evangelization and Catechetical Ministries
St. Vincent de Paul, Archdiocese of San Diego
Parish Life Coordinator
St. Matthew the Apostle, Archdiocese of St. Louis
Parish Administrator
St. Francis Xavier College Church, Archdiocese of St. Louis
Pastoral Administrator
St. Francis Xavier, Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Catholic University Leaders
These women lead universities, or institutes that promote Catholic thought within a university.
Vice President and Chief of Staff to the President
University of Notre Dame
Co-Director, Georgetown Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life
Member of Vatican Dicastery for Communication
President
Santa Clara University
President
Rockhurst University
President
Fordham University
President
Xavier University
Associate Director
Women’s Center at Georgetown University
Theologians and University Theology Department Chairs
These women serve as professors at Catholic universities and seminaries, as writers advancing theological thought, and as department chairs.
Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)
Co-Founder and Director, Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture
Assistant Professor
Villanova University
Associate Professor
College of St. Benedict and St. John's University
Professor and Chair of Theology Department
Fordham University
Professor of Theology
St. John Seminary
Professor and Chair of Theology Department
University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)
Professor and Chair of Theology Department
Bellarmine University
James H. and Mary F. Moran Professor of the History of Early Christianity
Area Director of Church History
Catholic University of America
Chair and Associate Professor, Theology and Religious Studies
Seattle University
Associate Professor and T. Marie Chilton Chair of Catholic Theology
Loyola Marymount University
Leaders at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
These women lead within the governing body of the Catholic bishops in the United States.
Associate Director
Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism
Associate General Secretary
Executive Director
Religious Liberty and Marriage Issues
Government Relations
Director
Pro–Life and Catholic Education Issues
Government Relations
Policy Advisor
Justice, Peace, and Human Development
Office of Domestic Social Development
Director of Education and Outreach
Justice, Peace, and Human Development
Office of Education and Outreach
Executive Director
National Religious Retirement Office
Director of Public Affairs
Executive Director
Secretariat of Catholic Education
Executive Director
Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church
Director, Canonical Affairs
Committee of Doctrine
Director of Resettlement Services
Committee of Migration
Director of Children’s Services
Committee of Migration
Executive Director
Committee on National Collections
Religious Sisters in Leadership
These women are vowed religious sisters who serve in leadership roles.
Executive Director
Council of Major Superior of Women Religious
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Catholic Health Association of the United States
President and Chief Executive Officer
Catholic Charities USA
Executive Director
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Sister Rose Marie Timmer, RSM, JCL
Chancellor
Diocese of Toledo
Leading Advocate Against Capital Punishment
Executive Director
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
President
Catholic Theological Union
Leaders In Politics
Vice President and Executive Director
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Director
Catholic Women’s Forum
Cardinal Francis George Fellow
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Leaders in Business
Author of Rising: Learning from Women’s Leadership in Catholic Ministries
Distinguished President’s Fellow for Global Development
Purdue University
Founder and Executive Director
Young Catholic Professionals
President and Executive Director
Global Institute of Church Management
Partner
Leadership Roundtable
Leaders in Catholic Media
Executive Editor
America Magazine
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Liturgical Press
Publisher and Chief Executive Officer
Ave Maria Press
Founder and Executive Director
The Presence Radio Network
Canon Lawyers
This list is only a snapshot of women in leadership in the Catholic Church. Know a woman we should feature in an upcoming article? Send us a tip at femcatholic@gmail.com.
I have a love/hate relationship with social media. It has brought me dear friends and helped me grow into a more authentic version of myself. On the flip side, though, it’s too often a contentious space filled with self-proclaimed experts on everything from vaccine morality to whether Catholics can be feminists. Based on ‘Catholic’ social media accounts (priests and bishops included), we’d be hard pressed to come up with a clear answer of what the Catholic Church teaches. How do we know what to believe amid so many differing opinions, all claiming to speak for what is “Catholic”? What do we say to friends or coworkers wondering if Catholics really believe “that” - whatever the topic may be?
The beauty of having a Faith that’s 2,000 years old is the richness of teachings that we’ve inherited to answer these very questions. We’re not a Church of “hot takes,” but rather one where philosophical, scientific, and sociological experts have spent years studying and understanding the human person. These teachings have been debated at many Church Councils throughout history and ultimately are aligned back to the Bible and to the Church’s Tradition, starting with Jesus and the Apostles.
The Hierarchy of Teachings in the Catholic Church
Something many people don’t know is that there’s a hierarchy of Church teachings. First, there are teachings that a Catholic must believe to be genuinely Catholic (dogma). Dogma never changes and it includes teachings such as the existence of the Trinity, that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Assumption of Mary.
Second, there are teachings that we should believe to be the most faithful Catholics we can be (doctrine). Doctrine can develop over time and it includes things like the principle of religious liberty, understanding natural law, and capital punishment.
Lastly, there are teachings that are good to believe but not definitive (discipline or opinion). Discipline can be changed and modified, and it includes guidelines for fasting, priestly celibacy, and holy days of obligation. For another great explanation of the difference between dogma, doctrine, and discipline, you can check out this video by Fr. Mike Schmitz.
Much of the noise filling our social media feeds falls under the category of discipline (or opinion), which is not Truth revealed by God. More often than not, the conversations on social media lean toward debating what is good for us to be doing (or not doing) in order to be “good Catholics.”
Where to Start If You Have Questions About What the Catholic Church Teaches
While it requires effort, having a basic understanding of Catholic teaching is helpful when navigating the often muddy waters of opinions on social media. So, where do we begin? Just like we learned in grade school, start with primary sources. Here are three that offer a foundation for discerning whether to listen to what you’re seeing and hearing:
1. The Catechism: The Catechism explains the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church. If you have a question about the Faith, there is probably a section in the Catechism about it. To find answers to your questions, you can use the Table of Contents to find the right section in a printed copy or type in your topic in the search box of the USCCB’s online version.
2. Catholic Social Teaching: The Catholic Church has a collection of teachings that show us how we should love God by loving our neighbor. Like the Catechism, it functions as a one-stop-shop to find answers to questions about the Church’s teachings on social justice issues. This is a great resource for learning more about human dignity and our call to fight for justice.
3. The Bible: One easy place to start is to read the full passage when someone quotes a Bible verse. You can also read the New Testament in particular and reflect on Jesus’ words. Let yourself be challenged. The Bible can be compared to a library, full of books with different styles of writing: some meant to be read literally, others figuratively. Luckily, Bibles like this one have plenty of explanatory notes and guidance.
How I Decide Which Catholics to Listen to Online
Sifting through nearly 2,000 years of Church teaching is, frankly, a lot of work. That’s why people around the world get PhDs in theology. But for the rest of us, how do we know who to listen to as we try to figure out what we should believe and do as Catholics?
Since we are a Church with a hierarchy, I encourage you to always start with the pope. Beyond that, these are a few things that I keep in mind when I’m deciding who I should listen to online. I usually keep scrolling if I notice any of the following:
- The presentation of an issue degrades those who disagree.
- Fear is employed as a motivating factor, rather than the hope and freedom that we can find in Jesus.
- There isn’t an openness to pursue all of the Truth found in Scripture and Tradition beyond what is presented.
- Opinions are presented as fact, or expertise is claimed without foundation.
- There is a disdain for legitimate authority in the Church, such as the Pope.
At the end of the day, solutions to many of the issues we face are not cut and dry - there is nuance. We have to navigate our path as best as we can, but we can look to actual Church teaching to guide us along the way. If nothing else, look for these signs of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Anyone living out their faith well will manifest these things.
Lent can feel like a second chance at New Year’s resolutions, when we try again to give up or start practices in our daily lives as we try to better ourselves. If you grew up Catholic, you are familiar with the question, “So, what are you giving up for Lent this year?” and often we resort back to those childhood sacrifices of sweets, snacks, or extra helpings. It’s easy to approach Lenten fasting as a kind of “round two” attempt at dieting for the year, which completely misses the point of the season.
Why do Catholics fast during Lent, anyway?
The season of Lent is a 40-day period that is meant to mirror the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering in the desert, as well as the 40 days that Jesus spent facing the temptations of the devil before beginning his ministry. Both events focus less on the “giving up” and more on learning reliance on God - which is the point of Lent!
The goal of fasting is to reflect on what has been distracting us from God and to remove it from our lives for a while. The fast should give us more time and resources for the other two parts of the season: prayer and almsgiving. It’s a way of clearing space in our lives to find room for more peace and joy.
Here’s what you told us you’re fasting from during Lent this year:
1. Social Media
Overwhelmingly, the most popular fast of choice is from social media, since we all know it’s so easy to lose hours to mindless scrolling while jumping from Twitter to Instagram to Tik Tok. There are lots of ways to fast from social media: limiting your time scrolling to a certain day or to a certain hour during the day, removing apps so we have to more deliberately look up sites, or giving up scrolling altogether for 40 days.
Social media is designed to be addictive. We know how it robs us of time, but it’s good to reflect on how it can rob us of our peace, too. We’ve all had those moments where the scroll turns into anger, jealousy, or shame at posts that we disagree with, that spread misinformation, or that make us feel bad in the comparison game. A social media fast can help us reset how we engage online.
2. Television
If your social media usage is under control, but Netflix binging has taken over your life, then fasting from screens might look like giving up that series that keeps you up all night, or fighting the compulsion to watch that movie everyone is talking about. It can look like limiting your time watching, limiting the number of episodes you watch, or even giving up TV altogether for 40 days.
But after giving up social media, Netflix, or Wordle, what should you do with all this free time?
You could use the time and mental space to meditate, journal, or pray. Have a stack of books you’ve been meaning to read? Use that extra hour to dive into one of them. Have a roommate, friend, or spouse you’ve been meaning to connect with? Use the space from your screen to be present with them. For any way that screens have taken over our days, fasting from them can give us a much-needed break and an opportunity to connect with those around us, and also with God.
3. Negativity Towards Others
Readers also mentioned fasting from negative reactions to others, like gossip, annoyance, nagging, and complaining. During Lent, we’re asked to take stock not only of our relationship with God, but also with others. In asking us to love our neighbors, Jesus was reminding us that love for our neighbor is an extension of love for God, so a way to reorient ourselves this season might be to give up the ways we negatively interact with people, either in person or in our hearts.
That said, it’s hard to go from getting easily annoyed to being the model of patience! By giving up gossip, anger, annoyance, etc., we are retraining ourselves to react in a new way to people, the things they do, or news about them. So what does this look like practically? When someone is doing something that we find annoying, giving up the negative reaction may look like taking a beat to count to three before reacting, or walking away from the situation for a moment so that we can react with patience and compassion. That moment of self-sacrifice is a way for us to join with the sacrifice of Jesus and to learn to love others as He does.
4. One Extra Step in Your Makeup Routine
Some of you mentioned using Lent to fast from excessive focus on external appearance. Giving up makeup, using contacts, or putting together meticulously planned outfits creates space in our lives to remember that externals don’t define us.
During Holy Week, the statues and images throughout churches are covered up with purple cloths so that the focus remains on the altar and the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We can mimic this fast from beauty in the church in our own lives as a reminder to focus on our interior during Lent, too.
Focusing on beauty in itself is not bad, just like having statues and art in a church is not bad. Fasting from one extra way we focus on our external appearance is simply an opportunity to refocus time and energy on our internal selves: our minds, hearts, and souls. This practice could facilitate a more holistic approach to how we seek affirmation, joy, and connection with God and others.
5. Hot Showers
Among the popular responses you sent us, there were several unique suggestions that can stretch your Lenten muscles and inspire you to think beyond the typical Lenten dieting approach.
A few readers mentioned giving up warm showers, recalling the practices of self-discipline that were popular during the earlier times of the Church. The idea behind this fast is to give up a level of comfort in remembrance of the sacrifice that Jesus makes on the cross.
6. Unnecessary Spending
Another suggestion was to give up unnecessary spending. Think about what you need for these 40 days, like groceries or gas money, and stick to a budget that only covers those costs. Rather than picking up a latte on the way to work, make your coffee at home. Eat the leftovers in your fridge instead of ordering takeout. This fast can remind us of the things that we do have and help us be more grateful. Plus, it helps the environment!
We can also unite our fast with almsgiving by setting aside the money we would unnecessarily spend and donating it after Lent.
7. Your Usual Spotify Lineup
A final suggestion is to give up listening to music or podcasts altogether, or to replace your normal Spotify playlists with something spiritual. Giving up music on our commute, our daily run, or other times in our day creates space and time to connect with God.
No matter this year’s answer to the question, “What are you giving up for Lent?”, we hope that it gives you 40 days of reflection and growth. We are all searching for more peace and joy, and those things will be found when we’re more connected to God. Lent is about creating time and space to lean into that relationship with Him, and rest in knowing that you are so loved, today and every day.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting in the pew at Mass, listening to the priest deliver a homily on Lenten fasting and abstinence. He stated the purpose of fasting (a chance to detach ourselves from everyday comforts and grow more attached to the spiritual); he went over the requirements for fasting (one big meal and two snacks allowed); and he encouraged the congregation to add more fasting days to toughen up our sacrifice. He explained that Catholics used to give up a lot more and observe fasting more throughout the year – surely, can’t we try to demonstrate the same austerity? But as someone who has struggled with disordered eating, I know how harmful that sort of encouragement can be.
After Mass, while getting my customary Sunday latte from Starbucks, I mulled over Father’s words. Something in the homily dissatisfied me. My mind kept coming back to the exceptions for fasting. He had mentioned that one should not fast if one has an illness that fasting would make worse - but does that include mental illness? And more specifically, how should a person with an eating disorder approach Lenten fasting?
When Fasting is a Source of Shame
Eating disorders affect 9% of the global population, and they are the second most-fatal mental illness. Those statistics are primarily based on diagnoses and hospitalizations. There are undoubtedly many more people who suffer from these disorders to varying degrees, but fly under the radar because their condition may not be severe enough for hospitalization. This has certainly been the case in my life.
Ever since I was a teen, I have struggled with disordered eating habits. As a child coping with (then undiagnosed) ADHD and anxiety, controlling my body became the way I handled many of the insecurities in my life. College made the situation worse. Counting calories, skipping meals, restricting portions, and exercise became all-consuming obsessions. Breaking any one of dozens of rules sent me into a spiral. But it never got to the point where I was malnourished or had to be hospitalized. I carefully masked my illness and suffered silently.
With this background, fasting was a source of shame and struggle for me. I remember trying to go without eating anything on one Ash Wednesday, before I nearly passed out in the library. Another year, I met up with a friend in Rome where we were spending the Easter holiday. She stated calmly that she hadn’t eaten anything that day (due to her travel schedule). I felt immediate self-loathing for the pack of peanuts I had consumed that day. There was an inner voice telling me I was “bad” at fasting and therefore an unworthy Catholic. Surely, I could have made a better sacrifice to show my love for God?
Perhaps you have similar struggles with an eating disorder or disordered eating habits. Perhaps illness, instability, rejection, or abuse have plagued your life. Perhaps you are trying to regain a sense of control and value by punishing your body. Within Catholic culture, it can be easy to justify this as a holy denial of self. After all, didn’t the saints fast? If we are restricting what we eat, maybe it will mean that we are stronger or more worthy than we feel. At the very least, it can make it easier to tell ourselves that our habits are not a serious problem.
This line of thinking is, ultimately, a dangerous lie. Jesus came to Earth to heal us. He does not want you to do harm to yourself in the name of a discipline. In many of the stories told in the Gospels, Jesus is attuned to the physical needs of the people around him. Multiple miracles feature Him feeding crowds. After raising a little girl from the dead, He ordered that she receive something to eat (Mark 5:43). One of His final acts on Earth was to give us the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Under the guise of bread, He seeks to still nourish the bodies of His people. The actions of Jesus are ones that affirm the holiness and value of our bodies.
The Path to a Body-Affirming Lent
Having an eating disorder is a wearisome, lonely journey. But you do not have to continue this journey. There are resources out there if you are struggling with disordered eating. There are trustworthy therapists who can provide you life-giving mental health care. There are communities of survivors who can let you know that you’re not alone.
This Lent, I encourage you to avoid fasting if it is something that will cause you mental harm. Hold to the minimum requirements, or if even doing that proves to be too tempting to try to push the limits on yourself, forgo it altogether. And the good news? The U.S. bishops say that, “Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. … In all cases, common sense should prevail, and ill persons should not further jeopardize their health by fasting.”
Instead of fasting from food, try to fast from something else. Offer up each meal you eat to God as an act of love for your body and its Creator. And if you have not already, consider making a Lenten resolution to go to therapy or to find a support group.
The purpose of Lent is to welcome God into our lives and give Him the space to heal us. Let Him feed your body and your soul.
Did you know that, in the United States: Black embryos and fetuses are up to twice as likely to be lost to miscarriage as white embryos? Black fetuses are more than twice as likely to be lost to stillbirth as white fetuses? Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related condition than white women? These disparities are evident statistically, even when we control for a variety of factors.
Why is this? The short answer is that the culture of our medical system punishes Black women, embryos, and fetuses for existing in a way that it does not punish white women, embryos, and fetuses.
Take, for example, maternal mortality. Black women and white women have statistically similar rates of conditions such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, placental abruption, and postpartum hemorrhage, but Black women are two to three times more likely to die from these conditions. This is controlling for differences in age, education, insurance coverage, and more. In fact, even Black women with great privilege in other areas continue to be at a significantly higher risk of maternal death than white women in less privileged groups. One report found that the risk of maternal death for a college-educated Black mother is 60% higher than that of a white or Hispanic woman with less than a high school education.
Researchers point to factors such as being ”less likely to receive adequate care” as possible reasons why so many Black women die.
Why would Black women not receive adequate care? One answer is implicit racist bias against them. Fourteen studies have found that providers’ implicit bias against Black people affects “patient–provider interactions, treatment decisions, treatment adherence, and patient health outcomes.” A meta-analysis of these studies also found that “implicit attitudes were more often significantly related to patient–provider interactions and health outcomes than treatment processes.” That means that researchers could make a stronger statistical tie between a provider’s attitude toward Black people and the eventual health of a patient, than between treatment and the eventual health of a patient.
What does this implicit bias mean for real women’s experiences? Say a Black woman and a white woman (college roommates, same major, working in similar jobs, same health habits) both go to the emergency room because they are pregnant and experiencing spotting. The white woman is more likely than the Black woman to walk out of the hospital believed, treated, and still pregnant.
Even if we had exclusively anti-racist medical providers, there would still be hurdles to making sure that Black mothers and children have the best opportunities to live. The enduring effects of racism presenting as chronic diseases join myriad other threats to the right to life, including lack of transportation to doctor’s visits, lack of nearby doctors or specialists, unlivable housing conditions, and lower standards of care in hospitals that primarily serve Black women.
We need to correct this disparity. And in our present reality, this means acknowledging that Black women and children face extra obstacles to living. If that statement challenges you, or if you’re feeling motivated but don’t know what to do next, here are some suggestions:
- Sit with the stories of, and take time to mourn, Black women who have lost their lives or their children’s lives because they weren’t heard or believed. Here are a few stories from Ebony, TIME, The New York Times, and ProPublica as a starting point.
- Participate in the month-long anti-racism challenge from the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement (don’t worry about the dates, you can start anytime!).
- Buy a book for a Black doula or midwife in training.
- Research the history of the Mothers of Gynecology.
As we strive for a more just world, we need to be conscious of the ways that certain populations face greater injustices. Honoring the dignity of each human life, and especially each Black life, is ongoing work for us as individuals and as a society.
Please use discretion in reading, as this post contains content related to emotional and physical abuse.
Many women who have been in domestically abusive relationships tell themselves, “It’s really not that bad. I’m sure others have it worse. I can deal with this." This thought process is known as abuse minimization.
Abuse minimization, by the target of the abuse in emotionally abusive relationships, is a conscious or unconscious defense mechanism to protect oneself against the cognitive dissonance of the abuser’s confusing Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality.
Abuse minimization isn’t a deliberate effort to excuse the behavior of the abuser, but rather to try to make sense of the nonsensical. It’s so difficult to believe you’re a victim of abuse, especially during the “love-bombing” phase of the abuse cycle.
What does it look like inside the mind of an emotionally battered and bewildered victim of domestic abuse? It could look something like this:
I’ve never been physically abused. (Or have I?) Sure, my husband can get violent from time to time, but only toward inanimate objects; punching holes in walls, smashing (my) things, destroying furniture. I’m never the target, so I haven’t been physically abused.
(Or have I?)
Sure, my husband has done things to me sexually that I haven’t been comfortable with, but he’s never raped me, and I wasn’t assertive enough when I tried to say “No,” so I’ve never been sexually violated.
(Or have I?)
Sure, there was that one time he flew into one of his aggressive Mr. Hyde rages over something I can’t even remember. When he was done spewing verbal venom at me he stomped out of the room, slamming doors and breaking things as usual. But less than an hour later he told me it was time for me to go to bed. He said it nicely. I was happy and relieved that he was being nice again. So I went.
And sure, he put his arms around me as I attempted to maybe, possibly sleep. But he didn’t put his arms around my waist or shoulders like he usually does. This time, he put his thick, strong arms around my neck. And squeezed, tight. But he’s never been violent toward me. And that night he kept murmuring in my ear, “My baby,” and “I really do love you,” over and over again. So I think he didn’t even realize his arms were so tight around my neck. My terror was all in my head. He was just hugging me. Tightly. Around the neck. Because he loves me. Besides, I didn’t move. I didn’t tell him I was uncomfortable, so he didn’t even know. I mean, it’s not like I had trouble breathing or anything. I wasn’t choking. I was just slightly uncomfortable. Not much, even. I fell asleep at some point. So it was my fault, for not speaking up. And besides, it was no big deal.
I admit that he did try to pick the lock of the bedroom door one night when I’d locked myself in because I was afraid of his raging, and he’d promised to sleep in the guest room anyway. When, at 3:00 AM, he finally decided to go to bed — not in the guest room after all, but with me — and found the door locked, he was angry. But I get it. I mean, it’s his bedroom, too, right? When he tried to pick the lock, it terrified me, because I knew if he was successful, then I’d be in for it. So, I unlocked it myself. That was my choice, right?
Plus, he’s never physically hurt me, so my fear was ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It’s all in my head (and my stomach). I don’t know why I feel this way. I’m being stupid. After all, I’ve never been physically abused.
(Or have I? Because it feels that way...)
If you’re in an abusive relationship, know that you’re not alone. It can be heartbreaking for anyone to realize she’s being controlled and manipulated by her partner.
Education, awareness, and support are necessary. Pope Francis has called domestic abuse “craven acts of cowardice” while the U.S. bishops affirm that “violence and abuse, not divorce, break up a marriage.”
Domestic violence is an attack on women. In addition to advocating for marriage, the Catholic Church teaches strongly that women are not required to put themselves in harm's way: “No person is expected to stay in an abusive marriage.”
Minimizing the severity of abuse and its damaging effects helps a woman get through her day, but ultimately leads to more trauma. The first step to getting help is acknowledging your pain and realizing there is hope.
The winter months start off strong: November brings Thanksgiving, December brings Christmas, and the beginning of January has the festive feel of a New Year. But then what? Dreary January, bleak February, and miserable March. During that bleak stretch of wintry months, many of us experience the “winter blues” or even seasonal depression, which is four times more common in women than in men. The reason for this difference isn’t fully understood, but some researchers theorize that this difference could be due to women’s higher estrogen levels, which affect serotonin. If you find yourself feeling down during this time, there are some things you can try to help brighten the dark days.
Understanding the Symptoms
The “winter blues” refers to the overall experience of lethargy, low motivation, and a general “blah” feeling once the weather turns colder, the days become shorter, and there is less daylight. It’s estimated that between ten and twenty percent of the U.S. population experiences some form of the winter blues.
The winter blues is a less severe form of seasonal depression (also called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD), which affects about five percent of the population. Symptoms typically appear during late fall or early winter and disappear in spring or summer. They include many of the common symptoms of depression, such as:
- Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
- Feeling sluggish or agitated
- Low energy
- Feeling hopeless or worthless
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide
As well as seasonally-specific symptoms:
- Oversleeping
- Overeating (in addition, often craving carbs)
- Weight gain
- Social withdrawal
So what can you do during these cold, dark, and snowy months? There are several options that can not only help you manage symptoms, but also help you thrive during this time.
Light Therapy
Light therapy has been a tried and true treatment for seasonal depression for decades. This consists of using a special lamp that emits 10,000 lux and filters out harmful UV rays to mimic sun exposure. You sit with the lamp about 2 to 3 feet away from you and off to the side (don’t stare directly into the light) while you read, write, listen to music, talk to your family members, or just sit and relax for 15 to 30 minutes. Using the lamp every day has been shown to improve mood in as early as four days and can have a full effect in about two weeks.
One study found that 70 percent of participants experienced relief from their seasonal depression symptoms in a few weeks. You can find affordable lamps at most major retailers, but check with your provider first before using since it isn’t recommended for people with diabetes, retina conditions, those on certain medications, or people diagnosed with bipolar.
Vitamin D
Researchers believe that low vitamin D levels may play a role in seasonal depression. With less sunlight and time outdoors, we are exposed to the sun less in the winter than in the summer months, which means that our natural vitamin D levels are likely not as strong in the winter. Talking with your doctor about increasing your vitamin D levels might be a good idea if you experience seasonal depression.
Exercise
Exercise can be a powerful tool to help manage symptoms of seasonal depression. Regular exercise has been shown to boost not only your energy but also your mood. Incorporating some kind of exercise into your day will likely help you feel better overall, improve your mood, and minimize the effects of stress that you may be experiencing. Luckily, there are many options even when it is cold out, ranging from trying out a workout video from home, joining a gym, or bundling up to go for a walk with a friend.
Social Connection
During the winter, we tend to spend more time indoors and are less eager to venture out to spend time with people. This can compound the feelings of loneliness and isolation you may already be experiencing from seasonal depression. As much as you might be tempted to lean into those hibernation feelings, it’s important to make sure you are regularly connecting with your support network and those people whose company you enjoy the most. You might not feel like seeing people, but your spirits will be lifted when you make the effort to spend time with others.
Hygge
Remember when hygge was trending? This Danish term refers to embracing the “coziness” of the winter months by cultivating a comforting atmosphere and surrounding yourself with the company of people you enjoy. This can mean actually using that fireplace in your house for the first time, embracing the magical glow of candlelight, baking, having friends over to curl up in warm blankets for a movie night, etc.
Therapy
If your seasonal depression is impacting your ability to function on a daily basis, attending regular therapy sessions can be helpful. Your therapist can not only evaluate and give a diagnosis, but they can also help you identify specific ways to treat your depressive symptoms. In particular, they can help you make behavioral and lifestyle changes as well as help you identify and change any cognitive thinking patterns that may be contributing to your symptoms.
Please note: The information included in this article is meant for informational purposes only and is not meant to provide a diagnosis or treatment plan.