In boudoir, you may hear us talking about self-love quite often. We emphasize the importance of caring for yourself and doing what you need to do to be happy in your everyday life. We also want to emphasize the importance of taking care of your health. Not just your mind, but also your body. I don’t know a single woman who enjoys the gynecologist but I know that regardless of how we feel about someone scoping out our insides, we must tend to our womanly health. It’s not as awful as it sounds, really.
Not all that long ago, far too many aspects of women’s health care were based on superstition, and chauvinism. But through struggle and perseverance, women’s health opportunities have come a long way. Today we take for granted health advances that women just a couple of hundred years ago probably didn’t even dream about. We have advanced technology that allows us to observe what’s happening inside of our bodies and tend to our needs as see fit.

I recently had a breast exam which was actually quite pleasant. Aside from the fact that I did mine at 7:30 in the morning when I was already very cold and I’m sure my doctor got some nipple action, it wasn’t completely awful. The entire exam took maybe 10 minutes. In just 10 minutes, I went from being completely stressed about a small lump in my breast, to being calm and collected after being reassured by an expert that my breasts were healthy.
I decided to get a breast exam done after doing a self examination at home. I found a small lump in my right breast and I knew I couldn’t brush it off. It needed to be checked out by a professional. It turned out to be nothing to worry about, but I wouldn’t have known that if I had ignored my bodies changes. We should all be doing breast examinations at home whenever we have spare time. Why? Because we love our breasts and we should take care of them. Just the way we do with anything else we love. Here are the steps to doing your own breast exam at home!
1.Do your examination at the end of your monthly period. If you are pregnant, no longer have periods or your period is irregular, choose a specific day each month.

2.This should not be performed in the shower or with lotion on your skin or fingers.

3.If you find a lump or notice other unusual changes, Don’t panic. About 80% of lumps found are not cancerous. See your doctor promptly for further evaluation.

Not all bumps mean you have cancer. If you find one, you might be experiencing what doctors call a fibrocystic breast change, or a breast cyst. Most women have fibrocystic breasts at one point or another—typically between ages 20 and 50. It’s so common, in fact, that the medical community stopped calling the condition by its original name, “fibrocystic breast disease,” and started referring to it as “fibrocystic breast changes” instead, really driving the point home that breast cysts are a natural occurrence in the body and that they don’t necessarily mean something’s wrong.
Our bodies are unique to each and every one of us and yet we still have many things in common when it comes to our health. We all have similar expectations of our bodies. We expect our breasts to be healthy and for our vaginas to do what they do, naturally. We never want to stress about things that only affect us because we have breasts and vaginas, but as women- that’s just what we have to deal with.
We will only get one body in this lifetime, so it’s important that we keep up with our health and wellness. Inside and out. Self love isn’t just about accepting what you look like and your feelings. Self love is about taking care of every bit of yourself. Self love is a duty. We have a duty to nurture our bodies and care for them the way we expect ourselves to nurture our minds and souls.