Strong, Sharp…and Still Numb? What Biohacking Forgot About Being a Woman
Dr. Amanda Hanson
AUGUST 2025
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The world of biohacking has brought us so much clarity, vitality, energy, and a deeper awareness of how to care for the body in brilliant and intentional ways. It offers powerful tools for longevity, performance, and regeneration. For many, it’s opened a new door to self-awareness. But for women, something essential is still left out of the conversation.
Most people have no idea that male and female nervous systems are fundamentally different. However, the real tragedy is that most biohacking research—just like the majority of the medical industry— continues to ignore this fact.
Men tend to have more activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which does things like:
Increases your heart rate
Makes you breathe faster
Sends more blood to your muscles
Slows down digestion
Gets you ready to act fast (run, fight, focus)
Think: “I’m being chased by a lion.” It primes the body for action, urgency, and survival.
Women, on the other hand, show higher activity in the parasympathetic system—the branch that governs "rest and digest." This does things like:
Slows your heart rate
Helps you digest food
Supports healing and repair
Encourages deep breathing and calm
Helps with sleep and emotional regulation
Think: “I’m safe and relaxed.” This means our bodies are naturally inclined toward restoration, emotional regulation, and inner balance.
It’s not weakness.
It’s not fragility.
It’s deep, biological wisdom.
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Men’s hearts are more tuned toward alertness, action, or stress response. Women’s hearts are more tuned toward rest, recovery, and calm regulation.
For decades, women were systematically excluded from clinical trials— sometimes even banned from early-phase research altogether. When women were included, they were often underrepresented.
One major review found that women made up only 40% of participants in studies for critical conditions like cancer, heart disease, and mental health disorders. This imbalance distorts the data and results in treatments and guidelines that fail to reflect the realities of female biology.
In turn, many health trends popular among women today are built on the same flawed foundation. They push the idea that being faster, sharper, and stronger is the ultimate goal, ignoring the truth that real wellness for women often calls for something entirely different:
Slowness, softness, and deep internal alignment.
This isn’t about rejecting the world of biohacking. It’s about adding to it.
Here are three vital elements we need to bring into the conversation.
Emotional Integration
Biohacking tends to focus on physical optimization. But mental health isn’t just about cognitive performance; it’s about your emotional landscape.
The nervous system directly affects nearly every part of the physical body. However, rather than fostering the thorough processing of emotional trauma, our cultural and medical systems tend to prioritize pharmacological intervention as the primary response for women. As a result, many women get stuck in a cycle where, instead of healing the root of their pain, they numb it with medication and try to cover it up with physical optimizations.
But even if you're not taking medication, if you're also ignoring your mental and emotional health, no amount of red light therapy will truly optimize your physical well-being.
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Nervous System Safety Over Stimulation
Most women are already operating in survival mode. They’ve been conditioned to push harder, hustle more, and override their exhaustion. But “pushing the edge” isn’t always empowering—it can reopen old wounds and deepen the disconnection from the body.
True healing doesn’t begin at the edge of your limits. It begins when your body feels safe.
Not tested. Not pressured. Safe.
Most biohacking frameworks miss this entirely. They’re built on masculine models of performance, ignoring the fact that a woman’s nervous system thrives not through constant stimulation, but through deep, restorative regulation. And because we’ve been raised in a culture that devalues feminine rhythms, many women feel guilty for needing rest.
As if honoring our natural cycles is something to apologize for. As if softness and slowness are signs of weakness, rather than wisdom.
Self-Worth Beyond Performance
Many biohackers seek control over the body, but never question the inner voice driving the pursuit of perfection.
Who are you when you're not tracking, hacking, or optimizing?
Biohacking often assumes the problem is in the body, but for many women, the real wound is not enoughness.
If your self-worth is tied to productivity or performance, the nervous system remains in survival mode. True mental health requires rewriting the internal narrative, not just adjusting external inputs.
In this world, we are the first generation to merge the treasures that biohacking offers with the timeless intelligence of feminine wisdom. We are reclaiming both. And in doing so, we leave a more truthful, nourishing legacy for our daughters—one where their biology is honored, their rest is sacred, and their power is never up for debate.
About Dr. Amanda Hanson:
Dr. Amanda Hanson, widely known as the Midlife Muse, is a clinical psychologist, author, and speaker dedicated to transforming the narrative of womanhood. With over 27 years of experience, she integrates traditional psychology with ancient holistic practices to empower women to embrace aging and reclaim self-worth. Her book, “MUSE: The Magnetism of Women Who Stop Abandoning Themselves,” has resonated globally, offering insights on self-love and empowerment. Dr. Hanson also leads retreats and programs through her platform, Midlife Muse, and hosts the “ THINGS YOUR MOTHER NEVER TOLD YOU ” podcast, fostering a community that celebrates the spiritual journey of aging and feminine strength.
