Ghusl is the full-body wash required after certain things. It is also one of the most quietly stressful topics for new Muslims, because everyone around you assumes you already know. You don't have to already know. Here is all of it: when it's needed, how to do it, and what to do when water isn't an option.
In practice: a shower, in a particular order, with intention. The required core is only that water reaches your whole body; the rest below is the Prophet's ﷺ fuller way of doing it.
Intention (niyyah) is in the heart; nothing needs saying aloud. Scholars recommend beginning with Bismillah.
Wash your hands, then wash the private parts and anywhere impurity has touched.
A full wudu, as before prayer. Some delay the feet to the end; both ways are reported from the Prophet ﷺ.
Three times, working it in so the water reaches the roots of the hair and the scalp.
Pour water over the rest of the body, right side then left, so no part stays dry: under arms, behind ears, behind knees, the navel.
If you delayed them, wash the feet last. That's it: a shower done in the right order counts.
Described per common Sunni practice; the schools differ on small details (the Hanafi school counts rinsing the mouth and nose as required, others as recommended; including them satisfies everyone). None of the differences are a reason to worry: learn the form your local community practices.
Sexual intimacy or any ejaculation (including a wet dream where you find wetness on waking), the end of a menstrual period, and the end of postpartum bleeding. Many scholars also recommend, and some require, a ghusl when a person first becomes Muslim. Nothing else in ordinary life requires it; sweat, dirt, and everyday mess call for a normal wash, not ghusl.
Wudu is the small washing (hands, mouth, face, arms, head, feet) that minor things like using the toilet or sleep make necessary. Ghusl is the full-body wash that the bigger causes above make necessary. A valid ghusl counts as wudu too, after it you can pray without a separate wudu, per the majority of scholars.
The required core of ghusl is simply that water reaches your entire body, the Hanafi school adds rinsing the mouth and nose as required, so include them to be safe on all views. A shower with the intention of ghusl that covers everything, mouth and nose included, is valid; the ordered steps above are the Prophet's ﷺ fuller way, not an extra hurdle.
Islam has a built-in alternative: tayammum. Touch both hands to clean earth, dust, or stone, then wipe your face and hands. It stands in for wudu or ghusl until water is available or usable again, the Qur'an itself lays this out (5:6), and the exemption is meant to be used, not endured around.
No, during menstruation and postpartum bleeding, prayer and fasting are lifted entirely. The missed prayers are never made up; missed Ramadan fast days are made up later in the year, any time before the next Ramadan. When the bleeding ends, perform ghusl and resume praying. This is stated plainly in the sunnah and no school differs on the core of it.
Neither. A menstruating woman is not 'dirty' or spiritually lesser, she remains a Muslim in full standing who can make du'a, remember Allah, listen to Qur'an, attend gatherings, and live entirely normally. The exemption from prayer and fasting is mercy, rest built into the deen, and scholars across the schools describe it exactly that way.
Personal situations vary. Irregular bleeding, medical conditions, and edge cases each have their own well-developed answers in Islamic law. For anything specific to your body or situation, confirm with a knowledgeable scholar you trust; imams field these questions constantly and discreetly.
Find a masjid in your city, with its Jumu'ah time.