Each day a woman has a new unique experience with her own inner world, therefore creating a new outer experience. Why do we expect women to be the same day to day? How do we come into deeper relationship with our bodies, our emotional rhythms and our cycles?  Ritual.

“Ritual” is not a word used regularly in today’s world and may be unfamiliar to some. It is a solemn ceremony that is usually accompanied by a series of suggesteed actions that have been passed along over time most often associated with religious beliefs and or community tradition such as weddings, baptisms, bar mitzvah. 

To me, ritual is something quite simple and more personal: It is a set of actions that we make sacred in our lives. 

Common place activities that we engage in in our personal lives such as cleaning, cooking, childcare, love making, or bathing can become a ritual when we bring mindfulness and consciousness into it. 

What makes something a ritual is not action itself, but the energy - the symbolic value and intention we give and place within that action.

Menstruation is no exception. 

A woman’s womb symbolizes her power to create, to renew and regenerate.  It is the Source of her Feminine power. 

This vital symbol is akin to a hidden treasure within that is waiting to be discovered.  It is nurtured and adored by each woman herself or shared with a community. 

Menstruation can be a wearisome annoyance, unpleasant and inconvenient OR it can be a sacred ritual that is used to honor and celebrate the deepest aspects of our feminine power. 

There is benefit and blessing that comes from ritualizing menstruation.

Here is a summary of the gifts received through creating a sacred and nurturing relationship with our sacred moon cycle. 

1. It supports us to stay in tune with our body rhythms and the Earth’s cycles of birth, death and regeneration. 

2. It creates a safe place to acknowledge, share and express our emotions whether they be grief, anger, fear, sadness or joy, contentment, love and excitement. 

3. It helps us to reconnect with and reconcile past events and clarify our intentions for the present and the future.

4. It allows us to evaluate and bring validity to the physical and emotional transitions in our life.

5. It helps us to connect with, honor and heal the deepest aspects of ourselves and bring forward the inner wisdom and strength to conscious awareness.

6. It connects us to the sacred creativity our womb power holds and teaches us how to access it - it is sustainable. 

7. It supports us in listening and being guided by our own inner truth and inner wisdom, apart from the roles and responsibilities we carry out within our families and community.

8. It symbolizes rites of passage - transitioning from one to another and celebrates events in our lives.  It is never too late to honor ourselves with a ritual for a past event such as birth or menstruation.  Past experiences can be brought into the present to heal, honor and celebrate.  It is a reclamation of the inner maiden. Lovingly and gently reclaiming the adolescent girl who may have never been welcomed into womanhood.

9. It guides us into the awareness of the depth of our innate feminine wisdom and strength.  It allows us to experience our body as beautiful, natural, sacred and whole - accessing all resources within. 

10. When we connect and share intentional space with other women in ritual we feel supported and empowered on our path to healing and growth.  The journey is ours alone to take, together we share our experience, strength and hope.