Something significant happens when a young woman’s menstrual cycles begin. Something begins to unfurl and unfold within her: tender, yet powerful; wild, yet otherworldly. This is the awakening of her womb and her power.
Menarche – the first menstrual cycle – is the threshold into womanhood, and it’s a sacred rite of passage.
Any rite of passage somehow matures and molds us, and Menarche is no different. How a young person’s presence and power are met (or unmet), and what we encounter during Menarche can leave a lasting imprint on the psyche.
For many, the experience of Menarche has shaped the way we view ourselves as women.
Bringing awareness to this threshold through conscious ritual can open our hearts and minds to the deep wisdom of the body and who you blossomed into at this place in time.
Ritual is itself a threshold that we choose to journey through; it helps us honor where we’ve been and birth new energies for our future. Honoring Menarche as a sacred passageway and a powerful period of time allows us to process, integrate, and deepen our connection with ourselves in the now.
How might it feel to drop into your heart, to see this time through the eyes of love?
The simple awareness of the Menarche ritual below will breathe renewed energy into your past and present self, and uplift your experience as a cyclical being.
Menarche Ritual
Ideas for Setting the Space
Light a candle
Put on some relaxing music
Find fresh flowers or something from nature that speaks to you
Reflect
Sit with yourself in your quiet space. Reflect on the time in your life when your menstrual cycles began. This was your first womb awakening, and chances are it was quite an emotional and powerful experience. If possible, have a photo of your Menarche-self with you, too, to help you reflect and envision this time in your life.
Do any memories arise? Feelings? Reoccurring thoughts?
How was the crossover into womanhood for you? Were there any sources of support? Were you witnessed by a friend, a parent, or a mentor at this threshold?
Let whatever arises move through you. Hold a little space for yourself just to be.
Write
When you’re ready, come back to your present self. Acknowledge the new perspectives that you have and the wisdom you’ve gained through life’s experiences. Reflect on your current relationship with yourself.
Write a letter from present You to younger You, straight from your heart. What would you have loved to hear? What do you need to hear? What would you tell yourself? This letter can be as long and detailed as you like. You could also draw, glue pictures, paint…Anything goes.
Be honest, and let it come from love and understanding. Imagine you are going to send this letter or drawing to younger you.
Close and Integrate
When you’ve finished writing and creating, do what you feel is natural with what you’ve made. I would suggest putting this letter in a meaningful place, or burning it and offering the ashes to the earth. Complete the ritual however you like.
You might like to seal the ritual off by having a piece of chocolate, or making this luxurious herbal hot cocoa recipe to sip on and warm your heart.
Over the following weeks and cycles, observe any surfacing feelings or thoughts around womanhood, your menstrual cycle, and your womb power. Has anything shifted? This ritual may have resounding effects over a long period. You can continue to come back to the photo of yourself anytime you need to re-center and process what you are feeling.
Stay kind and gentle with yourself, and remember, you are so loved!
Love,
Jaylyn