When my first period came in at age 12...
I was in the bathroom and ready to faint at the sight of it.
"Welcome to the club", said my mother handing me over a purple pad and leaving me there, with no explanation.
Why on Earth there was there blood flowing down my vagina??
I never received explanations.
I never even felt compelled to ask questions because the day I lost my first blood, my mother just affirmed it was a curse.
So, there was nothing else to say.
I may of learned something about periods very briefly and cold-heartedly / anatomically at school, but nothing that made me feel at least at ease with myself.
So, I went on with my life and did what was expected of me to do with my blood:
Hide it.
Pretend it was never there.
I very quickly came to despise it for all the excruciating pain I would experience every month, until I even suppressed it with the pill for 8 long years.
I'm sure you also carry quite a unique her-story when it comes to your first blood and the relationship you have with it.
Unfortunately the vast majority of women I confronted with, always share the same far-from-poetic story.
And you know what?
It's quite a big deal.
Because how we lived the experience with our first blood mirrors how we enter our relationship with our femininity.
I was mortified being a woman.
I hated everything about it.
There was a lot of self loathing and intentional self harm to my body.
And the more I condemned my womanhood, the more reproductive health issues would creep in deeper and louder.
PCOS, Endometriosis, recurring yeast infections, HPV, Dysmenorrhea, Irregular periods, heavy periods... you name it.
Until...
Everything changed.
After an unforgettable ceremony with plant medicine that happened while I was on my period, I came to know it for what it really is, I learned to embrace it and rather quickly I learned to be devoted to it shamelessly... and make it an integral aspect of my life's purpose.
Here's the pitch:
What if I told you that you can actually learn to feel empowered by your period and even embrace and feel grateful for all its ups and downs?
Yes.
I got here (and sometimes I still am in disbelief of how far I've come), so can you.
OK JASMINE, BUT HOW?
To help you in the journey of reclamation of your period, I want to share with you the fundamental rituals that initiated me into the life-long, ever evolving journey of falling in love with my blood and that I still perform and practice to this day.
I know that if you are here is because you and I have more in common than you think.
And we both dream of another way for ourselves and our future generations.
My prayer is that the rituals below will help you make your dream of painless periods, vibrant red in colour, healthy and with a whole new empowered meaning...a reality, just like they have made mine.
This is not new.
In ancient times, native women menstruated all at the same time and would gather for the whole duration of their periods in a “red tent” in which they would share wisdom, tell stories and nurture one another, honouring their femininity.
It was recognized as a sacred time for the powerful feminine to unfold.
Obviously in western culture today, it is very challenging to cut out so much time from our responsibilities, especially if you are a mother like I am.
However, resting at least during the first few days of your period is essential to set yourself up for success for the month ahead and for your overall well-being.
For this reason, if you are able to schedule your life around your cycle, that would be the best thing you can do for yourself.
Take day 1 and 2 of your bleed — when the blood tends to flow more intensely — off to rest.
Hey, and REST does not mean to numb yourself on the couch and binge over social media.
Even if it’s 10-15 minutes laying down with your eyes closed and just breathing, that is already so deeply meaningful.
Also, it's not just up to you to take care of yourself on your period.
Taking care of yourself means also to take radical self-responsibility and ask others around you give the support that you need during this time.
Ideally, everyone in your household will know that you’re on your period, and will organize themselves in a constellation that feels supportive.
Creating a safe confined space means that you commit into organizing childcare so you can have a few hours to yourself;
It means that you educate your loved ones to give you space and time off to retreat and simply be with yourself without making it be about them, but about you and what you need.
It means that —if you are up for bold moves that don't threaten your safety— you call your work and tell that you can't go to work that day because you are bleeding and need time to rest.
On this matter, I feel honoured and grateful that I live in Spain where menstrual leave has been approved by the government.
And this remarkable shift happened because women quit being silent and raised their voices and claimed their needs.
So your voice matters.
Honouring your boundaries, matters.
I know it feels scary af to do this, but if you don’t advocate for yourself and your rest, trust me, nobody ever will.
It took me a minute to get where I am today, to get to a place where when I bleed everyone around me knows what to do and provide what I need naturally.
Change requires grace, patience, effort and dedication.
And you deserve it.
Your children deserve it.
Your loved ones deserve it.
Once the sacred container has been set, here below are the beautiful ways in which you can actively rest, meaning replenish yourself in this highly sensitive and creative time.
Unpopular opinion... and I'm just going to say it:
Your menstrual blood is jam-packed with nutrients and is incredibly energetically charged, making it one of the most potent elixirs on the planet.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, period blood is considered to be the densest form of Qi (vital force energy), so vital sign for woman's health.
And not only, the menstrual cycle has recently been discussed by the World Health Organization as ‘the fifth vital sign’.
So not only it is pure life force energy but is also tells a lot about the general status of the health of the body, and more specifically about your health over the last month.
Furthermore, menstrual blood contains three electrolyte nutrients that are important to both human and plant metabolism: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—the very same combo you'll find in store-bought fertilizer.
REMARKABLE FACTS ABOUT PERIOD BLOOD YOU MIGHT DIDN'T KNOW:
- Period blood contains 1061 different proteins;
- It contains sodium, calcium, phosphate, iron and chloride;
- It contains stem cells (more than you could ever harvest from bones);
- It contains three electrolyte nutrients that are important to both human and plant metabolism: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium;
- It contains antibacterial haemoglobin peptides, aka, it is anti bacterial and antiseptic.
Bottom line, our blood flushes out from our bodies because it needs to rebuild to create a favourable ground for a possible conception to occur... not because it is waste or toxic!
Our blood is absolutely medicinal and can be reused for many purposes, including giving it to your plants. And besides nourishing your plants, this practice can also help nourish your relationship with your period, too.
If we take a deeper look at what is the menstrual cycle, it is the most life-promoting acts of our bodies —and not just for a would-be pregnancy. The notion that our blood can nurture another living thing is something to be proud of, and reminds us of the connection between the Earth and ourselves.
HOW TO:
To perform this very grounding and extremely nourishing ritual for both yourself and your plants, you just need to collect your period with the Sacred Woman Cup
and add 9 parts of water to 1 part of blood and pour a bit of it to all of your pot plants.
Do this regularly at every cycle and see how your plants will bloom and be so healthy and vibrant!
Please note: Raw undiluted blood directly applied in the earth of your indoor plants is too charged for them to sustain it, and could result in the opposite effect or death of the plant, so be mindful! If you'd like to offer your blood as it is to the Earth, then you can offer it to a tree or a larger sized plant.
Free bleeding is when you don’t do anything to block or collect your period blood.
Although it seems too far out there, the practice of free bleeding is incredibly ancient, considering that period products didn’t come into popular usage until the end of the 19th Century.
Though many historians believe that in ancient Egypt, women fashioned softened cotton or papyrus into makeshift tampons, for many cultures around the world free bleeding was simply the norm.
In Ayurveda lives the concept of Apana vayu, which is the energy flow in your body that's responsible for the downward flow of not only menstrual blood, but also urine, faeces and toxins.
According to Ayurveda, menstruation is a natural detox process for the female body, so to maintaining an optimal and healthy Apana Vayu is crucial and is achieved through preventing any external agent from clogging, blocking, interfering with the natural process of release from the body.
So products like tampons, sea sponges, menstrual cups, anything that is placed inside of the vagina that blocks the flow of Qi and Apana Vayu used for the long run could cause imbalances.
For this reason, many opt for period underwear as an alternative to clogging products, or decide to use our organic waterproof Yoni Blankets (available in our shop very soon!) that can collect up to 1litre of liquid, without staining your precious sheets.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to have a period, and menstruators are free to use products that make them feel good.
Whether you want to give free bleeding a try (even with the help of period underwear), or you enjoy using cups, discs, organic pads, and / or use them in rotation or based on your necessities, this is your choice.
I personally found my sweet spot in collecting my period blood with my Sacred Woman Cup for the first 2 days and then for the remaining days I free bleed in my Yoni Blanket or in my menstrual underwear during the night.
Painting with period blood has been one of the highest forms of self-expression and liberation from the limited beliefs and taboos I have dragged in my former years in being a woman since I began creating art with it since 2016.
And not only...
This medium taught me and continues to teach me every single month so much incredible wisdom... it teaches me the privilege that comes in honouring this time as sacred, it emphasises my innate capacity to transform my period pains into timeless feminine wisdom, cues for my holistic health and harness it as a nourishing practice of self love and self inquiry.
The exceptional quality, standards and womb based lifestyle I live today find their roots into this powerful practice.
And today I am so proud to see it flourished into a global movement of bleeders, the nonprofit organisation Menstrual Art Movement.
Painting with period has numerous benefits energetically, physically and emotionally:
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It contributes in de-stigmatizing the taboos that revolve around our periods as something dirty and not sacred
-
It helps us integrate and inhabit this fundamental aspect of ourselves as women
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It creates fertile conditions to bring awareness and also deep healing if we carry unbalances regarding our periods and reproductive area (aka it's also therapeutically effective)
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It helps us connect deeply with our femininity and other women — as we all bleed throughout our womanhood
-
It helps process our emotions and greif in a more conscious and meaningful way
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It invites more beauty and pleasure opposed to pain and frustration
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It invites us to slow down and reclaim precious space and time for ourselves
- And honestly, so much more.
And reason why I put together three of my favourite products to create ritual around your precious blood, the Menstrual Artist Kit, so to get you started in your precious journey of experiencing this sacred ritual for yourself too.
If you actually managed to read until here...
One, I admire you deeply for being here because it means that we have more in common than you think of. And two, it means you are ready to take your period phase up a notch.
“Moon masking” or “period mask” is the process of using menstrual blood as an at-home facial treatment.
A recent study shows that menstrual blood is a source of stem cells that can help regenerate damaged skin tissue and dermatological lesions.
It also contains rich nutrients like zinc, copper and magnesium as we have mentioned before, which are all well-known in the beauty industry as acne-fighting ingredients.
The physical effect you can expect from performing this ritual is an overall complexion that will look brighter and calmer, glowing and alive, tighter skin, and a reduction in the appearance of any blemishes and acne scars.
On a deeper and more mystical level, you might get astonished by what you can experience when you bathe into a good god-forsaken-forbidden taboo.
Freedom. Reclamation. Power. Sacredness.
Meaning. Love. Healing. Homecoming.
This practice is so much more than just a face mask, it is also about connecting to your feminine energy, establishing a nurturing relationship with your own body, and creating a positive association with this time of the month.
And it can aid in such a powerful spiritual breakthrough.
Incredibly enough, in all my years facilitating and educating women on these topics, I still recurrently receive shares from women stating that once they began connecting with their moon blood, they spontaneously feel an urge to smear it on their faces.
Some enjoy bathing in it under the shower, others pour the blood on their hair, others also apply it to fresh tattoos to help them heal.
Whatever feels the calling, follow the nudges your receive from your blood and this practice with innocent curiosity and let it take you where you need to be.
HOW TO:
Using your Sacred Woman Cup, collect your fresh moon blood and pour the blood in a jar. Then, either using your fingers or a mask brush, apply two or three layers of blood on your face.
Allow the blood to dry and keep it on for 15-20 minutes.
If the mystic in you takes over, you can sit and meditate, gaze yourself on the mirror or journal on your feelings.
Rinse with warm water and take a look at your skin, how does it look and feel like?
Important notice: avoid performing this ritual when you have active infections in your vagina as you could be transmitting bacteria and viruses from your genital region onto your skin.
At this point, you learned that there’s nothing I love more than a good taboo.
I do want to premise that this practice, like any of the ones listed above, are rituals that are here available for you to try.
Whatever you choose to try or not, in the end, it totally up to you. And whether or not you do them, it won't make you more or less of an empowered Woman.
You know what is best for your and your body.
Now to get to the bloody nitty gritty:
Period sex means having penetrative sex with a man or a penis owner and / or self pleasuring while you are on your bleeding days.
Definitely among the first pros of this kind of practice is the dramatic reduction of period cramps many women tend to experience, as the surge of oxytocin released by an orgasm cause the uterine muscles to contract and then release, which eases the constant tension.
Sex or self pleasure with a Yoni Crystal Wand also triggers feel-good endorphins, which can help take your mind off period pain and discomfort.
The only thing you might want to be careful about is deep vaginal penetration because the cervix is at its lowest at this time making it extremely sensitive to deep and intense thrusting.
So favouring positions like missionary (lying on your back) that decrease the blood flow, and going for very slow and subtle movements can be extremely relaxing and increase pleasure.
Also, when having sex with the right partner or using a Yoni Wand, our heightened sensitivity and emotional rawness of this special time of our cycles can lead to deeply spiritual and powerful orgasmic openings.
However, it's also important to mention again here that we don't want to intentionally clog the release of blood all the time as it's the body's moment to detoxify and release what no longer serves.
So period sex it's not something I would forcefully do every single month. I advise to do it when it just feels alive for you to do so.
The times in which I had period sex with my husband are extremely rare... but also because they happened rarely they were extremely beautiful and drenched with magic.
After our lovemaking sessions we would collect the blood mixed with his sperm (according to Traditional Chinese Medicine both are the densest forms of life force available in the world) in a special dedicated container and consecrate it and offer it to our altars.
* It's impossible to get pregnant when you are ON your period, the chances can increase if you have sex three days after your bleed and you are ovulation lands soon after.
HOW TO:
Make sure to have a waterproof Yoni Blanket with you (coming so soon in Sacred Woman Shop!) to have a mess free experience, remove any cups or tampons you may be wearing and make sure to bring on the table a lot of foreplay such as breast massage and Yoni massage.
As you will already have increased lubrication since blood will be streaming down your Yoni, penetration might feel easier with a penis or a Yoni Wand.
I hope that at the end of this article you finally got reasons to believe that your period is not a burden, it is a gift.
IF we learn to honour it and support it with what it needs, she will grant us so much magic and wisdom that will ripple in every area of our lives.
These monthly rituals and practices deeply connect me back to my matriarchal lineage, and it reminds me of the power of all women.
May the same be for you.
If you have any questions or sharings on any of these practices feel free to reach out either in the comments or sending us an email at info@sacredwoman.com, we'd love to read you x
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