Posted on

Share the magic of menstruation with your child

Magic of Menstruation: Discover It

Our cycles are more than blood leaving our bodes.

Yes, it's very important for menstruating youth and adults to understand the biology of menstruation, and overall, the structure and function of our entire reproductive system.

magic of menstruation

Art by Alberto Seveso

But our moon cycle is more than biology. It's magic. It's an alive, responsive, ever-changing magic that is there for us every day.

Our moon cycle a constant reminder of the cycle nature of life and of our cyclic nature as women. Our moon cycle is a barometer of our health and overall well-being. Our moon cycle, if we're open to it, brings us deep insight.

It's the nudge to be present with our entire body-mind - our Whole Sacred Self.

Our cycle begs us to be curious and tender with ourselves

Each day, let us ask ourselves:   
... What's real for me now?
... What am I receiving?
... What am I giving?
... What am I ready to release?
... What seeds shall I plant?
... Which seedlings need tending in order to ripen?

Art by Ronnie Biccard

If this sounds good - but is new to you - try this:

Simply tune into your cycle.  Each day, pause, breathe and tune into your body for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently, with devotion, patience and love. Simply be present and curious about what you're experiencing in your body, physically and emotionally. What would your body like more or or less of?

Over time, notice what happens. How does your body respond? Does it appreciate the attention? What are its needs?

You may find that the shift in you is flat out amazing. Joy and empowerment and insight and health and, well, a book of poetry's worth of goodness.

Magic of Menstruation: Share it with Kids who Cycle

Another lovely tuning-in practice is to chart your cycle, noting how your emotions, intuition, and activities change through your cycle. This is a lovely mother-child activity.

Mom and her young menstruant may each have their own chart. Or if the child has not begun to bleed yet or does not yet have a regular cycle, the child can help with their mother's chart.

If you begin charting your cycle, your young one will inevitably become interested. You and they together can discover the magic of menstruation.

magic of menstruation

Art by Anne Dewailly

There are plenty of apps for cycle tracking, but all you need is a piece of paper. I prefer paper because one's spirit shines through - and one can pick up shifts over time visually. Plus, most apps are collecting personal information and selling it! Ugh!

Magic of Menstruation: Chart Cycles on Paper

On a large sheet of paper, write a series of well-spaced numbers in on the left. These are the days of your cycle, Day 1 being the day you begin to bleed. Across the top, label what you'd like to track, such as Physical and Emotional (for what you're experiencing physically and emotionally).  You may also like to track food, activities, and the phase of the moon.

Then each day, record how you're doing. Post this on the fridge if you're feeling revolutionary - if you're tired of hiding menstruation and would like the people in your life to know how you're doing. 

Here is a chart with the cycle days listed across the top and emotions, physicality and activities listed down the lefthand side.

Cycle Chart courtesy of Leslie Carol Botha of Holy Hormones Honey

This teen is fascinated by menstrual-lunar synchrony, so her chart is organized by the lunar cycle and explores how her body, moods and activities respond to both lunar and menstrual cycles.

menstrual chart

Lunar Menstrual Cycle Chart from a JOYW Mother-Daughter Circle

How do you talk about menstruation with your children? 

Cycle Literacy and Body Literacy for Youth

cycle literacy

JOYW Mentor students and graduates love to support one another in developing ways to share Cycle Literacy and Body Literacy with children of all genders and their parents. We have many videos in these topics in our Red Tent Video Library, and regular ongoing conversations.  And of course, we take a deep look at menstruation in the Teaching Videos.

Our current project is creating a detailed chart of conversations and activities that will nourish children ages 2 to 16.

Join us!

Learn to mentor girls & lead Girls' Circles

Do you feel called to mentor girls?
Learn about JOYW's
 Mentoring Girls Certificate Training.  

You'll enjoy new content, new resources and new collaborative opportunities in addition to an extensive interactive resource platform offering post-graduate support.  Our aim is to stand with all our current and former students as they plan, launch and lead their Mentoring' Circles. 

JOYW Girls' Circle by JOYW artist Karen MacKenzie

Posted on 2 Comments

Your Daughter’s Body-Love Begins with Yours

Show your daughter how to love her body!

Alongside self-care and refraining from speaking "body-shame," one of the most powerful things we can do for our own daughters and for our collective daughters is to tune into our feelings and beliefs about our own body.


In this culture, for many of us, truly loving our body is a daily spiritual practice.

Shining the light of awareness on our own thoughts and emotions about our body is a ginormous step toward releasing body-shame and embracing body-love.

Tenderly ask yourself questions like these. As you do, tune into how your body-mind responds, and treat each response with empathy and love.

  • What about your body do you dislike, hate, judge or criticize?
  • How did you learn to feel/believe this way?
  • In what ways do neglect, ignore or harm your body?
  • If you aim to change or camouflage part of your body that you see as ugly or unacceptable, in what ways to you do this and what are your feelings and beliefs about this?
  • How do you nurture, tend and rejuvenate your body?
  • How do you evaluate or interpret the appearance of others?
  • How would you like your daughter (or your young self, or all young women) to feel about her body? How would you like her to treat her body?
  • What steps would you enjoy taking to have a more beautiful and healthy relationship with your own body?

Sisters, do you see how your own inner work will open the way for your daughter to love and honor her body?

Suggestion:

Print out the list of questions.

Reflect on each question for at least a day, perhaps a week.

Much healing for you, and much body-love for your daughter, lies ahead on this path.

Thank you, sisters, for reading and reflecting.  Stay tuned for more posts about the inner work you can do for yourself and on behalf of our collective daughters.

May we together expunge from the face of the earth the body-shame that has debilitated us for generations.  May the global sisterhood once more love and honor our amazing, sacred bodies.

Much love and many blessings,

Art by Shirokova Inna and Tam Austria

Mentoring Girls Certificate Training

JOYW's Mentoring Girls Certificate Training  is open for enrollment!

You'll enjoy new content, new resources and new collaborative opportunities in addition to an extensive interactive resource platform offering post-graduate support beginning in 2017. 

Deeper partial scholarships are now being funded by the Mary Krueger Scholarship Fund.

Learn more here.

Posted on 1 Comment

Parents! Words matter!

Dearest Parents:

Words matter. They do.

Your words form your child's inner hologram of the world and who they are within that world. 

Your words can break a child's heart or her spirit.

Words linger.  What you tell her now will be what she tells herself as an adult.

Your words can remind a child that she is awesome, sovereign, holy, whole and a gift to this world.

Please choose words that affirm and guide rather than label and control

This powerful image brought tears to my eyes.  

What words and phrases from your childhood haunt you?

Which do you remember with joy?

How do these words affect you now?

Please leave a comment.

This poem rectifies the lie of the old adage...

"Sticks and stones may break my bones
but words can never hurt me”
and this I knew was surely true
and Truth could not Desert me

But now I know it is not so
I've changed the latter part;
For Sticks and stones may break the Bones
But words can break the Heart

Sticks and Stones may break the Bones
and leave the Spirit whole
But Simple Words can break the heart
Or Silence crush the soul.

~ H. J. Warren

Art by Jenna Bromser


Sisters!  Join the Fall 2015
Mentoring Girls Certificate Training
Now open at the Super Early Bird Rate

Girls' Circle by Karen MacKenzie

So much support for parents is included in the course!