Do you remember when you got your first period?
I often ask women this question and there is usually a pause. Some women remember the details immediately, while others are convinced they have forgotten. Yet when we stay with the question for a little while, something often begins to emerge. Not always a clear memory, but a feeling, an image, a conversation, or simply a sense of how they experienced that time in their lives.
Were you excited? Embarrassed? Proud? Confused? Did somebody celebrate you, or was it something quietly hidden away?
I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately as I prepare for my upcoming Becoming a Woman Mother & Daughter Workshop, because our first bleed is about so much more than menstruation. It is one of the first significant thresholds we cross in life, a doorway into womanhood, and whether it is consciously honoured or not, it leaves an imprint.
Looking back, I can see how much was woven into that moment for so many of us. We were learning something about our bodies, about being female, and about what the world around us believed it meant to be a woman. Some of us were fortunate to receive messages that our bodies were wise and worthy of honouring. Others learned that bleeding was something to hide, push through, or simply not talk about.
Through my own journey, and through sitting in circle with women over many years, I’ve come to know that these early experiences stay with us. They become part of the story we carry about ourselves and our bodies, sometimes consciously and sometimes beneath the surface.
For many women, the journey back to trusting their bodies begins much later in life.
This is one of the reasons I feel so passionate about creating spaces for mothers and daughters to come together around this transition.
When a girl is welcomed into womanhood with understanding and support, she receives something far greater than information about periods. She learns that her body has wisdom. She begins to understand herself as part of the great cycles of life. She discovers that what is happening to her is not something to be embarrassed by, but something worthy of being acknowledged and honoured.
I’ve often reflected on how these early experiences ripple into the years that follow. The way we meet our first rite of passage influences how we relate to our bodies, our cycles, and the many thresholds that come after. For some women, those stories are still present when they arrive at the birth altar decades later.
While we can’t change our own experience of menarche, we can reclaim this by recreating a new story to carry about what it means to be a woman in the world. And we have the opportunity to offer something different to the next generation of girls.
That is the heart behind my Becoming a Woman Mother & Daughter Workshops.
A space for meaningful conversations. A space for questions, stories, and wisdom to be shared. A space where girls can feel supported as they step towards womanhood, and where mothers are invited to walk beside them.
My hope is that every girl leaves knowing that her body is not something to battle against or disconnect from, but something she can learn to listen to, trust, and honour throughout her life.
As I write this, I’m also aware that not every woman reading these words is walking alongside a daughter. Yet the invitation to reflect on our own first rite of passage remains.
Sometimes simply asking the question, What was my experience of becoming a woman? can open a doorway to deeper understanding.
If you feel called to explore that journey more deeply, Shamanic Womancraft sessions offer a space to gently follow those threads, reconnecting with the wisdom held within your body, your cycles, and your lived experience.
I’d love to hear from you.
Do you remember your first period?
What do you remember most?
