FOME Discussion Session 6

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Shortly after Didi was introduced to Menstrual Cycle Awareness, inspired by all it had brought to her life and wellbeing, she started sharing this newly discovered wisdom with women around her and on the online community she guides as leader of the PanaceAM Foundation and its ‘Mujer Despierta’ (Awakened Woman) movement. The reaction was always the same: “Why did we not learn this before?”

As this question internally transformed into: “What can I do to spread the positive experience of the cycle to young girls?” the answer was provided when she came across Jane Bennett’s work: Celebration Days for Girls and Jane’s question on her website: “What does it mean to be a woman in this world today?” 

A mathematical engineer who cut short her PhD to follow her heart’s desire to do something for the suffering humanity (and the animals and all else of creation), Didi left her career and comfort zone to dedicate her life to helping others, through the intuitional practices of yoga and meditation on the one hand and social service projects on the other. 

Embracing the world as her home and all as her family, she has worked and lived in over 40 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Far East Asia and South America, where the common experiences lived by women, regardless of culture and circumstances, gave her the chance to channel her passion for social justice in a very clear direction: women’s wellbeing. 

However, Didi realised that in her work, and in general in the work of women’s empowerment and self-realization, there had been a missing link with young girls on their journey to womanhood. The Celebration Day for Girls and Menstrual Education fill that gap perfectly and she is both honoured and humbled to play a small role in that journey.

After hosting the Celebration Day for Girls as Outreach programs – free of charge – to underserved communities, mainly in rural Colombia, Didi organized and hosted the first Facilitator training in South America in 2023 and is beyond pleased that the team of facilitators in Latin America is ever growing. 

Because, although she loves hiking with her dogs, regular classes of Capoeira and every now and then training for a half marathon, there is nothing that fulfils Didi more than seeing girls and women grow and transform their lives, becoming their wonderfully feminine, strong and happy selves.

PH: +57 (318) 316-5875

EMAIL: anandarashmika@gmail.com

WEBSITE: www.mujerdespierta.org

Noura is a certified yoga teacher based in West London with post-graduate training in Womb Yoga and Menstrual Cycle Awareness. With a particular interest in women’s wellness her approach to yoga encourages women to learn about their bodies, find their own rhythm and create a balanced practice that nourishes the body and supports the mind.

Through this training and experience Noura realised how important it is for young girls to have a positive view of their changing bodies and how this can have a great effect on their health and emotional wellbeing. In 2015 she trained with Jane Bennett and began facilitating Celebration Day for Girls in the UK and Saudi Arabia.  And, in 2021, Noura was warmly welcomed onto the CDG leadership team.

Noura has a degree in management information systems and is the mother of three beautiful and feisty girls.

PH: 0755 487 2788‬   EMAIL: nouranaf@gmail.com

He mihi nui kia koe

Angela is originally from Te Tihi o Maru/Timaru, but now resides in Ngāmotu/Taranaki, and has been an Occupational Therapist since 2001.  She has been involved in women health and wellbeing providing workshops from menarche to menopause for women and girls for a number of years.  She offers both Celebration Day for Girls and Fathers Celebrating Girls workshops throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand, and will travel to where you would like these to be held.

She is also the co-founder and Trustee of Chalice Foundation Trust New Zealand, a charitable organisation with the mission of creating positive menstrual culture throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand through quality education for all menstruators and their surrounding communities.

As a Mother of four children Angela understands the demands on Mums’ time.  This gives her all the more appreciation for those who are willing to pause and connect with their daughters at this significant life transition time of menarche.

Outside of work Angela enjoys snowboarding, walking on the beach, reading a book, and being in the company of good friends, fine coffee and much laughter.

She looks forward to connecting with you.

Hei kona mai me ngā mihi.

PH:   (+64) 212 022 792    EMAIL:  angelafrasernz@gmail.com

Mariana grew up in Perú, and after graduating moved to the USA to continue her Design studies. After working as a Graphic Designer for 7 years she and her husband moved to London and set up their company Astralize Design & Animation Studio. Mariana’s children Anya and Zaya were born in 2007 and 2009. Motherhood and the awareness of having two little beings to nurture developed into a passion for Healthy Food & Nutrition for her, which ended up sprouting into a career and an ongoing journey towards understanding her body and how everything we surround ourselves with affects our health and wellbeing. The Mindful Sprout was born during the family’s sojourn with extended family in Tanzania.

In 2015 they moved to Spain, and Mariana continued her Herbal Studies, and expanded the workshops she ran to include children, tweens and teens.

Having lived in 4 continents and having access to multiple cultures, Mariana now finds it easy to adapt her knowledge for a diverse group of people and finds great joy being able to interact and learn from children and young adults. For her, Celebration Day for Girls is part of this universal language, without boundaries, without borders. Women are women everywhere in the world and we all have the same needs, emotions and powers. We speak the same language and the menarche conversation shall be passed on.

Mariana delights in running Celebration Day for Girls in Spain, Tanzania and Perú, and now in training others there and throughout South America to offer Celebration Day for Girls in their communities. Mariana also generously shares her design skills for all things Celebration Day for Girls, including social media.

Janoel’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Monash), Adv Dip in Group Facilitation, Graduate Certificate in Training Management, Advanced Diploma in Hospitality, Certificate IV TAE in Training and Assessment and Steiner Teacher Training. Janoel has taught at TAFE, university and in the community for over 20 years, and delights in holding a safe and engaging learning space for individuals and groups.

Janoel writes about women, their cycles and self-care (see her website www.stepintowomanhood.com) and offers annual mother-daughter coming-of-age retreats in Bali, Celebration Day for Girls workshops locally and teaches sexuality education and staff professional development for schools and health care professionals.

Janoel is the mother of two teens, and is a foodie, a reader and a storyteller, she loves daily walks with the family dog, and weekly yoga and dance.

PH: (0) (613) 408 664 919 EMAIL: contact.janoel@gmail.com

Growing up on a farm near the Little Desert National Park in Victoria, Australia Rachel has always felt a deep connection and appreciation of the natural world.  As a student Rachel gained a Bachelor of Applied Science and worked professionally in this field, later adding qualifications in Applied Photography and Yoga.

Since her teens Rachel has been fascinated by the experience of being a woman, exploring this through art, travel, sacred women’s circles and a gradual deepening of her relationship with her menstrual cycle through daily charting. This journey deepened with the pregnancy and births of her two children, after which she studied Women’s Mysteries and Rites of Passage with teachers such as Jane Bennett and Jane Hardwicke-Collings.

Rachel is passionate about supporting women and girls to develop a healthy relationship with their bodies and menstrual cycles. She believes honouring Rites of Passage for girls is imperative for young girls growing up in a culture where women are increasingly objectified and sexualised in the media.

In 2018 Rachel launched The Sacred Womb Journey, a ten-week program for women to connect deeply with themselves through observing and reflecting on their menstrual cycle, life stages and the cycles of nature. Rachel has delivered  Celebration Day for Girls and The Castlemaine Red Tent since 2015.  She also teaches the Moonsong Workshop, developed by Jane Hardwicke-Collings.

Rachel is currently completing her Masters in Social Work.

With a background in social work and clinical hypnotherapy Jane has worked with Natural Fertility Management for the last three decades, through which she became passionate about the need to transform inherited views of embarrassment and shame around menstruation (and the many knock on effects) into those that are conducive to menstrual, and general, wellbeing.

In 2000 Jane created Celebration Day for Girls, a program for 10-12 year-old girls with their mothers, and later Fathers Celebrating Daughters for dads. In 2012 she began to train facilitators to run these programs in their own communities. Celebration Day for Girls is now available in over 25 countries.

Jane is the author of A Blessing Not a Curse and Girltopia: A World of Real Conversations for Real Girls, and the co-author of About Bloody Time: The Menstrual Revolution We Have to Have, The Pill: Are You Sure It’s For You?, The Complete Guide to Optimum Conception, The Natural Fertility Management Contraception Kit and Woman Wise Conversation Cards.

In 2017 Jane founded the Chalice Foundation, a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to menstrual wellbeing, education and positive menstrual culture.

In 2008 Jane joined Andrew Lines, Graham Gallasch and the late and sorely missed Amrita Hobbs to adapt and rewrite The Rite Journey (then just available for boys) as a meaningful and intentional year-long rite of passage program and manual for girls. Positive menstrual education is an intrinsic aspect of the program for all young people, with comprehensive educational material provided for teachers.

Jane is a proud mother and grandmother, and lives with her husband Kim in the granite wilds of Central Victoria.

Brigitte’s early professional life was as an engineer. After having three children, she retrained in psychotherapy, with a specialization in clinical psychology for children and teenagers. At the same time, she  worked as a trainer and a coach, for individuals and teams in the medical world.

Since 2003 she has offered individual and group adult sessions, as well as sessions for children, teenagers, couples and families. She has created a psychotherapeutic women’s circle, Women’s Lands and has developed workshops about puberty, menstruation, sexuality, menopause, and all the thresholds of a women’s life.

As a girl she had to find her way to femininity alone. As a psychotherapist, she sees the same lack of intentional transmission, the suffering that arises from that, and for many the long hard journey to confident womanhood.

After training with Jane Bennett, Brigitte has delivered Celebration Day for Girls to mothers and daughters in France since 2014. She is now excited to be training new facilitators in France and the French-speaking world.

PH: (+33) 603 837 930  EMAIL: terresdefemmes@outlook.fr

Emily first had the joy of training with Jane in 2012 and has been running Celebration Days ever since, soon adding Fathers Celebrating Daughters alongside and loves being able to use both these workshops to support families. In 2016 she co-founded The Real Period Project CIC, a social enterprise that promotes wellbeing through menstrual cycle education. Through this she has developed extensive menstrual education materials for schools and young people and the Bristol Period Friendly Schools guidance program. She has trained and worked with Red School, recently developing their online course for mothers of girls. Since 2018 she has been involved in training new Celebration Day for Girls facilitators and loves bringing the Celebration Day magic to new trainees. Most of all she loves getting to work with Jane and the wonderful trainer team! Alongside her menstrual work Emily is a nurse in a Bristol GP practice and is passionate about promoting and improving women’s health services. She lives in Bristol, UK, is mum to a glorious teenage daughter and most loves early mornings on the allotment.