While some of us are tackling the lingering stigma around the very normal, natural process of menstruation by fighting for free tampons for students or refusing to hide our period products up our sleeve on the way to the loo, one woman has chosen to fight the power by smearing her period blood all over her face.

Yazmina Jade is a self-proclaimed blood witch and spirit healer who’s dedicated to ‘reclaiming the Feminine through embodiment and sisterhood.’

A few days ago Yazmina chose to apply her own menstrual blood to her face, as a way to connect with her own body.

‘Through my teenage years and early 20s didn’t enjoy or care for my monthly period,’ Yazmina wrote on Instagram.

‘You could say I had an unhealthy relationship with my monthly bleed and didn’t really enjoy getting it at all!!! There was a COMPLETE disconnect from my womb and how I felt towards bleeding.

‘I would use tampons that often hurt and felt so unnatural (a form of self abuse really).

‘I had no idea, no guidance and I just did what everyone else did, EVEN though it didn’t feel good OR NATURAL at all.

‘It’s taken me years to realise that bleeding is a sacred ritual time, for women to go inward, to let go, to create, to use in powerful manifestation and to honour our womb power and MOTHER EARTH..

I have been drawn more and more to reconnecting with my body and especially the womb…

‘We hold sacred wisdom with our wombs. Our BLOOD holds the same wisdom, it’s something to be celebrated, honoured and worshipped. Not hiddened, disowned and sanitized.

‘We have shamed ourselves as women for bleeding, men have placed this taboo on us for bleeding. It’s a time to reclaim our power through reclaiming that which comes naturally for us.. It’s a blessing.’

As a way to reclaim the power of menstruation, Yazmina now does a ritual each month, which involves connecting with her womb while she bleeds, using a menstrual cup so she can see her own blood, and then using her menstrual fluid in her garden or applying it to her face so she can learn a greater love and respect for her body.

When Yazmina shared a photo of the ritual online, she received backlash from people who called her ‘sick’.

She’s since created a video to explain why she feels her menstrual ritual is so powerful, and how she hopes sharing her experiences will take down the shame and silence around menstruation.

‘As women, we’re deeply disconnected with our bodies because of societal shame,’ Yazmina explains.

‘I decided to place the blood all over my face, and taste it to reclaim that part of myself. I could truly embody all that I was.

‘Through the ritual of painting it on my face, it deepened my bond with my body. I felt this overwhelming love with myself I have never experienced before.’

Yazmina hopes that by sharing her ritual with others, she’ll inspire other women to embrace their periods instead of hiding them.

‘There is too much taboo surrounding this natural cycle. By showing this publicly, I think it shows that it’s actually ok to feel connected to it,’ she says.

‘Honouring all of oneself is where true power lies, so when you start to realise it’s not so taboo, that’s when you experience what life is about.

‘I am definitely inviting women to explore their own ways with the power of blood. It holds a powerful energy and history with magic and spellcasting.

‘This is about reclaiming that power. It’s about connecting with your whole being and exploring all of ourselves.

‘The blood is an honouring of that. It’s a very creative energy, but it’s also a life-fore. If we didn’t bleed, there would be no life!’

Source : metro.co.uk