Let’s talk about our growing isolation…

In our already very individualistic society, factors such as:

• technological advances (in particular social media),

• non-changing wages that cannot keep up with the rise of inflation, causing us to work more,

• people moving away from their families and communities,

• an increasing rise in chronic stress and dysregulation, leading to mental and physical illness,

• and so much more…

is only perpetuating our dysregulation.

Our loneliness, hyper-independence, and fear of receiving support, has a detrimental impact on the female nervous system. Why?

The female nervous system is more socially adapt (any surprise there?), so we naturally have a more "tend-and-befriend" stress response.

Therefore, women are more regulated by oxytocin (the love bonding hormone released during physical touch, intimacy, uplifting community) vs. dopamine (the hormone associated with accomplishing and receiving rewards).

We live in a very dopamine driven society, obsessed with performance, numbers, and achieving endless goals and tasks. Sure, achievement has its place, but here’s the thing: for the female body, this masculine-driven model can be deeply harmful.

We were never meant to hustle, grind, or overextend ourselves every - single - day. Especially by ourselves.

We are designed to thrive through nourishment, not endless doing - and through connection, not isolation.

Sometimes, we do not need more dogmatic routines and practices… we actually just need each other.

Many nervous system teachers talk about how to self-regulate and use all of the regulating resources on yourself, which ABSOLUTELY has its place. However, a big missing component that we are not talking about enough is co-regulation.

I see self-regulation and co-regulation as a continuous feedback loop. The more you co-regulate, the easier it is to self-regulate, and vice versa.

The benefits of community:

• Positive, uplifting female friendships promote the release of oxytocin because of the deep emotional sharing, welcomed vulnerability, comforting, and bonding that occurs. 

• Co-regulation promotes nervous system resiliency and expansion, which enables you to give and create from a place of alignment and love - you genuinely want to do it (rather than feeling like you have to do it).

• Helps you to heal your sister wounds and your witch wounds too.  

  ~ The Sister Wound is the jealousy, comparison, and mistrust many women feel toward each other. It’s a survival response rooted in patriarchal systems that taught us to compete instead of connect.

  ~ The Witch Wound is the inherited collective trauma of (mostly*) women being punished and killed during the Burning Times; this manifests today as many women being afraid to put themselves out there, to use their voice, to truly step into their full feminine power. 

  ~ By healing these wounds through genuine and loving support, friendship, and community, you will live less in survival mode, comparison, and defense. No longer will you feel isolated, but rather a part of a collective healing movement that will re-calibrate every cell in your body.

  Therefore, women coming together today is a reclamation of our ancestors, all past of the women, all women of the future, and of ourselves. 

CEREMONY 

For thousands of years, women gathered in ceremony together. 

Women's circles were suppressed during the Medieval Era and the Witch Hunts. However, the ancient remembrance of this tradition was not completely squandered. 

Although you ask most people today in our society if they know what a women's circle is and they look at you as if you have three heads, there is a little seedling that is growing and slowly spreading…. 

The rise of women holding ceremonial space is slowly inching its way back into our modern day society. 

I was introduced to a women's circle for the first time in December of 2023.

As I was walking to the event, I thought to myself, "What am I getting myself into?"

I entered into the room. It was dark,

…but there were candles placed on the altar in the middle of the circle that added a mystical ambiance to the room. Around the altar were oven-dried oranges and pine wrapped together, accompanied by crystals, feathers, and other Earthly decorations. 

The ceremony was magickal. Although there was a facilitator, there was no hierarchy. There were no judgments. Just pure love.

I truly felt freedom, and like I belonged… for the first time in my life. 

There was a certain feeling that arose from deep within my bones... like I've been to one of these before in my past lives. Chills went down my spine. I knew at that point that everything was aligning too perfectly. This was my calling. 

Earlier in 2023 I started to dabble in my witchcraft,

…but I was still a closet witch. I was too ashamed, too afraid, to let anyone know that I was "toying with magick." 

Even my own religious indoctrination and societal messages about "evil witches" from childhood crept in my mind: "Don't be surprised if a demon possesses you tonight. I bet that everyone is going to think you are a weirdo - you will never have any friends or a lover if you proceed. Stop while you can." 

But I did not stop. And eventually, I fully embraced the term "witch."

The original root of the word 'wit,' in witch, means wise.

Witches were the healers, medicine women, the High Priestesses, the outspoken women, the old wise women. They were more than just “baby-making machines,” they played pivotal roles in their communities. These women had purpose and meaning in their lives; they were expressive, creative, embodied, and empowered.

I wholeheartedly have to thank my witchcraft for helping me reclaim not only my power, but that of my ancestors. Me embracing this identity has made the work that I do possible today.

This is absolutely not to say you need to be a witch to do this!! But, the point that I am driving home to you is to be your most authentic and ‘weird’ self, to embody and speak your truth, and to have genuine, real people to do it with - that's all.

Community, ceremony, nervous system regulation, cyclical living, and my dharma have not only healed me…

… on a body, mind, social, financial, emotional, and spiritual level, but it has sparked the biggest fire in me to break free from my blockages, my past, and my old pro-hustle reality… the fire that has allowed me to share my vulnerability and "taboo" insights to strangers, in hopes that it will make you feel less alone. To remind you that you are deeply supported and so incredibly loved.

If you would love to further explore these topics, then sign up for my newsletter, read my blog posts, and follow me on my socials.

If you are in the CT area, I would love to have a woman like you join a circle.