Zahava is a trauma-informed and certified reproductive health teacher from New York with an MA in Education. She founded The Rose School with the mission to create spaces of remembrance, where people can feel safe to make informed choices for their overall well-being, connect to their intuition, and reclaim body sovereignty.

What inspired you to set up your Red Tent?

Zahava: I began the Red Tents because I was surprised that I could not easily find one that followed the ethos of the global Red Tent movement in New York. New York is a full, dense, and abundant city; however, with all its fragments, it can leave people feeling alone and disconnected and it felt crucial to have an ongoing space for women to come to meet and to, simply, be together. I had just moved back to New York and within the first month back, began hosting monthly gatherings. It began with just 2 or 3 women in yoga studios, coworking spaces, and other people’s houses and a year later has now organically grown to a community of over 100 women. There clearly was a yearning for a space for women to gather. Other women doing this work around the world have inspired me to set up the Red Tent as well. Such as Red Tent guardian Claudia, who has shared her wisdom with me in creating this space aligned with the Rent Tent ethos.

What do you see as your most important job as a space holder/facilitator of women’s spaces?

Zahava: What’s most important as a space holder of women’s spaces is warmth and creating a space where women feel like they’re coming home. I want every woman to feel that they can be in the space and just melt, relax, be present and know that whatever was before and is after the time we are together will be there, but for that moment, they could be present in the space that we’ve created together.

Do you think the menstrual cycle can act as a focus for community-building among women? How?

Zahava: Yes, completely. There are blossoming Red Tent communities around the world and I am also cultivating a beautiful community around my online workshops and courses, which are centered around menstrual cycle awareness and reproductive health. The menstrual cycle is the red thread that connects us all.

What does having a community centered around menstruation give you?

Zahava: The menstrual cycle is something that connects us all - humans have originated from a menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, many of us have been taught to forget the power we hold in our bodies, which may lead to some of the all too common physical and emotional discomforts women experience. Menstrual symptoms are not normal, it is not a package deal, but they have become normalized. The potential shame felt around the menstrual cycle and fertility can also feel very isolating. When we commune together as women, openly connecting to our bodies and our cycles, we can share comfort, education, resources, and authenticity, which can lead to expanded empowerment, sovereignty, confidence, and overall health. Connecting to our menstrual cycle, connects us to our creative power, our vital life force, and our unique essence. Connecting deeper to ourselves, allows for pathways to more authentically connect with others. The blood mysteries are no longer meant to be mysterious and circling with women dissolves the societal walls that isolate us from our strength and each other. Women are traveling from all over New York, without previously knowing me or other women in the circle, following their intuitive guidance to come BE together, hold one another, and sing together around a fire. It is time for us to gather, collaborate, and support one another and centering circles around menstruation plants seeds of community in fertile grounds to unfurl and blossom with strong roots. There is a Malay proverb that says "A tree with strong roots laughs at storms.” Yes, it’s time for women to laugh together.

Tell us more about your Red Tent!

Zahava: Our monthly New Moon Red Tents are usually at my home in Brooklyn. We gather upstairs in a beautiful, cozy room filled with roses, books, tea, and candles for our sharing circle, where each woman has time to speak about what they feel needs to be witnessed, released, or expressed and can share what they need/want from the community and if they would like to share anything with the community. Then, we transition down to the kitchen and backyard for a potluck and sunset fire where we can give/receive what was expressed earlier as well as share poetry, songs, and other gifts with one another around the fire.

An interview with Zahava Rose of ‘The Rose School’

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An interview with Zahava Rose of ‘The Rose School’

Event Information:

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