There is something that happens when women sit in a circle together. The walls come down. The masks slip off. And in the space between one woman's story and another's nod of recognition, healing begins. Not the kind you find in a bottle or a prescription pad, but the deep, ancient kind that women have accessed for thousands of years: the healing of being truly seen.
When I started hosting women's circles in the Glastonbury, Connecticut area, I did not fully understand the power of what we were creating. I knew I wanted to bring women together around herbal wellness and shared experience. What I did not expect was how profoundly the community itself would become the medicine.
Why Women's Circles Are Making a Comeback
We live in a paradox. We are more connected than ever through technology, yet loneliness among women is at epidemic levels. A 2023 survey by the American Psychiatric Association found that over one-third of American adults experience serious loneliness. For women in midlife—many of whom are navigating perimenopause while raising teenagers, caring for aging parents, and managing careers—the isolation can be particularly acute.
Women's circles are the antidote. They are not new. In every culture across every century, women have gathered in circles to share wisdom, mark transitions, support each other through childbirth, loss, and change. The formal structure may have faded from modern Western life, but the need never went away.
Now, women are reclaiming this practice. Across Connecticut and beyond, circles are forming in living rooms, yoga studios, community centers, and gardens. Women are hungry for real connection—the kind that does not exist in a comment section or a group chat.
The Power of Community During Hormonal Transitions
Perimenopause is one of the most significant transitions in a woman's life, yet most of us navigate it in near silence. We might mention our hot flashes to a friend at lunch or Google our symptoms at two in the morning, but the deep, honest conversation about what this passage means and feels like? That rarely happens.
This is where women's circles become transformative. When you sit across from another woman who is also waking up drenched in sweat, who is also wondering where her patience went, who is also grieving the body she used to know—something in your nervous system relaxes. You are not alone. You are not broken. You are in a passage, and you are in good company.
Research supports what our grandmothers intuitively knew. Studies published in journals like Psychoneuroendocrinology have shown that positive social interactions between women trigger the release of oxytocin, which directly counteracts cortisol and reduces inflammation. In other words, women's circles are not just emotionally healing—they are physiologically healing.
What Happens at an Asana Crystal Women's Circle
Every circle is unique, but there is a rhythm to our gatherings that participants tell me they look forward to all month. Here is what a typical evening looks like:
Opening & Grounding
We begin by arriving. Not just physically, but energetically. We light a candle, take a few collective breaths, and set an intention for the evening. Each woman receives a cup of herbal tea crafted specifically for the season—warming blends in winter, cooling and floral infusions in summer.
Herbal Wellness Education
Each circle features a short teaching on an herbal ally relevant to women's health. We might explore the adaptogenic properties of ashwagandha, learn how to make a hormone-supportive tincture at home, or discuss the traditional uses of vitex berry for cycle support. This is practical wisdom you can take home and use immediately.
Circle Sharing
This is the heart of the evening. Using a talking piece (a beautiful stone from my personal crystal collection), each woman has the opportunity to share what is alive for her. There is no advice-giving, no fixing, no interrupting. Just witnessing. For many women, this is the first time in years—sometimes ever—that they have been listened to without someone trying to solve their experience.
Ritual & Closing
We close with a simple ritual—perhaps a guided meditation, a collective affirmation, or a writing exercise. Each woman leaves with a small herbal gift: a tea blend, a salve, or a sachet to continue the circle's energy at home.
How Shared Experiences Accelerate Healing
One of the most powerful things I witness in our circles is what I call the "me too" moment. It happens when one woman bravely shares something she thought was just her problem—the rage that comes out of nowhere, the way she does not recognize herself some days, the grief for a body that seems to be changing without her consent—and three other women in the circle exhale and say, "I thought it was just me."
That moment is medicine. When you realize that your experience is shared, the shame dissolves. The isolation lifts. And in its place, something extraordinary emerges: collective wisdom. Women start sharing what has worked for them. The herbs that helped their sleep. The boundary they finally set. The morning practice that changed their week. This organic exchange of wisdom is more powerful than any single practitioner could offer alone.
I have watched women come to their first circle with their arms crossed and their guard up, and by the third gathering, they are the ones opening the space for newcomers. Community changes us. It reminds us that we are not meant to do this alone.
Building Wellness Community in the Glastonbury Area
Glastonbury, Connecticut, and the surrounding Hartford County communities have a beautiful tradition of women supporting women. From local farms and artisan markets to yoga studios and wellness practitioners, there is an infrastructure of care here that makes it the perfect home for this work.
Our Asana Crystal women's circles draw women from across the region—Glastonbury, Hartford, West Hartford, Farmington, Simsbury, South Windsor, Manchester, and beyond. What unites them is not geography but a shared desire for authentic connection and a willingness to explore natural approaches to wellness.
We hold our circles monthly, typically on an evening near the new or full moon, honoring the cyclical nature of women's bodies and lives. Gatherings are intimate—usually eight to twelve women—because real connection requires a container small enough to hold it.
Join Our Next Circle
If something in this article stirred a longing in you, I want you to trust that. The desire for community is not weakness. It is wisdom. Your body knows that healing happens faster and goes deeper when it is witnessed.
You do not need to be an expert in herbs. You do not need to have your life together. You do not even need to know what to say. You just need to show up. The circle will hold the rest.
Our upcoming women's circles are open to all women in the Glastonbury, CT area and beyond. Whether you are deep in the trenches of perimenopause, just beginning to notice changes, or simply craving connection with other women who care about wellness, there is a seat for you.
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for announcements about upcoming gatherings, or reach out directly to be added to our circle mailing list.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any new wellness practice or supplement regimen.