Discover the power of menopause to awaken your authority and purpose
🔥Rite of passage ceremony with music by Di Burrup🔥
You’re moving through the mystery of midlife. And it feels like the ground is shifting beneath you.
Maybe your sleep is off.
Maybe your moods are all over the place.
Maybe you feel stretched thin, tender, or invisible.
You’re not able to handle things like you used to.
Or maybe you’re already on the other side of menopause and wondering, Now what? You feel something is incomplete.
Whether you’re in the confusing menopause transition or you’ve crossed the threshold into postmenopause, you’re not alone.
You want to understand what’s actually happening to your body and spirit.
You want to feel seen, supported, and celebrated, and not pathologized or just treated for your isolated symptoms.
You want to walk your midlife becoming with reverence and meaning.
That’s what this retreat is for.
This is your invitation to step out of the noise of daily life and into a brave circle of women walking this path with you.

Menopause is a soul awakening
This is a call to imagine or reimagine your menopause journey. To be seen, honored, and celebrated.

Join perimenopause guide and educator Jeni Enns for an empowering weekend of dignifying menopause. Claim your wise power in the caring witness of others who come together to create connections and experience profound growth.

This is a unique invitation to join an immersive retreat designed to help you confidently step into your wholeness, forged during the great clearing out of midlife. If you've been navigating your peri-/menopausal journey in isolation, then here you'll find a safe haven to experience your transformation in community with others.

Menopause is so much more expansive than the medicalized symptoms and suffering our culture has led us to believe it's all about. It's the threshold to your deepest becoming. A ceremony will be created to help reclaim the wisdom held within your body and spirit. Ceremonies are healing because through the process, something shifts deep inside us. This is an opportunity for integration. The final phase of the ceremony needs community so you're seen and witnessed.



While it's great that menopause is rising in our public awareness, most of the support materials out there are focused on symptom management or keeping us rolling along as usual in our careers and lives.

There is a very crucial aspect of menopause that is being completely missed: At its core, it's a deep initiation, a disruptor to our lives, and it's calling us to withdraw from the world, to rest, and to hold space for this profound process. Initiations are meant to be challenging, and for sure when we come out the other side, we're not the same person we were.
What you'll experience


Over this weekend, you'll receive nourishment and support for perimenopause and menopause so you understand what you're experiencing and are able to navigate this time of your life with a solid framework to support you. You'll:

Navigate the initiatory phases of menopause and receive their unique gifts.
Learn why you need to drop as much as you can in your life and rest, rest, and rest some more...and also learn the 1% rule.
Learn to recognize and accept where you are in your peri- or menopause process.
Embrace the great reckoning and clearing out of the first half of your life so you can grow into your post-menopausal years clean, clear, and vibrant.
Gain a sense of hope and vision for your "second spring" and the rising of your energy and power post-menopause.

About the retreat
The autumn of early October is an auspicious time for this retreat weekend, as menopause is all about transitioning into the autumn phase of our lives. The retreat itself will be an embodied journey through the menopause passage over the weekend, starting with perimenopause.

The retreat will include:

Teachings.
Experiential exercises including embodied movement to music.
Time for rest and replenishment.
🔥 A hot flash fire ceremony, with music by Di Burrup, claiming your sacred rite of passage, and a crown will be placed on your head signifying your sovereignty and wisdom.

The retreat will be limited to 8-10 people, to foster connection.

The fire will be outside, weather permitting. If the weather is bad, it will be in the Main House fireplace.

The weekend will include all meals from Friday dinner through Sunday brunch.
About the ceremony
Part of the rite of passage ceremony will be climbing down a short stairway into our storm shelter, Cave of the Mothers. Caves have been places of initiation for thousands of years and this journey represents a descent and then a rebirth as you emerge. It will be softly lit and there will be a comfy chair to sit in for your part of the ceremony. If you feel you may be afraid of small spaces or you can't physically make it down, please let us know so we can create an alternative experience. We want to make sure you are comfortable and feeling safe!

After the retreat, when you are integrating, I will hold our circle in prayer for a month to support you in your continued healing. You are welcome to join in this, as we all heal together.
Who this is for
This weekend is for you if you're:

In your 40s and navigating perimenopause.
Actively in your menopause transition.
Postmenopausal and wanting to claim your experience, especially if you feel incomplete with your menopause, as if something is missing.

What this is

An exploration of the psycho-emotional-spiritual aspects of menopause. 
Compassionate sharing and listening.
Learning about the empowering, positive aspects of menopause.

What this is not

Focusing on physical symptom management and issues.
Rehashing negative rhetoric around menopause. 
Trying to ignore or bypass menopause for the powerful effect it has on our lives.

Menopause kit
You'll get a menopause bundle that includes:

All the information taught during the weekend, as well as remedies, resources, and ideas to nourish and support yourself.
Journal.
A candle and a crown, as tangible reminders of your inner sovereignty.
Some goodies to soothe and delight you.

What to bring

Bring things to place on our communal altar that speaks to you about menopause. It can represent something you're letting go of, or looking forward to, or anything that represents menopause to you.
Bring something special to wear for our rite of passage ceremony. Examples: a special dress, a shawl, a tiara, jewelry, or anything that will make the ritual feel special and sacred to you. However, note that the fire will be outside, weather permitting.
🔥If you feel called, bring something to burn in the ceremonial fire that you're releasing, such as a journal or an artwork that represents something from your younger self.

Lodging
You can choose to stay overnight in a cabin or to commute to the retreat every day from your home. If you choose to commute, we kindly ask that you commit yourself to the weekend and the schedule of the retreat to avoid disruptions to the group.

You can optionally add-on Thursday night if you want an extra day to relax at the Forest before the retreat starts. To do this, add-on an extra night during the registration process. This is highly encouraged if you're in the midst of your menopause and just need a break.
Testimonials
The retreat was so nourishing and eye-opening. Through it I came to understand that I am not alone in my experiences, that there is a framework for navigating this time of life with greater perspective and skillfulness, and that I do have sacred gifts to offer and a sacred duty of care to uphold. It was grounding, empowering, connecting, and inspiring. I am so grateful for the teaching and for the friends I made while there.

Amy
 
Every detail of the retreat felt intentional, and Jeni's enthusiasm overflowed throughout this retreat (truly contagious). The Bede center was transformed into a sacred space for us to gather, learn, and share. Jeni's authenticity and transparent disclosure of her own journey invited others to show up authentically/vulnerably (and this vulnerability was present in the very first sharing circle).

Crystal
 
I learned more about menopause this weekend than I ever had. I appreciated the honest conversations with a fantastic group of understanding women going through the same physical changes. 

Anonymous
See this video for a taste of this retreat experience
Schedule
(Subject to change)
Friday
1:30-5:30 Arrival, check in, settle into cabins if staying overnight
4:30 Forest community meditation (optional)
5:30 Dinner and introductions
6:30 Opening ceremony and sharing
8:00 Perimenopause: The Quickening and entering the menopause Hinterland

9:30 Yoga nidra for sleep (optional)
Saturday
7:00 Forest community meditation (optional)
7:00-9:00 Self-serve silent breakfast
9:00 Enter chamber 1 of the rite of passage: descent
10:30 Break

10:45 Enter chamber 2 of the rite of passage: healing
12:30 Lunch and free time.
2:00 Enter chamber 3 of the rite of passage: mirror of your wholeness and calling (the throne room)
4:00 Prepare for our evening rite of passage ceremony 🔥 and free time
5:30 Silent dinner (to help hold the deep space for the ceremony)
7:00 Rite of passage ceremony 
Sunday
7:00 Forest community meditation (optional)
7:00-9:00 Self-serve silent breakfast
9:00 Enter chamber 4 of the rite of passage: emergence

10:00 Closing ceremony and sharing time
11:00 Brunch and good-byes

Cancelation policy
If the reservation is canceled within the 7 days before the scheduled retreat date and time, a credit towards a future stay is provided. A credit is valid for one year from date of issue.

If the reservation is canceled up until the 7th day before the scheduled retreat date and time, a refund will be issued, minus any credit card transaction fees and donations. Refunds will be made to the original credit card on file or by check within two weeks of the notice of cancelation.

An exception may be made in the case of illness, death in the family, or inclement weather, in which case  a credit towards a future stay is provided. A credit is valid for one year from date of issue.

Any donations added to a registration can’t be refunded. Read More