Rituals for Menopause

This 6-hour, online, live workshop focuses on the creation of rituals for menopause. Participants will study and reflect upon the need for such rituals drawing upon our world’s wisdom traditions. The creation of individually meaningful and inspiring rituals (menopause rites of passage) is the central aim of our study/practice together.

Tuition for this workshop is donation based.

*Image from Vitality Health article on menopause.

Minimum price: $20.00

Description

What does it mean for women to enter into their 40s and 50s?
What does it mean when one’s reproductive and menstrual cycles end?
H
ow can we mark menopause with the significance, support, and respect it deserves?

 

This January, join Institute founder and director, Amy Wright Glenn, for an 6-hour, online, live workshop that involves study, discussion, reflection, and the creation of individually meaningful rituals to mark the transition into menopause. It is time to transform our hyper-medicalized approach to menopause in a culture that idealizes female youth and fertility. It is time to restore respect and honor to all stages of a women’s life cycle.

Tuesdays January 16, 30, & February 13
7-9pm EST 

*Participants are welcome to complete the workshop via recordings provided to all who register.

 


Participants in Rituals for Menopause will explore how menopause is understood in our world’s wisdom traditions with a special emphasis on the creation of individual rituals of meaning drawing upon each participant’s unique path of living, spirit, and connection.

Amy Wright Glenn, a scholar of comparative religion/philosophy and the founder/director of the Institute, will support participants in the creation of rituals of meaning and provide contextualization with regard to how menopause is understood today ~ with a special emphasis on how contemporary yoga teachers as well as a contemporary Christian scholar views menopause as part of life’s spiritual journey. Along the way, participants will be challenged to consider how women can envision a better menopause.

Content for the course will, in part, be drawn upon the following two books. Participants are welcomed ~ though it is not required ~ to purchase and read:

  1. Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause ~ An Unexpected Spiritual Journey by Cheryl Bridges John ~ a leading academic voice for ecumenical dialogue in the modern Christian tradition.
  2. Menopause Yoga by Petra Coveney ~ founder of Menopause Yoga and a leading voice in the yoga teacher community for adapting yoga philosophy and practice to support women through menopause.

*Please note, this course isn’t rooted in either the yogic or Christian tradition ~ even as examples from these traditions (and others) will serve as points of reflection. This course is rooted in practice. How do we create rituals of meaning around menopause in a culture where there is nearly a complete absence of such rituals?

The creation of individually crafted and meaningful rituals ~ that can be incorporated into one’s daily self-care/life or performed once as a marker of time/transition ~ is the focus of this course. Those who participate in all three 2-hour modules (either live or recorded), complete the readings, and craft their own ritual of meaning will earn an 8-hour certificate of completion from the Institute.

All women, wherever they are in their reproductive journeys are welcome to join this study. Women entering their 40s will particularly find it inspiring and important.


 

 

 

Women deserve to experience these changes in their bodies equipped with facts and free of fear, shame or secrecy.

~ Dr. Jen Gunter, author of The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto

 

 

 

 

Certificates of Completion issued by the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death are offered for all who complete the training/workshop. Participants have open access to complete the training requirements, as long as the course is active on the Institute’s website. Once purchased, participants have life-long access to course materials ~ as long as they are available in this format.


I am 41 years old so I’m not quite there yet but I felt like I was able to soak in the beauty of everyone’s wisdom- to give myself this gift before I arrive to the fullness of perimenopause. I feel grateful to you for creating this course and holding space so beautifully. To give honor to something that is usually hushed away and to feel held in that space where we could honor menopause and our bodies. We’re taught in our culture that our female bodies are everyone else’s but our own and your words were a deep reminder that this body is my own. Thank you so much.

~ Nikki E., California