A workshop on the Initiation of Menopause.
About 12 years ago while at a training with one of my teachers, Nancy Gilgoff (who was in her late 60s at the time) I tentatively raised my hand during a Q&A, and asked:
"Can you tell me about how you managed during menopause? What happened to you, to your body? How did you navigate it?"
Nancy's eyes lit up, and she immediately answered, in a voice ringing with confidence and joy, "Do NOT fear this change! It is NATURAL - and it is beautiful! You become the Wise Woman!!"
Her words set me on to a path that helped me manage my menopause sensibly and without fear or anxiety. Now finally, joyfully menopausal, I've come to believe 2023 is going to be the year of the Menopausal Woman: the return of the Wise Women has arrived, to help our weary world.
Becoming the Wise Woman
Sunday April 16, 2023
1-4:30pm
This workshop will be held in-person
at the Playhouse, 112 Thayer Hill Road, Worthington, MA
AND on Zoom for distance learners.
I've grown wiser through my contemplation and study of this amazing transformative time of our lives. It is a rite of passage that is truly challenging, and yet it should be embraced versus fought or avoided. I invite you to join me to learn some of the things I've discovered along the way through my own transition: concepts, ideas and information that helped me manage the initiation of menopause holistically and sensibly (and without turning to Hormone Replacement Therapy, too.) It does not matter how old you are, if you feel you are far from menopause, know or suspect you are perimenopausal, or even past menopause: the things we will learn together in this workshop are a means to explore and care for bodies of all ages!
This change is inevitable, yet is best viewed as NOT a cause for anxiety or grief, NOR something that needs to be “fixed", but rather, an entirely natural and beautiful process—an initition into the very kind of human being that is so vastly needed in our day and age. The kind of human that is embodied by the loving, truthful, discerning and fearless feminine power of the Wise Woman—a power that for far too long has been denied, avoided and derided through the myopic conditioning of patriarchal misinformation, fear and rejection.
We'll also explore:
-a Vedic goddess myth that "flips the script" on the hot flash and helps eradicate partriarchal misconceptions about women's empowerment;
-a beautiful, simple Sanskrit chant to balance, strengthen and empower before, during and after this transition;
-a simple pranayama practice that really helps ease hot flashes;
-a short grounding and nourishing asana practice and balancing pranayama to do everyday to manage your change;
-three simple daily practice rituals of self care (dinacharya) from the wisdom of Ayurveda.
All of these are inexpensive long term practices I turned to and began to make part of my daily habits of self-care. You can learn them and integrate them into your life, too, and help manage your initiaion into the Wise Woman. Each of these practices work together, compounding over weeks, months and years, offering a means to transitioning with much greater ease: balancing my life, and helping me embrace and find acceptance and joy in my new wise woman body - I want to share them with you!
About 12 years ago while at a training with one of my teachers, Nancy Gilgoff (who was in her late 60s at the time) I tentatively raised my hand during a Q&A, and asked:
"Can you tell me about how you managed during menopause? What happened to you, to your body? How did you navigate it?"
Nancy's eyes lit up, and she immediately answered, in a voice ringing with confidence and joy, "Do NOT fear this change! It is NATURAL - and it is beautiful! You become the Wise Woman!!"
Her words set me on to a path that helped me manage my menopause sensibly and without fear or anxiety. Now finally, joyfully menopausal, I've come to believe 2023 is going to be the year of the Menopausal Woman: the return of the Wise Women has arrived, to help our weary world.
Becoming the Wise Woman
Sunday April 16, 2023
1-4:30pm
This workshop will be held in-person
at the Playhouse, 112 Thayer Hill Road, Worthington, MA
AND on Zoom for distance learners.
I've grown wiser through my contemplation and study of this amazing transformative time of our lives. It is a rite of passage that is truly challenging, and yet it should be embraced versus fought or avoided. I invite you to join me to learn some of the things I've discovered along the way through my own transition: concepts, ideas and information that helped me manage the initiation of menopause holistically and sensibly (and without turning to Hormone Replacement Therapy, too.) It does not matter how old you are, if you feel you are far from menopause, know or suspect you are perimenopausal, or even past menopause: the things we will learn together in this workshop are a means to explore and care for bodies of all ages!
- We'll learn menopause basics - what it is, how it generally unfolds, how our medical establishment often pathologizes what is entirely natural;
- We'll cover some of the issues and concerns that plague and stress women as they enter this "time of life";
- I'll share alternative traditional views as well as as well as more sensible, less condemning beliefs about female bodies in flux;
- You'll learn the rest of Nancy's wonderful, powerful teaching about menopause, one that helps to transform anxieties about this time into curiosity, strength and hope;
- I'll offer a more grounded, beneficial and alternative perspective on menopause, and a sensible means to navigating this amazing evolution of the body and mind, too.
This change is inevitable, yet is best viewed as NOT a cause for anxiety or grief, NOR something that needs to be “fixed", but rather, an entirely natural and beautiful process—an initition into the very kind of human being that is so vastly needed in our day and age. The kind of human that is embodied by the loving, truthful, discerning and fearless feminine power of the Wise Woman—a power that for far too long has been denied, avoided and derided through the myopic conditioning of patriarchal misinformation, fear and rejection.
We'll also explore:
-a Vedic goddess myth that "flips the script" on the hot flash and helps eradicate partriarchal misconceptions about women's empowerment;
-a beautiful, simple Sanskrit chant to balance, strengthen and empower before, during and after this transition;
-a simple pranayama practice that really helps ease hot flashes;
-a short grounding and nourishing asana practice and balancing pranayama to do everyday to manage your change;
-three simple daily practice rituals of self care (dinacharya) from the wisdom of Ayurveda.
All of these are inexpensive long term practices I turned to and began to make part of my daily habits of self-care. You can learn them and integrate them into your life, too, and help manage your initiaion into the Wise Woman. Each of these practices work together, compounding over weeks, months and years, offering a means to transitioning with much greater ease: balancing my life, and helping me embrace and find acceptance and joy in my new wise woman body - I want to share them with you!
You'll receive:
-Your own basic Ayurvedic self-care/dinacharya starter kit;
-healthy and simple Ayurvedic recipes designed to cultivate better digestion and sounder sleep;
-tips on cultivating habits of self-care over time to create compounding benefits and an easier transition;
-a handout of all these practices, including a bibliography of resources (books and online media) for your own continued exploration of the initiation into the Wise Woman!
There will be time and space for short discussion and questions and two short breaks. (For those of you seeking more long-form discussion and sharing of your own experiences and story, consider participating in the four part sharing circle, Menopause in Sisterhood, I'm currently helping to facilitate!)
$45-$65 sliding scale, paid via cash, check in person or:
Venmo @Michelle-Ryan-57
Paypal: michelleryanyoga @ gmail.com
FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS OR TO HOLD YOUR SPACE!
PRE-REGISTRATION is required; no drop-ins, please.
5 students minimum, 10 maximum in person;
4 students maximum on Zoom.
-Your own basic Ayurvedic self-care/dinacharya starter kit;
-healthy and simple Ayurvedic recipes designed to cultivate better digestion and sounder sleep;
-tips on cultivating habits of self-care over time to create compounding benefits and an easier transition;
-a handout of all these practices, including a bibliography of resources (books and online media) for your own continued exploration of the initiation into the Wise Woman!
There will be time and space for short discussion and questions and two short breaks. (For those of you seeking more long-form discussion and sharing of your own experiences and story, consider participating in the four part sharing circle, Menopause in Sisterhood, I'm currently helping to facilitate!)
$45-$65 sliding scale, paid via cash, check in person or:
Venmo @Michelle-Ryan-57
Paypal: michelleryanyoga @ gmail.com
- You may pay all at once, or with a $25 nonrefundable minimum deposit to simply hold your space, in person with me on Saturdays, OR via Venmo.
- Please pre-register for in-person attendance by Thursday April 13th.
- ZOOM students must pre-register no later than April 8th to ensure you get your kit mailed to you on time!
FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS OR TO HOLD YOUR SPACE!
PRE-REGISTRATION is required; no drop-ins, please.
5 students minimum, 10 maximum in person;
4 students maximum on Zoom.