This is a little bit different for this Substack, but definitely related! I want to invite you to spend 90 minutes with a group of midlife women for what I hope will be a reflective, fun, inspiring, and grounding time! Menopause (or, as I called it in a recent text to a friend, “stupid ass menopause”) is a vulnerable time for those of us who have struggled with eating disorders. It’s one of the reasons I’m editing this anthology. And I would also love to call attention to Deb Benfield’s excellent piece, “The Best-Kept Secret of Menopause and Beyond,” about eating disorders and menopause.

Last year, my good friend Tiana, a trained nutritionist, and I reconnected after having known each other when our (now adult) sons were young. We were both divorced and navigating many common midlife transitions—painful, confusing, weird, and exciting. Life felt kind of like an interactive art exhibit we couldn’t exit, at the time.

We took long walks along the Puget Sound, cried, cursed, and cackled, and began to brew an idea as we realized how many common experiences, feelings, and challenges we were having. What if we gathered other women of our age(s) and stage in life in a salon-type setting to share our experiences in menopause and midlife, learn from each other, connect, and affirm that we are the brilliant and badass and beautiful (and exhausted, overheated, anxious, and overwhelmed) women we want to be? A couple of months later, on a small island off of Seattle, in a beautiful barn surrounded by evergreen trees, jasmine bushes, and sparkling ferns, we gathered our first group of 17 together to listen to ancient stories of the power of older women, circle-share about what is most alive for us in this stage of life, reflect on our bodies and lives with a somatic writing exercise, and celebrate ourselves in a way our culture most certainly does not. Our second group, in an equally grounding outdoor spot in Seattle, was just as engaging and inspiring.

We love connecting with other women at this stage of life and uplifting this time, whether you’re physiologically experiencing menopause or in midlife or beyond, or you’re curious about this next stage of life: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the WTF. So, we decided to hold an online gathering, and we want YOU to join us!

Register here!!

Join us for a 90‑minute, interactive workshop exploring menopause and the transformative possibilities of midlife and beyond. Through shared storytelling, reflective writing, and gentle movement, we’ll reconnect with our bodies, release outdated narratives, and imagine what’s possible in this next chapter. Come as you are—curious, tender, fiery, foggy, empowered—and leave hopefully feeling more grounded, supported, and inspired by the wisdom you already carry.

What are the stories about this stage of life you want to share or discard? What are you holding onto that inspires you or that no longer fits, and what do you dream of doing now?

Menopause and post-menopause have been framed in Western culture by what women are “losing”: our fertility, our sexual desires, our cognitive functions. And this period of life can bring grief as we experience transitions: the ending of marriages, empty-nesting, and becoming caregivers to aging parents. Many of us wonder about the choices we didn’t make: the careers we put aside, the passions we didn’t pursue, the sex we did or didn’t have. Maybe you’re grieving the life you thought you’d have up to this point. The relationships, including friendships, you’ve had for decades may no longer feel as fulfilling.

Even if you’ve accomplished much, or even all, of what you set out to do when you were younger, and you feel deeply grounded in your relationships and career, you might feel a calling or a curiosity about what’s next.

Along with life transitions, our bodies undergo a range of changes that Western medicine can either overpathologize or overlook entirely.

What does it look and feel like, in our bodies, and how can we support each other to feel as good as we can in midlife and beyond?

You’ll experience:

• A deeper connection to your changing body and identity

• Validation and community

• A reframed narrative of midlife and beyond

• Personal insights through reflective and somatic writing

• Gentle movement practices to support wellbeing

• Permission to imagine what’s next

Register here!!