“Rooting and Rising, a journey of expansion into Menopause” is designed to offer different gateways for you to access your own unique experience of this potentially transformative phase in your life. The program does not “create” meaning, it’s up to you, as part of our community, to infuse meaning into this experience, regardless of whether you are approaching menopause, in the midst of it, or beyond its threshold.

“The Journey” is one of the gateways we offer you to enter this life cycle. It is based on the Five Elements Personality Archetypes introduced by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold, who are pioneers in bringing Chinese Medicine to the West. Influenced by  psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung, they define archetypes as “a collection of metaphors that evoke strong and distinct images of general attitudes, behavior patterns, and life orientations”. These archetypes represent five different styles of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Embodying the virtues and potentialities of each Element, every season, we will look into a specific Personality Archetype. Our intention is to use the language of the Five Phase Theory to explore the depth of our identity, purpose, and destiny. Through establishing a dialogue with each archetype and observing the interactions amongst them, we will delve into questions like: Who am I?, Why am here?, Who am I becoming?. As we journey with these musings, we will naturally discover more intriguing inquiries arising from the essence of the Archetypes themselves.

At the Threshold

Let’s imagine that, through the course of this program, you’re embarking on a Journey towards your Authentic Self as you move into (or through, depending on your age) the latter part of your life.

~How do you see the nature of your journey? As a pilgrimage, a quest, a voyage, a trip, an expedition, an adventure, a migration or some other descriptive term?

~ How will you name your journey?

~ What is the starting point of your experience, the doorway or the entrance to your Journey? Think of the landscape, environment, time of the day or any relevant factor that sets the context and the tone for what follows.

~ Is there anyone at the Threshold sending you off?

Zooming in onto you:
– What are you wearing?
– What are you carrying with you?
– How’s your mood?
– Will you be traveling alone or do you have a companion – a Soul Guide. Who is this companion?

~ What else is coming up for you at the Threshold?

Choose the mode of expression that suits you best – words, drawing, pictures, song, collage, audio… If you feel inspired, share your creation in the Community Forum.