Shedding the Old to Enter the Magnificent Wild: A Women's Third Rite of Passage

Somewhere in midlife, the monthly rhythm that has shaped a woman's body for decades begins to change, and with it comes a question: who am I becoming? This women's circle at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, meets that question as a sacred threshold rather than a medical event to endure. Led by Jovinna Chan, Shedding the Old to Enter the Magnificent Wild honors perimenopause and menopause as a rite of passage that can forge a woman into her fullest expression: a truth-bearer, a pathfinder, a beauty maker, and a new creation.

Over a weekend on the Big Sur coast, Jovinna weaves a web of story, nature, movement, and community. The retreat recognizes that crossing this threshold brings real change in body, mind, emotions, and psyche, and that it can awaken an inner sage: a wild knowing woven from deep intuition and the language of the soul. If you sense that you are leaving one chapter and standing at the edge of another, this gathering offers a place to mark that crossing with intention and with other women.

The invitation is to celebrate with both reverence and levity, and to unfold in a field of endless possibilities without your old roles, identities, and patterns. You are also invited to anchor a new story, for yourself and for future generations.

What to Expect

The weekend moves through three kinds of work, each helping you shed what no longer fits and step into what is emerging:

- Conscious dance: a practice to recharge the body and mind.
- Nature immersion: time in the Big Sur landscape to connect with your elemental being.
- Ritual and ceremony: ceremonies that honor these thresholds of transformation, including a ceremony of renewal.

Story and community run through all of it, so you are not crossing this threshold alone. The tone holds both depth and play, with space for reflection as well as celebration.

Jovinna Chan, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is a personal transformational facilitator, yoga teacher trainer, conscious dance teacher, and performing artist. Through a combination of movement, spiritual inquiry, nature, and sound healing, she leads transformational programs around the world.

Venue & Logistics

The retreat takes place in person at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. Please bring a journal, and an article of clothing you would like to wear for the ceremony of renewal.

Registration options include a workshop with an on-site stay, a workshop with an off-site stay, or an individual day pass. Esalen's on-site package includes housing accommodations, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, coffee, tea, and snacks, access to the hot springs and other campus features, and classes on the Open Schedule. Healing Arts sessions, including Esalen massage, are not included. This workshop carries an additional $35 faculty tuition, and Esalen offers a scholarship application for those who need one.

Highway 1 access in Big Sur has been affected by road closures and travel advisories, so check Esalen's current travel advisory before you plan your journey.