Transitions as Sacred Thresholds: Menopause, Midlife, and Beyond

Transitions are the thresholds of our lives. They’re like the quiet moment between the in-breath and the out-breath… that pause where something shifts, where change begins to stir.

Menopause is one of these pauses. It invites us into a liminal space where something old is being laid down and something deeper, more essential, begins to rise.

My Own Journey

As I sit with my own experience of menopause, I notice so many feelings in the mix. A little uncertainty, a pull towards understanding, and also a deep knowing that this isn’t just about “symptoms” or “getting through.”

And yet, that’s the story we hear again and again. The cultural narrative makes it sound like a problem to be managed, or a storm to weather. And the jokes and memes - the hot flushes and mood swings that become punchlines - can feel dismissive. They skim over the depth of the journey, the inner work, the transformation.

When menopause is spoken of this way, it can leave us feeling powerless, or even cut off from the true meaning of this passage. But I’ve come to feel that menopause asks something very different of us. It asks us to slow down. To listen. To recognise that this isn’t about decline at all, but about stepping into a more authentic, sovereign sense of self.

A Shared Human Journey

Although menopause is usually spoken of as a “women’s issue,” the midlife threshold is something we all meet in one way or another. Men, too, experience a shift often called andropause. The body changes, energy changes, and with that comes a rethinking of purpose, of identity.

It’s not so different, really. For men as for women, it can be a time of letting go of old roles, of rebalancing, of stepping into a truer way of being.

Many ancient cultures understood this. Midlife was not a crisis but a turning point, celebrated as the time when a person moves from being the “doer” into the “wise one.” When seen this way, we’re reminded that these thresholds are not a loss, but a deepening of who we are.

Wisdom from the Ancients

The Greeks spoke of menopause and midlife as a kind of “second spring,” when our energy could turn inward, towards creativity, growth, and community.

In Chinese medicine it’s seen more like a second adolescence — the body reshaping itself, the spirit shifting into new rhythms. A time of realignment, where elderhood begins to be embraced as a source of vitality and wisdom.

I love these ways of seeing. They lift us out of the story of decline and remind us that change can be fertile, that transition is full of possibility.

A Communal Rite of Passage

In many indigenous traditions, no threshold is walked alone. Whether it’s menopause, andropause, birth, or elderhood - community gathers around. There are stories, rituals, circles of belonging. The transition is honoured as a rite of passage, not carried as a private struggle.

When I imagine menopause in this way, I feel a sense of relief. To be witnessed. To share. To know that what is happening in me is not just mine, but part of the great cycle of life, honoured by those who walked before and by those who will follow.

The Invitation of This Time

Menopause — and really any big transition in our lives — is not only about endings. It’s also about beginnings. It asks:

• What old and un-serving beliefs, roles, insecurities, and habits are ready to be released?

• What is waiting to be renewed as I embrace a more expansive sense of self?

• What is longing to be reclaimed as I step more fully into my sovereign power as a wise and intentional being?

Like the turning of the seasons, something rests, something germinates, and something new begins to grow.

Looking Ahead

Transitions are not simply biological or circumstantial. They are sacred moments that call us to pause, reflect, and realign. They ask us to honour what has been, to release what no longer serves, and to step into the next chapter with grace and intention.

And this is what my dear friend Sophie and I are holding in our new offering: Passage of Grace and Wisdom ~ a nine-month journey for women walking through menopause. A circle of support and belonging, woven with ritual, creativity, and somatic practices. A place to share stories, to be witnessed, and to reclaim this threshold as a rite of passage.

We’ll be sharing more soon. For now, I simply wanted to open the door and say: you don’t have to walk this alone.

With warmth,

Fayenen