Introducing The Threshold
A 6 month container for 12 women to explore our peri & menopause together
Hi lovely friends,
This is a long post, but contains an offering I am brimming over with excitement to share! If it cuts off in your email, click through to continue reading.
Layla x
“The menopause comes and it is the most wonderful fucking thing in the world. Yes, your entire pelvic floor crumbles and you get fucking hot and no-one cares, and then… you’re free. No longer a slave, no longer a machine, with parts. You’re just a person… It’s horrendous. But then it’s magnificent.”
I love this quote from Kristen Scott Thomas's character in the tv series Fleabag
Last year I wrote a post about my ambivalence around taking HRT. The response was huge from so many of you, all sharing your experiences, frustrations, insights and wins. Last week I wrote about my starting to take testosterone, and again, the replies and shares in the comments were so so rich and wise, as well as expressing confusion, frustration and a sense of feeling around in the dark to find the right help and support.
One of the things that has stood out to me about what people have shared is a deep sense that something important is happening to us, that we are stepping across a threshold of some kind, into another phase of our lives, and that this means something.
The other thing that has stood out is how many of us are still really, really struggling with symptoms that are making our lives hard to navigate.
Thinking about all of this back in September last year I had an idea which I tried to ignore. Cut to June 2025 and the idea is still here, knocking patiently on the door! And so I have decided I’d like to listen to it, share the idea and see if it has legs for you all.
Welcome to The Threshold
An invitation for 12 women to join me for a six month container exploring our peri & menopause - this powerful threshold in our lives.
𓇸 A chance to share a space with other like-minded women at the same phase of life as you.
𓇸 A chance to explore what this threshold might mean to each of us, what road blocks we are experiencing, what potential we feel bubbling beneath.
𓇸 A chance to dive deep into what has got us here in our lives thus far, and where we want to go now.
𓇸 A chance to crowd-source information about symptoms and experiences you are going through.
𓇸 A chance to explore the possibilities and potency of this chapter of our lives, rather than just feeling limited, frustrated and overwhelmed by it.
Here’s how it will work :
𓇸 Starting in September 2025 we will meet monthly for a 90 minute women’s circle. We’ll meet for six circles, finishing in February 2026.
𓇸 During these six months we will also have three additional live calls with inspiring guests who have specialised in menopause, or who have found tools to support themselves through it in alternative, unique ways.
𓇸 You will also receive a wonderful physical welcoming gift from Kimology to kickstart and nourish your journey (more on this wonderful treat below).
More about our monthly circles :
𓇸 I want these circles to be deep, focussed, supportive, informative and resource-full.
𓇸 During these six sessions we will work our way through a book titled Making Sense of Menopause: Harnessing the Power and Potency of Your Wisdom Years by Susan Willson. I have chosen this book because of its combination of practical guidance, reverence for this chapter of our lives and deep guiding prompts and questions to explore.
𓇸 My role will be to hold the space for us as we explore the chapters each month, and as we explore this powerful, confusing, empowering, exhausting transition!
While I am not an expert in menopause, I am also walking the same path. I have held many similar circles and spaces for new mothers in my work as a post partum doula (I trained with Julia Jones at Newborn Mothers) and matrescence educator (I trained with Amy Taylor Kabbaz at Mama Rising) and am excited to bring these skills to our Threshold group as I see so many connections between the transition into motherhood and the transition into menopause.
Here’s what a participant of another group I hold has shared:
"I'm so glad to have joined. I spent the hour with tears running down my face as I wrote but definitely released something and feel a lot lighter now … You are a talented facilitator :)”
𓇸 My idea is that we use the book as a framework rather than a bible or a restrictive study tool - a jumping off point for us to explore various aspects of this threshold in our lives.
I want to talk about feeling exhausted, feeling pissed off, feeling excited, feeling ignored, feeling alone, feeling curious, feeling powerful, feeling not very horny, feeling sweaty, feeling fabulous, feeling hairy on our chinny chin chins, feeling denied proper information, feeling around in the dark, feeling ready to climb up on our thrones, feeling too tired to climb anywhere at all
𓇸 I am limiting the numbers to between 8 & 12 women because I want this to be a close, safe space where we can all get to know each other and feel comfortable sharing.
𓇸 My idea is that we go slow with this exploration. Allow space and time for things to process, percolate, land. There’s no rush.
𓇸 All calls will be recorded and available to listen back to.
Here is what the book’s blurb says:
It’s time to change the way we think about menopause. While medicine and popular culture fixate on menopause as a decline of women’s bodies and minds, we can choose to honour and embrace the powerful gifts that come to us in our elder years, “Nature did not create us to unravel and diminish in the prime of our lives,” says Susan Willson. With Making Sense of Menopause, this renowned women’s health practitioner offers a powerful and practical guide to experiencing perimenopause and menopause as a natural gateway into the next vital, exciting, and meaningful phase of our lives.
The book explores :
𓇸 How menopause literally transforms us into new women
𓇸 How the biological arc of a woman’s life unfolds toward menopause - and how our earliest experiences inform the menopause we will have
𓇸 Becoming the Wise Woman - stepping into the essential role of an elder
𓇸 Practical guidance and insights on sleep, nutrition, stress management, exercise, pleasure, relationships and more
𓇸 The book also includes thoughtful prompts and questions to explore at the end of each chapter, which I anticipate we will use to great benefit during our calls
A little about the author :
𓇸 The author of the book, Susan Willson, CNM, is a Yale-educated Certified Midwife and Certified Clinical Thermographer with more than forty years of experience in the women’s health field.
Guest Calls :
𓇸 During the six months of Threshold I will also host three live calls with women who have specialised in menopause in some way - be that as a yoga practitioner, a medical doctor, how to use daoist practices, looking through a psychotherapy lens, or a nutritional one (I’ve a number of ideas for who I will ask to join us for these calls, but for now I’m leaving the field open to see what feels right and most needed as our group gathers - I can guarantee they will be rich, enlightening conversations!).
𓇸 These calls will be open to only our group live. A recording will be available to the rest of the beauty & bone community, but the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at the end during which you can get expert advice on anything personal to you in a safe space, will be open only to Threshold participants. This section of the calls will not shared outside of our group.
Welcome Package
I really want us to feel as physically connected as we can while gathering each month on the calls. And so I was so so pleased when the wonderful Kim Gray from Kimology offered to send to every member of The Threshold a package of small gifts to kickstart and nourish you during our circles together.
A little about Kim:
Kim is a mother, ritualist, and the heart behind Kimology. Inspired by her journey through burnout and balance, she created this space for others who crave deep presence and meaningful self-care. Kimology isn’t just a store. It’s an invitation to slow down, anchor into daily magic and reclaim your nervous system—one ritual at a time. Every product she shares is handpicked and crafted by Kim herself as reminders that you matter, your energy matters and your rituals are non-negotiable.
Dates & Times :
𓇸 Here are the dates and times I’m suggesting (subject to change if the group needs them to and I can facilitate) :
Sunday, September 28, 2025 19:00-20:30 BST Circle 1
Saturday, October 25, 2025 19:00-20:30 BST Circle 2
Sunday, November 23, 2025 19:00-20:30 GMT Circle 3
Sunday, December 21, 2025 19:00-20:30 GMT Circle 4
Sunday, January 25, 2026 19:00-20:30 GMT Circle 5
Sunday, February 22, 2026 19:00-20:30 GMT Circle 6
You can check your time zone here
𓇸 PLUS 3 x Live calls and Q&A with menopause specialist in a specific field :
Dates & times TBC
𓇸 All calls will be recorded and available to listen back to
Your investment :
𓇸 As a paid subscriber to beauty & bone The Threshold is an investment of :
€ 289 / £ 244 / $ 330 *
𓇸 As a non subscriber to beauty & bone The Threshold is an investment of :
€ 399 / £ 338 / $ 456 *
(hint: subscribe to beauty & bone and you’ll be able to access The Threshold for less, plus benefit from all the other offerings I share throughout the year!)
𓇸 Doors will be open between June 15 and June 26. If there are spaces remaining I will reopen doors again before we begin in September, but at that stage prices will increase.
𓇸 Places are limited, and I will be capping the group at 12 participants so that our group is a safe and personable space for our time together.
𓇸 In early September I will create an online home for us for the six months, a private space where we can comment, share, catch up on missed live calls etc. You will be sent your welcome gift in September also.
𓇸 If you would like to join, but need to work out a payment plan, just reach out - you can pay in three or four monthly installments.
*(£ and $ amounts may vary slightly based on exchange rate when you purchase)
Any other questions ?
Just pop a comment here, or hit reply, or send me a DM, all come directly to me.
I’m really excited by the potential for this group, I can’t wait to see who amongst you wants to take a leap and join!
le grá,
Layla x
This sounds wonderful!
Sounds so utterly beautiful Layla! And so needed. Xx