A WEEKEND RETREAT HONORING MENOPAUSE AS A RITE OF PASSAGE

NOVEMBER 4-7, 2027

WHISPERTREE, BOONVILLE, CA

Join us for nourishing food, connection, and numerous ways to feel more fully at home in your wise body, as we celebrate this potent threshold.

Moving meditation
Somatic practices
Meals by Top Chef Anya El-Wattar
Time to rejuvenate
Fire ritual
Integration support
Special guests
No experience necessary

Igniting wise power.

Finding pleasure in the pause.

Person sitting near a campfire at night, wrapped in a red blanket, with a full moon in the background.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Anyone who’s ever had a moon cycle, ready to meet menopause as a rite of passage. All gender identities and orientations are honored here.

Those beginning perimenopause, seeking awareness and support.
In the full intensity of the transition, seeking grounding and connection.
Postmenopausal, ready to integrate this wisdom and support others.
Wise elders ready to hold this threshold for others.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Connective opening and closing circles
Meditative movement, accompanied by curated tracks and a world-class live musician
Rite of passage fire ritual
Nourishing meals & workshop by ayurvedically trained Top Chef Anya El-Wattar
Optional sessions with special guest teachers
Integration support

“The Body of Fire retreat was one of the most skillfully and thoughtfully held containers I’ve experienced. There was a deep sense of safety and an invitation to go inward, be vulnerable, and meet whatever was present.”

— Retreat Participant, January 2026

“Body of Fire was the rite of passage I dreamt of but did not have moving through menopause. I came back home feeling profoundly shifted, rich in community, and ready to step into my wisdom years.”

— Retreat Participant, January 2026

“As someone at the very beginning of peri-menopause who had no idea what to expect, Body of Fire offered me an almost miraculous opportunity to grow, learn, and be in community with other women at literally every stage of the menopause journey.”’

— Retreat Participant, January 2026

THE LOCATION

WHISPERTREE

BOONVILLE, CA

Whispertree, in the heart of Anderson Valley, is a retreat center where transformation takes root. With a commitment to regeneration of people and land, they provide beautiful and comfortable accommodations, including rooms and heated glamping tents. Join us for nourishing meals and deep experiences of embodying your wise power – then soak in the cedar hot tub, plunge in the pond, or walk the trails.

ABOUT WHISPERTREE

DATES + TIME

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH STARTING 5PM

THROUGH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH 12PM

THE EXCHANGE

$3000 (private glamping)

$3300 (private room)

Includes:

3 nights of beautiful, comfortable accommodations
3 days of nourishing meals supportive of menopause, by ayurvedically trained Top Chef Anya El-Wattar
Special programming from innovative experts
Cedar hot tub + pond
Access to gorgeous trails & nature
3 monthly integration Zoom group calls
Does not include travel to/from Whispertree

Close-up of a wooden table with a bouquet of dried flowers and a decorative ammonite fossil, with a large wooden bowl containing an arrangement of various dried flowers and a lit candle inside.

YOUR HOSTS

MELISSA BROUGH, PhD

Founder of the Energetic Literacy Project

Welcome. Body of Fire came to me in a dream during a challenging early perimenopause. I awoke committed to honoring it as a rite of passage threshold — and several incredible humans have stepped up to build this community with me.

I am a scholar-practitioner of energetic intelligence, nervous system care, and collective healing. I left academia in the midst of health struggles to reeducate myself through the wisdom of the body. I'm now a somatic educator, an independent licensed Ishtara® embodiment teacher, and a Reiki Master/Teacher in the Usui and Karuna lineages.

ANYA El-WATTAR

Award-winning chef, Top Chef contestant

I'm a chef, Ayurvedic practitioner, and community-builder who believes food, shared with love, can bridge cultures and nourish body and soul. I learned to cook beside my mother in Moscow and spent childhood summers at our family dacha, growing vegetables and foraging for mushrooms. I later studied the healing properties of food at the Ayurvedic Institute and the Natural Gourmet Institute

I now live between San Francisco and Vermont.

I am deeply inspired by Melissa's vision of menopause as a rite of passage. Standing at this threshold myself, I want to nurture this evolution in myself and other women, bringing my love of Ayurvedic medicine, nourishing food, and community among women who want to love, learn, and connect.