The Perimenopause Circle
Somatic & Therapeutic Support Group

Perimenopause is not just a hormonal shift.
It’s a whole-system transition.

Sleep changes. Mood fluctuates. Stress hits harder.
You may feel more reactive, more exhausted, less buffered from emotion — or simply not like yourself.

Most people are expected to navigate this quietly.

The Perimenopause Circle is a 6-week integrative group container that combines therapeutic processing, yoga therapy, and Ayurvedic lifestyle support. We work at the intersection of hormones, stress physiology, emotional processing, and daily structure — because these systems are deeply connected.

This is not work done alone — the group itself is part of the medicine.

What’s Actually Happening

Perimenopause affects more than reproductive hormones.

Fluctuating estrogen and shifting progesterone influence the nervous system — which shapes mood stability, sleep patterns, stress reactivity, digestion, and cognitive clarity.

If you feel less resilient, more sensitive to stress, or slower to recover, you are not “failing.” Your system is recalibrating.

This circle meets that recalibration directly — physiologically and psychologically.

How This Shows Up

Perimenopause often feels like:

• Increased irritability or anxiety
• Lower stress tolerance
• Sleep disruption
• Mood shifts that feel unfamiliar
• Digestive or metabolic changes
• Grief around identity or shifting roles
• A desire for more clarity and fewer obligations

What This Program Offers

Therapeutic Processing in a Small-Group

Facilitated by a licensed therapist, this small group provides structured space to explore the emotional realities of perimenopause — identity shifts, irritability, grief, and boundary renegotiation.

Because the group meets consistently over six months, depth develops. You are not navigating this season alone. Shared experience becomes part of the healing.

Yoga Therapy for Nervous System Resilience

Perimenopause alters stress reactivity and recovery. Yoga therapy offers a precise way to work with those shifts. Through progressive, breath-led sequencing, you’ll learn to recognize activation earlier, influence your internal state in real time, and build capacity for intensity without overwhelm. This practice becomes a foundation for the emotional work of the group — cultivating resilience, insight, and a steadier internal ground.

Ayurvedic Lifestyle Support

We’ll explore how traditional Ayurvedic wisdom understands stress, digestion, sleep, and hormonal change. You’ll learn simple, practical ways to care for your body — through food, herbs, warmth, and daily routines — that can steady the nervous system and support emotional and hormonal balance during this transition into menopause.

Who This Is For:

This circle is for people navigating perimenopause who:

• Feel less steady under stress than they once did
• Notice irritability, anxiety, grief, or mood shifts that feel hormonally influenced
• Experience sleep disruption or lowered resilience
• Sense identity shifts around ambition, boundaries, relationships, or capacity
• Want structured, intelligent support — not trends or quick fixes
• Value both psychological insight and embodied practice

You do not need to be in crisis.
You do not need prior yoga or Ayurveda experience.
You simply need curiosity about what this phase is asking of you.

The 6 Week Arc

  • Perimenopause affects stress, mood, sleep, and energy. Our work brings together psychotherapy, yoga therapy, and Ayurvedic care to support these changes at a whole-system level.

    Each week includes psycho-education, guided breath and movement practice, and real conversation. We don’t just talk about what’s happening — we work through it together in a small, consistent group.

    Between sessions, you’ll receive a simple somatic practice and reflection focus for the month so the work continues in daily life. You return each week to share what you’re noticing, adjust what isn’t working, and build steadiness over time. Each week builds on the last — combining nervous system education, progressive somatic practice, therapeutic processing, and practical lifestyle tools you can actually use.

  • We begin by understanding how hormonal shifts impact stress, sleep, and mood.
    You’ll learn a foundational breath-led regulation sequence we return to throughout the program — building steadiness in your body.
    We introduce simple daily anchors to support better mornings and more settled evenings.

    We open with a warm beginning — taking time to arrive, connect, and mark the start of this six-week journey together.

  • This month centers on attention and building self-trust.

    Perimenopause often brings mixed signals — shifts in mood, energy, desire, and identity that can feel destabilizing. Instead of overriding them, we practice listening.

    Through guided self-inquiry and breath-led practice, you strengthen interoception — the ability to sense internal cues and differentiate stress reactivity from deeper knowing.

    In the group space, we begin to name what is shifting. Shared processing allows ambivalence, grief, irritation, and uncertainty to be spoken aloud — not analyzed away, but witnessed and worked with.

    Over time, what feels confusing becomes informative.
    Listening becomes a form of strength.

  • This month, we examine our relationship to rest.

    We explore how ongoing stress and hormonal shifts influence sleep, energy, and overall capacity. Together, we consider what changes when we intentionally reduce demand rather than adding more effort.

    You’ll receive a short, guided rest practice to use throughout the month — a simple, repeatable way to support sleep, restore energy, and reduce cumulative strain.

  • Irritability, grief, and intensity often rise during hormonal shifts. Rather than pathologizing these responses, we learn to work with them.

    Through breath ratios, pacing, and targeted somatic practices, you build the capacity to stay present with activation — without escalating or shutting down.

    In group, we explore how anger, grief, and boundary fatigue surface during this phase of life. Emotional heat becomes information, not something to fear.

  • As energy shifts, capacity changes — and relationships often need to adjust.

    This month focuses on recognizing your limits earlier and responding before depletion sets in. Through breath-led strengthening practices and grounded somatic work, you build stability in the body to support clearer expression.

    In the group space, we explore where overextension, resentment, or self-abandonment may have become habitual — and practice setting limits that reflect your current capacity.

    Boundaries become less about pushing others away and more about protecting what sustains you.

  • Our final month centers on closing the circle with intention.

    We reflect on what has shifted — in your nervous system, your boundaries, your capacity, and your relationship to yourself. Together, we integrate the breath, inquiry, and emotional work you’ve practiced over six months into something cohesive and sustainable.

    This session is about marking change, consolidating insight, and naming what you are taking forward.

Structure

6-Week Container

This group is designed as a six-week small group experience combining therapeutic processing, nervous system support, yoga therapy practices, and Ayurvedic lifestyle guidance for navigating perimenopause.

Each session includes:

• 2-hour in-person gatherings with somatic practice, education, and facilitated group dialogue
• A consistent small group to build safety, familiarity, and connection
• Practices and reflections to integrate between sessions

This is not a drop-in workshop.
It is a guided process designed to support learning, reflection, and integration over time.

Facilitators

Maya Semans

Yoga Therapist & Ayurvedic Specialist

Maya Semans is a yoga therapist and Ayurvedic specialist working in mental health settings, supporting individuals navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, and stress-related conditions. She integrates nervous system science, breathwork, therapeutic movement, and Ayurvedic bodywork into clinical care, working at the intersection of physiology and emotional experience.

Rooted in the Krishnamacharya lineage and informed by Polyvagal Theory and trauma-aware practice, Maya’s work focuses on the connection between hormonal shifts, stress reactivity, digestion, sleep, and mood — particularly during midlife transitions. She is passionate about teaching progressive, breath-based regulation practices and rhythm-based lifestyle tools that build steadiness and embodied self-trust over time.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Jillian Parente

Jillian is a licensed clinical social worker, board-approved supervisor, and adjunct professor with over 11 years of experience. She specializes in gender-affirming care, trauma, and perinatal mental health, and has worked across residential treatment, criminal justice settings, nonprofit organizations, and private practice. She is the founder of Cultivate Peace, where she currently provides remote therapy.

Jillian uses an integrative, trauma-informed approach that includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, psychodynamic and solution-focused modalities, and mindfulness-based positive psychology. She is passionate about supporting clients in understanding the connection between mental health, hormonal shifts, and overall vitality.

Dates

Sundays


April 12 – May 31

5:30pm-7:30pm

(No session on Mother’s Day)

Location

Our in-person sessions will be held at Helia Glow
in Roland Park, Baltimore City

Helia Glow is a warm, intimate wellness studio designed for healing work and intentional gathering. The space is quiet, softly lit, and supportive of both movement and reflective conversation.

Exact address and parking details will be shared upon registration.

Investment

$750

$690 if paid in full

Payment plan available:
2 payments of $350

Personalized payment plans are available upon request.

Enrollment is now open!