Nobody prepared you for this season
Solstave is a day retreat in Mesa, Arizona for women in midlife. We do not treat menopause. We give you a day of quiet and someone who will listen, which is the part almost nobody offers.
What this is not
This is not medical care. Solstave does not diagnose, treat, or manage menopause or any of its symptoms, and nothing here replaces your physician.
If you want hormone guidance, symptom management, or medical answers, see a clinician. Please do. This page is not an alternative to that and we will tell you so if you ask.
What we offer is different and, for a lot of women, missing entirely.
The part nobody schedules an appointment for
You may have a doctor handling the clinical side. Good. But there is another whole part of this season, and it does not have a specialist.
The sense that you have become unrecognizable to yourself. That you are grieving something you cannot name and feel foolish grieving. That your children needed you differently, or do not need you the same way anymore. That you have spent thirty years being the person everyone relies on and now you are tired and nobody seems to have noticed.
That you look in the mirror and cannot quite locate the woman who used to have plans. There is no prescription for that. There is only time, safety, and somebody willing to sit with you while you work out what is actually true.
What is a menopause retreat?
A menopause retreat is time set aside specifically for the emotional and personal side of the midlife transition, rather than its clinical management. At Solstave it means a day of rest, a long listening conversation, and personalized body care on a private property.
It is not a workshop. There is no curriculum, no slides, and no group you have to talk in front of. It is a day that belongs to you.
What a day here looks like
You arrive and you are not rushed anywhere. There is tea and a slow walk through the gardens, because most women arrive breathing shallowly and moving fast, and that takes a while to come down.
Then you sit down and you are asked how your heart is feeling today. Not how you are doing. You get long pauses to answer, which is unfamiliar and takes some getting used to.
After that, body care chosen around what surfaced, delivered by licensed practitioners. Then more time outside if you want it, or quiet, or nothing at all.
Why this season specifically
The name Solstave comes from Solstice, the turning point when the sun stands still before entering a new season, and Ave, a blessing and a welcome.
That is not decoration. Midlife is a turning point, and almost every message a woman receives about it frames it as decline, as something to fight, delay, or conceal. We think it is a season when a woman steps fully into her sovereignty, her wisdom, and her actual self.
Striving gives way to knowing. Self-doubt yields to self-acceptance. That is worth a day of your attention.
Is this a perimenopause support group?
No. Solstave experiences are one-to-one, not group sessions, and there is nothing you have to share out loud in front of strangers.
Support groups are genuinely valuable and some women want exactly that. If you want to be in a room with other women going through the same thing, look for a group. If you want a day where you do not have to perform, hold space for anyone, or take a turn, this is that.
Gatherings for women who have been here are something we intend to build, once there are enough of you to fill a garden. If that interests you, say so when you visit.
Where to start
Return, our three hour experience, is usually the right fit for this season. Two hours is enough to be seen. Three hours is enough to get somewhere.
If you would rather test the water, Remember is two hours. If you want a full day, Rise is six.
Some conditions affect whether sauna, massage, or movement are appropriate. We ask about your health before your visit, and your practitioner will confirm what is right for you. Check with your physician if you are unsure. Anything can be left out, and nothing here is required.
You are not declining. You are turning.
