Navigating Transitions with guest faculty Barbara Waxman
Building Your Empty Nest Plan: The Best is Yet To Be
Oct 21 - Oct 26, 2024 in Santa Fe, USA
Led by: Barbara Waxman, Kari Cardinale, Robert King, Lee Johnson
Financial aid is available. Apply Here.
You’ve Spent Years Focused on Your Children’s Wellbeing. Now It’s Time to Focus on Yourself.
Launching your children into the world is one of the greatest transitions you’ll ever experience.
Yet there are so few support systems in place to help us navigate this journey and get to a place where we’re happy and thriving and have a great relationship with our kids – and an incredible relationship with ourselves.
But even though this kind of major life transition may seem scary or daunting, it's also a time of potent possibility.
Things are changing… which means you have the power to change them for the better.
You have so many options – more than you know! – and your life can be more exciting, rewarding, fulfilling, and FUN than you imagine.
In this Navigating Transitions workshop co-facilitated by leading gerontologist Barbara Waxman and MEA senior faculty Kari Cardinale, you will reconnect with yourself and remember who you are (beyond “Mom” or “Dad”) – and clarify what you want your next chapter to look like.
Parents: this is a great workshop to attend as a couple.
What You’ll Gain
Through a combination of our MEA Navigating Transitions curriculum and Barbara and Kari's process of guided self-exploration and engaging experiential activities, you will:
You will leave with an inspiring vision, a clear action plan, and an abiding sense of self, secure in the belief that your future will be as fulfilling and joyful as your past, if not better.
Meet Your Faculty
Barbara Waxman
Author of The Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife
Gerontologist | Life Stage Expert | Coach | Speaker
Barbara Waxman is a highly sought-after longevity and leadership advocate who translates cutting-edge research and collective wisdom in ways that enable others to understand how the dynamics of our aging world impact individuals, communities, companies, and the planet.
She is an expert coach, caring truth-teller, strategic thought partner, and accountability advocate, and buoys her approach with compassion, honesty, research-based expertise, and a light heart.
Barbara serves as an Advisory Council Member for the Stanford Center on Longevity, an Advisory Board Member for Stanford Lifestyle Medicine and ExtraFood.org, and an angel investor in the Active Aging and Longevity Fund with Portfolia. She has appeared on CBS This Morning, and has been featured in Marin Magazine, Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, Next Avenue, and is a frequent podcast guest.
Kari Cardinale
Longevity Expert & Social Entrepreneur
MEA Chief Content Officer & Partner | Instructional Designer | MA Psychology
Kari is a pioneer facilitator with expertise in the longevity industry and building communities online. She is a master host with a knack of creating deep connections both live and virtually, with nearly 30 years experience as a driven social entrepreneur in creative strategy, facilitating and training, and private consulting to bring out the best in thought leaders.
Kari has worked with hundreds of experts around the world and produced two global summits on the topics of innovation in aging and caregiving. Her online programs at MEA have served thousands of adults around the world.
Kari served as a weekly contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on local TV, Dateline NBC, PBS “This Emotional Life,” and contributed to the Amazon #1 bestselling anthology, “Embracing Your Authentic Self.” She is curious about everything and committed to lifelong learning.
This workshop is for you if...
You’re a parent whose child is moving out of your home for the first time
You’re in the “revolving door” stage of empty nesting, when your adult children come back home, then leave, then come back again
Your adult child is getting married or moving on to a new significant stage of their lives, and you’re feeling left behind
You’re ready to reconnect with who you are and remember what’s important to you – beyond your identity of “Mom” or “Dad”
You’re eager to expand your awareness of all the possibilities available to you and create a life that delights and inspires
You want to expand your community and circle of friends and cultivate relationships that make you feel loved and supported
You want to deepen your relationship with your partner (if you have one) as you evolve your relationship to fit your shared future
You’re excited to connect with others who are in the same situation and together explore what’s next – and how to embrace the rich and beautiful complexity of life.
Santa Fe, USA
Rising Circle Ranch
An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
Meet Your MEA Facilitators
In addition to the powerful sessions conducted by Barbara, you will also be supported by our seasoned faculty members:
Robert King
Experience Facilitator
Robert King is a family medicine physician and award-winning ceramic artist with work in private and public collections all over the world. He is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklohoma and lives in Galisteo, New Mexico with his fearless and furry companion, Wilbur.
As an artist, Robert continuously seeks new ways to express himself, utilizing the natural resources found in the surrounding landscape. He describes his body of work as “a love letter to the high desert”. You will appreciate his creative perspective and deep appreciation for the natural environment in which you’ll be doing this soul-empowering work.
Lee Johnson
Land, Livestock, and Mindfulness
Lee likes to say that he’s as ordinary as dirt but as complex as soil. He’s resident “cowboy sage” at our campus in Santa Fe, where his love for the simple yet complex hum of nature has led him to work in holistic land management. As steward of our four-square mile regenerative ranch, Lee translates nature’s teachings into simple insights that encourage us to tune into the inner and outer landscape of the world around us.
You will appreciate the opportunity to be in his presence and slow down, listen to nature, and gather around the campfire of shared understanding.
The Empty-Nesting Stage Isn’t A “Stage.” It’s The Rest of Your Life.
And it will likely span a greater number of years than the time you’ve spent raising your babies to adulthood!
The truth is, you are just getting going on your journey to grow whole and become the person you were always meant to be.
It’s time to embark on a journey of self-discovery and unearth the hopes, dreams, habits, and passions you may have buried in service of your role as parent – and design a next chapter that excites and inspires you.
