The Basics
A small group of English-speaking women in midlife who meet in person, from October to May, to sit with the questions this chapter asks — and to work through them together rather than alone.
The year has two rhythms: Saturday working sessions with a facilitator, and the Middle Table, an evening in between with the group and no facilitator. You will be in the same room with the same women for the length of the journey, which is what makes the depth possible.
Women in midlife who recognise the season: an emptying nest, a career chapter closing or changing shape, a question that will not go quiet.
We do not screen by age. If the questions in this chapter are yours right now, you are the right person. What matters more is that you are ready to be honest in a room with other women, and to show up consistently for the group.
Eight to ten. Small enough that everyone speaks and nobody hides, large enough that you get genuinely different perspectives.
We would rather turn people away than let a circle grow past the size where it still works.
The first circle kicks off in October 2026, with the final session in May 2027.
If you would like to meet us before deciding, our launch party is on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, 18:00–20:00. Come and see whether this feels like your kind of room.
The Circle is the whole nine months. A group of eight to ten English-speaking women in midlife, meeting in person in the Frankfurt area from October 2026 to May 2027. Once the group is formed, it closes — the women who begin in October are the women who finish in May.
Inside it there are two rhythms:
The Saturday sessions are the deeper working sessions: eight of them, some led by us and some by invited practitioners. They give the year its structure and its subject matter.
The Middle Table is a Tuesday evening, roughly monthly, spaced to fall between the Saturdays — the group on its own, over food, with no agenda and no facilitator. It is where you actually get to know each other.
Between the two, you have around two gatherings a month.
The year runs from October 2026 to May 2027, in person in the Taunus area.
See the full calendar for every date, what each session is about, and who is leading it.*
* Dates and times may shift. Any change is confirmed with the circle well in advance.
In person, in the Taunus area. The exact location is confirmed after enrollment.
There is no online version, and that is deliberate. In an increasingly digital world, being in a real room with real people is the point rather than a logistical detail.
English.
You do not need perfect English. You need to be comfortable enough to say something true.
How It Works
Each session centres on a theme and a facilitated conversation. There is reflection, structured dialogue, and space to think out loud among women who are in the same season.
You will not be asked to perform, present, or fix anyone. Nobody is expected to arrive with answers.
Magnificent Middle is hosted by Lucy Kinosian and Trinnie Kern, who set up each circle and make sure it happens well.
Depending on the topic, certified facilitators or experienced coaches will lead the circles.
Designing Your Life is a methodology from Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans that treats your life as a design problem — something to get curious about and prototype, rather than a puzzle with one right answer.
It is one tool among several. You can read more on our Designing Your Life page.
Life happens, and we understand that. But a circle depends on the same women being in the room over time — attendance is what builds the trust that makes the honest conversations possible.
Come planning to attend every session, and miss one only when it is genuinely unavoidable. If you already know of a stretch when you will be away, tell us before you apply so we can talk it through.
Modest. Some sessions come with a reflection, exercise, or book to sit with between meetings — the kind of thing that fits around a normal life, not homework that eats your weekend.
The commitment that matters is showing up.
Yes. Confidentiality is one of the conditions that makes a circle work, and every participant agrees to it as part of the Participation Agreement.
How we handle your personal data is set out separately in our Privacy Notice.
Joining
If you haven't taken the survey, which is genuinely shaping how we design these circles, start there. If you've taken the survey, or do not want to take the survey, then apply to join the waitlist. We read every application ourselves and will be in touch to arrange a conversation before any place is confirmed. Circles are deliberately small, so it is worth applying early.
600€ when you pay for all circle dates at the beginning of the cycle.
640€ when you split it into two instalments of 320€ — the first due before the first gathering on 13 October 2026, the second by 1 February 2027.
You need to pay for the entire cycle. Individual sessions cannot be booked.
Yes. You receive a proper invoice for your payment.
Fit
No. A circle is a facilitated peer community, not treatment, and we are not therapists. The work here is reflective and forward-looking — making sense of a transition alongside women living it too.
If you are dealing with depression, anxiety, grief that feels unmanageable, or anything else you would want clinical support for, please speak to your doctor or a qualified therapist.
Almost everyone asks some version of this, which tells you something.
You do not need a dramatic story, a clear plan, or a tidy account of what you are going through. Not knowing what you want is one of the most common reasons women come. Come to the launch party, or write to us, and find out how it feels.
Take the survey anyway and join the waitlist. Circles are deliberately small, so places go quickly — and the waitlist is where the next cohort comes from.
If something is not answered here, write to us. A real person reads every message, and we would rather answer a question than have you wonder.
Take the Survey