August - Breathe & Be: Carer Reset Retreat

Name: August - Breathe & Be: Carer Reset Retreat
Start: 2026-08-08T14:00:00+1000
End: 2026-08-08T17:30:00+1000
Location: SANA Recovery

Sat, 8 Aug, 2pm - 5:30pm AEST

SANA Recovery

Mount Duneed VIC, Australia

Niina Downes

29 followers · Contact host

Description

🧡 A NEW DATE - Sat 8th August 🧡

This retreat is for parents and carers of children with additional needs or disabilities - when was the last time you stopped?

Leave behind the daily hustle and come home to yourself.

A half-day retreat to pause, rest, reset, and reconnect with yourself.

About this retreat

Parenting children with additional needs or disabilities can feel like living in a constant state of alert.

Managing appointments, therapies, school meetings, behaviours, advocacy, and the ongoing mental load that comes with caring for a child who needs more support than most people realise.

Over time, your own needs often move further and further down the list.

This retreat won’t change everything — but for a few hours, you may feel a sense of belonging, and what it’s like to be a priority in your own life. And sometimes, that’s where everything begins to shift.

Created and hosted by a special education teacher and mum to two deaf and autistic daughters, this retreat is designed for parents and carers who are running on empty and craving rest, regulation, and connection.

Joining us as guest facilitator is Mollie, founder of Bridge & Bloom Consulting, who will be delivering The Parent Behind the Advocate workshop.

What to expect

This is not about being a better parent or doing more.

It is about pausing long enough to come back to yourself.

You will be guided through:

✨ Breathwork to reconnect mind and body
✨ Yin yoga to slow down and find stillness
✨ Gentle guided reflection
✨ Creative craft activity to shift from thought into flow
✨ The Parent Behind the Advocate workshop by Mollie from Bridge & Bloom Consulting
✨ Connection with other parents and carers who truly understand
✨ Tea, nourishment, rest, and space to simply be

A space for you to:

Rest + regulate
Step out of survival mode and support your nervous system to settle.

Connect
Be in a room with people who understand the lived experience of caregiving.

Reflect + reset

How am I really doing?
What do I need next?
What intention could I set for the rest of the year?

Tickets:

🎟 Standard: $120

Your ticket includes:

Light refreshments, tea, and cacao
All materials for your retreat experience

Group size: Limited to ensure a calm and supportive environment

You may be eligible to use your child’s NDIS plan to cover costs. Please check with your plan manager or support coordinator.

A gentle reminder

You don’t need to hold everything together here.

You don’t need to explain, perform, or push through.

Just come as you are.

Because when a parent or carer feels supported, regulated, and safe, it changes the energy of the whole home. 🤍

Important Notes

Gallery

About facilitators

Host Niina

Niina Jaakkola is a special education teacher, inclusion specialist, parent of two deaf and autistic children, certified breathwork facilitator, and Yin Yoga teacher. With both professional expertise and lived experience, she supports carers to feel seen, understood, and held — helping them create sustainable self-care practices while navigating the complexities of raising children with additional needs.
Guest facilitator Mollie

Mollie is a founder of Bridge & Bloom Consulting. She is a qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Inclusive Specialist Education, with over 10 years of experience supporting children and young people with additional needs across education, disability and community settings. Mollie is also a parent navigating her own child’s neurodivergent journey and a sister of a brother with complex additional needs. Bridge & Bloom was created from both professional and lived experience. Mollie saw how overwhelming it can be for families to navigate diagnoses, therapies, school systems and support services, often feeling unsure where to turn. Through advocacy, coaching and practical guidance, Mollie supports families and education settings to better understand their child’s and students’ needs, build confidence and create positive pathways forward. Her goal is to help families feel empowered, supported and less alone on their journey, and to support education environments use strengths-based, positive strategies that enable students to reach their full potential.