'Mirror, Mirror': Seeing with Clear Eyes

“Mirror, mirror on the wall...” We know how that old story goes. But who told it to us? And what if it's time to break the spell?

'Mirror Mirror' is an empowering expressive arts therapy workshop for women who want to see themselves with clear eyes. We will notice the myths we’ve absorbed, the reflections we’ve overlooked, and the possibility of touching what really matters - not through someone else’s story, or a fairytale we've been told, but through our own embodied presence and lived experience.

With wild nature as our backdrop and supportive women as companions, we will draw on myth, imagination, and the intelligence of the body to foster reflection, reconnection and embodied play. We will:

• Notice the stories we’ve inherited about gender, beauty, and visibility, and other narratives that shape us.

• Discover the power and possibility of reclaiming our attention.

• Invite our gaze beneath the old stories to see each other for who we are and want to be.

Who is this workshop for?

• This workshop welcomes all women (including cis and trans women).

• You are welcome as you are! Bring an open heart, beginners mind and spirit of curiosity.

What you can expect:

• Creative exploration, embodied practices, collaborative and individual storytelling, guided reflection.

• No prior experience in the expressive arts is necessary.

• This one day retreat will be held at the beautiful Vine and Branches Retreat Centre near the Yarra Trail and Birrarung.

• A shared soup lunch is included.

About your facilitators:

Tessa Priest and Alexandra Heynatz share a mutual love of the stories that live in, through and between women. Through creative processes, embodied learning, and reflective practices, they create safe and supportive spaces for women to notice, trust and value themselves.

Tessa Priest is a narrative somatic therapist, writer, performance poet and creative facilitator with a 20 year background in education and Zen practice. She loves supporting people to bring alive their creative life and uses stories to support meaning making. Tessa trained in theatre, film and drama through a feminist lens, and has post graduate qualifications in Creative Writing, Narrative Therapy and Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy.

Alexandra Heynatz is a therapist, supervisor, and creative arts therapist with over 20 years of experience in diverse settings. As the founder of Elemental Relating, she facilitates spaces that cultivate presence, aliveness, connection and embodied consent. Her work privileges the wise intelligence of the body, imaginative inquiry, and relational care. Personally and professionally, she is committed to the slow, brave art of being in right relationship – with ourselves, each other and the world we are part of.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this workshop.