Planetary Health Wellness Weekend

Planetary Health Wellness Weekend: Healthy People, Healthy Planet

The annual Blue Mountains Planetary Health Day + Blue Mountains Interfaith Gathering

Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre, Katoomba 

Saturday 28 Feb – Sunday 1 March 

Explore physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health in a weekend of community and nature connection, talks, workshops, stalls and delicious food. 

The weekend kicks off with our third Planetary Health Day on Saturday and finishes with an Interfaith Gathering on Sunday.

• Deep Listening immersive field workshops • Mental Health First Aid • nature journalling • mindfulness • creativity • (Em)power(ing) tools • Ikebana • Shared Reading • Tai Chi and Qigong • Chair Yoga • exercise, sleep and your health • how to share loss and grieving for and with animals • and a celebration of the many faith-based groups in the Blue Mountains focused on healing our land, healing ourselves.

Nature walks each morning:

Each morning, you have the chance to join Andrew Skeoch, renowned wildlife sound recordist and author of 'Deep Listening to Nature', for an immersive workshop and walk to hear the intricate conversations happening in the natural world around us.

Food and community stalls will be running throughout the Saturday, including: 

• Greater Blue Mountains Rotary

• Blue Mountains Women's Health & Resource Centre (BMWHRC)

• Acoustic ecologist and author of Deep Listening to Nature - Andrew Skeoch

• BMCC Sustainability and Waste team

• BMCC Bushcare team

• Blue Mountains Conservation Society

• Wildplant Rescue

• Permaculture Matters

• LacebrookStitchery

• Sustainable death care 

• Food vendor: 8Things

• Coffee vendor: Zensational Coffee

If you are interested in hosting a stall, please submit an expression of interest by emailing planetaryhealthevents@bmcc.nsw.gov.au.

-

PROGRAMME

Saturday 28th February - Planetary Health Day

7-9AM: Deep Listening Immersive Field Workshop with Andrew Skeoch

Experience deep listening to nature. Andrew will guide a small group of participants into a sensitive, auditory perception of the environment around us. 

For more information, visit Andrew's website at: https://listeningearth.com/andrewskeoch/index.html

Please note: you have the option to join this session on either Saturday 28th February or Sunday 1st March. Please select your preferred date on the tickets page.

Cost: $20

-

8-9AM: Tai Chi and Qigong class with Virginia Field

Tai Chi and Qigong routines can increase mobility and strength, improve immunity and help build an inner calm. They are also considered to be one of the best ways to improve balance as you age. This practice is suitable for people with a little or lots of experience.

Cost: gold coin donation on the day.

-

9-9:15AM: Opening Address and Acknowledgement of Country by Mayor Mark Greenhill

-

9:15-10AM: Be kind to your mind through mindfulness with Betty Ramsay

During this session Betty will talk about how we can look after ourselves with mindfulness and meditation. She will lead a short interactive mindfulness activity. Attendees will have the opportunity to use the senses to connect to the present moment as a foundation for the day ahead.

Betty has a keen interest in using mindfulness and meditation for self-care, particularly for mental health. She discovered the benefits of this in her own life more than 10 years ago. During Covid she trained to become a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute, Australia and New Zealand. Betty has been a physiotherapist for more than 30 years. For the last 10 years she has worked as a research physio and health coach at The University of Sydney.

These images, taken by Betty, demonstrate how to be mindful in everyday life - noticing and appreciating what is around you.

Cost: Free

-

10AM-1PM: Nature Journalling workshop with Anna Barnes

Learn to nature journal with Anna Barnes. An immersive creative way to connect with yourself and the environment. All you need is a notebook and pencil. 

For more information, view Anna's website: https://artfoodculture.com/nature-journalling-seasonal-sessions

Cost: $40

-

10:15-11AM: Introduction to Mental Health First Aid

This introduction to Mental Health First Aid will define mental health, talk briefly about the most common mental health issues in Australia, and cover the basics of recognising when someone is experiencing a mental health issue or problem. It outlines what is covered in a full Mental Health First Aid course, but does not train participants as Mental Health First Aiders.

Cost: Free

-

11-11:45AM: Chair yoga with Sheila Annis

Through mindful movement and breath, yoga helps release stiffness in the body, creating a greater sense of freedom and ease in everyday life. Whether you’re feeling tight from sitting too long or just want to move with more fluidity, yoga can help unlock those areas of tension.

Cost: gold coin donation on the day.

-

11-11:30AM: Shared Loss: grieving with and for animals by Teya Brooks Pribac, PhD

Are humans the only species capable of grief? Of course not. While grief is often treated as a uniquely human experience, it is better understood as an organismic response to loss: any animal capable of forming attachments also has the capacity to grieve. This talk reviews key theoretical foundations of cross-species grief. It also speaks directly to people who grieve for other animals—beloved companion animals, wildlife, or animals harmed by human activity—whose deaths are often socially minimised. By validating both nonhuman animal grief and human grief for other animals, this presentation invites a more compassionate and inclusive understanding of loss, one that recognises grief as a relational experience rather than a species boundary.

Cost: Free

-

11:30AM-12PM: Creativity and your health and wellbeing with Sue Lightfoot

Creative practices are often discussed as forms of expression, but for Sue, they began as a way to survive.

After experiencing PTSD, Sue’s body often felt as though it was bracing for impact, even in safe spaces. She didn’t pick up a camera to make art; she picked it up to cope.

Photography gave Sue a reason to slow down — to step outside, look around, and notice what was actually happening instead of what her nervous system was predicting. Focusing on small details — light on a leaf, a quiet corner, a familiar street — helped her feel anchored in the present moment.

What surprised Sue was how accessible this practice was. It didn’t require expensive equipment or formal training, only permission to pause and pay attention. Over time, photography became a gentle routine: a way of checking in with herself and offering care on days when words weren’t enough.

Sue shares this experience in a community setting because healing doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when people feel seen, supported, and allowed to move at their own pace. Her hope is that this short conversation encourages others to explore their own creative practices — not as something to achieve, but as something that can hold them, even briefly, in moments of uncertainty.

Cost: Free

-

12:30-1:30PM: (Em)power(ing) tools - Robyn Catchlove, Sherlie McMillan, Suzie van Opdorp, Teya Brooks Pribac

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right (Henry Ford)

This interactive presentation explores an unexpected but deeply empowering practice: using power tools. With the help of co-presenters and their favourite tools, the session demystifies DIY and shows how accessible practical skills really are.

Beyond the satisfaction of building and repairing, working with power tools fosters confidence, patience, and problem-solving skills. It can also be financially empowering, reducing dependence on paid labour, and reinforce the belief that challenges—practical and personal alike—can be worked through with focus, persistence, and curiosity. This session invites participants to reconsider what empowerment can look like, and how hands-on making can translate into resilience in everyday life.

Cost: Free

-

1-1:45PM: Lifestyle Medicine - great for you, great for the planet with Dr Madhu Tamilarasan

Join Dr Madhu Tamilarasan, a Lithgow based GP and sports medicine doctor for a conversation about Lifestyle Medicine. What is Lifestyle Medicine? Why is it important? How does it fit with "mainstream" healthcare? What are the benefits - for individuals, communities and globally?

Cost: Free

-

2-2:45PM: Shared reading with Chris Smith and Juan Roberson

Shared Reading groups centre around the reading, reflection and discussion of great short stories and poetry. Our groups are run by trained facilitators both in-person and online. They are an enjoyable way to relax, connect with others, and do something good for your mental health.

You can view Christopher Smith's TED Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxk61E0R88

Cost: Free

-

2-3:30PM: Ikebana workshop with Harumi Hayakawa

This beginner ikebana workshop invites participants to slow down and reconnect with nature through the Japanese art of flower arranging. Aligned with the theme Healthy People, Healthy Planet, the session offers a calm, meditative experience, using flowers as a form of gentle, creative therapy.

Participants will be introduced to the history and philosophy of ikebana, followed by guided, hands-on practice using natural, seasonal materials. No prior experience is needed—just an openness to mindfulness, creativity, and the quiet beauty of working with flowers.

For this session, please bring:

• Raw materials (flowers and foliage)

• Secateurs

• A container (with a narrow opening)

Ticket: $40

-

2-4PM: Deep listening to nature workshop with Andrew Skeoch

How can we engage our hearing to connect more deeply to nature around us?

Acoustic ecologist Andrew Skeoch presents an immersive weaving of evocative recordings, fascinating spectrogram analysis and original ideas. You’ll hear the natural environment around you in a whole new way.

For more information, visit Andrew's website at: https://listeningearth.com/andrewskeoch/index.html

Cost: $10

-

Sunday 1st March

7-9AM: Deep Listening Immersive Field Workshop with Andrew Skeoch

Experience deep listening to nature. Andrew will guide a small group of participants into a sensitive, auditory perception of the environment around us. 

For more information, visit Andrew's website at: https://listeningearth.com/andrewskeoch/index.html

Please note: you have the option to join this session on either Saturday 28th February or Sunday 1st March. Please select your preferred date on the tickets page.

Cost: $20

-

2-4PM: Blue Mountains Interfaith Gathering

The Blue Mountains Interfaith Group invites all to join in a multi-faith gathering focused on the theme of healing our land, healing ourselves. Participants will come together in love, respect, harmony and peace, exploring spirituality in music, reflection and ceremony.

In 2026, the theme for the program for Our Spirituality, Our Land is 'Healing our Land, Healing Ourselves', highlighting the importance of our relationship with the natural environment.

Cost: Free

Afternoon tea is included.

-

Anybody under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult / supervisor.

The Planetary Health Wellness Weekend is supported by Blue Mountains City Council in partnership with Greater Blue Mountains Rotary and the Blue Mountains Interfaith Group. The event has been sponsored by the Katoomba and Upper Blue Mountains Bendigo Community Bank.