Women and Power: Active Hope and Empowerment Beyond Despair

"ACTIVE HOPE IS WAKING UP TO THE BEAUTY OF LIFE ON WHOSE BEHALF WE CAN ACT. WE BELONG TO THIS WORLD." ~Joanna Macy~

This retreat for women sprang forth from some ideas of Joanna Macy's (environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, systems theory and deep ecology.) https://www.joannamacy.net/

Despair is a strong word which we use with intention. It can be confronting to acknowledge or even access the hopelessness we may feel at times. This retreat will allow space and safety for acknowledgement and expression, to the depth and extent that feels right for you.

We will explore the themes of the above artwork from Dori Midnight (https://dorimidnight.com/) as part of our immersive experience:

• Gratitude
• Honouring our Pain
• Seeing with New Eyes
• Going Forth

THE RETREAT WILL BE

• a time to reconnect deeply with your self, your body, community and the earth
• a safe place for expression of strong emotions- even those perhaps deemed "unacceptable" by this patriarchal culture.
• an exploration: "as within so without"- how does your internal reality effect and shape your world? how does the reality of the world effect and shape your inner reality?

The retreat sessions may include Shamanic Womancraft, Psychodrama, Nature & Earth based practices, Joanna Macy's "The Work That Reconnects", Yoga, Deep Ecology, Somatic-oriented group processes, Movement, times for silence and reflection.

An Innerview will be conducted with the facilitators prior to the retreat. This will help to clarify your purpose for attending and answer any questions you may have.

A DEEP DIVE

This retreat is a deep dive into many levels of your worlds (as deep as you wish to go)- individual and communal- and may stir up emotions and responses, familiar and unfamiliar. The retreat is not intended as stand alone therapy (although both facilitators do have skills in this area)- please ensure you are well supported to work through anything that arises as a result of attending the retreat.

ACCOMMODATION AND CATERING

The retreat will be fully catered with plentiful nourishing vegetarian meals and snacks. The retreat commences with an introductory session at 4pm on Friday 27th January, followed by dinner together. Dietary needs will be accommodated. Please let us know what these are prior to 31st December 2022. Accommodation is on a shared bedroom and shared bathroom basis. There are 2 very small single rooms. 

RETREAT FEE can be paid by  debit or credit card through Humanitix, AfterPay (this will include 3.5% AfterPay fee as well as Humanitix fee) or by direct Bank Transfer via the Invoice option. Early Bird fee (until 9th December) is $575.00 plus fees. From 10th December the full fee is $650.00. Registrations will close on13th January or before that if we are fully booked.

YOUR CO-FACILITATORS:

Sar Friedman
Living on Garigal lands of Sydney's Northern Beaches, Sar delights in being close to wild nature and exploring the edges of where life and myth poetically intersect. She embraces the sacred and the mundane, welcomes the light as well as the shadow. In her work as a women's health practitioner, Sar weaves body-oriented therapies with deep soul inquiry - holding space for her clients to cultivate an expanding landscape of self-awareness that supports both inner and outer life to thrive.Sar offers 1:1 client sessions and facilitates group work and women's yoga circles. She is an innovator with a special interest in teaching body literacy, consent principles and reclaiming the wild feminine.

Over time Sar has cultivated a deep literacy and knowledge in the ways of her own body and mind. Operating from this place of self-wisdom, she shares a fierce and gentle healing tonic of presence and safety; of being seen, heard, known, nurtured and welcomed home.

www.sarfriedman.com.au

Katherine Cailleach Howard 
Katherine Cailleach is a Maga (somewhere between Mother and Crone!) woman, mother, grandmother, and partner to her beloved. 
She has lived in the Blue Mountains of NSW since 2009, surrounded by sacred trees: oak, yew, rowan, hawthorn- amongst all the amazing Australian native trees and bushes. She has many passions (including trees), and is most passionate about the women's mysteries, relationships, shadow cycles, mental health, the power of the grandmothers and the sacred energy of the land.

She has journeyed often with her partner and on solitary wanderings to sacred places. Ireland and Glastonbury are her spirit homes. Cailleach is a teacher with the School of Shamanic Womancraft. (see www.schoolofshamanicwomancraft.com) 

She is an accredited psychodramatist (see www.katherinecounselling.com and www.triskelionlore.com ) , and an accredited mental health occupational therapist with 40 years of counselling and groupwork experience. She has a busy counselling and groupwork practice in Katoomba and Sydney.