Nature Connection Women's Retreat

A down-to-Earth retreat dedicated to deepening our nature connection.
Come and relax in a beautiful setting, with other forest-loving women, deepening your connection with nature and giving your nervous system what it needs.
We’ll stay in self-contained cabins at a beautiful, end-of-the-road, eco-certified nature retreat. It’s about an hour’s drive from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

There will be a day of group activities for grounding in nature and a supported solo wandering day. There will be time to explore the many rainforest trails and waterfalls, listen to the bush, watch the campfire, share laughs and quiet moments.

This will be a nourishing, simple and sacred retreat to look forward to, enjoy and then to remember.
The big picture

I think many of us long for a deeper connection with the more-than-human world.

We want to make time to just sit and watch ants, listen to waterfalls and stroke moss. We know it’s good for us in so many ways, and will help us live better with all beings. But we don’t do it as often as we’d like.

So: we’re booking a beautiful place, carving out a little time, inviting good people and preparing some fun, grounding, creative and inspiring activities to help us tend to our nature relationships.

Who this is for

Women who have strong or growing relationships with the nature,

who want to spend whole days outside developing that relationship,

with the safety and comfort of an organised group, on private land, with simple food and affordable accommodation,

while sharing with and being influenced by other likeminded and likehearted women.

What this retreat isn’t

It won’t be a luxury, action-packed schedule of questionably culturally appropriated activities, run by super confident insta-styled gurus making a profit out of participants’ vulnerability. (Of course, not all retreats are like that either! We just want to make it clear that we’re aware of that kind of thing and also to recognise our privilege to even consider going on or designing a retreat at all).

It is also not about survival skills*, an educative course*, nor a therapy* nor solely health-focused* retreat.

*although developing your relationship with nature may lead to improved resilience, learning and personal growth and physical, mental and spiritual health. See this summary of the research into benefits of time spent with nature, for a start.

What to expect:

Monday 2 February – Thursday 5 February (3 nights, 4 days)

The group will be 9 – 15 women, on a private property of 400 acres

Bellthorpe Stays is a wonderland of gorgeous rainforest, waterfalls, creeks and meadows. It is a popular location for birders and froggers because the native biodiversity is very high, and the owners continue to work on restoring the ecosystems. There are many kilometres of tracks throughout the property which bounds onto Bellthorpe National Park.

Group activities will all be invitational (opt-in), with no pressure to tick it all off or show up if you’d rather nap in a sit spot. The draft schedule is as follows and will be shaped by the land, the weather and you. See the link for more details