Wild Cycles: Women, Dance & Nature

What does it mean to live in embodied alignment with the cycles?

To move in harmony with the wild?

To be empowered by the flow of the seasons within and without?

To embrace the fertile earth as an expression of our inner spring?

And to surrender to winter’s death of ourselves without resistance?

In this weekend immersion, we will explore the mysteries and wisdom of the wild cycles and our innate belonging to them as women. Together, we will dance through the sacred cycle of life, the ever-changing seasons of movement witnessed in the flow of all living beings. We look to the moon, the sun, our womb, our plant allies and see the same recurring pattern; a pattern which offers a message for being and moving in ways that honour our body’s intelligence and the feminine at large. 

Throughout the weekend, we will draw upon a range of modalities including dance and embodiment, Wayapa, deep nature connection, womancraft, The Work that Reconnects, and somatic ecology to bring us home to the wild cycles within and around us.

Each practice has been consciously crafted to deepen our relationship with each cyclic season, allowing participants to understand their influence on our inner and outer environments. Participants will also be guided on how to harness the power of these seasons for healing, celebration, and connection in their daily lives. As a result, we begin to remember our union with the family of all things - whereby rather than creating movement, we participate in the inherent movement of the Earth.

You’re invited to join our circle of identifying women as we gather around the fire, dance under the stars, sing among old growth forests, and reconnect within the wild cycles that remind us of our innate belonging to the earth.

This immersion is open to those who identify as a woman. If you have any questions regarding your suitability for this retreat, please feel free to get in touch.

Bookings are essential and limited.

You Will Receive:

• Practical tools for harnessing the wisdom of the cycles in your daily life
• An opportunity to merge with wild nature and develop an embodied understanding of ‘earth as self’
• Guided exercises for connecting with your body landscape, the earth, your womb, and the ancestor
• First-hand experience of Wayapa®, a movement-based earth connection modality based on the wisdom of Australia's First Peoples
• Practices for activating your sensory awareness and developing your eco-sensual expression
• Solo time on the land to open up communication with the wild within and around you
• Maps for accessing altered states of consciousness such as dance, breathwork, and deep listening
• Movement games among the trees to summon your playfulness and curiosity
• Guided processes for meeting and embodying your animal ally
• An opportunity to be seen, witnessed and held by a community of compassionate sisters
• Storytelling and songs around the campfire under the stars

Dates & Times

Participants are invited to arrive from 4pm for a 5pm sharp start on Friday 27th March. We will finish with a closing circle that will end no later than 3pm on Sunday 29th March.

Accommodation

Camping accommodation allows us to fully immerse ourselves in the majestic forest surroundings. Camping equipment is not provided so please BYO camping gear. You are also welcome to bring a swag if you wish to sleep under the stars around the fire.

Catering

All meals throughout the weekend immersion are included (Friday dinner - Sunday lunch). Catering will include a delicious array of vegan/vegetarian, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and organic meals where possible. If you have any other specific dietary requirements, please let us know in the registration form. 

Organic teas, coffee & cacao will also be available during snack breaks. Please bring any other personal snacks you may require.

Location

The immersion is hosted among old-growth forests, breathtaking mountains and winding creek beds at Shambhola. Also home to the much loved ‘Yoga Camp’, Shambhola is a stunning, off-grid, natural bushland property nestled within the wild Alpine region of Victoria. The property is proudly committed to regenerative living practices such as permaculture design, organic principles and eco-building.

We will greet each day with scenic mountain views, vibrant birdsong, pure mountain air and fresh spring water from the mountain. Without access to mobile phone or internet reception, the venue provides a beautiful opportunity for a digital detox where we can fully surrender into the natural way of the forest.

Shambhola is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes drive from Melbourne in North-East Victoria (precise location emailed upon registration)

Facilitators

Brittany Jane

Brittany Jane is a Somatic Ecologist, Dancer and Accredited Wayapa® Practitioner whose work aims to reunite the embodied arts and ecology. She is also the Founder of Brittany of The Earthbody Movement with over 15 years of experience in dance and embodiment, complemented by 7 years as a Sustainability Educator where she delivered tertiary-level courses for hundreds of students across 8 countries. Brittany holds a Master of Environment degree in Somatic Ecology and has received also numerous awards for her innovative leadership in this unique field of socio-ecological restoration, including the inaugural Westpac Future Leaders Award and the Australian Prime Minister’s Endeavour Award. Her vision is that dance and movement may rise again as a central way of knowing, expressing and healing our relationship with the natural world.

Karina Donkers

Karina Donkers is a Qualified Yoga Teacher 200hrs, Reiki Master, Permaculture  Designer, and Founder of Eco Voices. Karina is fiercely passionate about supporting women to come home to themselves and the world. She believes that everyone has a unique role to play in the healing of the planet and wants to help people discover what already lives within them.Originally trained in Social Work specialising in community development, mental health, women's rights, and environmental change, Karina has now broadened her focus to include deep nature connection and deep ecology. Karina has had the privilege to be trained by Joanna Macy, one of the grandmothers of deep ecology, in California with ‘The Work That Reconnects’, Tom Brown Jnr in Philosophy of the Soul in his Australian Tour and Jon Young in Tracking and Storytelling.

Investment

$ 497 Early Bird (before 15th September - limited available)

$ 527 Full Investment

$ 447 Concession

Included:

• Camping accommodation among the wild alpine forests + full use of all onsite facilities
• All meals plus organic teas, coffee & cacao
• Full weekend of guided workshops and practices
• Solo immersion time in nature
• Pre-departure assistance such as packing lists

Not Included:

• Personal snacks
• Transport to venue
• Camping equipment

100% of booking fees are donated to sponsoring education scholarships of Indigenous youth

Testimonials

"Absolutely amazing! If anyone is second guessing going on this retreat don't hesitate as you don't want to miss out on what this retreat will bring to your life. The entire retreat is like an embodied journey that is facilitated with so much background knowledge that it is truly remarkable and life changing. The content has been carefully curated to take the body and soul on a journey that encompasses the learning and insights the facilitators have to offer, which is profound. Can't recommend highly enough and have embodied the learning into my everyday practices."

Jude Parkin, Previous Retreat Participant

“I feel like I've been taken apart and put back together again, in the best possible way. I emerged from the retreat feeling renewed, full of aliveness and inspiration, pulsating with creative energy and committed to spend more time in nature! Britt is an amazing facilitator and has so much depth and deliciousness to share with the women who join her on her retreats. She holds such a powerful yet easeful space. As a facilitator in a related field, I can highly recommend Britt and her work."

Bonnie Bliss, Women's Facilitator & Pelvic Wellness Specialist