Retreat location
The retreat will be held at the beautiful, architecturally inspiring Casa Warrandyte. The house is located on Wurundjeri country on the river in Warrandyte and is very secluded with plenty of space to explore surrounding bush walks and swimming spots.
Daily yoga and meditation practices
Morning and evening yoga and meditation practices will be led by Small beyond facilitators Shannon May Powell and Joshua Jon Lynch. The yoga is slow and restorative and designed for all levels of practice and experience.
Plant-based meals
The menu is designed and prepared by our cook Amichai, the food is plant based and inspired by a passion for culinary rituals and good conversation. There will always be gluten free options available and we are happy to cater to any dietary needs.
Intentional workshops
For this retreat poet Nathalie Briggs will be guiding a workshop. Nat is a poet, and the author of Who Loves At All (Rabbit Poetry, 2020), as well as the self-published zines, i was kneeling in her (2017), and the burial is polite (2014). Their poems have appeared widely on the web and in print, in places such as PANK, No More Poetry, and Verge. A Creative Practice Research PhD Candidate at RMIT, their research focuses on trans poetics, philosophical conceptions of breath, and theories of affect. Nat is a facilitator and host of poetry workshops and events.
Nat’s workshop will explore the possibilities of a generative and reparative poetic practice. In writing together, sharing our work, and listening to one another, this workshop will centre play, reflection, and poetic enquiry interested in the excess and overflow of language. You can read about Natalie’s most recently published book of poems, Who Loves At All, here.
Your hosts
Shannon May Powell
Shannon (pronouns: she/they) is a writer, artist and embodiment practitioner of Irish and French settler descent who currently lives and works on unceded Kulin nation lands. They believe embodiment is a human right and their practice is person-centred and grounded in care and liberation.
Shannon has trained in dance, Hatha, Vinyasa and Yin yoga, Zenthai massage and Somatic movement for trauma. They currently work for a non-profit organisation called Collective Being, which offers wellbeing programs to community organisations that don’t have access to mainstream resources.
With lived experience of integrating trauma through embodied and creative practices, Shannon is interested in how embodiment can support our values and actions becoming aligned, building our ability to live from a place of dignity. As a person who holds privilege as a white, able-bodied, queer, middle-class, settler they recognise the life long work that they have in dismantling systems of oppression.
Joshua Jon Lynch
Josh (pronouns: he/him) is a proud Ngāti Te Wehi man. He is a poet, applied philosopher and facilitator at Small Beyond and is interested in where and through what means our inner and outer worlds meet and, ultimately, influence one another.
This interest has led him on a long and windy path where he started and sustained a meditation practice, co-founded and ran Australia’s first multi-disciplinary meditation studio, has been invited to artist residencies and now co-directs and hosts Small Beyond experiences with Shannon.
Josh has a professional background in systems thinking and is currently applying this knowledge to his new found passion for permaculture design. He hopes to weave together and integrate practices of meditation and embodiment with understanding of land and place and the sacred relationship that connects them.
Retreat itinerary
Day 1, Friday
5 - 6pm: Arrive and settle
6:30pm: Yin yoga class
7:45pm: Dinner
Day 2, Saturday
7.30am: Morning meditation
9am: Breakfast
11 - 1pm: Workshop
1pm: Lunch
6pm: Yin yoga class
7:30pm: Dinner
Day 3, Sunday
7.30am: Morning meditation
9-11am: Brunch
11am: closing ritual
Book your retreat (back to top)
To confirm your place on retreat, we initially require a 50% upfront deposit and the rest to be paid before the retreat commences.
To ensure we’re making our retreats as financially accessible as possible, we have concession and non-concession prices available as well as flexible payment plans. If you do want to go on a payment plan, please email us at small.beyond@gmail.com after you have paid the 50% deposit.
Your deposit is fully refundable until 30 days before the retreat commences to give us enough time to find someone to take your place.
