Rewild Women's Retreat 2.0: Exploring Lake Hawea & Makarora

This month my team at The Rewild Legacy Charitable Trust hosted our final Rewild expedition of the season, and it was definitely one for the books! Our home for the weekend was the stunning Lake Hāwea View overlooking the lake & expansive mountain landscapes. Nestled under a bed of stars & a blanket of Milky Way at night. Basking in radiant sunshine & bluebird skies during the day. There is a poignant magic that reverberates from this place, it seeps into your skin when you dip into the cold glacial waters and it permeates your senses as you walk through the forests and drift down the river, becoming one with the flow of life that is within & around you.

Facilitating these workshop weekends can be hard work, not in the sense that the work itself is hard. It’s the preparation, the organising, the stress of filling the spots to meet required numbers to cover costs, dealing with last minute cancellations, and wondering where those funds are going to come from. It’s the constant marketing & advertising, reaching your perfect audience, the ones who need your offering the most. It often feels strange having to be so “on” all the time, being so connected to the virtual world when really what we are teaching about is found outside of this metaverse. We guide you to find your wild, because we all have this wildness and it often gets lost in the clouds of conditioning from various avenues of our lives.

It is on these weekends, that we as a team, remember the why behind our vision. Our cup gets filled as much as our participants’ and we get to share our stories, our knowledge, our tools, and practices. We get to do these things in some of the most wild & remote locations in the South Island of New Zealand and that’s a huge draw card because this is where the true healing occurs. I’m not saying that nature heals us necessarily, but that we find in nature the parts of us that need to be healed within. Nature has messages for us if we are still enough to engage in that conversation. We carve this time into our busy schedules and we commit to showing up for ourselves for these 3 or 4 days, challenging our own status quo.

It is our mission as teachers and guides, to walk with you as you navigate your own self discovery. You become the cartographer of your own map, the treasure trove of your soul. I often describe our Rewild Retreats as a blend of Outward Bound with a creative art therapy & personal development twist. This particular retreat found us embracing the elements of the wild to the fullest. We traversed ancient forests, crossed glacial rivers & meandered our way through gorges to find the perfect swimming hole for those that dared brave immerse themselves into the icy waters. We cheered & supported each other, teetered the edges of our boundaries and realised what we were capable of not only as a team but as individuals.

We continued this exploration and dived into the seat of our souls, rediscovering & acknowledging parts of us that needed noticing. We felt the resistance, we embraced vulnerability and we shared our experiences. A workshop that really helped us co-create from the heart and allow the ego to take a rest. The challenges faced during these adventures, workshops, meditations, asanas & moments of self exploration were met with kindness, grace and determination, as we ventured into the unknown together.

One of the most memorable moments together was witnessing the magic of the Aurora display in the night sky. The women stood in awe, bathed in the ethereal glow of a jaw dropping Southern Lightshow, their faces alight with wonder and joy. It was a moment of pure connection to the cosmos and to each other. A realisation of the essence of the magic of life that surrounds us. That veil between worlds, as if we were able to peek through to the next dimension. As one of our facilitator’s, Kay, would say, “We have all been upgraded!” I mean, after that light show, how could you not agree with her?!

For our last adventure together, the stunning backdrop of the Aspiring mountains and Matukituki river served as the perfect setting for our exploration of self-confidence, processing emotions and personal development. The spirit of the Matukituki river flowed through us and we worked as a team to navigate the small rapids and gentle flows that each turn presented us with. Moments of silence and meditation, laughter & pure joy, and tears that flowed served as vessels for change within each and every one of us. I don’t think any of us are the same women who started that journey, we came out of that river forever changed in a way that is hard to describe. For me, I feel as if a piece of me flows with the river and the river flows through me.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a transformative experience, and to witness the growth and empowerment of these incredible women. Their journey serves as a reminder of the power of connection, self-discovery, and a reminder that it’s never too late to chase our dreams or to reach for the stars. I am honoured to hold space for these inspiring souls & to share the knowledge and the tools that I have in my kete.

May your waters be calm in the storms and may your heart know which way to guide you.

For now & yet again, we finish this season with an incredible Rewild adventure. Thank you to everyone who came to Rewild with us this season! We’ll see you again in November 2024!

xx

Kass & The Rewild Legacy Team

VENUE: Lake Hawea View

Adventure Guides: Best Foot Forward NZ & Brave Soul

Epic Catering & Nourishing Kai: Bush to Buffet

Photography: Kassandra Lynne

Upcoming Events Brought to you by The Rewild Legacy Charitable Trust