Awaken - Spring Yoga and MeditationRetreat 2023

Friday 8th - Sunday 10th September 2023,

Watagans Eco Retreat, Martinsville

Take time out to slow down, take rest and come back into connection with yourself in this beautiful venue. Cassandra will lead you through an exploration of all aspects of the yoga tradition including hatha yoga both dynamic and restorative and pranayama. Liz will expertly guide you through periods of meditation in nature, contemplation and ritual around the fire. The spacious timetable allows for time to rest, read a book, receive a massage or soak in the healing energy of the Australian native bushland which surrounds the retreat centre.

The Watagans Eco retreat is an idyllic bush retreat, nestled at the base of the Watagan Mountain Range in Martinsville on the western side of Lake Macquarie. It is easily accessible and is just off the M1 Sydney - Newcastle freeway, located approximately 92kms north from Sydney.

Surrounded by tall trees and a big open sky this centre offers a welcome respite from city life in such a tranquil and intimate environment that you will unwind as soon as you enter the driveway.

Watagans Eco Retreat includes hotel style accommodation and comforts including 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and breakout areas. There is also an outdoor jacuzzi and a beautiful yoga and meditation studio and wonderful walks to do on the property.

Delicious, fresh and healthy vegetarian meals will be provided and prepared daily on site by our Chef extraordinaire Shane, using locally sourced seasonal organic produce where possible.

Limited to a small group of students, this retreat is an opportunity for you to nourish and replenish and take time to rest back into the beauty of the natural surroundings. The yoga and meditation practices have been carefully crafted to support the process of connection and renewal.

There will be nothing to do or prepare or worry about. Take time out for yourself - you deserve it!

Once you have paid your deposit, please complete this registration form so that we have all of your information and can better support you.

  • Welcome

  • Take a moment

  • Share a meal

  • Immerse in Practice

What you will receive

 

  • 4 nurturing yoga practices throughout the retreat – a mix of dynamic practice in the mornings and restorative and yoga nidra in the afternoons.

  • 4 Guided meditation sessions offered by Liz McDonald from Soul Sanctuary Healing to connect and plant fresh intentions for the Spring - Day time meditations in nature and evening meditation will be offered around the fire.

  • Saturday Afternoon Sound Healing Session - lay back and relax and receive the healing vibrations of crystal bowls and other instruments as our highly trained sound healers balance your energies and calm your mind and nervous system.

  • Delicious food – healthy, fresh and lovingly prepared on site by our in house Chef Shane - nourish and cleanse your entire being and awaken your inner vitality after the winter.

  • Comfortable accommodation – the retreat centre consists of two spacious houses with plenty of break out areas.

  • Thankyou Cassandra. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with yoga, friends and myself. You have created a beautiful peaceful and warm atmosphere which allows us to challenge ourselves while restoring our souls.

    Belinda

  • Cassandras yoga retreats are an oasis of sanity in a busy year. Nurturing, nourishing and so necessary. They test my body in all sorts of interesting ways too - challenging with support that enables.

    Natasha.

  • This retreat was perfect for a yoga -rookie. Supportive, warm and friendly. Wonderful setting and stillness. Nourishing and relaxing - I feel incredibly rejuvenated - thankyou for all your planning and effort to make this a thoughtful weekend away from the daily hustle.

    Leanne

Investment.

 

Twin Room Sharing with one other.

$1199 - $100 deposit to secure your place

Early Bird Discount of $200 if paid before 1st August 2023

$999

All bedrooms have been designed with guests comfort and needs in mind. The single beds have comfortable quality mattresses, pillows doonas and blankets. Sheets and pillow cases are provided.


Share room

$1099 - $100 deposit to secure your place

Early Bird Price Discount of $200 if paid before 1st August 2023

$899

All bedrooms have been designed with guests comfort and needs in mind. The single beds have comfortable quality mattresses, pillows, doonas and blankets. Sheets and pillow cases are provided.

group meal at retreat
catering at yoga retreat
group dinning at yoga retreat

Draft Daily Retreat Schedule

 

Friday

From 2pm Arrive and settle. Take a walk in nature

5.00pm

 Welcoming Circle & Grounding Yoga practice

6.30pm Welcome Dinner

8.00pm Fire Circle Meditation with Liz

Saturday

7.00am Connection in Nature Meditation with Liz

7.30am - 9.00am Silence and contemplation, tea & toast

9.00 -11.00am Dynamic Yoga Practice with Cassandra

11.00am Brunch

12.00-3.00pm

 Free time/Massage

3.00 – 4.00pm

 Sound Healing Bath with Lisa

4.00-5.30pm - Restorative Yoga with Cassandra

6.00pm

- Dinner

8.30pm - Fire Circle Meditation with Liz

Sunday

7.00am - Meditation in Nature
with Liz

7.30-9.00am Silence and contemplation, tea and toast

9.00-11.00am Dynamic Yoga Practice with Cassandra



11.00am Brunch

12.00 - 2.00pm

 Free time/Massage

2.00pm Yoga practice and Closing Circle

3.00pm Pack up and depart

 

About your Facilitators

Cassandra Missio

Cassandra has been offering retreats locally and internationally for over 12 years. All those that attend her retreats are made to feel welcome and she creates a beautiful non judgmental space in which is rest and enjoy.

Cassandra first came to yoga in her early twenties whilst travelling. She knew after her first class that she had stumbled upon a very powerful and potent discipline that left her feeling grounded and clear. On her return to Sydney in 1997, she began to study regularly and in 2003 began a 4.5 year teacher training apprenticeship at the Art of Yoga, Summer Hill. In 2009 after many years of training Cassandra was certified as an Anusara® yoga teacher.

Cassandra has further refined her practice and teaching skills studying on numerous occasions with the founder of Anusara, John Friend, and many of his senior teachers. She has studied regularly with meditation and philosophy teacher Carlos Pomeda and Yoga Therapist Doug Kellar and is grateful to all the generous teachers who have guided her over the past 20 years.

Cassandra's classes weave precise biomechanical alignment with heart-centred philosophy. She brings to all her classes the intention to offer an experience of freedom and lightness to the body and heart.

 

About your Facilitators

Liz McDonald

Liz is a soulful and intuitive woman. A mother of three who has lived a varied and experienced life around the world. For nearly 20 years she has worked with the Divine Energies of the Feminine, Mother, Earth and Soul Source for her own spiritual development, which in turn she now gifts to others. She has the ability to reconnect you to your own Divine energies, which are inherent in every human being, female or male.

Liz meets you in a very human and down to earth way, yet reaches you in a deep and soulful place in order to give you what both your human mind, and soul are asking for in that moment.

This can manifest in many ways such as practical day-to-day advice, or soul-led insights through meditation and guided visualizations, and mostly you will receive a combination of both.

With her Spiritual Intuitive guidance, Liz translates your unconscious into your conscious awareness in order to create tools that you can ground into your everyday life and that will continue to work for you, long after a session with her.

The answers you seek never come when the mind is frantic and busy they come when the mind is still and steady.

You will leave the weekend feeling still and steady.