Sandhāna Retreat

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Sandhāna Retreat

Sandhāna is an intentional space for people to unite, connect, share wisdom, heal and grow together. completely numb. And I want the same for you!

I am passionate about facilitating and holding space for personal transformation. Having worked in a high stress corporate environment for 20+ years I understand what it's like to feel burnt out, overwhelmed and also to feel nothing at all i.e. I initially started practicing yoga to become more flexible but quickly realised the benefits it was having on my very busy mind and the positive flow on e

ffect it had on my life. It gave me the courage to leave both a toxic job and relationship in the same week and then moving back to New Zealand after 15 years abroad not long after that, completely turning my life around . Upon leaving I embarked on my teacher training which has led to a whole array of subsequent trainings which now means I'm qualified to teach Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Yoga Nidra and Qoya. It has been a very rewarding journey of self-discovery and I'm excited to share what I've learnt along the way. Because the thing is I understand what it's like to be the responsible for paying the mortgage and bills with nobody else to rely on, and often working in a highly paid, but stressful job, is often the most attractive option. I've learnt tools, tips and tricks to incorporate in to the my busy life that helps me be the best version of myself - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If this resonates please DM me to see how I can best help you. I offer group classes, privates, workshops and retreats and have some exciting offerings in the pipeline.

18/08/2025

I’ve been noticing something deeper beneath all the “doing” in our pursuit of health and wellness. In particular the approach people have to cold plunges, breathwork, yoga, saunas. When we jump in without asking why, we lose the point. These practices can reshape us, but only when we listen - not just perform.

People tend to sit on one end of the spectrum:
- Those who push their boundaries, chasing the edge, ignoring the body’s cues.
- And those who stay firmly in the comfort zone, opting out the moment discomfort arrives.

It’s beautifully illustrated in yoga with the A-type personalities racing into vinyasa, bikram, or ashtanga. The kapha types gravitating to yin and restorative practices, avoiding anything more activating.

In breathwork, I see people chasing the high, breathing 100 miles an hour, unwilling to pause even as the body begins to release or venture into an experience. On the other end are those who barely move air, drifting into sleep rather than meeting what’s present.

In the sauna, some avoid heat altogether, convinced they “can’t handle it”. Others treat it like a contest, staying in until their system is overwhelmed - forgetting that with infrared, it’s not meant to feel unbearably hot, nor to go on for hours. The benefit is in gentle, sustained warmth, not in endurance.

And the ice bath… There are those determined to beat their “personal best,” staying in so long they ignore their body and nervous system’s clear signals that its time to get out. And those that allow their mind to overcome them within seconds demanding they run from the scary situation.

And remember the edge isn’t the same everywhere. You might push harder in yoga, but pull back in the ice bath or breathwork. We’re all wired differently, and that’s the beauty of it. Neither extreme is the point. These practices are not about proving something, or escaping something. They are about balance. About listening. About learning when to soften and when to lean in.

The magic lives in the middle - the dance between push and pull.

Where do you find yourself on the spectrum?

Read the full conversation in our musings + newsletter - links in bio.

18/07/2025

Where sacred ceremony meets wild adventure…

Anita and I are beyond excited to share this with you. A soul‑stirring journey in the heart of Sedona’s red rock magic that revealed itself to us on our own pilgrimage earlier this year.

This retreat is a space to return to your essence, remember your power, and reconnect with the wild wisdom that lives within you. Through activating breathwork, somatic movement, ancient rituals, guided hikes into powerful vortexes, and elemental immersion under open skies, you’ll awaken your body, nourish your spirit, and reclaim your parts of yourself you didn’t even know were missing.

You’ll stay for seven nights on land held by horses, a medicine wheel and a stupa, nestled on the edge of a national park. Be nourished by seasonal, high‑quality meals, experience a fire purification ceremony, and have the option to add on horse divination, bodywork and pranic healing sessions. Every day builds on the last - adventure, connection, regulation and activation gently rewiring how you move through life.

We’re offering payment plans to make this experience as accessible as possible, and we highly recommend chatting with Leisa , who can take all the stress out of travel planning and help you curate the most incredible holiday if you’d like to extend your trip before or after the retreat.

Come as you are. Leave rooted, radiant, and free.
Message us, or click on the link in our bio, to discover more or secure your place.

24/06/2025

There’s a kind of stillness that lives just beneath the surface of sound. A quiet recalibration, a remembering of who you are beneath the noise.

Osher’s sound journeys are an intimate ceremony. Part transmission, part invitation - using crystal singing bowls, chimes, voice, and deep intentional silence. The high frequencies help dissolve energetic build-up and bring the nervous system back to a place of deep harmony.

These sessions are more than just relaxation, they’re a weaving of sound and spirit that:
✨Anchor divine energy through the body
✨Restore connection with your soul, your community, nature, and source
✨Support clarity of vision and a felt sense of what’s next
✨Activate the pineal gland and bring spaciousness to the mind’s eye
✨Strengthen the frequency of unity and heart coherence

With so much noise in the world, especially from our digital lives, these moments of resonance help return us to coherence.

Osher’s voice, in harmony with the crystal bowls, opens a doorway beyond thinking and invites you into a space of deep inner alignment. It’s a subtle yet powerful recalibration for the whole being.

Come lie down, receive, and let the sound do what sound does best – clear, connect, and realign you to what’s true.

This Wednesday June 25th, 6.30-8.30pm. Click on the events calendar link above to book your spot.

24/05/2025

Things are changing - around me, yes, but even more profoundly within me.

And when that kind of shift happens, change within my offerings becomes not only natural, but inevitable.

It begins with The Stillness evolving into a deeper container: one hour of yin, followed by one hour of yoga nidra.
A full two hours to slow down, soften the edges, and allow for what I’m calling the great unravelling.

This isn’t just a class, it’s an experience. An intentional pause.
A chance to say no to the relentless doing, to the constant rushing off to the next thing and to rewrite our addiction to busyness.
And a chance to simply be, to say reacquaint yourself with your parasympathetic nervous system, your inner world, and the quiet voice within that longs to be heard.

Stillness: The Great Unravelling
5pm – 7pm | Sundays
Come as you are.

23/05/2025

There was a time in my life when the idea of taking time out for myself felt… selfish.
Like I was stepping away from responsibilities I should be handling.
Like rest was a luxury I hadn’t quite earned yet.

But what I didn’t realise back then is that I was carrying so much - not just the day-to-day load, but the mental and emotional weight that never really switches off.
I had become so used to pushing through, holding it all, being fine, that I couldn’t see how overloaded my system had become.

It wasn’t until I paused - really paused - that the truth landed.
I’d been moving on autopilot.
I’d lost sight of what truly mattered.
And I’d forgotten what it felt like to be fully present in my own body.

Retreating, for me, wasn’t about escaping.
It was about remembering.
The stillness helped me see what I couldn’t when I was in the thick of it.
To feel what I’d been too busy to feel.
And to begin gently tending to what was out of sync before it became something louder - something my body could no longer ignore.

That’s a big reason why I hold these retreats now.
Because I know what it’s like to need space.
To need deep rest.
To need to come home to yourself.

And here’s the thing I’ve learned:
When we take care of ourselves in this way, it doesn’t just serve us.
It ripples out.
We show up more regulated, more loving, more available for the people around us.
We become the calm in the chaos.
The well that others can draw from, because we’ve taken the time to refill our own.

So if you’re craving space, stillness, clarity - maybe this retreat is calling you too.

King’s Birthday Weekend Retreat
May 30th - June 2nd
🔗 in our bio

Anita and I love to hold this space for you.
To rest. To release. To realign.
Together.

18/05/2025

The weather shifted today – a cool breath in the air, a softer quality to the light. We’re on the cusp of something quieter. These are the subtle signals that we’re crossing a seasonal threshold… an invitation to slow down, turn inward, and nestle into the stillness that winter brings.

At Sandhāna, this season speaks deeply to the spaces we hold – ones that honour rest, reflection, and the gentle process of reweaving connection with ourselves. There’s a word I keep returning to lately: hygge.

More than just candles and cosy blankets (though those are always welcome), hygge is a feeling – of being held, safe, and at home in your body and your life. It’s the sacred simplicity of a slow meal, a heartfelt conversation, a practice by the fire, or a pause between the busyness where you can hear your own breath again.

As we move into this inward season, I’m inspired to keep creating offerings that feel like warm, welcoming places to land. Spaces where you can soften, re-centre, and remember what matters.

What are you nestling into right now?

16/05/2025

Meet Theresa – the creative force behind the beautiful meals at our retreats and an absolute culinary artist. Her cooking is infused with intuition and heart. She never follows a recipe, so no two meals are ever the same. Each dish is fresh, unique, and packed with flavour.

Theresa has a real gift for making nourishing food taste incredible. She sources local and organic ingredients whenever possible, creating meals that feel both grounding and deeply satisfying.

Here’s a little taste of what she’s whipped up for us recently. We can’t wait to see what’s on the menu for our upcoming retreats tomorrow and Kings Birthday weekend!

14/05/2025

My initial inspiration for the elemental retreats was learning to live by, and appreciate the seasons. With practices to support our bodies, our nervous and immune systems and process what we’re being called forth to cultivate and grow within us during that season. As someone that always loved summer the most I often found myself in mourning as late autumn started to make itself known. The in between season where it is dark, getting colder, before the joys of ski season kick in and summer a distant memory. When I started to live by this more, eating seasonally, to finely tune the balance between challenge and rest and finally accept that my body wasn’t designed to go full steam ahead all year round things finally started shifting for me. The biggest being acceptance and appreciation.

If you’d love to attune yourself to the rhythm of the seasons there are still some spaces left for our upcoming day retreat this Saturday May 17th. Link is in our bio 🍁🍂

06/05/2025

The term letting go is something I feel is almost overused in the yoga world. And overuse can diminish the potency of something, watering it down until it’s barely recognisable from its purest form. There are of course different layers to letting go. Begininning with our physical bodies - softening and releasing the musculature, but let’s face it in its essence what we’re dealing with here is locked emotions and trauma so this in itself isn’t small. It then works it’s way up to the big stuff in our life that we’re clinging onto for dear life as we’re terrified of losing something so known and familiar to us, even if we know it’s not for our greatest and highest good. When it’s formed an integral part of identity it’s nothing short of terrifying, as there is a period of not knowing who we are without this construct that we’ve created for ourselves. It takes a lot of courage to step into the abyss of the unknown. Often it’s thrust upon us - a catalyst like a relationship breakdown, illness, the death of a loved one, but to walk this path is still a choice. We can choose to stay in the victim - the pain and suffering or face all the shadow parts of ourselves that have been activated by this loss. It’s an essential ingredient of discovering and truly knowing ourselves, our higher selves.

04/04/2025

Have you ever stepped out of an infrared sauna and felt like everything just shifted into alignment?
There’s a reason for that – and it has a lot to do with your hormones.

Infrared therapy doesn’t just help you relax and sweat out toxins – it also works deep within your endocrine system, stimulating the release and balance of key hormones that support your energy, mood, metabolism and overall well-being.

From stress regulation to longevity, sauna therapy can be a powerful (and very enjoyable) ally in your holistic health journey.

✨ Have you noticed any shifts in your energy or mood after a sauna session? We’d love to hear.
👇 Drop your experience in the comments below.

27/03/2025

As the seasons shift, we’re invited to pause. To breathe. To honour the natural rhythm of slowing down.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, late summer and early autumn are considered a pivotal fifth season – the Harvest. A time to reflect on what we’ve cultivated, release what we no longer need, and create space for new intentions to take root.

Our upcoming retreat is a chance to align with this transition, supported by the Autumn Equinox – a moment of perfect balance between light and dark – and the New Moon in Aries, igniting fresh beginnings.

Together, we’ll move through:
🧘‍♂️ Vinyasa and Yin yoga to balance movement and stillness
💨 Breathwork to clear and reset
🧘 Yoga Nidra to deeply rest and integrate
🧖‍♀️ Sauna and cold immersion to invigorate and strengthen body and mind
🔥 Fire ceremony to honour release and renewal

As we step into this new cycle, I invite you to reflect:
✨ What do you wish to cultivate?
✨ What are you ready to release?

We’ll set a Sankalpa (intention) together, so take some time to contemplate what is calling you. This is a space to be held, nurtured, and supported through transformation.

If you’re looking for a last minute experience to do this coming Saturday there’s still a few spaces left or maybe now is the time to reserve your place in May.

Upcoming retreats:
March 29th (only a few spaces remain)
May 17th (be sure to get in quickly if you wish to stay overnight, as the rooms are filling up!)

Click on the link in our bio for further details.

15/03/2025

There are many ways we can make life sacred, but one of the most powerful is through movement.

"For me, movement has always been a gateway to the sacred - a way to listen deeply, to release, to connect with something beyond words. Our bodies hold so much wisdom, yet for years, I carried an idea of what movement should look like. I had to decolonise movement for myself, letting go of rigid structures and trusting the way my body naturally wants to move.

Dance was a way my ancestors found healing and connection, and it continues to be a transformative practice in my life. When I allow myself to move freely - without judgment or expectation. I feel more present, more alive, more in alignment with my purpose. And above all, I feel joy."

Sacred practice doesn’t have to be elaborate. It’s about intention. A simple breath, a candle lit with presence, the freedom to move in a way that feels natural. These small acts reconnect us to ourselves, our ancestors, and the unseen forces guiding us.

This is why movement, ritual, and ceremony are woven into our upcoming Return to Self retreat, a journey within. This retreat is an invitation to remember - through breath, through stillness, through the sacred intelligence of your own body.

📍 Sandhana Retreat, Waiheke Island
📅 Kings Birthday, May 30th to June 2nd
✨ A weekend to journey within and deeply reconnect

If your body is longing to move with more freedom, if your spirit is craving deeper connection, this space is for you. Drop a message in the comments if this speaks to you, or click on the link in our bio above to learn more about this retreat. Let’s move, breathe, and remember together.

Address

40 Moa Avenue
Oneroa
1081

Website

http://sandhana.co.nz/, https://linktr.ee/sandhanaretreat

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