The Nourished Woman Retreat took place on Nov 15-17 2019 on the ancestral, unceded, and occupied territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Watuth Peoples, at the magical HalfMoon Haven Retreat Center on Sunshine Coast, BC. We are so blessed to play and practice here in the Feminine spiritual traditions.
This was my first time hosting a retreat of my own, and it far exceed my expectations, from the moment we set foot on on the ferry ride over, to the moment we sang and said our tearful goodbyes on the pacific ocean waters on Sunday in the water ceremony– indeed the elements, the ancestors of the land and angels descended and danced with us this weekend, and with the spectacular group of wise and deep women this retreat attracted.
Friday En Route
Fleur ( our resident crystal bowl sound healer) and I saw a rainbow of grand majestic magnitude on the ferry ride over from Vancouver to the Coast– it truly felt like a special spirit was saying hello- and hey everything is going to be okay! This was followed by a sweet raven perching itself right by our car window and again, I felt visited. I thought to the aboriginal style raven I had tattooed on my right shoulder 18 years ago at Sacred Heart Tattoo in Vancouver when I was a young 18yrs old– my first marking and ode to these lands.
Once we arrived, my friends and healers, Layla and Fleur Meigan, and my main temple mama co-lead, Katy, set to the yurt right away. This was the sacred space, our ‘temple’ and the ceremonial womb space that our core practices would take place. Olivia and Mart ( the “OM” kitchen team) had already arrived on the earlier ferry and had set up shop in the kitchen, creating the delicious welcome food board platter and Ayurvedic peppermint chai for the ladies to have before evening dinner service.
Welcome Sisters!
It was so wonderful and satisfying to see all the registered guests and healers enter the temple at the official opening ceremony on Friday night– after a year of planning and dreaming. We called each woman into the circle by having her introduce herself with calling her maternal grandmother into the room;
” I am Abneet, grandaughter of Chandni”. ( Chand means moon in my ancestral tongue)
It was a powerful moment to feel and hear the ancestors behind each woman illuminate come into the room– to feel the long roots we are born from.
Each woman was gifted with a self-care “swag bag” with a signature hand-made body oil blend I created with “Tantra” blend from Saje– it is part of a dry-brush practise I created for rooting and grounding to your body every morning– and I also gift each woman in my signature 7 week series with this blend and practice as well. You can read about this practise and how to do it here.
The remainder of the weekend was a profound practice of trust and surrender and rising to the occasion. The space was set with the gorgeous temple music shared with me from Awakening Woman and Bettina Rothe
What is embodiment? It’s not something that can be transcribed into the written word. But it is an essential life saving practise to know how to finally BE in and breathe into the body. The yogini temple practises from Awakening Women , the ancient breathwork practises I learned from Arkaya yoga, and Great Spirit guiding me and breathing me– this is not the modern yoga of the West. Yoga is a way of life, and it means “to union” –> to anchor the breath and presence into the body and with Spirit. Yoga is tantra, and it means to alchemize moments of contraction into heart-openness and unlimited expanse. To move out of our habitual patterns of separation and self-judgements and to do it all with a “sakshi-bhava”– a kind loving witnessing of the self. This feminine mode of spirituality is not only just a witnessing as many masculine traditions of meditation endorse, but a BEING with and truly feeling what is happening inside this holy vessel– and to express that wildly– without indulgence or holding back– but with an intent to BE with, and to see what powerful emotions are trying to tell us. There is a great alchemical and healing process that happens here.
The rain mysteriously cleared on Sunday for our water goddess Release ceremony, Chris the owner had told us that the elements will often work magically with the events at the center. A big element of this retreat was the practice of HONOURING and really seeing eachother as women. We held candles at our hearts and greeted each woman with a “What I see in you is….” and the receiving woman was invited to breathe it in deeply and say ” DEEPLY RECEIVED”…..
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Join us for the next Nourished Woman Retreat at the Half Moon Haven Retreat Center on the Sunshine Coast at June 19 – 21, SUMMER SOLSTICE. We are so excited and grateful to have the opportunity to host here again– these lands are so nourishing and magical. To register super early bird before February 15, please email me at: abneetsandhar@gmail.com. 12 seats open. Read full event description here.
Yearning to be nestled in sisterhood, nourishment and to stay up to date with your spirituality over the colder months of the Winter? We are launching a 12 week Nourished Woman: Embody the Temple online immersion from Jan 12 ~ March 29 running over the Winter, with weekly self-study videos for personal practice released every Sunday, and monthly Zoom sisterhood circle calls. Call in the Goddess! Embody and live your deeper power, courage and essence, with ongoing sister support. Read more and register here. Unlimited seats and join from anywhere in the world.
If in Vancouver during Spring 2020, join our signature 8 week Feminine Self Care and Embodiment series. We will begin April 9 ~ May 28, 2020 in Vancouver, 8 Thursday nights, at a private temple space. Read more and register early bird by Feb 15 here. 10 seats open. We journey up the chakras and embody different Indian tantric Goddess archetypes week by week– learning how to ground, center and flower open your core feminine energy into your life– remarkable changes that ripple out into your life. This is the 5th time we are running this life-changing series.
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“Magical weekend of womanly power, trust, courage, and honour. I’m excited about preparing nourishing meals again!! The food was inspiring and delicious
Thank you Abneet for the beautiful flow of practices you took us through, INCREDIBLE!! Oh and Layla, I thought I was getting an abdominal massage and left feeling like my whole body and soul were massaged…. so healing, Thank you” — Karin
“Life changing, amazing retreat. So honored to have been a part of this divine magic ” — Michelle
