Courses
Upcoming Retreat - 6th November 2025
Quiet the midlife mental noise. Reclaim your calm.
The Mental Load in Midlife
The mental load in midlife can get loud.
Work pressures. Family responsibilities. A changing body.
All of this affects the mind — and the nervous system.
It makes total sense to feel overwhelmed and on the brink of burnout.
This Retreat Is a Pause — and a Reset
Step away for a day to breathe, reflect, and reconnect.
This retreat offers you practical, evidence-based tools to:
- Quiet the mental chatter
- Soften the grip of food and body worries
- Return to yourself and the present moment
You’ll leave feeling restored — and equipped with skills you can use every day to bring more calm, clarity, and ease into your life.
Here’s How It Works
- When: Thursday 6 November, 9:30–3:30
- Where: A private Arrowtown home (address on booking)
- Food: Bring your own lunch and dress comfortably. The modern kitchen is yours to use. We’ll provide teas, coffee, and light refreshments
- Cost: Early bird $250 (until 6 October). Standard $275
- Size: Only 10 places available (intentionally intimate)
To book your space and for more information please refer to the booking page here:
Previous Retreats
Mindfully Reflecting, Recharging, and Renewing for 2024
This retreat will focus on developing a greater sense of mental steadiness, warm heartedness, goodness and compassion in your life with exploration and mindfulness practice for letting be, letting go and letting in. This will be incorporating some small group work, practice enquiry and fascinating neuroscience findings that reinforce how, by cultivating mindfulness practice, we can change our brain wiring for better living.
As a small group format (limited to 10 people) this enables sufficient enquiry and exploration time following the exercises and practices.
The day will be facilitated by registered Clinical Psychologist Dr Kirsty Freeman. She lives locally and is highly trained and experienced in delivering mindfulness teachings to others and is a daily practitioner of mindfulness herself. She has run MindfulnessNZ – a private Clinical Psychology Practice – for 14 years, delivered numerous mindfulness workshops and retreats over the years and uses mindfulness therapeutically in her individual work with clients. Prior to this she worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK NHS for many years in physical health settings and was a University clinical lecturer.
Praise for the last retreat: “Thank you for an amazing wellbeing retreat. 10 out of 10. Kirsty shared a wealth of knowledge and experience"
This retreat welcomes beginner meditators as well as those who have some practice experience.
Mindfully Reflecting, Recharging, and Renewing for
Friday 16th February
9.30am - 4.30pm
Te Whenua Retreat in Gibbston Valley
https://www.tewhenuaretreat.co.nz/retreats
Early Bird price $245 incl GST before 18th Dec
and includes a delicious plant-based lunch and refreshments throughout the day.
After this date the fee will be $265 incl GST.
Register Now
Previous Courses



