RESET TO REVIVE
Brave New Girls podcast is all about health, wellbeing, creativity & sustainability, so I decided to bring to life the essence of what the guests talk about on the show, and that of my own painting and life practices. Welcome to Brave New Girls Retreats.
HOLISTIC, HEALTHY, HEART-LED
You find yourself at a crossroads, or in crisis or craving more. You hit corporate burnout or menopausal meltdown or midlife malaise. The craziness of life is overwhelming and something deep inside you is screaming or whimpering. Recognised as a syndrome by the World Health Organization, burnout is characterised by chronic physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, and can lead to decreased productivity, low morale and health problems.
To survive and thrive we need time out, to practice mindfulness, to have a sense of meaning, purpose and autonomy, we need to be creative and playful, to have time to breathe and feel close to nature, to be in tune with our inner landscape, to listen to our body. We need sleep, nutrition, movement, flow-state, breath-work, cold water immersion, sound therapy and disconnect from our devices. We need to activate our vagus nerve so that it is a relaxed open channel between our gut and our brain, between our Self and our vulnerable parts.
This is where our Creative Transformation Retreats come in.
“The way it was done, so lovely, so gentle, so good, not what I expected… takes you into another part of your. So lovely.” – Rainu.
We’re aware that you may be thinking ‘this isn’t for me. I don’t know how to meditate, I’m not remotely artistic, I’ve never been a creative person, all this ‘self-help’ nonsense is mumbo-jumbo.’ We break all of this down into manageable, understandable steps in a totally safe, nurturing environment. All of our practitioners are fully qualified, whether they are artists or yoga instructors and any mental wellbeing methodologies we reference are from respected, peer-reviewed clinicians.
“Working with paints without trying to ‘get it right’ was much easier than I thought it would be- more playful.” -Daniel.
We approach our creative workshops from the standpoint that anyone can make marks – there is no competition, no judgement and you will be fully guided, step-by-step by gentle, supportive teachers who have a singular goal of helping every individual tap into their creativity for their own wellbeing. You will leave feeling a sense of accomplishment but, more importantly, knowing yourself a little better, having a clearer direction of where you want to go and a better understanding what you need to lead a more fulfilled life. Most importantly of all, our retreats are fun, sociable and relaxing. We want everyone to enjoy themselves. We understand that some people take a while to feel relaxed in a new group so we have plenty of activities to help break the ice and get comfortable.
“I felt so relaxed and able to express myself in a way I haven’t been able to in a long time.” -Xaviera.
The venue
We host our retreats with Nina Rowland from the Water Shed in beautiful Bosham, near Chichester. The house itself is a stunning design by Nina and her husband, Dan and was featured in Grand Designs on Channel 4. Surrounded by a natural swimming pond, the house offers space, light and
tranquility. It is truly very special.
“I’m in a better place than I thought I could be and how connected I am with my inner child. Honouring your inner child is the foundation of good mental health and happiness and enjoyment of life.” -Gusia
So how does a typical day retreat work?
First, we have a meet and greet where you will hear from the facilitators about what will be happening throughout the day. Next we have a warm-up yoga session to let go of everything we’ve left behind – including the journey to the venue! Typically, the morning will include some guided discussion that will include allowing us to indulge our suppressed hopes and dreams for what we really want out of life.
Due to the amazing location of our retreats, there will be time for cold water swimming or a ‘get to know you’ chat in the hot tub. Lunch will be prepared by a fantastic local chef and will be healthy and plant-based. The afternoon is all about creativity. Sessions will incorporate painting and printmaking, with an emphasis on abstract mark-making. You will leave with your own ‘masterpieces’ that will act as important reminders for living a more creative, meaningful and purpose-driven life when you return home.
Who are we?
Lou Hamilton, Creative Transformation Facilitator
Lou worked as a director in TV & film for twenty years, as well as a certified creativity coach, before hitting crunch point in her late forties, with midlife malaise, empty-nesting, menopause and grief. She turned to drawing for relief, and out of the squiggles came a character who became known as Brave New Girl. Lou was taken over by an avalanche of creativity which has continued unabated for the next decade and has found her exhibiting in solo shows and being commissioned to make large abstract paintings, including 117 large works for One Park Drive, the 57 storey residential building in Canary Wharf. She has also had three books published including Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless, Fear Less, and Dare to Share. She recently co-authored the internationally No 1 bestselling book Women Excelling Everywhere and she is the host of Brave New Girls podcast which is ranked globally in the top 2.5%, and No 7 in the Best UK Women’s Podcasts to Listen to. She has two grown up children, lives by the river in London, where she paints, and runs creative transformation workshops.
Charlotte Deal, Artist facilitator
Charlotte worked in marketing and communications for 25 years, ending up at Dell Computers. After taking redundancy, Charlotte was able to gain an art foundation diploma at West Dean College where she developed a love for pottery. She spent the next few years working as a potter, while at the same time raising her children and taking art courses whenever she could. Finally, she decided to ‘listen to her inner voice’ that had always complained about missing out on art school and she enrolled full-time in the School of Art and Media at Brighton University in 2022. She is currently finishing up her second year on a BA in Printmaking. Over the last five years she has run workshops for children and adults in both art and craft. Charlotte passionately believes that anyone can make art and that all humans need a creative outlet for their wellbeing. She lives in Chichester with her husband and their two teenage children.
Nina Rowland, The Water Shed Host. Copyright Brent Darby Photography.
Nina, an interior and furniture designer, and her architect husband Daniel designed and built their home The Water Shed and open it up for eco-friendly retreats biophilic connection with nature for health and well-being. They live and breathe architecture, interiors and nature. The building of The Water Shed was filmed for Grand Designs throughout the whole process. You can watch their series on All 4 Catch-Up TV (the Chichester house) or by clicking this link. On our retreat Nina delivers two talks- one in the morning on the effect of biophilic design on our mind and body, focusing on the specifics at The Water Shed. This helps people get more from the space as they will draw on the details she talks about as they experience the environment. She then gives a separate talk just before their time in the pool, where she talks about cold water immersion, the effect it has on so many aspects of our mind, body, mental health, combating disease, the vagus nerve and our immunity. Nina and Dan live at The Water Shed with their two girls.
Copyright Brent Darby Photography.
FAQs
Are the retreats women-only?
We aim to create a completely safe space for sharing personal experiences, but our retreats are designed to be inclusive and diverse. Note that there will be a male host onsite at the venue as well as male caterers but the principle workshops are led by women and participants will be mixed.
Do I have to swim?
No. None of the sessions are compulsory and if you just want to dip your toes in the water, that’s fine too. There are breakout rooms at the venue for quiet contemplation if you don’t want to do any of the activities or if you need a break from an activity.
Can I bring my phone?
Of course! There will be breaks throughout the day when you can check your phone and quiet spaces around the venue if you need to make a call. We respectfully ask that you do not use your phone during the workshops unless it’s for photographing your work.
I’m not confident about art. Will I be able to keep up?
Absolutely. The sessions are designed for non-artists. This is about mark-making, not image-making. There is absolutely no drawing from life involved. This is a different type of drawing, one that is unplanned and completely intuitive.
I’ve never tried yoga or meditation. I’m a bit nervous about being the odd one out.
Do not worry. We are not all bendy yogis! The yoga sessions are designed for all abilities including those who have never meditated or done any yoga in the past.
I have a food allergy – how will you handle that?
Please let us know about any food allergies or special requirements at the time of application and your needs will be fully catered to. If you have a severe allergy we will instruct the chef not to bring any of that ingredient onsite.
“I learned more about the inside of me and feel more released.” -Ivy.
Investment
We are running this One Day Retreat at cost to celebrate our first collaboration with The Water Shed.
-
- Yoga & meditation
-
- Talks on biophilic design, cold water therapy, Internal Families System IFS therapeutic approach
-
- Chance to swim in a natural pool, hot tub, quiet contemplation in beautiful grounds
-
- Creative Transformation workshop
-
- Make Your Mark workshop using printing techniques on a little surprise you can take home.
-
- A chef will be on site to make us a nutritional plant-based lunch, drinks & snacks
Why now?
Most of us end up feeling stuck at some point in our lives. We may feel trapped in a career that doesn’t completely suit us, or we feel like the identity we have doesn’t match the person we are inside. Some of us feel that we’ve moved far beyond the person we recognize from our childhood, out of touch with the simple pleasures we used to enjoy. Or perhaps we are running away from traumatic episodes in our lives, pushing them down and hoping they don’t resurface. We make excuses that inhibit us from exploring these nagging thoughts – they may seem self-indulgent, impractical, unworkable – so we suppress them and avoid them with the busyness of life, our phones, binge-watching TV, throwing ourselves into our work.
Sound familiar?
“Let’s get you moving into a place where you get to live your full potential, in a meaningful, purpose-driven way – full of clarity, confidence and a consciously healthier life.” -Lou
In Safe Hands
One recent study by Lockton People Solutions, found that seven in 10 employees have experienced burnout at some point in their career, women are twice as likely as men to report suffering from it and it’s most common among those aged 35-44. Humans aren’t built to be on high alert, to be ‘on’ and hyper-connected the whole time. Living a frenetic life under huge pressure and expectation to be available constantly and perform at the highest level, is the fastest track to adrenal fatigue. We crash and burn.
Even before complete burnout, deep down, we know we can’t make excuses for keeping on the treadmill forever. Or if we do, we worry we will have regrets at the end of our lives and feel disappointed we didn’t listen more carefully to that inner voice. Sometimes, making a change requires us to step outside the confines of our work and family life to think deeply about what we want for the next chapter.
Not just Art & Wellness
Our certified coach Lou Hamilton is inspired by the Internal Family Systems [IFS] approach, a transformative psychological framework developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, (as well as the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and the creative inner child work by Lucia Capacchioni) with mark-making for a creative exploration & transformation of the inner landscape. The changes are profound. People start to have an understanding about what holds them back, why their relationships are suffering, what stops them making the health-full choices that they want, and why they don’t follow through on their dreams and goals to a more purposeful and meaningful life.
That said, these are not mental health workshops per se – more that we are able to signpost resources that might be helpful for ‘unblocking’ or flag methods of understanding ourselves that may make it easier to pinpoint what the issues are that we are struggling with. No-one is required to share anything personal or private – this is an opportunity for self-reflection and to give us all the time and space to make some new resolutions for ourselves to take forward into our lives.
“The workshop was the perfect antidote to a busy working life. Finding my inner child was altogether freeing and grounding and I was able to float away after each session feeling calm and unburdened by whatever troubles I had arrived with. The atmosphere of the class was friendly and Lou was professional and compassionate.” -Sarah
One time price only
For this retreat only on Sunday 16th June from 9.45am to 5.45pm we are offering the price for the full day at EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT of £225 per person (until 16th May then £275). Just wear comfy clothes, a cozzie if you want to swim or hot tub, an apron, reusable rubber gloves and lot’s of curiosity.
Lou Hamilton 