Education

Creative Workshops & Retreats

Weaving the arts through the everyday

Coming to Your Senses - A 4 day / 3 night retreat to reawaken curiosity, activate the sensual, and begin a daily practice of creating tiny, beautiful things.

No doubt you have an inkling or a glint of something something that speaks to you. That urge inside you that inspires you to create. It could be painting or drawing. Writing or poetry. Photography. Or just making time to move and be in the world in a way that encourages aliveness, connection, and a sense of something bigger.

Many of us feel the glimmer to create and yet find the scrum of daily life pushing these desires to the side. But creative practices don’t exist separately to daily life; they exist because of it and within it. Whatever your medium of choice, the act of creating is generous, generative, and expressive. It is a practice of everyday alchemy, where we take our lived experience and transform it; an offering to ourselves and to the world. It's a way of making sense of life, an act of both thriving and surviving.

Our multi-day retreat is an adventure into your unique creative process. Each day embraced by the Sound feels like we've slipped into a time warp where the days pace slows down and we allow the stories to unfurl from our souls. Together, we’ll play with movement, adventures in nature, storytelling, creative art therapy, photography, writing and poetry as a means to reactivate the sensual, expand our curiosity and together create tiny, beautiful things as we investigate themes of connection, place and intuition within the glorious elements we find ourselves immersed in.

This retreat is suitable for any interested human, of all creative ages and stages, as well as those with established practices looking for renewed inspiration, guidance or support in a group of passionate and interested co-conspirators. Bring your notebooks, cameras, open minds, curiosity, & a sense of adventure. It is the perfect setting to stir the soul & truly experience a profound connection to yourself and the wildness that surrounds us.

What you’ll get

  • 4 inspiring days & 3 nights with the support and guidance of both Kass & Jane
  • Technical and creative sessions incorporating photography, poetry and prose
  • Support, love and care to nurture your creative spark
  • Access & Guided Activities in the incredible wilderness areas of Pelorus Sound
  • Movement, Meditation & Guided Visualisation Practices
  • Accomodation at Waitata Bay / Bay View House
    Food & Drinks
  • Water Taxi (Return trip to/from Havelock)
  • Shuttle (Return trip to/from Nelson Airport)

When? 21st to 24th February 2025

GETTING THERE INFO / PLEASE READ:

Havelock Water Taxis is scheduled on the 21st February for 11 a.m. departure to Waitata Bay Lodge / Bay View House. Return trip from Waitata Bay to Havelock will be the 24th February at 1 p.m. Your return ticket for this water taxi is included in your package price.

All you need to do is get yourself to Nelson Airport for pickup by Nelson Shuttles at 8:30 a.m. at the departure gate at Nelson Airport on the 21st February. The shuttle will return you to Nelson Airport on the 24th February about 3/3:30 p.m. This shuttle trip / return is included in your ticket price.

If you are flying in to Nelson, we suggest flying in on the 20th February and staying at an Airbnb close by. Please get in touch for our recommendations for close Airbnbs to the airport. Kassandra will be happy to assist you with this. Otherwise if you are flying in early or driving locally on the 21st February make sure you arrive in time for the shuttle pickup at 830 a.m at Nelson Airport.

If you are going to be arriving any other way, please be advised that the shuttle from Picton to Havelock is more expensive & not included in your ticket price. If you are driving yourself, please make sure you arrive and are ready to go at Havelock Marina by 1030 a.m. for 11 a.m. departure on the 21st February. There is plenty of parking that is paid/secured onsite at the Havelock Marina.

It is a very remote location, but it's all about the adventure and it is 110% worth it we promise! If you are having any trouble organising accomodation or wondering about ideal flight times, please don't hesitate to reach out and contact Kassandra via email at hello@kassandralynne.com. I'm happy to assist you to make this journey as smooth as possible.

Thank you!

Meet Jane:

Jane Pike is a writer, poet, and horsewoman from the South Island of New Zealand. Her work focuses on practices and understandings that increase vitality, connection and wellbeing, incorporating nervous system awareness to both mindset and movement. The methods she teaches explore physical and emotional patterns at their most foundational level- the brain and the nervous system- to facilitate the return to our most intuitive selves. Jane has featured and written for various magazines around the world and is a sought after international clinician and trainer through her business Confident Rider.

Jane’s passions and expertise also extend to how we can best live full and creative lives, and develop the tenacity and courage to do so. Her deep appreciation for writing and the arts has also seen her skip down the garden path of how it is we can all find and allow for our own unique creative expression, sharing her own writing and teaching retreats and workshops that focus on giving ourselves permission to and making the time for creative practices and following the things that we love.

You can read examples of her writing and poetry, and join her creative conversations here:

Janepike.substack.com

Meet Kass:

Kassandra Lynne is a visual storyteller, photographer, nature guide, scuba dive instructor, free dive & all the things water enthusiast, artist & intuitive coach that is inspired to help others rediscover their passion & purpose in life. She has an extensive background in movement, mindfulness & embodiment practices such as yoga, breathwork, past life progression & meditation adding her own trauma informed twist to each of her offerings so that there is a sense of safety threaded throughout. A photographer by trade, she’s found her soul purpose in holding space for women & couples for intimate portrait sessions. These sessions are more than just mere photos, they are stories from the soul. The power of portrait photography allows one to be vulnerable, yet safe, & encourages the subject to express themselves authentically, however that feels at the time.

Through many trainings, courses, & a well lived life experience she guides individuals gently along their own path. Cultivating a sense of curiosity & awareness through engagement of the five senses she helps you redefine what sensuality means to you and how it feels to you. Ultimately, sensuality is about the sensory experience of life. She asks the questions & inspires you to find the answers for yourself. How can we move about our lives using our senses? How can we tap into how this moment makes us feel in more ways than one? How can you describe where emotions & memories sit in your body? How can we connect to those creative parts of us? How can we better understand how we move through this world, how we interact with it? How can we forgive & accept ourselves? How can we embrace each moment as it is? And how can we shift the patterns, beliefs, and stories we’ve created over time & over lifetimes to better serve us?

Meditation
Shavasana
creative writing workshop
Waitata Bay Lodge
reflecting on the jetty
Grounding
kayaking
connecting with nature
group photo waitata
swimming pelorus sound
waitata bay sunrise
ferns
havelock water taxis
cold water immersion
waitata bay lodge
claimed by the sea
pelorus sound

Coming to Your Senses / Creatives Retreat - Feb 2024

Thank you for the most nourishing and beautiful retreat. My heart is full of gratitude for the time spent together with the entire team. Bonds were formed and friendships made that will stay with me forever. Everything was perfect from the sacred beauty of Pelorus Sound, swimming with the rays, kayaking with a friendly seal, the divine Ms. Piggy, wonderful food and hospitality, Saschi's wet nose and sweet cuddles, Jane's words and wisdom, Kass's care and eco therapy and photography and my band of new soul sisters. Just what I needed. Xx

Gale Falcongreen

Gale Falcongreen

Coming to Your Senses Creatives Retreat - Feb 2024 / Waitata Bay

I wasn't actually sure what I was expecting from this retreat. In my mind I hoped that I could untap a little bit more of me and be able to examine it peacefully. What I didn't expect was to connect so deeply to the ocean, and its energy, and the mountains and the people...and of course Jane and Kass. That connection allowed me to explore and reveal a lot more of myself than I ever thought possible, and also be able to walk away feeling like I had some new knowledge and peace. I absolutely cherish this time we had in Waitata Bay and feel that it was absolutely transformational in so many ways. I strongly recommend that every woman (in particular) does this retreat and learns to unlearn the many things she has had to use to exist in this world. The reality of life is very difficult with greater and greater demands on our time and energy, but this retreat was so uplifting and inspiring and refreshing...it's hard to put it into words how beneficial I believe it has been for me. Thank you.

Michelle Zielazo

Michelle Zielazo

Coming to Your Senses - Creatives Retreat / Feb 2024

I found the creative writing retreat as an opportunity to explore my use of language as well as developing new skills that can be applied to my work. The energy, atmosphere and location created an amazing backdrop for creative exploration and expression. I would attend this retreat again to delve deeper into my newfound writing skills to further expand them.

Phyllis Brown

Coming to Your Senses - 4 days / 3 nights (February 21st - 24th 2025)

Join us as we explore creative writing, nature & portrait photography, painting, storytelling and wild adventures in a truly inspiring location.

Coming to Your Senses - 4 days / 3 nights (February 21st - 24th 2025)

Limited spaces available, book now.