Rest & Restore: A Nervous-System Reset on the Yarra River, Victoria

A typical day starts with a 6:15am bell — a soft invitation, not an alarm — then a 6:45am trail walk along a flat, well-established path, followed by group meditation or qigong by the river. Breakfast is at 8:30am. The 10am core session rotates: a psychologist-led wellbeing toolkit workshop, mindful Pilates, a guided forest therapy excursion, or a holistic foot self-care session. Lunch is at 12:30pm, and then the afternoon is deliberately empty — journal, sit by the river, read in the quiet room, nap, or book a private treatment.

Afternoon tea at 3:30pm often comes with a cooking demo or a fermenting workshop. At 4:30pm there's a restorative practice — restorative yoga, breathwork or a rest class — but you're free to skip it and stay on a picnic blanket by the river instead. Evenings close with a group sound bath, mindful movement and meditation, or a letting-go fire ceremony between 7:30pm and 9pm. Lights out from 9pm.

The property is a boutique guesthouse on the verdant banks of the Yarra, surrounded by towering Manna gums and Mountain Ash, with the river audible from most of the grounds. Every room has a private ensuite, a king bed, heating and cooling, and a balcony facing the trees. There's one disabled-friendly room, and the property is mostly flat.

What separates this from a standard wellness weekend is the practitioner count and the clinical grounding. The programme is explicitly built around the autonomic nervous system, with a psychologist and an EMDR practitioner on the team alongside the movement and bodywork staff. Guests staying three nights or longer work on a personal self-care toolkit with the psychologist and mindfulness coach.

Food is vegetarian, cooked from scratch by two chefs, and generous. Breakfast might be an egg, mushroom and spinach cook-up with sourdough and avocado; lunch a roast vegetable tart with grains and Greek salad, or a vegetable curry; dinner a pumpkin and ricotta lasagne, a vegetable tajine or a Mexican burrito bowl with guacamole and salsa. Afternoon tea runs to bliss balls, chocolate brownies or fruit platters. Herbal teas come from the Pukka range, and there's a hydration station with cut citrus, ginger, berries and lavender.

Rob and Belinda founded the retreat after caring for others while managing their own chronic health conditions, and after failing to find a retreat that fit their needs. Many of the therapists have their own experience of chronic stress and burnout.

What's included

- All-inclusive stay in a private ensuite room with a king bed and balcony - 3 nourishing meals each day, cooked from scratch, plus afternoon tea - Up to 7 restorative activities daily, including meditation, qigong, sound healing, breathwork, mindful Pilates and gentle movement - 3 mindfulness, self and co-regulation activities - Nature-based therapies: daily bush walks, meditation in nature, forest bathing and quiet time by the river - Development of your own self-care toolkit with the psychologist and mindfulness coach (3 nights or longer) - Access to up to 20 practitioners and therapists across the retreat - Herbal teas, chai and non-stimulant drinks throughout the day - Hydration station with fresh fruit, ginger and herbs - Cooking demo and fermenting workshop - Secure phone storage and a daily window to check messages

What's not included

- Transport to and from the retreat - Private bodywork treatments (massage, shiatsu, reflexology) - Private 1:1 sessions with the psychologist, mindfulness teacher or EMDR practitioner - Spiritual 1:1 sessions (sound healing, sacred hypnosis, sonic reiki) - Travel insurance - Personal expenses