The retreat runs Thursday to Sunday at the Riverdell Spiritual Centre in Hillier, South Australia. The property is a 3.5-hectare block of forest and garden on the banks of the Gawler River, with river red gums along the northern boundary. It's quiet and rural, but close enough to Adelaide that you can get there by train and a short rideshare.

Thursday is arrival day, with dinner that evening. Friday is the first full workshop day. It opens at 10:30am with a grounding session of tai chi and bioenergetics exercises to loosen up and get comfortable with the group. Next comes bodywork: Jess gives a demonstration, then the group splits into pairs to give and receive bodywork while she works with each person. She describes this part as including clearings such as inner child healing, past-life timeline work and entity removal. After lunch, each person gets a personal character analysis reading about where trauma sits in the body and roughly when it formed. The afternoon then works through childhood, teenage and adult experiences with emotional release exercises and 'sacred shares', where people talk in the circle. The day ends with grounding, art therapy and Q&A.

Saturday follows the same rhythm. Tai chi first, then most of the day goes to family constellations, a group process in which participants stand in for members of someone's family to look at the dynamics between them. Mid-afternoon there is an hour of what Jess calls ancestral trauma clearing, which focuses on letting go of burdens carried down the family line. Late afternoon is a guided meditation with light language and sound therapy, then art therapy to draw whatever came up, a praise exercise, and a personal card reading to take home. The order can shift depending on what the group needs.

What sets this apart from a typical wellness weekend is the size and the focus. With a maximum of six people, everyone gets individual time with Jess every session. The content deals directly with heavy material, including emotional neglect, abuse, family breakdown and grief. One past guest came after losing their partner and said they left feeling lighter physically and emotionally, and singled out how much attention the facilitator gave each person.

Jess ran a trauma recovery practice called Life In Confidence for nine years and says she has worked with more than 1,000 clients. She speaks openly about her own upbringing, which involved domestic violence and abuse, and about rebuilding her relationship with her mother and brother. Each workshop day includes 48 hours of aftercare once you go home. She also offers payment plans if you book a free call with her first.

What's included

- 3 nights accommodation in a twin room - 3 vegan meals daily (Thursday dinner to Sunday breakfast) - Daily meditation sessions - Two full workshop days - Personal character analysis reading - Group activities - Water, herbal tea and coffee throughout the day - Use of the swimming pool (subject to maintenance) - Free parking - 48-hour aftercare after the workshop days - Personal card reading

What's not included

- Flights - Airport transfers - Travel insurance - Visa fees - Activities not on the itinerary - Additional treatments

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