Retreat 2019


Gymea Eco Resort, Uki Queensland
March 26th - 30th 2019

I am so excited to invite you to the very first UNTRAPPED retreat!If you love the UNTRAPPED principles but struggle to implement them in your real life, this retreat is for you.Join me for an unforgettable, life changing experience. Take a deep dive into what it means to live UNTRAPPED. During this 4 day adventure you will immerse yourself in the principles and practices of intuitive, connected embodiment, surrounded and supported by a very special group of anti-diet health professionals.I have put together an incredible program of workshops and experiences for you with our lovely guides. PLUS there’s plenty of down time for you to rest, sun bake by the pool, read books, book into the day spa for additional treatments, and get to know the other UNTRAPPED retreaters!This retreat is for UNTRAPPED members who wish to take things further. Those who are not current members of UNTRAPPED and who wish to come along can purchase both the retreat and the UNTRAPPED program membership for a special price*.I can't wait to see you there!
Love, Louise


Retreat Cost

The retreat cost includes bus transfers back and forth from the Gold Coast airport, all meals and glorious eco-friendly accommodation, a 2 hour spa experience, daily yoga and walks, plus an inspiring program of workshops, experiences and presentations from our team of 9 incredible anti-diet health professionals.Single room with king sized bed and en suite: $1800*If you wish to come to the retreat but you’re not an UNTRAPPED Masterclass member, you can purchase the retreat PLUS an UNTRAPPED membership for an additional $400 (a saving of almost $200!!).


About Gymea Eco Retreat

Gymea Retreat is nestled in a quiet secluded valley connected to expansive grounds of naturally undulating rainforest with walking tracks and stunning views of Wollumbin / Mt Warning (UNESCO World Heritage national Park). Gymea is also positioned adjacent to 1,500 acres of some rugged and beautiful State & National Park and is right in the heart of Australia’s Green Cauldron, one of Australia’s iconic landscapes identified as the creative and spiritual heartland of Australia.Gymea has 20 beautiful rooms all equipped with 5-Star eco beds. All room furnishings are organic or biodynamic and all rooms, although modest in size, are conveniently located and have their own storage, shower, basin, toilet and individual art.Our retreat facilities include a beautiful octagonal shaped yoga / mediation space, commercial kitchen, a lovely dining room, balcony dining spaces, a healing spa, complimentary access to our 20m long resort style Magnesium /Potassium mineral swimming pool, and WiFi access.Find out more about Gymea eco retreat here


The UNTRAPPED Retreat Schedule

VIEW THE SCHEDULE

Session Details:

Louise Adams: Welcome session
Settle in, centre yourself with self-compassion meditations and set some intentions for your time here at the retreat. During this workshop, you'll have the opportunity to reflect on your UNTRAPPED experience so far, and identify where to from here. You'll also hear your fellow retreaters' experiences, and begin to build on the power of community.
Shelley Lask: Creating your movement philosophy
During this empowering workshop, you'll review your current relationship with exercise and moving your body. What is really 'yours' and what have you internalised from diet culture? Building on the values you've explored in UNTRAPPED, with Shelley's guidance you'll explore how to create a seriously embodied movement philosophy. Dive into some fascinating theories and ideas about concepts like power, strength, and endurance, and harness your new knowledge to make lasting changes in how you move your body.
Fiona Willer: Fiercely feminist fireside chat
Over a glass of wine, this session will illuminate the history of the Women's Liberation Movement in Australia and where and how Health at Every Size and Size Acceptance fits into that history, what we can learn and a reflection of how the work we do today would not be possible if it weren't for the sacrifices and social and political agitations of our grandmothers, mothers and sisters in women's liberation movements.
Susan Williams & Meg McClintock: Intuitive eating skills training
In this workshop you'll have an opportunity to bring the wonderful world of intuitive, connected eating to life - your life! This practical workshop is all about meeting you where you are, answering your questions, and troubleshooting some of the most common issues we can run into when learning intuitive eating. Does permission to eat all foods feel scary and binge inducing? Are you unsure what signals your body is sending, or having trouble honouring them? This workshop is for you! The workshop will be followed by opportunities to hang out with Susan & Meg in the kitchen as they prep our meals, which is an awesome opportunity to observe, pick their brains, and most of all learn how to bring these skills home!
Fiona Willer: Unpacking weight science
Much of what we think we know about body weight is BS. During this session, Fiona will unpack some of the most common misconceptions about weight science, including the assertion that fat is 'toxic', and give you the chance to pick her brains about what's on YOUR mind about the science of body weight.
Janet Lowndes: Talking embodiment
Over a glass of wine, we'll come together for our first late afternoon chat, where Janet will share her understanding of how we can move our attention from an external focus on body image, to a more internal felt sense experience of embodiment and interception. This will include discussion about the value of practices like Yoga and Meditation to help us live from the inside out, rather than the outside in!
Ashlee Bennett: The Art of Body Acceptance
This workshop focuses on exploring the concept of body acceptance using art therapy practices. During the workshop, you will be guided through a series of experiences designed to assist you in exploring who you are beyond your body, while moving towards making peace with your physical exterior. You will learn creative strategies you can harness throughout the more challenging parts of your continued body acceptance journey, as well as methods for expanded self-expression. You don’t need to be an artist, or even a creative person to benefit from this workshop – it’s for all abilities!
Nicole McDermid: How to unapologetically live an UNTRAPPED life
What does unapologetically living an UNTRAPPED life look like? What is body liberation anyway? How do we break free from the shackles that keep us trapped in diet culture prison? Why is social justice so important in reclaiming the right we have to body autonomy? This workshop will be a brave space; a space for us to share in our collective, righteous anger and pain. It will also be a space where we can grow, expand and empower. All of these questions (plus more!) will be answered by Nicole, as we take a deep dive into the lived experience of what it really means to live your life, UNTRAPPED.
All Fired Up
Over a final glass of wine, we'll get together to chat through the steps we can all take to protect ourselves from the vagaries of diet culture, and identify if some of us are feeling ready to take a stand on issues which are affecting our lives.


About our UNTRAPPED Retreat Guides

Louise Adams


Louise is a clinical psychologist, founder of Treat Yourself Well Sydney, and founder of the UNTRAPPED Masterclass. She also hosts the popular All Fired Up! Podcast, where she chats with people from all over the world about the toxic influences of diet culture. Louise is the co-author of the Non-Diet Guidebook for Psychologists & Counsellors, with Fiona Willer, AAPD, and the author of Mindful Moments, a practical guide to building self-compassion skills. Louise is passionate about bringing the anti-diet message to as many people as possible, and aims to create a worldwide community of people living an UNTRAPPED life. Louise advocates tirelessly in the media, at conferences, through her professional training courses, and in her blog, as well as working with people in individual therapy. Louise is a strong believer in the power of self-compassion and the non-diet approach to empower people to live an authentic, connected, embodied life. You can find out more about Louise here.

Fiona Willer


Fiona is an advanced accredited practising dietitian (AAPD) and the owner of Health, Not Diets. Fiona’s mission is to empower people to adopt a weight neutral practice by providing training and education. As a PhD candidate and university lecturer in nutrition and dietetics, Fiona values nourishment, autonomy, authenticity, and evidence based practice. Fiona is a fierce advocate for steering health professionals, particularly dietitians, towards weight inclusive practice. She is the author of two guidebooks: The Non-Diet Approach Guidebook for Dietitians, co-authored with Fiona Sutherland, and The Non-Diet Approach Guidebook for Psychologists and Counsellors, co-authored with Louise Adams. Fiona is the current secretary of HAES Australia. Fiona has great enthusiasm for overusing food and eating metaphors in everyday life. Find out more about Fiona here.

Susan Williams


Susan is an anti-diet dietitian and the owner of Zest Nutrition. She helps people to find peace with food and their bodies, and to find their way out of the maze of rules, beliefs, unhelpful self-talk, back to a place where they can care for themselves authentically, respectfully, and compassionately. Susan especially loves to see the relief, the joy, and the light come back to people as they move away from dieting. Her greatest joy is to hear people talk with surprise and pride about their latest eating discovery, how their body is trustworthy, and how the shackles of weight focus are falling away. You can find out more about Susan here.

Meg McClintock


Meg is a accredited practicing dietitian and a food behaviour expert who connects people who are tired of fighting their bodies and looking for a better approach to food, health, and happiness. She is passionate about growing a movement of people who are confident and empowered, strong in their resistance to all forms of shame and guilt associated with food and bodies. Meg works specifically with mums, finding that they in particular face an overload of information and misinformation about feeding their families from friends, family, social media, ‘food gurus’, and even some health professionals. When this pressure is coupled with the busyness of life, many mums’ confidence is undermined, leading to feelings of guilt, self judgement, and stress. All of this can impact negatively on their physical and mental health. Meg’s professional goal is to help women wade through this information and to empower them to be the confident, happy and healthy people that they want to be! You can find out more about Meg here.

Shelley Lask


Shelley is a mobile personal trainer who uses the Health At Every Size approach to support people to get fitter and stronger in a way that’s fun, flexible, compassionate and completely weight neutral. Shelley has a background in boxing and MuayThai and gets a real kick out of seeing people start to enjoy movement and discover some of the amazing things their body is capable of. Shelley works with people of all ages and genders, outdoors, in their own homes and even via Skype. She’s led more than 4000 sessions, training people for everything from triathlon training to getting up and down from the floor independently. Shelley loves having a laugh with her clients and breaking down the stereotype of what personal training is all about. You can find out more about Shelley here.

Janet Lowndes


Janet is the Director and senior psychologist at Mind Body Well, a multidisciplinary practice in Melbourne which assists people with challenges in their mind-body relationship. Janet has more than 25 years experience working from a non-diet perspective to assist people in developing self-caring and self-respectful relationships with their minds and bodies, prioritising wellbeing on all levels. Janet’s professional practice includes psychological counselling, professional supervision, yoga therapy, and meditation training. You can find out more about Janet here.

Nicole McDermid


Nicole is a social worker, counsellor and an eating disorder recovery coach, with over ten years experience working in the mental health field. Not only does Nicole practice in the clinical sphere, she is also a speaker and an unapologetic fat activist with a strong sense of social justice. She writes prolifically on issues such as weight stigma, size acceptance, body liberation and eating disorder recovery across a number of different social media channels.In all facets of her work, Nicole practices from, and is informed by a Health at Every Size and Non-Diet framework. She also has a lived experience of an eating disorder, whilst living in a larger body and believes that we simply do not see enough representation of ALL people, in ALL bodies across the current eating disorder recovery narrative. Nicole is a visionary as both a clinician and an activist in the eating disorder, body liberation and social justice spheres, drawing on both her professional expertise and lived experience to inform her practice. Find out more about Nicole here.

Ashlee Bennett


Ashlee Bennett is an art psychotherapist practicing in Melbourne, Australia. She has special interests in body image, internalised fat phobia, disordered eating, as well as general mental health. She utilises an eclectic range of art therapy approaches, recognising that healing is facilitated by meeting the whole ‘self’ on sensory, emotional and mental levels. She works within a feminist framework and is trauma-informed. Find out more about Ashlee here.

Maya Rees


Maya is an incredible yoga teacher with special training in trauma informed practice and yoga for people in larger bodies. Maya's morning classes are wonderful opportunities to explore all that yoga can bring to your life and your experience of embodiment. You can find out more about Maya here.

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