About a month ago, we told you about  Raw Kinetics’ Wellness Workshop – an event that brought together some of Canberra’s best known wellness practitioners together for a natural health and happiness workshop.

Designed to provide a one-stop shop for Canberrans looking to develop and grow toward a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, the event offered presentations and demonstrations by a variety of experts on yoga, nutrition, spirituality, permaculture, rhythmic drumming and fermented foods. We sent one of HerCanberra’s healthiest team members – Bronwen Stead – along to check it out. This is what happened…

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Raw Kinetics Wellness Workshop. I knew it was a day out of the city (Sutton, only 15 minutes out of town, but felt a world away). I knew it started with an outdoor yoga session (big tick). I knew the basics of the agenda from the advertising material, but what really attracted me to the day was the concept of spending time investing in the concept of “wellness”.

As someone who has had her fair share of health issues, both acute and chronic, my health is something I value highly, and I aim to invest in it regularly through exercise, diet, limiting the toxins in my life and making sure I get adequate rest. Sometimes I think making decisions about our healthy can be very confusing – for the same ailment, we can get very different, even contradictory advice, depending on who we are speaking to. Yet despite these different views, it is important to have a holistic approach to our health and wellbeing. It is this holistic approach that was the theme for me after attending Raw Kinetics’s Wellness Workshop.

Raw Kinetics was created by Esther – and I can’t thank her enough! I simply do not have the ability to capture in words for you what this day meant for me – I laughed with joy, and admit there were tears of release. Esther and her team, and the fellow attendants, created a warm, open and welcoming space – I won’t share all the details of the day, as I encourage you to explore your own wellness. However, here are a few highlights:

The day started with a wonderful outdoor yoga session by Justine Janssen, owner of Power Yoga Canberra . I have only recently re-engaged with yoga and I am hooked. With the increasingly busy state of our lives these days, and the multiple demands and pressures we face, to have a n hour – A WHOLE HOUR, where the only demand on me is to breathe and focus on myself, is pure bliss. The fact that I get to stretch out my muscles and give my body some love is an extra bonus. Taking our yoga practice outside and into the bush was amazing, and I won’t lie, having the sun poke out from behind the light clouds to warm my backside while I was in a downward facing dog made me smile!

This was followed by a hugely detailed presentation by Stella Ashton of Principles of Health on the importance of incorporating raw foods from the best possible sources into our diet. This was supported by evidence from science, and physics. While I have always been a fan of organic produce, seeing comparisons of the cells of an organic vegetable versus mass produced store variety gave me a far greater appreciation of the difference.

Jason Irving of of Spiral of Light was next and shared techniques on engaging with our personal spirituality and creating space and safety for ourselves, despite the throng of people and demands we encounter. Learning to sit comfortably in our own space and “unhooking” from those connected to us and their influence, good and bad, and giving ourselves permission to be alone in our space, was an incredibly powerful experience. I won’t give you the details, and couldn’t do them justice if I tried, but I can tell you that while this was done through the power of the mind, it was very much a physical experience of weight being lifted. While at first I admit, I was sceptical, I will definitely be booking in with Jason for a follow up.

Throughout the day we could make our own cold pressed smoothies (carrot, celery, ginger and lemon – my insides were so happy) and the food was largely based on recipes by the merrymaker sisters, who also attended the day.

Following our delicious lunch, we experienced the joy of African drumming with  Rhythm Konnections. This was fantastic fun and brought out smiles of glee all around!!! Regardless of your musical capacity (mine is pretty abysmal) it was easy to follow the patterns yet light enough not to matter if you mixed up a pattern!

We then had a presentation on permaculture from Martyn and Yvonne Noakes of Bredbo Valley View Farm, and despite only having an apartment balcony with a newly started crop, I came away with several tips on how to improve my harvest!

Our final presentation of the day was by Melissa Luxmoore of iNourish on the importance of fermented foods. While I previously appreciated how yummy these can be, I had no idea of the huge health benefits of consuming fermented foods, and can definitely say I will never use a probiotic again now that I know how good a few spoons of kim chi or sauerkraut is for me!

These brief words do not do the day justice…it was enlightening, inspiring, engaging and informative. Esther will be running another mini retreat called Winter Resilience, from 9am to 1pm on Sunday 29 June 2014, which will focus on how we can take care of our health throughout the winter months (such an important thing in our cold climate) and I will definitely be there!

the essentials

What: Raw Kinetics Australia – Winter Resilience Workshop
When: 9am to 1pm, Sunday 29 June 2014
Where: Goolabri Golf and Functions in Sutton
Tickets: www.rawkineticsaustralia.com