Nicky Halliday and Niamh Devine have joined forces to create a truly unique women’s gathering that will nourish your mind, body and soul through movement, meditation, plant journeying, energy work and sound healing, complimented by the tastiest and healthiest tailored vegetarian food. The Way of the Goddess retreat will introduce you to the aspects of the Divine Feminine where you will learn to connect with, and embody your own inner Goddess, embracing your sacredness, intuition, sensuality, nature and connection. Recreating ancient times, we invite you home to be part of this circle of like-minded women, embarking on a soulful journey together where you will emerge re-energised, re-aligned and more in touch with your true nature, embodying your Divine Feminine.

Slí na Bandé, meaning “The Way of the Goddess”, will warmly hold our tribe for this magical weekend. Just a short distance from Dublin, it brings whimsical inspiring artwork together with the feeling of being totally immersed in nature, offering guests a chance to engage with themselves and their environment differently, creating a magnificent energy for all who spend time here. Slí na Bandé is nestled beside a forested area with waking trails, and grounds overlooking the Irish sea.

While Niamh takes you on a physical and spiritual journey to awaken your Goddess within, Nicky will be preparing the most sumptuous banquets of delicious gourmet vegetarian food designed to compliment these classes and your sense of well-being. You'll rest well in the comfort of your accommodation after a day full of restoring and replenishing activities, good food and bonding with warm like-minded women.

What awaits you at Slí na Bandé

ALIGN WITH THE FEMININE

YIN YOGA & REIKI

Opening up to the feminine energy with some yin yoga as it calls us to slow down, come inwards and surrender. Becoming fully present and settling into the weekend ahead, this slow and meditative style of yoga, will give you space to tune into both your mind and the physical sensations in your body. While ‘yang’ yoga tends to your muscles, yin yoga targets your deep connective tissues, such as your fascia, tendons and ligaments. The practice of Yin Yoga is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine and ancient Taoist principles which believe there are pathways of energy that run through our bodies. By stretching and deepening into poses, you will open up any blockages and release that energy to flow freely. That surplus of energy can be used to restore, renew, heal and charge the body.  

This Yin Yoga session will be combined with Reiki Energy to deepen the practice, and enhance its benefits.

RECONNECT WITH YOUR INNER GODDESS

YOGA NIDRA & TIBETAN SOUND HEALING

Now that your body has begun to soften and your mind has become slow and restful, we will take a journey to connect with your inner Goddess, experiencing sounds, movements and sensations. Yoga Nidra will allow your body to deeply relax while your mind stays inwardly alert. It is said that an hour of this deeply restorative practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. Soothing Tibetan Bowls will accompany this practice as you drift into a deeper meditative state. These sacred sound bowls are known to induce deep relaxation, reduce stress and anxiety and promote wellbeing. 

HARMONY  & BALANCE

YIN YANG YOGA

Our beings are made up of both feminine and masculine energy. After an evening of connecting to, and awakening the Divine Feminine within us we will begin our morning combining both energies Feminine and Masculine, to create harmony within our field. Blending strength with softness, power with surrender, activity with passivity, we become to appreciate and recognise the benefits of both energies. One cannot come fully into their feminine power, without fully embracing and appreciating the other half of their energy, the masculine - seeing both energies for the gifts and necessities they provide.

CONNECT WITH NATURE

PLANT SPIRIT MEDICINE

Connecting with our intuitive nature and Mother Earth, you will be invited on a journey to discover the healing wisdom of plants, not simply the physical medicinal properties that they are known for, but opening up to receiving the deeper insight and messages that they can offer us. A new way of communicating with plants will be presented to you as we walk through nature and enter into meditation with the plants.

AWAKEN YOUR SENSUALITY

CACAO CEREMONY

A Cacao Ceremony will welcome you to embrace and awaken your sensuality as we feel the rhythms and embark on an eclectic musical dancing journey. We will discuss the wonders of cacao and the importance of connecting to the body as a temple, sending love to every part of her. We will be shaking off any blocks we might have, mental or emotional, feeling our vibration rise as we let the melodies and beats carry us away! 

LIVE IN FLOW

FIRE SONG CIRCLE

On Saturday evening we will come together around a bonfire and learn about how to use mantras and meditation to help find creative flow in life. We will look forward to sharing songs and maybe even writing one too!

AMPLIFY YOUR POWER

KRIYA YOGA

Sunday morning will see us start our day with Kriya Yoga to get our body amplified. Our bodies are technology, and directions for the usage of this technology has been passed down since ancient times. For example, our hearts are electromagnetic generators, our hair are antennas, breath in one nostril has a different effect on the body than breath in the other, and we have channels running up each side of our spine, one that receives life force energy, and one that eliminates it when we are through. Niamh will guide a sequence combining movement, breath, voice, intention and meditation to activate and power our bodies.

BREATHE LOVE

LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION

Leave with all the feels,  immersing yourself in love with a powerful loving-kindness meditation practice. You will first be guided to learn how to create love within yourself, expanding it and raising your vibration before being collectively held by the loving energy of the circle and extending it outwards to to Mother Earth.