You don’t always notice it straight away, but after a while, you get so used to pushing through, holding everything together, and telling yourself you’re fine… that you almost forget what it feels like to actually slow down.

And somewhere underneath all of that…
you quietly start craving space.

Space to breathe.
Space to think clearly again.
Space to reconnect with yourself outside of responsibility, pressure, and everyday life.

Permission Granted is a spacious and soulful retreat experience held in beautiful Hervey Bay for women who feel ready to slow down, reconnect, and remember they no longer need permission to choose themselves too.

Over five beautiful days by the ocean, we’ll explore meaningful conversations, reflective moments, creativity, connection, rest, nature, and the parts of ourselves we’ve slowly stopped listening to.

This isn’t about becoming someone new.

It’s about returning to the woman you already are underneath the noise, the expectations, and the endless mental load.

A few beautiful days to finally exhale.

📅 Sunday Aug 2nd - Friday Aug 7th
📍 The Mantra, Hervey Bay, QLD

WHAT THIS RETREAT IS

This isn’t one of those retreats where you’re packed into a room all day doing back-to-back sessions while pretending you’re not mentally exhausted by lunchtime.

There’s room to breathe here.

Some moments will be deep and reflective.
Some will be light and fun.
Some might look like conversations over coffee, walking by the water, laughing with women who just get it, or sitting quietly realising how long it’s been since you actually stopped to think about yourself for a minute.

Over the week, we’ll blend honest conversations, creative moments, time outdoors, and experiences that help you feel more present in your own life again - not a “better” version of you… just YOU underneath all the pressure, noise, responsibility, and overthinking.

You don’t need to arrive with a plan.
You don’t need to have everything figured out.
And you definitely don’t need to show up perfectly.

You just need to show up willing to give yourself a little more space than you usually do.

✨ THIS RETREAT IS FOR YOU IF…

You've been craving:

• space to breathe and think clearly again
• a break from constantly being “on”
• time away from pressure, responsibility, and routine
• deeper conversations and genuine connection
• moments of quiet, reflection, laughter, and feeling like yourself again
• permission to slow down without feeling guilty for it

And maybe you’re tired of:

• carrying everything while pretending you’re fine
• overthinking every little thing
• feeling emotionally exhausted all the time
• putting yourself last without even realising it anymore
• constantly pushing through instead of actually enjoying your life
• waiting for “someday” to start choosing yourself again

Permission Granted is a chance to step out of your usual environment for a few days and remember what life feels like when you finally give yourself room to breathe.

Not because everything in your life needs to change overnight…

but because you deserve moments where you’re not just surviving in your life - you’re actually present in it.

Oh I seriously need this...

💕 HOW THE WEEK WILL FLOW

This week isn’t about rushing from one thing to the next or filling every moment with “work.”

It’s designed to feel spacious, relaxed, honest, and memorable... with a balance of meaningful conversations, ocean air, laughter, creativity, thoughtful experiences, and plenty of room to simply enjoy where you are.

There’ll be moments that make you think differently.
Moments that make you laugh unexpectedly.
Moments that feel grounding, inspiring, emotional, freeing… or quietly important in ways you didn’t expect.

And woven throughout it all is the reminder that maybe life gets to feel a little lighter than it has lately.

🌸 SUNDAY EVENING - Welcome Dinner

Before the retreat officially begins, we’ll gather for a relaxed welcome dinner at the iconic Hervey Bay Boat Club, just a short walk from the Mantra.

This first evening is simply about arriving, settling in, meeting the other women, and easing into the week ahead together.

As part of your retreat experience, you’ll receive a complimentary Boat Club voucher to enjoy dinner, drinks, or a little extra during your stay.

🌿 MONDAY - Permission to Arrive

Our first full day together is about slowing the pace and stepping out of everyday life for a while.

Through conversations, reflection, workbook moments, and connection, we’ll explore the things we often push aside while trying to hold everything together.

There’ll be space to think, laugh, reflect, and simply be around women who understand the feeling of carrying a lot.

Lunch break included for you to explore nearby at your own pace.

🌳 TUESDAY - Permission to Slow Down

Tuesday is about releasing some of the pressure to constantly be “on.”

The morning will include reflective conversations, journaling, and discussions around rest, burnout, overthinking, and giving yourself permission to pause for once.

After a catered lunch together, we’ll head to Hervey Bay Botanic Gardens for a forest bathing experience with the lovely Margaux, from HealScapes. She is passionate about health and wellbeing, and connecting people to nature, creativity and themselves!

This gentle guided experience invites you to slow down, be present, and reconnect with nature in a simple and grounding way.

🌊 WEDNESDAY - Your Day, Your Way

Wednesday has been intentionally left open for you to enjoy Hervey Bay however you choose.

Sleep in.
Take a walk by the water.
Read, explore, journal, shop, rest, or simply enjoy having nowhere you need to be.

This free space is part of the retreat too.

For those who’d be interested, there’ll also be an optional whale watching experience available that afternoon from approximately 1:30pm–5:30pm.

Completely optional… but pretty incredible if you choose to join.

🎨 THURSDAY - Permission to Be Seen

Our final day together brings in creativity, self-expression, reflection, and honest conversation.

Margaux will join us again for a fun and playful two hours in our conference room! She will guide us through a relaxed creative session using movement, laughter, writing, doodling and simple creative exercises. No art experience needed - just a willingness to play, loosen up, and see what comes through.

We’ll also spend time reflecting on what this week has brought up, what you want more of moving forward, and the parts of yourself you don’t want to leave behind when you head home.

The retreat officially finishes Thursday afternoon, with guests departing Friday morning - or choosing to stay a little longer in Hervey Bay if they wish.

🌿 MEET MARGAUX FROM HEALSCAPES

I’m so excited to have Margaux joining us as part of Permission Granted.

Based in Hervey Bay, Margaux is the heart behind HealScapes - creating experiences that help people reconnect with nature, creativity, themselves, and a little more calm in the middle of everyday life.

With a background in landscape architecture and a genuine passion for health and wellbeing, Margaux brings such a grounded, welcoming energy to the experiences she creates. Her approach is gentle, thoughtful, and completely pressure-free which makes her the perfect fit for this retreat.

Throughout the week, Margaux will guide us through both our forest bathing experience and a relaxed creative workshop designed to encourage play, expression, movement, mindfulness, and letting go of perfection.

No artistic experience needed.
No pressure to “do it right.”
Just a chance to try something different, be present, and enjoy the process.

Her sessions are such a beautiful addition to the week, and I know you’re going to love them as much as I do.

🐋 Optional Whale Watching Experience

If you’d like to make your Hervey Bay week even more unforgettable, you’ll also have the option to join us for an afternoon whale watching experience on Wednesday.

We’ll be heading out with Tasman Venture - one of Hervey Bay’s most loved whale watching experiences - for a half-day cruise through the calm waters of the bay during peak humpback whale season. Their tours include experienced naturalist guides, underwater viewing windows, hydrophones to hear the whales singing, and a water-level viewing platform for incredible close encounters.

Hervey Bay is known around the world as one of the best places to witness humpback whales during their migration, with curious whales often approaching the boats, breaching, tail slapping, and playing in the sheltered waters.

This experience is completely optional and can be added to your retreat package during booking.

🕐 Approximate time: 1:30pm–5:30pm
🐋 Optional Add-On: $170 per person

And honestly… if you’ve never seen whales in Hervey Bay before, it’s pretty incredible.

✨ WHAT’S INCLUDED

✔️ Five nights / four days of the Permission Granted retreat experience in Hervey Bay

✔️ Welcome dinner gathering at Hervey Bay Boat Club

✔️ Complimentary $50 Boat Club voucher

✔️ Three guided retreat days with Sandra

✔️ Permission Granted workbook

✔️ Forest bathing experience with Margaux at Hervey Bay Botanic Gardens

✔️ Creative workshop with Margaux from HealScapes

✔️ Catered lunch on Tuesday before forest bathing

✔️ Reflection exercises, conversations, journaling prompts & group activities

✔️ A spacious free day to enjoy Hervey Bay your own way

✔️ Exclusive retreat discount code for accommodation at Mantra Hervey Bay

✔️ Optional whale watching add-on experience

✔️ Special retreat gifts and take-home keepsakes

✔️ Time, space, connection, laughter, and room to breathe again

Please Note:
Accommodation, travel to Hervey Bay, additional meals, and optional whale watching are not included in the standard retreat package price.

I'm so keen, sign me up!

🏨 Accommodation Information

Permission Granted will be held at Mantra Hervey Bay, located right by the marina in beautiful Urangan.

We’ve been given a special accommodation discount code exclusively for retreat guests, which can be used when booking directly with the resort.

While you’re absolutely welcome to stay anywhere you choose - or even head home each day if you live locally - I do highly recommend giving yourself the opportunity to fully step away from everyday life for the week if you can.

There’s something really special about leaving the dishes, routines, responsibilities, and mental load behind for a few days and allowing yourself to properly settle into the experience.

Mantra offers a range of accommodation styles to suit different budgets and preferences, including hotel-style rooms and fully self-contained apartments. Sharing with a friend is also a great way to make the stay more affordable if you’d like to attend together.

If available, I highly recommend:
• Marina-facing rooms for the beautiful views and peaceful atmosphere
• Swim-up pool apartments for a little extra relaxation and holiday feel during your stay

Accommodation is booked separately and is not included in the retreat price. Once you register, you’ll receive the exclusive retreat discount code and booking information.

You don’t need permission from everyone else to take a few days for yourself anymore.
Maybe this is the moment you finally give it to yourself.

Permission Granted Retreat

$997 AUD

Includes:
✔️ 5 nights / 4 retreat days
✔️ Welcome dinner + $50 Boat Club voucher
✔️ Forest bathing experience
✔️ Creative workshop with Margaux
✔️ Workbook & retreat materials
✔️ Catered lunch on Tuesday
✔️ Special accommodation discount at Mantra
✔️ Free day to enjoy Hervey Bay your own way
✔️ Special retreat gifts & keepsakes
✔️ Afterpay & Klarna Available

(NB: Accommodation and travel to Hervey Bay are booked separately.)

Reserve My Spot

Permission Granted + Whale Watching

$1,167 AUD

🏔 ABOUT SANDRA

I’m Sandra - retreat facilitator, freedom-seeker, and the woman behind HER Mind Body Spirit.

Over the past few years, I’ve created workshops, retreats, experiences, and conversations designed to help women who are ready to start putting themselves first again, outside of pressure, routine, responsibility, and the constant feeling of needing to hold everything together.

What I’ve learned through this work is that so many women are quietly craving the same thing:
More space. More honesty. More joy. More life.

Not necessarily a completely different life… just one that actually feels good to be inside of.

For a long time, I was waiting too.

Waiting for the timing to feel right.
Waiting for more confidence.
Waiting for someone to come with me.
Waiting until life felt more “together.”

I didn’t even leave Australia until 2023, at 45 years old... and that one decision changed more than I expected.

Since then, I’ve travelled solo through Canada (3 times), hosted retreats and workshops, created experiences at sea through Sea & Self Sanctuary, and watched women start choosing themselves in ways they hadn’t allowed themselves to before.

That’s what Permission Granted is really about.

Not becoming someone else.
Not fixing yourself.
Just creating enough space to hear your own voice again - and trusting yourself enough to listen to it.

And honestly?
There’s nothing more powerful than watching a woman realise she’s allowed to fully live her life too.

📷 Photo: Me travelling solo through Canada in 2025 - saying yes to the scary, exciting, life-changing things I used to only dream about. 🏔

🌸 One Final Note

You don’t need to arrive at this retreat as the “best version” of yourself. You don’t need to have everything figured out, feel confident all the time, or prove that you deserve a few days away before allowing yourself to take them.

You’re allowed to step away for a little while simply because something inside you is asking for it.

Maybe you’re tired. Maybe you’ve been carrying too much for too long. Maybe you’ve slowly drifted away from yourself somewhere between responsibilities, routines, and constantly looking after everyone else first. Or maybe you just know you’re craving something more than rushing through life on autopilot and telling yourself you’re “fine.”

Whatever brought you here, I hope you listen to it.

Because sometimes the most important thing we can do for ourselves isn’t adding more to our lives - it’s finally giving ourselves room to breathe inside them again.

And that’s what Permission Granted is really about.

Not becoming someone else. Just remembering that your life matters too.

FAQ'S

Can I bring a friend?

What if I change my mind, can I get a refund?

Is this a health and yoga retreat?

What do I bring?

Is accommodation included?

What meals are included?

Can locals attend without staying overnight?

🗣 Kind Words from Past Experiences

I found UNVEIL to be such a flexible and genuinely supportive program - you truly get out of it what you’re willing to put in, and that felt really empowering.

Sandra is so accommodating to individual needs, and what stood out most to me was how naturally the workshop could shift direction to honour what the group needed in the moment. She is down-to-earth, warm, and easy to approach, and you can feel how deeply she cares about helping each person take meaningful steps toward a more authentic, healthy, and aligned version of themselves.

If you’re feeling a little hesitant, I’d say this: Unveil offers a safe and encouraging space to begin, exactly as you are and sometimes that first small step can open the door to something truly beautiful.

A very happy camper. Thank you.

- Cressida

What a weekend it was with Sandra…

I found it to be a REAL look into myself and what I can become, and also what patterns need to change!!!
With the guidance of Sandra and her "oh snap" moments, I was able to break through and start to see my worth again...and make changes for the future!

I highly recommend for anyone that seems "stuck" or "not sure" to have a go and see what your future can turn into!!!

Be brave and just do it.

- Kmala

I was not expecting to be affected much at all by the course, but it has made me take an objective look at some of my life events. I can see how those events have shaped my life and my perceptions, which have created both positive and negative effects within my life.

I now feel I can spend less time on fear and worry and spend more time to be present, and to actively participate in creating a life that better suits my needs. I want to fully experience and enjoy my life, and I hope to continue to make time to reflect on my journey day by day to help create the new map to becoming a better and happier version of me.

- Helen