A 6 month journey into the self, starting with a 7 day retreat....

Are you ready to become the main character in your own life story?

Our 6-month journey begins with a transformative 7-day retreat in Bali, an island steeped in history and sacred energy. This immersive experience is designed for women who feel stuck, invisible, or torn between feeling “too much” or “not enough.”

Our retreat combines ancient wisdom and cutting-edge research, led by experienced practitioners, lecturers, and artists Ellie & Karma, merging traditional practices with modern therapeutic techniques. This retreat is designed to help you step out of the shadows and into the spotlight of your own life. The Leading Lady era is about embracing your full, unapologetic self and learning how to fully embody your role in the world. Through performance techniques, ritual theatre, and somatic practices, you’ll tap into your inherent power and learn how to use your voice and body as instruments of transformation.

Whether or not you have experience with the performing arts, this journey is for all women who want to shed the layers of conditioning, limiting beliefs, and self-doubt. Through embodied practices and creative expression, you’ll develop the confidence and skills to step into any space and own your truth.

Reserve Your Spot

What you'll experience:

🌺 Transmute Limiting Beliefs and Past Traumas
Engage in workshops that incorporate somatics, archetypes, and storytelling to uncover and shift old patterns of self-doubt, fear, and conditioning.

🌺 Learn Traditional Balinese Performance Arts
Learn sacred Balinese dances such as Legong and the powerful Kecak chant, taught by local masters. These arts will help you ground yourself, release emotional blockages, and regulate your nervous system through movement and sound.

🌺 Activate Your Feminine Energy
Discover the Divine Feminine in the context of Balinese Hinduism and performance arts. Through mindful rituals and intercultural dialogue facilitated by experts, you’ll learn how to activate and embody the story of your inner goddess—whether in sacred practice or your daily life.

🌺 Calm Your Nervous System
Using a trauma-informed combination of Western yoga, chakra work, and Balinese energy practices, you’ll learn to center your body, calm your nervous system, and re-tune your emotional frequency for a deeper sense of peace and empowerment.

Join the Journey

What makes this retreat unique?

This is not just a retreat—it’s an ongoing 6-month therapeutic container for deep transformation and integration, providing you with tools to continue growing long after you leave Bali.

A Holistic, Research-Based Approach to Transformation

Wanderess’ approach not only taps into the transformative power of ancient ritual performance, but also incorporates Polyvagal Theory, somatic healing, and archetypal psychology to help you reconnect with your self – body, mind, and spirit.

We’ve carefully blended ancient creative and ritual practices with modern research-backed methodologies like Polyvagal Theory and somatic trauma healing. This is a scientifically grounded approach to healing and empowerment, where body and mind work in tandem to reset your nervous system and release old patterns of stress and trauma. Guided by experts in performance arts, therapy, and education, this retreat will equip you with the tools and insights to create lasting change in your life.

What you'll get from this retreat

Embodied Performance Techniques
Learn Balinese dance and Kecak chanting to enhance your performance skills, vocal range and body awareness, grounded in somatic research for deeper self-expression.

Archetypal Storytelling
Use research-backed techniques to explore powerful female archetypes, transforming limiting beliefs into embodied narratives of strength, wisdom, and creativity.

Polyvagal-Informed Nervous System Regulation
Practice body-based methods to regulate your nervous system, improving emotional resilience and performance confidence.

Somatic Healing for Emotional Release
Utilize trauma-informed somatic techniques to release emotional blockages, fostering creative flow and personal growth.

Confidence & “Stage” Presence
Build confidence using performance-based practices that help you own your voice, body, and story, supported by therapeutic tools for mental and emotional balance.

Creative & Personal Transformation
Integrate research-based practices from performance arts and somatic therapy to unleash your inner creative power and step into your true self with confidence.

Ongoing Support
Receive 6 months of virtual coaching to help you continue your growth and integrate the retreat experience into your daily life.

You will depart with:

💃 Advanced performance skills and tools for self-expression and magnetic presence

♥️ A deeper connection to your creative, empowered self

🌟 A new level of confidence, clarity, and emotional resilience

Apply Today!

Awaken your Inner Archetypes

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Our signature Wanderess Method, developed by Dr Ellie Chadwick (PhD) — a specialist in performance, archetypes, and collective memory — draws from cutting-edge research in embodied storytelling, trauma-informed somatics, and performance studies. This approach invites you to explore a diverse landscape of feminine archetypes through movement, narrative, and voice, reclaiming the parts of yourself shaped, silenced, or stereotyped by society.

This retreat centres around the archetype of the Actress or Leading Lady — a powerful, expressive symbol of self-possession and presence. Through techniques grounded in performance and somatic psychology, you’ll learn how to own space with confidence, communicate with clarity, and embody emotional nuance.

We’ll also explore:

Maa Saraswati as a cultural and symbolic touchstone for creativity, eloquence, and order — offering a lens through which to understand performance as both spiritual and structural expression.
The Diva/Primadonna archetype as case studies in gendered perception and emotional repression — working with shadow traits and societal judgments around being “too much”.
The Wallflower, with her deep emotional intelligence and introverted strength, as a counterpoint and a necessary voice in the archetypal constellation.
Additional energies such as the Heroine, Enchantress, Rebeless, and Authoress — each providing a symbolic and somatic mode of transformation, rooted in artistic and cultural storytelling traditions.

This retreat doesn’t just offer you rest — it offers you a research-informed, creative space to re-author your identity through performance, myth, and movement.

Through workshops, storytelling labs, and experiential cultural and somatic practices, you’ll peel back the layers of inherited scripts and uncover new ways of being — expansive, integrated, and wholly yours.

Sign Me Up!

Your Hosts

Dr Ellie Chadwick (PhD)

Lead Facilitator

Ellie has a PhD and MfA in theatre and is a published author with expertise in archetypes, collective memory, and performing arts in collective well-being. She has expertise in somatic technique, has undertaken various courses in understanding patterns of behaviour, and is on a pathway to becoming a trauma-informed integrative somatic therapist.

Since 2016 Ellie has hosted retreats across the globe, including many times in Bali, and brings knowledge of intercultural approaches to ritual, art, and wellbeing having worked in China, Indonesia, and across Europe as well as the UK.

Cok Indrayuni Baruna

Local Facilitator

Cok Indrayuni is a world famous Legong dancer of the classical Peliatan Style and runs the Oka Kartini Arts Centre with other members of her family.

Oka Kartini Arts Centre is a centre of excellence for Balinese arts in Ubud, particularly their world-famous Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) show, which has been documented by National Geographic and CNN.

Karma Tucker

Co-Facilitator

Karma is a level 3 Yoga Teacher and a Yoga Life Coach, as well as a Reiki Master. She has expertise in body-based practices and a degree in Choreography and has been working in the performing arts sector for over 20 years.

With an FdA Performance Practice and Events management, a Diploma Teaching in Life Long Learning sector and a PGCert Teaching in Higher Education Karma is a highly experienced and qualified teacher and facilitator.

Our Retreat Venue

Our serene retreat venue located in the countryside a short drive from Ubud offers rustic yet luxurious accommodation in traditional wooden structures inspired by Balinese rice barns. Made with local traditional materials, the air-conditioned garden villas come with a fan, mosquito nets, and ensuite bathrooms. Private balconies are located on the first floor, and offer views of the beautiful surroundings.

Featuring a stunning outdoor pool with a spacious deck, a large open dining area, and a raised workshop space with inspiring views of the grounds, the venue is perfect for relaxation, rejuvination, and creativity.

Additional facilities include a library, a 24-hour front desk, and 3 kitchens throughout the property, all providing room service.

Words of a Wanderess!

“I had a truly inspiring time in Bali, which has left me with memories I will carry with me forever. If you want a break from the day-to-day and time to nourish your creative side, join one of Ellie’s retreats.”

Morven Macewan, 2016 Retreat Participant

Imagine....

Your day begins just before sunrise, the air cool and fresh with the gentle scent of dew-kissed frangipani flowers.

The soft rustle of palm trees sways above you as you make your way to the open-air yoga pavilion, where the horizon is painted with the first blush of dawn. You unroll your mat, grounding your feet into the cool wooden floor as the soft voice of the yoga instructor invites you to close your eyes. Your breath synchronises with the slow, rhythmic awakening of the earth beneath you. The sequence flows seamlessly, your body stretching toward the rising sun, each movement a silent prayer to the new energy entering your life. (Swipe for more….)

The morning meditation follows: as you sit in stillness, the world glows with golden light, the sun's warmth touching your skin

as the first rays break over the lush greenery. Afterward, you stroll to the dining area, where a rainbow of fruits—juicy papayas, ripe mangoes, bright dragon fruit—awaits, and bowls of homemade granola with coconut yogurt. You sip on warm sweet tea, feeling the energy of the food infuse you with vitality.

You gather now for a Balinese movement class, a graceful exploration of the divine feminine in sacred, earthy gestures.

You feel the pulse of the earth beneath your bare feet as the instructor guides you through the ritualistic motions that are fluid yet strong, rooted in centuries of tradition, and you feel a connection to something ancient and deeply feminine, as if you are tapping into the essence of the island itself.

Next, it’s time for a traditional Balinese massage. The smell of sandalwood and jasmine fills the air as skilled hands knead away the tension in your muscles.

The massage feels like a cleansing of your spirit, a release of all that no longer serves you. Energised and refreshed, you enjoy a light and delicious lunch—the flavours are vibrant, each bite a burst of freshness, connecting you more deeply to the island’s bountiful nature.

The afternoon is yours for personal reflection. You find a serene spot by the retreat’s tranquil pool, the water glimmering under the sun, and settle with your Wanderess Journal in hand.

As you write, the soft sounds of nature—birds chirping, water gently lapping at the edges of the pool—envelop you in a cocoon of peace. The words flow effortlessly, a reflection of the inner clarity that has begun to unfold.

Later, you gather with others for a special ritual: crafting Canang Sari offerings. The air is thick with the fragrant aroma of fresh flowers—jasmine, marigolds, orchids—

and you feel the delicate texture of the petals as you weave them together, creating a small, intricate offering. You place incense sticks at the heart of your creation, lighting them with reverence as the sweet, earthy scent begins to curl into the air, rising toward the heavens like a whispered prayer. Each offering, placed carefully on the temple steps, feels like a moment of deep connection between the seen and unseen worlds.

As evening settles, you sit in a grounded circle, each body softening into safety. Voices are gentle, paced—a rhythm shaped by nervous system regulation and shared presence.

Stories unfold through a Jungian lens, revealing archetypes like the Leading Lady, the Wild Woman, the Heroine—symbols of the divine feminine rising not as performance, but as embodied truth. Laughter, stillness, and reflection weave a state of co-regulation, where nervous systems calm and identities expand.

This is feminine power made real: rooted in neuroscience, myth, and memory. A return to the self through story, voice, and embodied connection.

As dusk falls, dinner is served under the stars. The meal is a sensory feast

—spiced curries, grilled tempeh in sweet soy sauce, and coconut rice. The soft murmur of conversation blends with the sounds of nature, creating an atmosphere of warmth and connection.

The day closes with an evening sound bath as the moon begins to rise, casting its silver glow over the gardens.

The vibrations are gentle at first, like waves lapping at the shore, but soon they envelop you completely. The sound feels ancient, like the heartbeat of the earth itself, and as it reverberates, you feel a deep sense of release. When the sound bath draws to a close, the moonlight guides your steps back to your room. you feel the soft hum of the island beneath your feet, carrying the energy of this sacred space with you.

Book Now

Pricing

Super Early Bird Payment Plan Available for:

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We have a super early bird deal available to save big when booking by June 2025. There are two options for you to choose from :

£3,600 up front (save 25%), or

Pay a £600 deposit and sign up to our payment plan of just £324 per month and save 20% (June 2025-March 2026).

What this includes:

✔️ 6 nights accommodation, twin rooms (single room upgrade available)
✔️ Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
✔️ All workshops and teaching
✔️ All excursions/trips
✔️ Holistic treatments & meditations
✔️ Airport pick-up/drop-off & island transport

🌟 Plus! Our Special Retreats Bonus! 🌟

A 6-month complimentary membership to our online Wanderess Circle, a coaching container offering group somatic therapy, extending your journey of growth and connection long after the retreat ends.

I'M IN!

Embrace your inner Wanderess

At the core of every Wanderess retreat is our signature Archetypes Method—a powerful blend of academic research, performance practice, and somatic storytelling designed to help you transform inherited roles into authentic expressions of who you truly are.

Archetypes aren’t clichés—they’re living, symbolic energies rooted in history, psychology, and culture. We help you uncover those shaping you unconsciously, challenge limiting narratives, and consciously choose the ones that empower you.

Created by Dr. Ellie Chadwick (PhD), a scholar, therapist, and international theatre practitioner, the Wanderess approach invites you to explore your personal mythology through the performance of self. Through movement, voice, and creative ritual, you’ll access embodied wisdom and new ways of being.

Every retreat is an invitation to step beyond imposed stories and into embodied truth. We work with a rich spectrum of feminine archetypes—the Sorceress, Mysticess, Creatress, Empress, Rebel, Wild Woman, and more. Each reveals aspects of your voice, sensuality, authority, and creativity that may have been silenced or forgotten. These archetypes offer doorways into your full multidimensional self.

This is more than personal growth. It’s re-authoring your story, healing deep wounds—and reclaiming your place in a larger, collective narrative.

Join our waitlist today to begin your journey into archetypal embodiment and radical self-discovery.

JOIN THE WAIT LIST

Begin your journey

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