New Year Day Retreat with Kirsty Saunders, Mornington Peninsula

The New Year Day Retreat is a full-day wellness retreat on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, led by Kirsty Saunders. It is a gentle way to welcome the new year with presence and intention, offered to anyone who wants to begin it with rest, community and time in nature rather than resolutions. The day is held on a Saturday and blends gentle movement, circle, Spinal Energetics and quiet reflection.

What to Expect

This is a single, unhurried day. Kirsty guides the group through gentle movement, then everyone sits in circle together. She shares Spinal Energetics, the energetic practice at the heart of her work, and the group walks the land.

There is also intentional time with pen and paper. It is not about setting goals. The writing is a way to return to the qualities already living within you, so the new year starts from what is true rather than from a list of things to fix.

Kirsty describes her retreats as intimate and immersive, held with care, presence and intention. Everyone is welcomed exactly as they are and given room to feel seen and nurtured. The mood is one of rest, reconnection and heartfelt community, not performance or striving.

About Kirsty Saunders

Kirsty Saunders has 18 years of experience in the health and wellbeing sector. Her background includes a Health Promotion degree, and she works as a Spinal Energetics practitioner, biodynamic craniosacral practitioner, intuitive healer, retreat facilitator, and yoga and meditation teacher. She is known for creating deeply supportive spaces where people reconnect with themselves through the body, their energy and their own inner wisdom. Her guiding belief is that the deepest medicine is being truly seen.

Her retreats have been described by participants as rich, nourishing group experiences, and one Google reviewer wrote of leaving with a profound sense of coming home to themselves. She also runs a long-standing series of weekend retreats for women in Kinglake, Victoria, and a midweek day retreat on the Mornington Peninsula, each a separate offering from this one.

The Setting

The retreat takes place on the Mornington Peninsula, and part of the day is spent walking the land, so you can expect time outdoors as well as time sitting in circle. Wear clothes you can move and walk in comfortably.