You've done the weight loss surgery or medication.
Now let's make it stick.
A retreat for women on a weight loss journey ready to stop starting over - and finally let change settle into their body, mind, and nervous system.
Three days. Three expert facilitators. A lifetime of difference.
You've invested in your weight loss journey - through surgery, medication, or both.
You know what to do.
And yet - something still feels harder than it should.
You're not alone. This is what so many women share:
Food noise creeping back in when life gets busy
Old habits returning during stress or exhaustion
Feeling in control during the day - then losing it at night
Reaching for food almost automatically - like being on autopilot
Knowing better but still struggling to do it consistently
Fear of regain - even when things are going well
This isn't a willpower problem or a character flaw. Your nervous system is running an old programme. This weekend, you rewrite it.
THE DETAILS
2026 Retreat Dates
May 22-24, 2026
September 11-13, 2026
November 6-8, 2026
Arrival from 3:00 pm Friday.
Departure 2:00 pm (approx.) Sunday.
Held at Arete Retreat, Levin - a peaceful, nature-based sanctuary designed to support deep rest, reflection, and nervous system safety.
You don't need more information.
You need the space to finally live it.
You've done courses, programmes, coaching. You have the knowledge.
But knowing and being are two different things.
This retreat exists to close that gap.
Across one immersive weekend, you won't just learn tools - you'll practise them, feel them, and embed them into your body and nervous system.
This is where insight becomes integration.
Where change finally sticks.
This retreat is for you if...
You're worried about old patterns creeping back
You know the mindset work is the missing piece
You're tired of starting over and want to build something that actually lasts
You've done learning before and now want to EMBED the tools so they become who you are
You want to feel calm, in control, and consistent - without relying on willpower
You're ready to invest in yourself, fully and without guilt
You want to enjoy lasting weight success
What makes this retreat different?
You won't leave with a notebook full of ideas and your head spinning with to-do's.
You'll leave with tools you've already practised - ones that feel natural because they're already in your body.
You won't be overwhelmed with content. You'll be guided to practise, feel, and integrate tools in real time - so they settle into how you actually live.
The weekend is designed around your phasic day flow - using your natural hormonal and energy cycles so change lands more deeply, without relying on motivation.
Rather than pushing or forcing change, we prioritise calm, safety, and regulation. This is where urges soften, clarity returns, and aligned choices become easier.
Spaces are intentionally limited.
You are seen, supported, and guided at your own pace - never lost in a crowd.
There is a gentle, supportive flow to the weekend. Everything is an invitation, never a demand. You are always welcome to rest, step back, or go at your own pace.
What happens at Empowerment Retreat:
The weekend follows a gentle, intentional rhythm - aligned with your natural energy and nervous system needs.
Across the weekend you'll experience:
Guided mindset and integration sessions designed to help insights land deeply
Nervous system regulation practices woven throughout each day
Learning moments paired with immediate embodiment - tools are felt, not just understood
Time in nature, including optional morning bush walks
A fully guided yoga and embodiment session
Space for reflection, journaling, rest, and quiet integration
A depth of self-understanding that gently shifts how you think, feel, and show up for yourself
What you'll take home - for life
A regulated nervous system toolkit - simple, powerful practices you can return to again and again
A clear understanding of how to work with your hormones and energy, not against them
A crystal-clear vision of your Future Self - and the confidence to step into her
A felt sense of self-trust - not just thinking differently, but feeling in charge
Tools that change how you live every day - not a high that wears off when you get home
Less food noise. Fewer urges driven by stress or exhaustion. Decisions that feel clear and aligned.
This is where weight management stops feeling like constant effort - and starts feeling sustainable.
Food that supports your journey
Throughout the retreat you'll be nourished with delicious, protein-based meals designed to support steady energy, blood sugar balance, and genuine satisfaction.
Your food is thoughtfully prepared to inspire and delight - while aligning with bariatric and medicated weight loss needs.
This is not about restriction or rules. It's about experiencing how supportive nourishment actually feels - calm, satisfying, and sustaining.
You'll leave not only feeling well-fed, but inspired with simple, realistic ideas you can take home and weave into every day.
Dietary requirements can be accommodated - simply let Sonia know in advance.
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
All retreat sessions and facilitation across the full weekend
Three expert facilitators - Sonia McIndoe, Sally Duxfield, and Maria Gorham
Guided mindset, nervous system, embodiment, and integration work
Morning bush walks and a fully guided yoga session
Nourishing, protein-rich meals throughout the weekend
Twin share on-site accommodation
Time for rest, reflection, and integration
A small, intimate group experience - spaces intentionally limited
*Transfers from Wellington or Palmerston North airports are available on request. Contact Sonia directly to arrange.
Meet the team
This retreat is guided by three women who bring experience, integrity, and embodied wisdom.
Sonia McIndoe - Bariatric and Life Coach
Sonia is a highly trained coach specialising in mindset, psychology, and behaviour change - with a strong background in science and years of training across coaching frameworks, habit change, emotional regulation, and nervous system work.
Her lived experience with weight loss, food, and addiction gives her an authentic, grounded voice and a rare ability to create spaces where people feel safe, seen, and deeply understood.
Before creating her own retreats, Sonia spent five years facilitating over 80 bariatric lifestyle retreats with Tailor Clinics. Her work in those spaces covered self-care, limiting beliefs, values-led living, head hunger vs physical hunger, and long-term identity change. That experience is at the heart of everything she brings here.
Sally Duxfield - Neuroscience and Leadership Mentor
Sally brings decades of expertise in neuroscience, leadership, and physiology. She works with high-level leaders across the globe and translates complex neuroscience into clear, practical strategies that show you how to work with your brain, hormones, and energy - not against them.
Her presence across all three days is a rare opportunity - bringing clarity, structure, and insight that profoundly shifts how you understand yourself.
Maria Gorham - Embodiment and Movement Guide
Maria is a gifted yoga and mindfulness teacher - owner of Hot Yoga Wellington and a trainer of yoga instructors. She guides grounding and restorative practices designed to regulate your nervous system and help the learning integrate at a body-based level.
Her work brings balance, presence, and embodiment - allowing insight to move beyond thinking and into felt experience.
This is your invitation
If you're tired of holding it all together, pushing through, or trying to manage life on willpower alone...
If you know the tools intellectually, but you're craving the space to actually live them...
If something in you is feeling the pull while you read this...
This retreat is your pause point.
To come back into your body, your clarity, and your conscious mind - in a way that feels safe, supported, and deeply nourishing.
This is a gentle yet powerful reset that meets you exactly where you are.
Your Investment Today: $2150 (NZD)