I Attended My First Wellness Retreat — And Here's What I Thought
By Peony Parcel | Self-Care, Wellness, Personal Growth
I'll be honest with you, I almost didn't go.
Not because I didn't want to. But because I am a deeply anxious person, and this trip was a lot. It was the longest I'd ever been away from my 2.5-year-old daughter. The longest I'd been away from my partner. A different state entirely. Three days away from everything familiar, everything safe, everything home.
I am a massive homebody. I don't travel much. And for months leading up to this retreat, I sat quietly with the worry of it, in the way anxious people do.
But I went anyway.
And what happened over those three days in the Yarra Valley changed something in me that I'm still trying to put into words.
This is my honest account of attending my first ever wellness retreat, the Amplify HER Retreat by My Mummy Australia and everything I thought about it.
What Is the Amplify HER Retreat?
Before I get into my experience, let me give you some context on what this retreat actually is, because it's not your standard "yoga and green juice" wellness weekend.
Amplify HER is a 3-day live immersive experience designed for women who are done playing small. It's created by My Mummy Australia, an award-winning coaching organisation founded by Emma and Laura, two powerhouse women who have built multi-seven-figure businesses and have made it their mission to support women in business and in life.
As their website puts it: "No surface-level inspo, no sugar-coated hype, and definitely no one telling you to just be positive."
This retreat is deep work. Bold moves. Embodied breakthroughs. And it took place in one of Australia's most beautiful settings, the Yarra Valley in Victoria's wine country, just over an hour from Melbourne.
I attended as part of the My Mummy team. My role was to work behind the scenes, 8-hour days keeping things running. But I also had a seat at the table as an attendee for every moment I wasn't rostered on.
I didn't take it.
And that choice, and what I observed from the sidelines instead, turned out to be one of the most powerful things I've ever done.
Day 1: Saying Goodbye
"Today, we say goodbye to the parts of us we no longer want to hold onto."
That was the theme of Day 1. And from where I was standing, watching rather than sitting, I witnessed something I will never forget.
A room full of women were asked to dig deep. To be vulnerable. To look into the parts of themselves that hurt and speak aloud the things that live in their heads, the thoughts that tear them down, the beliefs that have kept them small, the versions of themselves they've been carrying long past their expiry date.
It was raw. It was real. It was emotional. And it was the most liberating thing I have ever witnessed.
There's something that happens when women are given permission to be honest — really honest — in a room full of strangers. Something shifts. The air changes. And what starts as terrifying becomes, somehow, freeing.
I stood at the side of that room and found myself doing the work too. Quietly. Privately. Because you can't be in a space like that and not be touched by it.
What did I say goodbye to?
The constant feeling of worry and anxiousness. The habit of avoiding anything outside my comfort zone. The woman who didn't know her own worth. The woman who felt undesirable.
Goodbye. You kept me safe for a long time. But I don't need you anymore.
Day 2: The Woman I Want to Be
If Day 1 was about letting go, Day 2 was about looking forward.
Something had shifted overnight. The women in that room — who had spent the previous day tearing open parts of themselves they'd never said out loud — were different on Day 2. You could see it.
Friendships had formed in less than 24 hours that some people spend years trying to find. Trust had been built in a room full of strangers in a way that felt nothing short of extraordinary. And best of all — there wasn't a single drop of judgment anywhere. Not one moment of it.
We had all created a safe space together without even trying. And every single woman in that room could feel it.
That was the energy we spoke into on Day 2 when we were asked: who is the woman you want to be?
For me, she's proud. Loud. Not afraid to stand out in a crowded room. She welcomes new challenges with open arms instead of shrinking away from them. And she knows how beautiful and powerful she is — without needing anyone else to confirm it.
The saying "I want to be" playing into Day 1's "I feel undesirable" wasn't lost on me. These two days were building something — and I could feel it.
The Silent Disco — And Why It Made Me Cry
I need to tell you about the silent disco.
On the evening of Day 2, the whole retreat broke into a full hour of silent disco. Headphones on. Shania Twain. A room full of women — singing off-key at the top of their lungs, eyes closed, arms up, not one single care in the world.
The My Mummy crew literally had to push everyone out the door because nobody wanted it to end.
So the following morning — Day 3 — they gave everyone one more song. An encore.
And I stood at the side of that room with tears in my eyes watching it unfold.
Not because it was sad. Because it was the most joyful, powerful, electric thing I have ever witnessed.
Did you know that dancing releases dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins — all four happiness chemicals — simultaneously? There is literally no cheaper or more accessible form of joy available to us than a good song and permission to move.
That room remembered what joy felt like. And it was breathtaking.
Day 3: The Woman I Am
Day 3 had a theme that I thought would be the hardest. Speak to the woman you are.
It wasn't.
Because by Day 3, I'd already proven it.
Three days earlier, I'd gotten on a plane by myself. Left my daughter. Left my partner. Left everything familiar and comfortable and safe — and gone anyway. Despite the months of anxiety leading up to it. Despite every reason I'd given myself to stay home.
The woman I am is brave. She's bold. She's deserving. She's not afraid to try new things. She doesn't say no to big opportunities. And she never lets anyone tell her she's anything less than extraordinary.
The room on Day 3 felt like a celebration. Warm, peaceful, full. Like a collective exhale after everything those women had just faced — and a quiet readiness to go back home and face even more, but differently this time.
I drove home proud of myself in a way I hadn't felt in a long time.
And this wasn't all. there were also Sister pods, lunch tables, ice baths, breathwork.
This is a glimpse. Nothing like you could ever imagine.
What I Learned About Self-Care And Why It Matters for Peony Parcel
I run a self-care subscription box business. I run Peony Parcel because I believe deeply that women deserve intentional moments just for themselves.
And yet — I was the woman who had a seat at the table and didn't take it.
That irony wasn't lost on me.
What this retreat confirmed for me is something I've always believed but hadn't fully felt: self-care isn't just bath soaks and candles. It's showing up for yourself when it's scary. It's being in a room full of women who see you and not running from it. It's saying goodbye to the version of yourself that was keeping you small.
The products we curate at Peony Parcel are never meant to be an escape. They're meant to be a return — to yourself, to stillness, to the reminder that you are worth pausing for.
This retreat reminded me why we do what we do. And it reminded me that I needed to start taking my own advice.
Should You Attend a Wellness Retreat?
If you've been sitting on the fence about attending a women's retreat — any retreat — here is my honest answer:
Yes. Go.
Not because it will fix everything. Not because it will be comfortable. But because the hard part isn't doing the thing. The hard part is deciding to.
Once you decide — the rest takes care of itself.
If you're curious about Amplify HER, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is not a yoga retreat. It is not a journalling weekend. It is a room full of women doing the most courageous thing a person can do — choosing themselves — and you deserve to be in it.
👉 Find out more about Amplify HER here: mymummy.com.au/amplify-her
👉 Follow My Mummy Australia on Instagram: @mymummyaustralia
About Peony Parcel
Peony Parcel is an Australian self-care subscription box service, curating seasonal boxes filled with intentional, beautiful products from small Australian brands. Every box is designed for the woman who deserves a moment that's ready before she even asks for it.
👉 Follow us on Instagram: @peonyparcel
