Womens retreat for holistic health wellness

The second Mind, Body & Soul Women’s Retreat was held in Sydney on Sunday 13 October at Dar-ul-Islam in Bonnyrigg hosted by Seena Incorporated bringing together almost 60 registered women indulging in a well-structured self care program.

The highly popular event enabled participants from diverse background and ages to gather, relax, foster friendships and feel empowered and included self care and relationship tips, physical exercise, pampering activities, three-course lunch, henna art while immersing themselves in this unique, blissful experience of physical, emotional and mental health.

During the first half hour of the program, the ladies networked and socialised in an informal setting enjoying tea, coffee and Entree while the henna artist worked on their hands and arms with innovative designs.

The retreat participants were divided into two groups to attend two parallel sessions of 45 minutes each, one on self care facilitated by Princess R Lakshman, owner of Mind Body Healing Hub while the second one for physical activity training facilitated by Hong Win, a fitness instructor from Kanga Training.

Mehar Ahmad, President of Seena Inc, kicked off the retreat emphasising the need for self care.

“Seena Inc has identified a huge gap in our community’s health, that is, women’s holistic health wellness. It is vital that optimal health is perceived as not only physical health, but also mental, emotional, financial, and spiritual health,” said Princess R Lakshman, facilitator of the Self-Care segment at the retreat.

She further added, “Self-care for women in our CALD communities is often a forgotten concept because women tend to forget about taking care of themselves as they are too busy taking care of people at home, household chores, and work related tasks.”

Princess R Lakshman

“Events like the Mind Body & Soul Women’s Retreat provides a much needed time and safe space for women to gather and give themselves permission to stop doing and just be…be in the present moment and let go of any anxiety and stress of the future,” Princess R Lakshman emphasised.

She concluded by advising that, “These events are necessary, and ideally, could be on a quarterly basis, so that these often multi-tasking women can pause, take a breath, and learn to practise self-kindness, self-compassion, and positive self-talk.”

After the sessions, ladies prayed Zuhr followed by a sumptuous lunch and presentation of gifts for all.

Beautiful henna designs adorning participants hands by Henna by Kulsoom.

The attendees while commending the organisers of the event said that they highly enjoyed the program and requested to have this kind of sessions more often including outdoor activities and cooking classes to be included in the program.

The feedback received after the event was very positive where they thoroughly enjoyed Princess R Lakshman’s mentoring, the fitness activity and the henna designs. Here are a few post-event comments by the participants of the retreat:

“My favourite part was like-minded women coming together in a safe environment. I’m sure that there are other events for Women run by other organisations but not specifically for Muslim women where we have the opportunity for a dedicated prayer area, halal food and not having to explain our lifestyle.”

“I greatly appreciate that Seena has run this event and would love to participate in future events.”

“I enjoyed the holistic approach where it was more than a discussion and food but that we also got the chance to exercise and move our bodies. It was the first time I have attended a Muslim women’s event where I saw this happen. The food was also very delicious.”

“Thank you for opening your doors and offering such a beautiful space at an affordable price my Allah swt reward you.”

“The presentation was amazing and the food was out of the world. MAY Allah give barakah to the hosts for such an amazing program.”