October 1st - 3rd, 2025
A three-day retreat featuring workshops and speakers designed to help navigate patriarchy while enhancing personal wellness.
Royal Harbour Resort
1 Harbour St, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0
RN BScN, Certified Cannabis Educator, Dental Hygienist, MEd Student www.mistryhealthcare.ca
This interactive workshop will explore the powerful connection between the endocannabinoid system and sexual wellness, highlighting how cannabis can support women’s empowerment and pleasure. Through a feminist lens, we’ll explore the science behind the body’s natural cannabinoids, their role in enhancing sexual experiences, and how cannabis can be used as a tool for deeper connection with oneself and others. Participants will leave with practical knowledge of safe cannabis use for sexual health, fostering body autonomy, and embracing pleasure as a form of self-care.
MEd, MBA,Human Rights Officer and Accessibility Coordinator
Esther is a Human Rights Officer focusing on AODA compliance and Accessibility Coordination at the Waterloo Region District School Board. Since joining the WRDSB in 2021, Esther works closely with the Human Rights team at the WRDSB in building a culture that observes, upholds and respects human rights across all WRDSB schools and work sites. Additionally, Esther holds key responsibilities in ensuring the organization meets its obligations under the AODA; a role in which she has extended to include initiatives such as the creation of a Community of Practice with neighboring school boards to advance action for accessibility and greater inclusion of students and staff with disabilities. Esther’s portfolio at the WRDSB includes leadership of the Staff Affinity Groups through fostering structures and leading initiatives that value and affirm the lived experiences of employees who have been traditionally marginalized and underserved by the systems in which they operate. Because of her own marginalized identities and lived experiences, Esther is dedicated to the creation and facilitation of supportive communities that come together through shared identity traits.
Nan Forler is an award-winning author and educator, with a passion for creating connection through writing. Her books have been recognized with the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book Award for Outstanding Writing in a Picture Book, the Nautilus Silver Medallion, and the Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry. She is currently exploring feminism and female mentorship in her writing. Learn more about Nan’s books at nanforler.com.
This workshop will centre around writing as a place of discovery and calm. We will explore techniques for using writing for mindfulness, sensory awareness, and grounding, and as a means of exploring creativity and play. Through guided exercises, we will reflect on our essence as women, and how to use writing as a tool in our daily lives.
Dr. Soo Chan Carusone (she/her) is a researcher, educator, and yoga practitioner dedicated to fostering connection and empowerment. In her “day job” as the Managing Director of the McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging and an adjunct assistant professor at McMaster University, her work focuses on promoting health equity and research done in partnership. She works with an amazing team of older adults to support and mentor researchers to think differently about what and how they do their aging-focused research. As a working mother of three she knows the challenges of finding balance and wellness in our busy lives. With nearly 30 years of yoga practice and yoga teacher training in hatha and restorative yoga, she believes in the power of movement, breath, and mindfulness to create space for healing and self-discovery. Soo’s guiding principle is to live true to her heart and mind, and to be kind, generous, and curious in all that she does. She invites you to take this time for yourself—to slow down, listen, and reconnect.