A Matariki Day Retreat

She
Is.

A sacred day for women — to put down what's heavy, to be filled, to remember who you are. Twenty seats only.

Date Sunday, 12 July 2026
Location Kula Shala · Muriwai
Capacity 20 women only
Early Bird First 8 · $279
"

You've been strong for so long.
What if, just for one day, you didn't have to be?

Why Matariki

The stars chose
this season for a reason.

Matariki is the Māori New Year, marked by the rising of the Matariki star cluster in the winter sky. It is not just a date on a calendar. It is a sacred invitation to pause, to look back with love, to be present with gratitude, and to step forward with intention.

As Samoan women living in Aotearoa, we honour this season deeply. The values at the heart of Matariki — remembrance, celebration, aspiration — are values we recognise in our own culture too. In the Vā. In talanoa. In Siva. In fa'afiafiaaga. In the way we have always gathered to heal.

We did not choose Matariki as a backdrop. We chose it because it is the work.

Whakamaumahara
Remembrance

Matariki begins with honouring those we have lost and the stories we carry from them. A time to speak the names, feel the grief, and acknowledge what the generations before us gave — even when it was hard.

In She Is, this is our Family Constellations and Talanoa work. We honour the lineage. We name what was passed down. We choose what we carry forward.
Whakanui
Celebration

After remembrance comes celebration. Sharing kai, music, movement, and time with community. Giving thanks for the present moment and for being alive in it, exactly as you are.

In She Is, this is our somatic movement, our shared meals, and the simple, profound act of being in a room full of women who see you.
Wawata
Aspiration

The final theme of Matariki looks forward. Setting intentions, planting seeds, stepping into the year ahead with clarity and hope. This is the season of new beginnings.

In She Is, this is our closing meditation. You leave not just lighter, but with a clear sense of who you are becoming — and the permission to be her.
This is for you if…

You are tired.
And there's a reason.

Life has gotten on you. You have held so much, for so long, for so many people.

You keep going because somewhere deep down you're afraid that if you really stop… you will fall apart.

This is your permission to stop. To be filled. To remember that you matter too.

"I'm exhausted but I don't know how to stop…"
"Am I running my life, or is my life running me?"
"I know something needs to shift. I just don't know where to start."
What this is

This is not your
usual retreat.
Not even close.

No generic breathwork. No surface-level wellness content that leaves you feeling the same on the way home as you did on the way there.

She Is goes deeper. Rooted in Pasifika culture, woven through with the wisdom of talanoa, the power of movement as medicine, and the ancient knowing that we heal in community, not in isolation.

We gather in the — the sacred relational space between us — because healing does not happen alone. It happens in community. In the space between women who truly see each other.

Generational wounds don't care what culture you come from. They live in all of us. The patterns, the fears, the things we carry without knowing why. We are here to name them, honour them, and put them down.

This is a holistic mind, body, and wairua (soul) experience. Women of all backgrounds are welcome. If you feel called, this retreat is for you.

Mafaufau.Mind
Tino.Body
Agaga.Soul
Aiga.The sisters we choose
What shifts

What becomes
possible.

Every woman's journey through this day will be her own. These are just some of the doors that have been known to open.

Your reactions start to make sense

The moments that have surprised or confused you, the times you've responded in ways you didn't expect, start to have context. They were never random. They were signals. You'll leave understanding what they've been trying to tell you.

You put down what was never yours

The generational stories, the inherited shame, the patterns you've been living without realising. You name them. You honour them. And then you choose to put them down.

Your body finally exhales

Through somatic movement and Pasifika dance, you release what lives in the body. Not as performance. As medicine. You will feel lighter — physically, genuinely lighter.

You remember who you are

Beneath the roles, the responsibilities, the doing — there is a woman who has always known. This day brings you back to her.

You feel held, not alone

In a room of women who get it. Who have carried things too. Something profound shifts when you realise your struggle is not a personal failing. It is a shared human experience.

You step into what's next

Clear. Grounded. Matariki is the season of new beginnings. You leave with intentions set, seeds planted, and a quiet knowing of who you are becoming.

"Whatever you fill your cup with is what overflows. Today, we fill you with compassion, grace, and the remembrance of who you truly are."
She Is · A Matariki Retreat · 12 July 2026
The day

What we'll
move through together.

Every element of this day is intentional. Nothing is filler. Nothing is generic. Each moment builds on the last, creating a journey from where you are to where you're ready to be.

Some of you will come for the connection. Some for the healing. Every version of you is welcome exactly as you are.

This day holds space for all of it. Every experience is an invitation, never a demand. If you need to go deep, we will hold you there. If you need space, that is yours too. You will never be pushed further than you are ready to go.

We teu le Vā. We cherish and care for the sacred space between us. That is our promise to you.

Your guides

Held by women
who know this work.

We are not facilitators who discovered healing in a textbook. We have lived it. We have done the work. We are Samoan women who understand what it means to carry culture, family, and expectation — and to choose, anyway, to heal.

We know the Vā. We know what it means to hold space for others before we ever held it for ourselves. This day is our way of teu le Vā — of cherishing the sacred space between us and you.

Charlene Tedrow

Founder of Ura Tabu

Charlene is deeply passionate about guiding women toward healing and wellness through her unique movement framework, Pasifika Mind & Body. Inspired by her own profoundly healing experiences in Siva Samoa, Hawaiian Hula, and ʻOri Tahiti, she is deeply convinced — through lived experience — that dance is ancient, ancestral medicine, practised for thousands of years as a way to heal, connect, and remember who we are.

Her guidance awakens this deep connection, inviting light into the darkest corners of the body and mind, and helping women move through life's hardest moments with grace and courage. Her retreats nurture each woman to rediscover herself, feel deeply, and dance her way back to wholeness.

She holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance from the University of Auckland, is the founder of Ura Tabu Pacific Dance, and has led cultural immersions in Tahiti, Hawaii, and Samoa.

Angela Malakai

Trauma Healing Coach · Author · Host, The HONESTea Podcast

Angela is a keynote speaker, author, leadership coach, and host of The HONESTea Podcast. She helps people recognise the patterns, beliefs, and wounds quietly running their lives so they can stop reacting and start choosing. She doesn't teach theory. She creates shifts.

An Internationally Certified Trauma Healing Coach, Advanced NLP Practitioner, and Generational Healer specialising in Family Systems and Constellations, Ange brings over two decades of experience in coaching, leadership, and speaking.

She is the author of The Gift, a book about how your wounds can guide your way, and has spent years creating spaces where people feel seen, challenged, and genuinely different on the way out than they were on the way in.

The space

Kula Shala,
Muriwai.

A dedicated yoga shala perched above the Muriwai coastline. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Native bush in every direction. The Tasman Sea on the horizon.

We chose this space deliberately. It holds you the moment you walk in. There is something about being above the ocean, surrounded by the land, that makes the work feel possible in a way it doesn't anywhere else.

Good coffee. A nourishing to'ona'i — our shared feast, in the spirit of the Samoan tradition of gathering around the table with the people who matter. Everything taken care of so that your only job for the day is to show up and be present.

Wanting to make a full weekend of it? Kula also offers overnight accommodation. View Kula's accommodation and pricing →

Kula Shala · Muriwai, Aotearoa
✦   ✦   ✦

Every ticket sold makes this day possible for someone else.

Two spots at this retreat are gifted to wahine who applied to join us and couldn't otherwise be here. You won't know who they are. They won't be identified. They'll simply be in the room with you, doing the same work. Healing alongside you.

That's the point.

Your presence here is an act of generosity you'll never fully know the impact of. And we think that's a beautiful thing.

Reserve your place

This is your
invitation.

Limited to 20 women. This space will fill.

General
$333

Standard registration. 10 spots available at this rate.

10 spots

Reserve My Place — $333
Gifted Spot
Apply
to Join

Two spots are gifted to wahine who couldn't otherwise be here. Applications are handled with complete privacy and discretion.

Everything that's included
Full day facilitated retreat
Morning tea & nourishing shared lunch
All sessions & materials
Family Constellations
Somatic Pasifika movement
Talanoa sharing circles
Held space · 20 women max
Kula Shala, Muriwai
Your questions

Good questions
deserve real answers.

Who is this retreat for?
She Is is for any woman who feels the call. While our work is rooted in Pasifika culture, generational wounds live in all of us regardless of where we come from. The cultural framework is the lens. The healing is universal. If something on this page made you feel seen, this retreat is for you.
Do I need any experience with this kind of work?
Not at all. You just need to show up willing. We'll guide you through everything. The only requirement is a genuine desire to do the work. First timers often have the most profound experiences.
What is Family Constellations?
Family Constellations is a therapeutic approach that looks at how family systems, generational patterns, and inherited loyalties shape our behaviour and sense of self, often without us knowing it. It is one of the most powerful tools we know for understanding why we do what we do, and gently beginning to change it.
What should I wear and bring?
Comfortable, layered clothing you can move in. We'll be doing somatic work and Pasifika movement, so avoid anything restrictive. Bring a warm layer as mornings at the shala can be cool. Everything else is provided.
How do I apply for a gifted spot?
Click the "Apply for a gifted spot" link on the page. We'll ask you a few simple questions. All applications are handled with complete privacy and discretion. No one at the retreat will know who holds a gifted spot.
What is your refund policy?
She Is is a small, intimate gathering and every spot truly matters. When you register, your place is held for you and cannot easily be filled at short notice.

Full payment is required at registration. Payment plans are available on request — please reach out to us directly to discuss.

Cancellations more than 30 days before the retreat receive a 50% refund. Cancellations inside 30 days are non-refundable, however your spot is fully transferable. If you find someone to take your place, we'll happily honour the transfer.

We know life happens. If something beyond your control arises, please talk to us. We're humans first.

She is ready.
Are you?

You felt it somewhere in this page. Trust that feeling. It's the part of you that's been waiting for this.

Reserve My Place