About Arisaig Retreat
Arisaig’s main aim is to provide you with a nurturing and energizing environment for you to practice your chosen medium assisting your clients with emotional integration, balance and internal health and wellness. Ultimately healing the planet in the process.
My journey
It has been a life long ambition of mine to assist humanity in some way. For many years it was simply a quiet idea fluttering about in the back of my mind, but as I grew and evolved as a person the idea grew and evolved with me.
Born in Scotland with a background in and passion for music I ended up employing my music skills to assist children with profound disabilities. After migrating to Melbourne in 2000 I began facilitating community music/music therapy workshops for people suffering from mental health issues.
In 2016, after many years of guidance and training with some very wise mentors, I had what I can only describe as a kundalini rising. It unequivocally altered the way I saw the world and essentially transformed me into the person I am today. It is a long story and I won't go into the details here but needless to say, if it had not been for that transformation I would still be living as a fearful/unhappy person and Arisaig would not have come to fruition.
Pre Arisaig
In 2013 I was given the opportunity to move to Gippsland and help set up an intentional community on a friends property. That gave me a stepping stone to “test” out a life beyond the city limits. I very quickly realised that I had been in denial about my needs and that the city as much as it has it's appeal was really not giving me any kind of benefits.
After living at the community for 2 years I felt ready to take the plunge and begin my own project. While exploring regional Victoria looking for the right place to set up camp I reflected on my journey and realised that I had been very fearful of detaching from the city. A feeling that I feel is extremely prolific among my fellow humans.
It did not take long for me to find the perfect location to begin the next chapter of my life. After only one visit to the property, I knew this was the place. The energy knocked me off my feet and I felt an instant connection to the land. I began the process of selling my house and purchased Arisaig, at that time unnamed, in 2016..
The early years
The first year at Arisaig was spent sleeping in a tent and by day living/working in the small meditation cabin. I spent my days watching the weather, listening to the land and exploring the property looking for building locations that would involve the least disturbance to the land. Evenings were spent pondering if this felt like the right thing to do. If I had made a grave mistake selling my house and moving to a block of land with no power, running water or electricity and whether the land was willing to accommodate my developing plans. It was a dialogue, is a dialogue and will continue to be a dialogue between the land and myself as to how we best proceed on this journey together.
Today
After the first year, We had a relatively firm idea of what we intended to do. The planet is in need of healing. People seem to be the main causes of the planet's distress, so why not offer people beautiful locations in which to tune-in, heal and balance and as a result hopefully assist healing the plant in the process.
Knoydart Building
Knoydart is the first structure to be completed here at Arisaig. I built Knoydart with my own hands so it makes me extremely proud to offer Knoydart to you.
Knoydart has been designed from the ground up to be a multi-dimensional space, located in a beautiful tranquil location, full of light and air. See the dedicated page here
