There’s nothing quite like witnessing something that had lived for so long as simply a figment of your imagination, a snippet of your wildest dreams or scribbles on the page, manifest as something real and tangible. Something that you can touch, smell, feel; a real life experience. To see a much-loved project come together after hours and days and weeks and months of planning is something pretty spectacular indeed.

And to share this vision with a bunch of incredibly inspiring (read: mind blowing) women? Um, I think they call that a dream.

So it’s been a few weeks now since I wrapped up my national The School of Radiant workshops around Australia and believe me, there’s been more than a few moments where I’ve caught myself since (smiling, staring into space) reminiscing on the dancing, drawing, food, tears and laughter and sweet, sweet conversation and connection that each event encompassed so deeply.

And I find myself (awe struck!) going: Yeah, I brought that to life. I held space for that. What a feeling.

These days were a devotion to self care and self expression. We sat together, meditated together, practiced yoga and danced together. We asked some tough questions. We sifted through our stuff until we came up with some answers - together. We hugged and feasted (the food! Oh my!) and held space for every single woman to dig a little deeper, to open a little wider, to share a little more. 

The most incredible and moving part of these workshops is simply watching the room explode in colour and support for one another; the feedback is always ‘I felt so safe to just be myself’ and 'I realised I'm not alone in this', and that’s some pretty magical stuff. No expectations. No comparison. Just juicy, feminine, goddessy goodness. Amplified with raw chocolate and tea (or champagne!), of course. 

* Photo credit to Emma Newby

Perhaps the biggest lesson that I always take away from these workshops is this; find a bunch of women who you feel supported by and share your heart with them… And amazing things will happen.

* Photo credit to Emma Newby

*Photo credit to Sarah Poppy.

Some other poignant lessons and awesome takeaways from The School Of Radiant:

+ Self care isn’t about adding 358979 things to your To Do list. It’s about doing what makes you feel good. That might simply mean moisturising your body after a shower or playing music while you're cooking dinner. It should never feel like a chore. Simplest is sweetest.

+ If you don’t like yoga (or insert relevant wellness trend), don’t do it. Do what makes YOU feel good. 

+ Creativity isn’t about the product, it’s the process that counts most. Ditch perfectionism. 

+ Everybody comes up against fear and self doubt. It’s completely normal and natural and you are not alone.

+ But… You’ve got to take action anyway.

+ We need to stop feeling guilty for saying 'no' to things that just aren't for us, trust our desires and stay strong in our core truth.

+ Dancing like a wild woman (hip circles, hair flicks, booty shakes) is the best workout ever. Our sacral chakras were spiiiiinnnning! 

+ It's time we stop apologising for our individual expression. It's time to own it.

+ Making something purely for the beauty and joy it provides, is incredibly healing - not frivolous.

+ We all need more play injections in our day to day! Let’s ask ourselves: How can I make this FUN?

And so, so many more.

*Photo credit to Emma Newby.

I’d really like to thank the following people, who helped to bring these workshops together so seamlessly and joyously:

+ Emma Shields (Brisbane) and Lucy Bourchier (Melbourne) for your yoga expertise, energy and support. What you both brought to each day was simply D I V I N E. I appreciate you both so much. 

+ Tash Sciotto (Brisbane) and Miranda Rudegeair (Melbourne) for your booty-shaking dance moves and love for self expression. You’re Goddesses! 

+ Emma Kate Codrington (Adelaide) for your exceptional flower mandala skills, support, endless enthusiasm and your ability to make anything beautiful. Love you.

+ Soul Space (Brisbane), Brick & Mortar Creative (Adelaide) and The Habit Space (Melbourne) for your ridiculously beautiful spaces, attention to detail and real care along the entire planning process. You made planning a workshop from 4,500km away a million times easier.

+ Emma Newby (Brisbane) for your exceptional photography skills and generous hospitality. Thank you gorgeous.

+ Jessica Dale, my bestest friend in the whole world. Thank you for tagging along with me all day in preparation and helping me with my gift bags! And of course to Jess’s boyfriend Dan, who kindly lent me his car for the weekend. I love you guys!

+ Botanica Real Food (Brisbane) and Organica (Melbourne) for your incredibly delicious and nourishing fare. Everyone left with a very happy belly and a big cacao-infused grin plastered on their face.

Plus, the girls left totally spoilt with such gorgeous gifts!

A big thanks to Erica Brooke Natural Skincare for your deep cleansing face masks, Tracey from Adventure Snacks for the incredibly yummy snack packs and Jo Klima at The Darling Tree for the awesome gold foil temporary tattoos. I feel incredibly blessed and supported to know so many generous, creative women who were supporting this project along the way - thank you, thank you, thank you!!

And to every single soul who said YES and came to play on the day. Well, you know I love and adore you and spending time together “in the flesh” has been one of the highlights of my 2015 thus far for sure.

I’m taking a little break from workshops now, as I focus on my upcoming eCourse Wild, Well & Creative, but I’ve got some awesome ideas and dreams for weekend workshops, retreats and more real-life creative collaborations in late-2015 or early 2016. I can’t wait to see these manifest some day soon too. I hope you’ll be there to share that moment with me.

Love Claire x