Women’s Healing Sanctuary is the vision of our two founders, Sharalyn and Janine, who both have first hand experience of the necessity and benefits of being able to ‘retreat’ from the world to heal and recuperate. 

Sharalyn: “I found myself constantly thrown into depths of grief after my son died in a car accident. How could I ever function as ‘normal’ again? My friend Janine, witnessed my struggle and encouraged me to take some time to step away from it all and retreat to a women’s sanctuary to just pause, rest and allow myself to really ‘be’ with my son. Now my new ‘normal’ includes honouring my need to retreat regularly and pause to be with my son. It has expanded me to find room in myself for my grief and enabled me to further explore my continuing bond with him.

The feather in our logo is a reminder of my son. Women’s Healing Sanctuary has only come about because of him …. and because ALL women benefit from having a place to hold the parts of ourselves and our stories that we may be too busy, exhausted, sad, scared, or just too damn tired to continue holding on our own.”

Janine: “I had retreated annually overseas for many years for self-care, rest, (and counselling when needed), to sustain my full time work supporting terminally-ill cancer patients and their families. I remember the first time I went, I basically slept for the first 3 days! I hadn’t even realised I was THAT exhausted. Each year I would return home with increased levels of peace, greater awareness of the affect other people (and my job) had on me, and wiser about what I could do to retain my equilibrium. The first few years I felt like I could barely afford to go, but as I found myself and began to re-create myself, I knew I couldn’t afford not to go! As old beliefs were able to be released and replaced with new beliefs that enabled me to thrive, I loved who I had become!”

The desire to offer other women this same opportunity for restoration and healing through the gift of ‘retreat’ and all it encompasses, ultimately resulted in the vision and co-creation of  the Women’s Healing Sanctuary. It’s a beautiful poignant story, ending in a moment of insight which left us speechless – but we knew what we had to do. You will be able to read more about this when you come stay with us!

Our board of directors is comprised of amazing people who are dedicated to women’s wellness. We believe that by providing women with a safe place to rest, heal and self-care women are empowered to move forward in a way that benefits themselves and their loved ones