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Returning to Self: An Autumn Day Retreat

€229.00
€229.00
Early Bird Sold out
Tax included.
 
  • September 12, 2026
  • 10.00am – 6.00pm
  • Anam Kara Wellness

As the beautiful warmth and light of summer begins to recede and we move into autumn, the energy shifts and so must our practices with food, movement and self-care. The wisdom of nature and leaning in to our ‘evolutionary knowing’ arises from within, if we listen.

Join Laura, Registered Yoga Teacher, Ayurvedic Therapist, Nutritional Scientist & Edelle, Clinical Psychoneuroimmunologist, Compassionate Inquiry Therapist, and Nutritional Therapist for a full day retreat at Anam Kara Wellness. Together they bring more than 50 years of expertise encompassing modern clinical science combined with evolutionary medicine and ancient Ayurvedic wisdom.
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  • Tea & Opening Circle

    Ayurvedic tea and connection to set our intention for our time together

  • Compassionate Inquiry Workshop

    Trained by Gabor Maté, Edelle will guide as we explore together, our interpretation of the world, noticing perceptions, beliefs, sensations and emotions, and their somatic responses. We will reflect deeply on Authenticity vs Attachment and adaptive behaviours

  • Hatha Yoga

    Laura will lead a yoga class exploring gentle movement, longer holds, heating breathwork and Kriyas for cleansing and purification.

  • Ayurvedic Organic Lunch

    A nourishing lunch inspired by Ayurvedic principles, inspired by the change in season from summer to autumn and incorporating ancient wisdom. Allowing time to chat and connect.

  • Guided Forest Bathing

    Edelle and Laura will guide a gentle walk through the beauty of Glendalough Estate. Exploring stillness, noticing, engaging all senses. While you learn about the scientific basis for Forest Bathing and the biochemical and immunological benefits

  • Ayurveda and PNI

    Bringing together everything you have experienced to aid your understanding of Ayurveda and Psychoneuroimmunology.

    Food and drinks in the season of autumn, breathwork, routines, self-care, meditation, movement. Evolutionary medicine, the science of heat and cold, using heat and cold in chronic disease and in disease prevention

  • Optional Guided Sauna and Cold-Water Experience

    Guided sauna and cold-water therapy based on your individual needs which we can discuss prior to the retreat (if you provide your information) or on the day.

    (For guests who prefer not to take part in the full bathing experience, this hour will be time for rest, reflection and relaxation)

  • Closing Circle

    Time for deep connection, reflection and sharing as desired. Time for questions.

The Experience

Returning to Self is intended to be a safe, warm, connected experience where you leave enlightened and empowered. A day in time when we connect to something bigger than ourselves to come home to ourselves. Based in the beauty of nature, evolutionary medicine and Ayurveda, we allow the ancient wisdom of our bodies to arise by providing it the context in which is flourishes while adding new learnings. Reconnecting, resetting, and learning.

The Day

Morning

The morning is where we explore connection but also move within. We spend time in our inner world. Our psyche, our body, our breath, our movement. And how it all feels for us. How we find and feel our place in the world. How we show up.

Midday

We are adding the outer world to our inner exploration. We will eat together. We re-connect with each other and bring some of the outer world into our inner world with lunch and interaction with others. We will do some forest bathing where we slow down, notice, listen, breathe and engage all of our senses

Afternoon

The afternoon is devoted to connecting the inner and outer world to each other and adding some understanding of the processes happening in our bodies. Also learning how to bring these practices into our daily lives. When and how to add therapies, and what therapies are most beneficial for you, specifically.

Closing

We finish together in a reflective closing circle with time for questions, conversation and integration.

Following the retreat, you'll also receive the complete workshop notes as a keepsake.

Your Hosts

Edelle O'Doherty

Compassionate Inquiry, Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology, Functional Medicine, Nutritional Therapy, & BSc Chemistry

Edelle O'Doherty’s work is rooted in the understanding that many of our behaviours, symptoms, and emotional reactions are not signs of weakness or failure. They are often intelligent adaptations to earlier life experiences, stress, disconnection, or unmet needs. Our psyche, nervous system and our immune system are responding as they are supposed to, to protect us and maintain our survival. Or they have lost the ability to communicate with each other and are simply trying to help us survive.

She brings together Compassionate Inquiry, Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology, Functional Medicine, Nutritional Therapy and a degree in Chemistry with body-based awareness to support people in exploring what may be beneath their patterns.

Her desire is to offer essential additional support alongside conventional medical systems, ensuring no one feels alone on their health journey. Championing connection, community, deeper understanding, and reawakening in people what it truly means to be human. Our journey is not about forcing change. It is about creating the conditions where the body and mind can begin to feel safe enough for insight, regulation, and new choices. To enable decision making.

She possesses a deeply personal and empathetic understanding of the fear and challenges associated with serious illness having lost both her mother and husband to cancer and having grown up with a brother with a traumatic brain injury.

Laura Lynch

Registered Yoga Teacher & Ayurvedic Therapist with 200hr RYT & 300hr teacher training in Ashtanga, Hatha, Yoga Therapy and Pregnancy Yoga. Also Yin Yoga, Transformational Breathwork, and Applied Polyvagal Theory, BSc in Nutritional Science

Laura Lynch is an Ayurvedic Therapist, 500hr+ Registered Yoga Teacher, and lifelong nature lover. As a child, she was drawn to the natural world - how it grows, adapts, and shapes everything within it.

That curiosity led her to a BSc in Nutritional Science (2018), followed by certification as an Ayurvedic Therapist and 200hr RYT in North India (2019). In 2023, she completed a 300hr teacher training in Ashtanga, Hatha, Yoga Therapy and Pregnancy Yoga in Mysore. Since then, she has trained in Yin Yoga (80 hr in 2024), Transformational Breathwork (Phoenix Breathwork Method, 2025), and Applied Polyvagal Theory - alongside earlier studies in Yoga Nidra (16hr) and Vipassana, including a humbling ten-day Vipassana course in Limerick. Each of these practices has reshaped how she relates to food, sleep, movement, and rest - and helped her find a rhythm that actually fits who she is.

Laura states: “When I'm living in line with my own nature, I notice it clearly: steadier energy, clearer thinking, better digestion, deeper sleep, and a quieter, more grounded outlook on life.”

Her business Ved Karma is built on that discovery. Ved means knowledge; Karma means action. Her work is about bridging the two - taking the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and yoga and turning it into practical, daily tools for balance, alignment, and inner steadiness, whatever life brings. Lasting health isn't a quick fix - it's a process of learning what your body and mind genuinely need. That journey can feel overwhelming at first, but you don't have to navigate it alone.

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