RESERVE YOUR PLACE

SEPTEMBER 3-7

HUNTER REGION, NSW

Quiet

The

A 5-DAY SILENT RETREAT

12 GUESTS ONLY

CARAWIRRY FOREST ESCAPE

BEFORE WE BEGIN

You're not tired.
You're overstimulated.

There's a kind of exhausted that sleep doesn't fix. It's not your body that's depleted — it's your capacity to hear yourself over the noise.

You're managing, performing, responding, scrolling. Full of input. Starved of space. You check your phone before your feet hit the floor. You can't remember the last time you sat in actual silence — and meant to.

This is what happens when we stop integrating and just start coping.

"The discomfort of silence? That's exactly where this begins."

Silence isn't the
absence of sound.
It's the presence of you.

When you remove the noise — the notifications, the conversations, the constant pressure to be doing something — something shifts. Not dramatically. Not a lightning bolt moment.

Just quietly, clearly: you start to hear what's actually there.

How your mind moves. Where your energy is leaking. What you've been avoiding. What you actually want. What has been waiting for months, maybe years.

Science calls it the default mode network — the brain's ability to process, integrate, and make meaning when external input stops. Forest environments lower cortisol. Extended stillness regulates the nervous system in ways that a weekend away simply can't.

"This isn't woo. This is your biology finally getting what it needs."

LED BY EM CRUICKSHANK

You will be
held completely.

Em has been guiding people into stillness for over a decade. She doesn't teach silence as an idea — she holds it as a practice, a container, a living thing.

Her approach is direct, warm, and without fluff. She will challenge you, she will settle you, and she will never ask you to perform your growth for the group.

You come. You arrive. You let the forest and the practice do the rest.

THE DAILY RHYTHM

A structured container.
Not a schedule to perform.

Each day has a gentle shape — enough structure to hold you, enough space to surprise you. No perfection expected. No right way to do this.

Meditation

Guided and unguided sits to settle the mind. No experience required — only willingness.

3 x daily

Qi Gong

Ancient movement practice that clears stagnant energy and reconnects you to your body. Gentle, accessible, profoundly felt.

Daily Morning Practice

Yin Yoga

Long-held, supported poses that release the nervous system simultaneously. The practice that lets you surrender.

Daily Evening Practice

Dharma Talks

Em speaks directly into the experience you're having. Real wisdom for real humans navigating real lives.

Daily Group Dharma + one 30 min private session for each participant

Forest Bathing

Guided immersion in 200 acres of bushland — letting nature regulate what words can't reach.

Deep Rest

Time to journal, soak in the wood-fired tub, walk the creek, or do absolutely nothing. This counts as practice.

A SAMPLE DAY AT THE QUIET

Each day begins at 7:30am. Later than you think.

You're allowed to ease in.

Morning

Qi Gong | Ancient Chinese moving meditation. Slow, deliberate movement coordinated with breath and intention — cultivating and circulating the body's vital energy (Qi). Rooted in Taoist philosophy, it listens rather than forces.

Morning practice opens the joints, warms the meridians, and settles the nervous system into grounded presence — a moving prayer before the silence deepens.

Guided Meditation | Each session is a communal opportunity to practice inner awareness and insight — cultivating a practical experience of how to direct your attention. This is Vipassana: the art of seeing clearly.

Together, we sit. We learn to observe what is present without needing it to be different. Morning, afternoon, and evening sessions each meet you at a different point in the arc of the day — opening, deepening, gathering.

Breakfast | Simple, nourishing food. Eaten in silence.

Late Morning

Daily Dharma | Ancient wisdom teachings that begin the day's inquiry. Buddhist and Taoist principles offered not as doctrine, but as a living lens — the framework for your personal enquiry. Something to carry, sit with, and meet together in the stillness. Each day deepens the one before. It builds.

Midday

Free Time | This is where the silence finds you. No agenda, no performance, no next thing. A space of pure exploration — curiosity without direction, observation without judgement. This is not time off from the retreat. This is the retreat. Not doing. Being.

Lunch | A grounding meal designed to stabilise and energise — simple, nourishing food that supports the work of the afternoon without weighing it down.

Afternoon

Guided Meditation

Forest Bathing |A guided, slow immersion into 200 acres of old-growth bushland. Walking meditation. No destination, no pace to keep.

Shinrin-yoku — the Japanese practice of forest bathing — is one of the most researched forms of natural medicine. Trees release phytoncides, organic compounds that measurably reduce cortisol, lower blood pressure, and activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of you that only works when you stop bracing.

The forest has a vibrational frequency. When you slow down enough, your body begins to attune to it. Not metaphorically. Physiologically.

This is not a walk. It's a return.

Private 1:1 Session with Em |A 30-minute private sit — just you and Em. By this point in the day, the silence has already been working. Questions surface that wouldn't have in ordinary life — not because they're new, but because there's finally enough stillness to hear them.

This is a space to bring what has bubbled up. Where you feel stuck. What you can't quite see. Em won't tell you what to think — she'll help you observe what's already there. Often the most honest conversation you'll have all year.

Evening

Frequency Healing |‍ ‍A bio-healing frequency session using pure sine wave technology — working with your nervous system rather than against it, to release what the mind holds on to.

Yin Yoga |The body keeps score. This practice gives it permission to let go. Long-held, supported postures that create the conditions for deep release — not forced, not rushed. This is where the day's observations move from the mind into the body, and the body is finally allowed to assimilate them. What you no longer need, you leave on the mat.

Guided Meditation |A supported sit to follow the Yin — settling what has been stirred, integrating what has been opened.

Dinner |Light, thoughtful, intentional. Designed to nourish without burdening. We eat in a way that honours the body's evening rhythm — nothing that asks your biology to work overtime when it needs to rest.

Yoga Nidra | The final practice of the day is Yoga Nidra — the ancient art of yogic sleep. A guided descent into the space between waking and dreaming, where the nervous system completes its repair and the mind releases its grip. Woven with gentle Qi Gong movements specifically chosen to support deep, restorative sleep.

THE DIGITAL DETOX

Your phone stays
in the drawer.

Full digital silence for 5 days. No social media. No emails. No one needing anything from you. This is the part people are most afraid of — and it's the part that changes everything.

What leaves with your phone

The performance. The comparison. The habitual reach for distraction the moment you're uncomfortable. The noise masking what's underneath.

The forest as medicine

Phytoncides from eucalyptus trees reduce cortisol and boost immune function. Creek sounds regulate the nervous system. The environment does its own work.

What comes back

Your actual thoughts. Your appetite. The ability to sit with what's there. Clarity you've been looking for in podcasts, books, conversations. It was never there.

200 acres of untouched land

Carawirry Forest Escape is one of the most extraordinary private properties in NSW. Creek walks. Old-growth gums. Wallabies at dawn. The space your body has been waiting for.

THE VENUE

Carawirry
Forest Escape.

Privately booked for our group of 12.

200 acres of Hunter Region rainforest and bushland.

This is not a hotel — it's a private estate. Warm timber, open fires, pools set into the forest.

All meals, snacks and beverages included. Simple, nourishing food to support the work.

You don't organise anything. You just arrive.

ACCOMMODATION & INVESTMENT

Choose your space.

Please note — all accommodation at Carawirry features shared bathrooms within each house*

MOST SECLUDED  ·  PREMIUM ONLY ONE AVAILABLE

The Nook

1 King bedroom  ·  Private house  · Private bathroom*

A fully self-contained private house set within the forest. The highest level of seclusion on the property — your own space, entirely yours for 5 days. Warm timber interiors, open fire, private deck, and complete separation from the rest of the group during personal time. Full use of the Cottage outdoor bath, 4m plungepool, fireplace and deck.

Per Room Options:

Single Occupancy | $2,200

Couple Occupancy | $3,600

INCLUDES

  • 1 King bedroom

  • Private house — fully self-contained

  • Open fire & private deck

  • Private bathroom

  • All meals & retreat inclusions

LARGEST OPTION  ·  WITH POOL

Tathra House

5 King bedrooms  ·  Shared house  ·  Shared bathroom

MOST SECLUDED  ·  PREMIUM ONLY ONE AVAILABLE

The Nook

1 King bedroom  ·  Private house  · Private bathroom*

A striking architectural house set into the forest edge, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private pool looking out into the trees. The largest option on the property with 5 King bedrooms — social during the unsilenced moments, private when you need it. The forest pool is something else entirely.

Per Room Options:

Single Occupancy | $1800

Twin Share | $1,450 per person per room

INCLUDES

  • 5 King bedrooms

  • Shared house & living spaces

  • Private forest pool

  • Shared bathroom

  • All meals & retreat inclusions

MOST UNIQUE  ·  DOUBLE BATHS

The Tree House

2 Queen bedrooms  ·  Elevated canopy  ·  Shared bathroom

Per Room Options:

Single Occupancy | $1800.

An elevated, extraordinary space set high in the canopy with its own deck, dining area, and the most talked-about feature on the property: two freestanding baths looking directly out into the forest. 2 Queen bedrooms, rustic timber character, and a sense of being held by the trees.

INCLUDES

  • 2 Queen bedrooms

  • Elevated canopy position

  • 2 freestanding forest baths

  • Private deck & dining

  • Shared bathroom

  • All meals & retreat inclusions

SPACIOUS & ELEVATED  ·  WITH POOL

The Cottage

2 King bedrooms  ·  Shared house  ·  Shared bathroom

Per Room Options:

Single Occupancy | $1900

Couple Occupancy | $3,300

Soaring timber ceilings, generous King bedrooms, and a forest deck that wraps around the trees. The Cottage has pool access and a beautiful elevated position on the property. 2 King bedrooms with natural light and that warm, grounded feeling you only get when surrounded by old-growth bush.

INCLUDES

  • 2 King bedrooms

  • Soaring timber ceilings

  • Pool access

  • Forest deck

  • Shared bathroom

  • All meals & retreat inclusions

MOST RESTFUL  ·  WOOD-FIRED SPA

Gum Leaf Cabin

2 Queen bedrooms  ·  Private cabin  ·  Shared bathroom

Simple, private, and quietly extraordinary. Nestled into the trees with its own forest deck, 2 Queen bedrooms that wake up to birdsong, and the most restful feature of any stay: a private wood-fired spa in the trees. The entry point — and nothing is missing.

Per Room Options:

Single Occupancy | $1650

INCLUDES

  • 2 Queen bedrooms

  • Private cabin in the trees

  • Wood-fired spa (private)

  • Forest deck

  • Shared bathroom

  • All meals & retreat inclusions

Securing your place

$500 non-refundable deposit to hold your room.

The remaining balance splits into 3 equal payments — making this accessible without compromising the quality of the experience.

12 guests only. Once it's full, it's full. No waitlists — only the next retreat.

WHO THIS IS FOR

You don't need to have
done this before.

You just need to recognise something true in what you've read so far.

You feel full, but not clear. Busy, but not purposeful. Moving fast but uncertain where.

You're constantly "on" — and when you try to switch off, you can't. The mind doesn't stop just because the diary does.

You've tried the things. The apps, the journalling, the Sunday reset. Nothing has quite landed the way you hoped.

You're ready to stop performing wellness and actually experience it. Even if that's uncomfortable. Especially if it is.

You don't want to be told to "trust the process" by someone who hasn't done the work themselves.

Silence is not
empty.


It's where things stop pretending to be okay — and actually become okay.

It's where you stop performing rest and start experiencing it.

It's where the version of you that's been waiting underneath all the noise finally gets a chance to speak.

You already know if this is for you.

You've known since the second paragraph.

SEPTEMBER 3–7, 2026  ·  HUNTER REGION, NSW

Reserve your place
in The Quiet.

12 GUESTS ONLY  ·  $500 DEPOSIT SECURES YOUR ROOM

3 equal installments will be invoiced for your balance payment.

RESERVE YOUR PLACE 
Rooms fill in order of deposit received. No waitlist.