Creatively Calm your Mind & Free Your Spirit
You Can Try it First! Attend a Mini Showcase In-person OR an online activity.
Why Attend A Creative Wellness Retreat?
‘I enjoy art and crafting and am curious about therapeutic art techniques.’
‘The things I’ve been trying for myself and how I feel aren’t working for me right now.’
‘I’m on a self-healing journey, and attending a retreat provides opportunities and tools to continue down this positive path.’
Our Key Activities and Areas of Focus:
Art activities developed for Mindfulness & Self-Reflection sessions
Integration of Green & Blue Space to connect with your evolutionary self, encouraging psychological and physiological relaxation
Addressing Chronic Stress, Burnout & Anxiety with sharing, caring, gentle movement, socialization, and creative expression
Providing fun social crafting and painting lessons and art skill building
What To Expect:
Creatively relax your mind and free your spirit.
Escape from your everyday stressors and join us at various beautiful outdoor and indoor venues across Niagara.
Arrive at a welcoming space and our attentive facilitators. Depart relaxed and aligned with your creations and emotionally lighter.
Welcome to your stress antidote, safe self-healing space, group sharing zone, and creative wellness outlet.
Development of personalized intentions and building resilience against chronic stresses and burnout‘s adverse psychological and physiological effects.
Our retreats are designed to remove you from the tethers of everyday life using carefully developed activities and workshops based on psychological methods and theories and intuitive overall well-being methods. Feel good and ready to take on the world.
Our experienced Guides inspire you to unwind and find your balance. Join us for mindful movements like restorative yoga or float away to a higher plane in a water healing lesson.
Take stock of your habits and behaviors through self-reflection and transformative self-healing workshops.
Excite your senses with nutritious snacks or meals and herbal teas.
Choose to participate in various wellness sessions.
Leave Relaxed
Expand your creative experience by joining us for painting and crafting in-studio sessions, mindfulness-based creative workshops, and opportunities to socialize, share, and grow deep connections.
All the creative activities we include are based on art therapy principles, and we facilitate the discussions afterwards. There is “no right or wrong” to what one creates in these sessions. No artistic experience is required.
Be Whimsi Art is delighted to be offering Day Retreats and Events in collaboration with various venue partners, activity coordinators, festivals, and wellness professionals.
The goal of life is rapture, and art is a way to experience it!
Mental Health and Community Resources
Our team is COVID-19 anxiety, social anxiety, and PTSD trauma aware. We refer to those more qualified than ourselves for anything outside of our scope.
Build Your Own Retreat
Half Day Creative Wellness Retreat ($55-$200 pp)
Choose any 2 Sessions or Activities
Full-Day Retreat ($125-$450 pp)
Choose any 3 + lunch
Over-Night Retreat ($550-1800 pp)
Choose any 5 + 3 meals + lodging
Work with Be Whimsi’s Coordinator to plan a fitting day for your friends, family or clients! Contact Rhiannon at 905-964-0405
*Prices depend on the activities chosen. Events 35km + from St. Catharines will be subject to a travel charge.
*Add a coffee and refreshment station with baked goods and fruit
>10 pp for $100
*Add a Gift Bag ( $25 or $50 value)
artbyrhianninbarry@gmail.com
Mindfulness Art-Based Programs/Sessions (MABPs), Social Art Groups (SAGs), and Artist Studio Immersion (ASIs): Exposure to and participation in creative arts activities can be a predictor of well-being. All Activities and Sessions can be adjusted to suit groups of any size.
Additional Activities:
Gentle Painting, an In Studio Immersion Mindful beginners step-by-step Painting Experience (MBAPs)
Paint Like Monet, a forgiving beginners lesson in the famous impressionist style (ASI)
Bohemian Wall Hangers, a Social Arts Crafting Group using brass rings, lace, and ribbon (ASI)
Lavender Sachets, a beginner’s Crochet and sensory experience using lavender, wool, rice, lavender buds, trinkets and lace (ASI)
Beaded Windchimes or Suncatchers-A mindful foraging and crafting experience (ASI)
Line art: Neurographic Art is a subconscious journy of the mind or Large Scale Bilateral Art– A movement, release and grounding experience using pastels and chalk (MBAPs)
Nidra Yoga-As close to a dream state as you will get. It opens creative and daydream channels.
Hatha Yoga– Gentle yoga movements for every body
Meditation and Sound Bath
A Creative Spark: A condensed version of our 4-week program, this brief 2 hours session sparks your imagination, receive peer feedback on your new ideas and creative writing (SAG)
Poetry Prompts– A Supportive Sharing Circle, an introduction to poetry aps and writing for complex emotions. (MBAPs)
Art Journaling Prompts-include all the supplies you need to take on our selected prompts and group sharing creatively. (SAG)
Mind Dump Journaling Session-A Intimate Activity, share as little or as much as you want in this mental release from chronic worry. (MBAPs)
Self Love & Self Worth Inventory Group Lesson and Discussion (MSAPs)
Managing Stress with Nature: Qualities of Green Space. Combating Chronic Stress with Urban Green Space. An Informative Discussion of the most current scientific support (MBAPs)
Meet Your Shadow-All things opposite of what you want to be and say you are being explored in this self reflect session (MBAPs)
Wellness Sessions & Self Healing
Join us in reflecting on the sources and micro stressors, daily obstacles, and chronic stressors with body movement and art exercises and personal coaching, workshops, or lessons. Let us guide you through reflective sessions with a therapeutic meditation quantity.
Gentle Painting is a Mindfulness Art-based Session. Many studies have linked creative arts and nature-based therapy to stress reduction, positive mindset, and behavioural changes. Sharing our Art with others provides a sense of belonging and builds confidence. Art as Therapy involves activities used as therapeutic tools toward healing, clearing the mind of intrusive thoughts, and expressing oneself.
Our Mindful Art Journaling is just one of our workshops, allowing you to express complex emotions through art expression. Learn new self-healing strategies for calm and positive change in your life! Craft and have creative conversations.
We have experienced art instructors, community service workers, artists, wellness support workers, and professional helpers. Therefore, some may have certificates or credentials or pursue certifications in the social sciences. If accredited, their accreditation will appear following their name or workshop.
Poetry and Writing
Beautiful outdoor venues and indoor spaces alike
Notes From Be Whimsi Art Loft
How Social Arts increases Wellbeing: With others or when self-guided, painting allows one to focus on the moment and provides an opportunity to enjoy the present. It will enable the everyday stresses to subside and, in the end, there is something unique to look at or share with others. Sharing our Art with others provides a sense of belonging and builds confidence.
Disclaimer: Be Whimsi coordinators and facilitators are not therapists, doctors, nutritionists, nurses, or lawyers. Any coaching or creative activities are not considered advice from one of the professionals mentioned above. We have experienced art instructors, community service workers, artists, wellness support workers, and professional helpers. Therefore, some of them may have certificates or credentials or may be pursuing certifications in the social sciences. If accredited, their accreditation will appear following their name or workshop.
My sessions are planned using rec-based art therapy principles and developed using cognitive restoration theory.
Forest Bathing: We offer knowledge and tools about how to use urban green and blue spaces to maximize stress reduction.
We cater to your interests and needs:
Each Day Retreat’s activities are catered towards the needs of the participant group. Therefore some activities may be emphasized and developed or included with variations.
Meet The Facilitators
Be Whimsi Art Loft 