What, Where & Who: Health & Wellness Retreats Victoria
What is the
Little Farm of Calm ?
Little Farm of Calm is a wellness retreat and event space in Victoria in North East Victoria. A yoga retreat, a pilates retreat, a relaxation & health retreat. An escape from the everyday grind, an easy place to get to. We’re not a fancy resort, but we take care of everything, so you can focus on how best to relax and recharge, or enjoy new experiences.
Our Victorian wellness retreats feature evidence-based wellness strategies - good sleep, healthy food, quality movement and nature. When these elements combine, it restores our physical and mental well-being.
Sleep & Wellness: Our cabins are furnished to aid sleep. Our movement itinerary, treatments and menu are promote restful slumber and support your recovery! Our floatation & red light therapy, hydrotherapy spa and infrared saunas enhance your wellness experience and help switch off the mind & body.
Food: We cater to most dietary requirements and feature fresh local produce - with one feature dish per meal to which additional condiments, side dishes, seasonings and servings can be added to suit your needs and tastes.
Movement: Physio-led sessions to strengthen, stretch, release, relax & massage your muscles. Pre-retreat consultations are also available along with modifications to suit all levels. Reformer Pilates, Aerial Yoga, Myofascial Release, Yin and Flow sessions along with guided meditations included in every yoga & wellness retreat.
Nature: Engage with hand-reared miniature goats and pigs, enjoy a book in a hidden nook, take stock of the native birds and frogs on the property or take a bike ride around Lake Benalla. Evidence shows that connections with animals and nature may have similar effects to deep meditation on our brain activity, stress levels and mood (no crystals, chimes or chakra alignment required). Plus, every wellness retreat supports Little Farm Calm Wildlife Shelter, where we rescue, rehabilitate and release native wildlife in the Northeast Region.
And just as a bonus, we’ve added a few little dollops of …
Comfort: Optional coffee, tea, spiced cacao, mulled wine, fire pit conversations and Netflix (along with some good quality chocolate) are part of every wellness retreat.
Where is Little Farm of Calm?
121 Grant Drive, Benalla, Victoria
An easy 2 hour drive or train trip from Melbourne or 1.5 from Albury - once you get on the Hume Hwy you are 2 turns away.
We are located in a rural area, yet only 6 minutes away from Benalla centre which features cafes, shops, chemists and supermarkets. If you are feeling active that becomes a 15 minute bike ride.
Who is Little Farm of Calm?
Meet Daz & Jill
We're not interested in being influencers or spiritual gurus. We are certified and registered health professionals who enjoy listening to people telling their stories and constantly refining the depth of our knowledge. We built a wellness retreat to provide the space, opportunity & knowledge for people to find comfort/confidence/ connection with their bodies.
We’re passionate about native Australian wildlife, and doing what we can over time to reduce our environmental footprint. We are parents to two wonderful young girls who help us run the Little Farm of Calm Wildlife Shelter; committed to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of wildlife in the North East region.
-
Jill has been a student of the body in depth since 1997, with a passion for finding the secret to balance in health & wellness. She has studied & taught around the globe since the days before the internet, along the way building fitness & yoga centres to share her purpose, before settling in Benalla to focus on family & wildlife rehabilitation.
Qualifications inc: Bachelors in Physiotherapy*, MSc. University of Melbourne, Adv Diploma in Clinical Pilates, 1000HR ERYT inc iRest Meditation, Aerial yoga, Rossiter & myofascial release work, Advanced TT in Forrest Yoga, Pre & Post natal yoga.
-
Our no ‘woo-woo’ director, Darren is a quiet legend of the strength training world. Whether it’s elite level sports training, kettle bells, olympic lifting, self defence or teaching your grandparents how to get up off the floor, he has dedicated his life to learning and teaching others about how to live their strongest, healthiest lives.
He brings strength, mobility and fitness together along with the latest science on how to train your body to feel better, rather than exhausted - move efficiently and freely through the exercises, achieve rapid improvements and feel amazing at the end of it.Specialisations include:
Athletic & Sporting Performance
Crossfit Coaching (for all levels)
Olympic Lifting & Kettlebells
Corporate Self Defence Trainer
Wellness Retreats that work - Backed by Science
Floatation therapy
Your wellness retreat includes a 50 minute private session in our magnesium salt floatation and sensory deprivation tank. Designed to switch off your senses , provide complete rest for your nervous system and alleviate muscle tension.
From just 1-2 sessions across the weekend, you may feel more relaxed, and sleep more deeply. Regular float therapy has been linked to reductions in stress levels, anxiety, blood pressure, chronic pain and sleep disorders. An optional float therapy session is included in all our wellness & yoga retreats. Learn more about float therapy on our Victorian yoga retreats.
Red Light therapy
Retreat packages include medical grade whole body red light therapy. Often associated with Dermatologists and skin treatments, red light therapy penetrates the skin to target cellular health. It has been used as a treatment for mood and sleep disorders, wound healing & joint pain, muscle recovery and even by NASA to reduce unwanted symptoms of radiation therapy.
From your first session you might feel relaxed, glowing and a little restored. Every person is different - if you can, jump in more than once. Included in all our wellness & yoga retreats, learn more about red light therapy here.
Animal Therapy: Goat Happy Hour
Time spent with animals and in nature has been shown through several studies to replicate similar effects on our brain waves as deep meditation. Perhaps this is because they demand us to be fully present and temporarily disable our internal chatter.
We provide all levels of access to our hand reared therapy animals - whether you would prefer to feed or observe only from behind a fence, or jump in and immerse yourself in goat antics and love. Plus, we’re probably the only wellness retreat in Victoria to have goats on the program.
Infrared Sauna Sessions
Improved cardiac health, reductions in chronic pain, muscle recovery, deeper REM sleep, lowered cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugars, boosted metabolism and protection against the degenerative effects of ageing. These are all benefits of infrared sauna use as demonstrated by clinical studies - so the question is, why wouldn’t you?
Yes it’s hot, but stepping out of the sauna you’ll feel invigorated and recharged. And because we have two, you should do it again tomorrow! Learn more about infrared sauna use on our Victorian wellness retreats.
Mineral Soak & Hydrotherapy Spa; Magnesium Salt Pool
Take your relaxation to the next level in our 6 person hydrotherapy spa. It comes complete with medical grade massage jets and mineral salts to dissolve tension and send you into a state of bliss.
And if you get too hot, you can always take the plunge in our 75m2 magnesium salt pool for a dose of refreshment and invigoration. Or of course you can just stay in the spa ….
Evidence based yoga, pilates & myofascial release
We use evidence based techniques to relieve aches and pains, relax tight muscles and target common niggles - you might find yourself capable of more than you thought.
Intensity wise, our yoga, wellness and pilates retreat schedule caters from low to moderate intensity sessions; using the power of movement to improve how you feel in both your mind and body. Our teachers come from health care backgrounds including physiotherapy, exercise physiology, rehabilitation programming and elite coaching - offering the highest levels of instruction and in class care.
More detail on what’s included in our Yoga & Wellness Retreats Victoria
