Yoga, Business & Joy Retreat
Hunter Valley, March 4-7, 2027
You work hard.
It's time to reclaim your spark, ignite your joy & have fun
Life is full. Your calendar is packed. The responsibilities are endless. The ashes of the last to-do list become the start of your next to-do list. It’s never finished and there’s always more coming. “Things will calm down after next week,” you say each week, deluded, as things get faster and more frantic.
You’ve spent years building your career, your business, your life – checking all the boxes. You work hard, and you do your best to relax on weekends. And somewhere along the way, perhaps joy became an afterthought. Fun started to feel frivolous. Pleasure became something that’s rarely prioritised.
It’s time to change that.
It’s time to reclaim your joy and have some fun, with a bunch of people who will buoy you up and lift you higher. Life is long, and time passes anyway, so we may as well make fun a priority, reclaim joy as our birthright, and do something that “because I want to”. And, if it’s a tax deductible business expense? Well, that’s good too!
Welcome to Joy & Pleasure
Reignite your sense of play, rewrite your story, surround yourself with people who get it.
More
We’re here for a good time, not for a long time
Think of this retreat as a playground for your soul. A time to reconnect with yourself – and perhaps a friend who you haven’t seen for too long. Bring your good eggs! You’re welcome to invite friends and colleagues who aren’t business owners; perhaps this is something they aspire to be, and would love the real talk background on this.
All activities are optional, including our two business workshops on sales and marketing. If you want to talk shop, great! If you’d rather leave work talk at work, that’s totally wonderful too.
We’ll take you exactly as you are. But we’re willing to bet that farm that you’ll leave the long weekend as your best, shiniest self.
Meet Your Hosts:
The Guides to Your Joyful Rebellion
Brook McCarthy
Brook McCarthy, owner of Hustle & Heart, is a business coach, marketing trainer, speaker and facilitator who’s obsessed with the meanings we bring to work, and derive from work. Also a qualified yoga and meditation teacher, Brook’s style is irreverent and custom to each individual she works with.
She loves encouraging joy, play, experimentation, and self-expression as our birth rite, and helping you reconnect with what truly lights you up – so that joy isn’t something you only experience on retreat, but is woken into your days, your relationships, and broader life.
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is a project manager in health tech, with a clinical background as a physiotherapist. But by night? She’s one of the jolliest, most generous cooks, hosts, and all-round wack-job you’ll ever meet.
As well as delicious catering for our retreat, Kate brings significant experience in health leadership, building and developing teams to integrate technology to support clinical collaboration. Highly experienced at working with a diverse cross-section of people and bringing out the best in others, if you’re having “people problems” or struggling with leadership, Kate’s your mate.
About your venue, Nu Leaf Retreat
We can’t reclaim our spark, revel in pleasure and provoke our joy without a retreat worthy of this, yes?
Nu Leaf, cocooned in trees in the lush Hunter Valley, just north of Sydney, set on a 15-acre property, has everything you need to properly unwind, rejuvenate, and taste the elixr of possibilities for your new life, once you return home.
Enjoy the indoor heated mineral pool, outdoor pool with a sun deck, jet spa, and steam room. Do a workout in the gym, or simply gaze at the trees.
Book ahead a treatment at the on-site day spa (this is extra), or bring your favourite book to curb up somewhere comfy, and remember who you are.
Here’s a taste of what’s included
(please note, this is subject to change):
Yoga & movement
When you’re running you own business, movement becomes even more important to build resilience, grit, slow down your thinking, restore and rejuvenate. These sessions will be catered to all bodies, with plenty of options to suit your needs and preferences.
Meditation & visualisation
Tap into the power of your subconscious mind and experience bliss and relaxation like you’ve never felt before. To cultivate your wonderous future, we need to work deeper than the conscious mind.
Marketing and messaging
Your magnetic brand needs more than colours and font. We bring your brand to life by weaving stories that inspire, engage, and provoke your ideal clients to take action, while rendering your competitors irrelevant.
Consent-based social selling
This highly practical workshop pulls out the essential elements of effective sales – social and emotional intelligence, rapport building and flirting, clarity and direction. Learn how to sell one-to-one as well as one-to-many, working with storytelling, and playing to your natural communication strength, with confidence and ease.
Optional wine tour
This optional activity brings together the elements of wine, fashion and design, underpinned by a true rebellious spirit. Our host, Lisa McGuigan, curates her ranges and selects varietals from the most renowned terroir across Australia.
Crafting afternoon
Keep your hands busy with an afternoon of knitting, crocheting or embroidering (take your pick) while yapping away with other amazing women in business.
Cards Against Humanity night
The best way to bond is over a little wicked humour and your hosts, Brook and Kate, are exceptional at this!
Dress-up theme party
Nothing says “party” like a dress-up theme. It’s time to bring back the art of hosting, and the (important) role of being a good guest. We’re celebrating life, business and everything you’ve endured, and what’s yet to come. Theme TBA.
Party tricks / circus class
Learn a new yoga pose that will make you the life of the party (or at least leave people talking). The best, most underrated sales tactic.
Step inside our haven
Who is this for?
You’re busy and life is full, but you’re secretly feeling flat and, if you’re honest, a little bit like you’re going through the motions, a passenger in your own life.
You want more color, adventure, and play, with a bunch of like-minded, pleasure-seeking people who aren’t afraid to ask for more out of life.
You’re craving real connection – deep, belly-laughing, heart-opening connection, not surface-level interaction. But you also don’t like forced intimacy or weird group-bonding which feels disingenuous (us too!).
You want to step outside your usual routine and rediscover the part of you that loves life (rather than just manages it).
You’re ready to stop postponing joy and start living it, now. You know exactly how important joy is and you’re ready to reimagine your joy-centred life.
You are open to new things. You are willing to have your beliefs challenged and your mind changed.
Who is this NOT for?
You’re looking for a guru to emulate, or a mother figure (we’re not your gals).
You’re unwilling to be vulnerable and yes, you need to feel comfortable first, but you’re wearing a mask and you’re unwilling to let this slip.
You’re unwilling to examine any of your problematic thinking, beliefs, and behaviours that are strangling your joy (and likely, your business.
What you’ll leave with:
A new skill (or party trick) to break out at your next gathering.
A heart full of connection and belonging.
Your 'fridge list' of easy, accessible joys to do daily.
A body that feels more relaxed, more nourished, more yours.
A reignited sense of play, passion, and pleasure.
Plus, a bounty of delicious food to keep you fuelled for all that joy
Joy and pleasure aren’t indulgent. They’re not luxury. They’re your birthright.
The best moments in life are not about success, but about feeling fully alive.
This retreat is your invitation to step into this.
“Working with Brook is an investment in your business and yourself. No fluff, just tried and true, evidence-based methods and processes that work.”
March 4 - 7 (Thurs - Sun), 2027
Nu Leaf Retreat, Hunter Valley
Twinning option: save $150 each person, when you book and pay in full for a twin room with a friend.
Twin share
One person, sharing a room- One person payment in full sharing a twin room with one other
- All rooms have ensuites
- All meals included for three nights, from Thursday dinner to Sunday lunch
- Yoga & movement classes, tailored to every body
- Two sales and marketing workshops
- Optional activities
Twinning
Two people twin share, one payment (save $150/each)- Payment in full for one twin room (two people) – one person pays for both, to save $150/each person (best for friends!)
- All rooms have ensuites
- All meals included for three nights, from Thursday dinner to Sunday lunch
- Yoga & movement classes, tailored to every body
- Two sales and marketing workshops
- Optional activities
Solo king
Solo private king room (2 available- One person payment in full sharing a twin room with one other
- All rooms have ensuites
- All meals included for three nights, from Thursday dinner to Sunday lunch
- Yoga & movement classes, tailored to every body
- Two sales and marketing workshops
- Optional activities
Twin share
One person, sharing a room, 3-part payment plan- One person payment in full sharing a twin room with one other
- All rooms have ensuites
- All meals included for three nights, from Thursday dinner to Sunday lunch
- Yoga & movement classes, tailored to every body
- Two sales and marketing workshops
- Optional activities
Join us. Your joy is waiting.
Got questions?
What are the key details for this retreat?
What are the room options?
We have twin rooms with two beds (some of which are large beds!), and a small number of solo rooms. Rooms are large and well lit and each has its own ensuite. Almost every room as its own private terrace, with views of the vines and trees, so the sooner you book, the better room you’ll be allocted.
Do I need to bring a friend to book a twin room?
We appreciate this can feel awkward at times, but we’re also sure that you’ll likely leave with at least one new friend.
Can I book a solo room?
Yes of course! We have a very limited number though, so secure you spot early to ensure you’re not disappointed.
What is the schedule for the retreat?
Our day will start at 7am and finish around 9pm. All activities are totally optional and if you want to chill by yourself, you will be left along to do exactly that. Alternatively, if you want to opt-in to eveyrthing (and then some!), that’s good too. We have deliberately designed our itinerary to leave space for all needs and desires.
How do I pay?
Click the link above to pay your non-refundable deposit of $500 to secure you spot. If the retreat doesn’t go ahead, you’ll receive a full refund; but there are no refunds for change of minds or circumstances; you can onsell your spot (and I’m happy to help facilitate this as best I’m able).
The remaining balance is due by August 31. If you prefer, you can spread your payments across two invoices, billed in July or August, no worries. Email brook@brookmccarthy.com to arrange.
How do I get there? I'm not from Sydney.
Whether you live nearby, or interstate, we can help organise car pooling, to ensure that retreat participants are able to find the retreat. Just ask!
Nu Leaf is located in the Hunter Valley and Pokolbin is the nearest town which has a supermarket, cafes and restaurants.
What if I need to work during the retreat?
I've never done yoga before. Is this retreat for me?
Yes! All bodies welcome. It doesn’t matter if you’re injured or have never done yoga before. We can cater to all people, with plenty of hands-on guidance and alternative moves given to ensure you’re safe and well.
I have an injury and have limited mobility / strength, can I still join this retreat?
Yes not a problem. We can safely accommodate your mobility, strength and flexibility levels. You will never be pressured into doing anything you don’t feel comfortable with, and we’ll provide alternatives and guidance to help you manage your body.
I'm not sure. Can I ask further questions?
Absolutely. Just send us an email at brook@brookmccarthy.com