writing for healing

Blissful Bali Writing Retreat participants on excursion

Last week we celebrated our third Blissful Bali Transformational Writing Retreat at the glorious Bali Ecostay.

I say celebrated because that’s what it felt like – a celebration of writing and women and transformation. A group of twelve creative women joined me and the wonderful Kerstin Pilz for a week of daily yoga, writing workshops, yoga breathing, deep relaxation, special blessings, waterfall swims and so much more.

Bravest waterfall swimmers yet!

All dressed up for our traditional Balinese welcome ceremony with the local women.

The yoga shala at Bali Ecostay is every yogin’s dream with open sides out into the lush green forest. A mandala of flowers decorated the floor and almost everyone attended every session as we stretched and breathed and got out hearts pumping, then lay back in bliss for sivasana.

Writing workshops on retreat are intensive and provide a comprehensive creative writing course leading writers gently forward to give participants all the craft knowledge they need to tackle full length projects. However, not everyone comes along to write a memoir or their novel – though mostly by the end of retreat they want to give it a try!

Nikki arrived having not written for decades but soon found herself writing up a storm and sharing her work to enthusiastic applause (and sticker rewards!). Catherine and Anna had already published books and were ready to do it again. Even those who had done university writing courses were learning new craft skills and applying them to their works in progress.

Afternoon writing breaks provided lots of time to get stuck into those projects that had been set aside for way too long. Old stories were dusted off and reborn. New stories sprang from the ether. Hearts opened as our stories were shared and held safe.

All this immersed in the beauty and magic of the Balinese mountains, far from the chaos and traffic of the tourist areas. Bali Ecostay, on the slopes of Mount Batakaru held us safe in the middle of food forest cultivated over centuries. We drank sweet spring water straight from the tap (don’t do this elsewhere in Bali!) and frolicked together in the cleansing waters of nearby waterfalls. Our warm and welcoming hosts prepared delicious feasts straight from their permaculture garden and treated us to scrumptious desserts every night – warm black sticky rice pudding with fried banana and coconut cream anyone?

Special chocolate pie birthday cake for our darling Retreataholic Liana

The heavens opened and drenched the mountain in an unseasonal downpour, but that only forced us to stay indoors and write, making sure everyone made the most of this precious writing time. New writing friendships were formed over locally grown coffee or ginger and lemongrass tea and as we stood together around a blazing fire in our closing night ceremony it felt as if magic had indeed taken place in bringing us all together.

As always, it’s the people who attend our retreats that make them such a special experience. Every single writer played an important role in supporting and encouraging others. Kindness was our mantra. And as we sat together in the evenings in the open-air yoga shala bathing in forest energy and breathing slow and deep, we connected deeply, not only with each other, but with the heart of Bali and our own inner bliss.

Our traditional collage portraits – happy kindy kids showing off!

It’s such a great honour to be running these retreats with my dear friend Kerstin, bringing together groups of talented writers. I feel so very lucky that I get to meet such inspirational, wise and compassionate people on these retreats. How lucky am I?

One of our main goals for these retreats is to create ongoing writing community for our participants who often keep in touch long afterwards and go on to host their own mini-retreats to encourage and support each other on this writing journey. We are not alone, though mostly we write in happy solitude. Writers need each other.

Here’s what some of our retreaters had to say about our Blissful Bali Transformational Writing Retreat 2025

After a week of writing immersion in Bali I’m suddenly lost for words! I loved everything about this retreat. I learned so much in the writing workshops, felt inspired and had time to work on my creative project, and met a group of wonderful, supportive co-writers. We wrote, we laughed, we ate food prepared with love, and we stayed in a stunning rainforest eco retreat. My body, mind, heart and soul were nourished, and I’m feeling deeply grateful for this extraordinary experience.

Tricia Karp (Bali retreat participant 2025)

I loved the journey the workshops took us on from the very beginning of unlocking the story within to the detailed more complex parts of creative writing. Each workshop had something for every level of skill or experience. Great balance of learning, yoga, people and free time. I got so much more out of this retreat than I ever expected. It was truly transformational.

Tatia Power (Bali 2025)

Edwina and Kerstin are warm facilitators and generous with their knowledge.

Gillian Carter (Bali 2025)

I loved the balance of theory, lived experience, wisdom, humour and genuine encouragement in the workshops. Edwina and Kerstin cared about everyone’s work and wanted us all to achieve our goals. The kindness and care of the Bali Ecostay staff has been outstanding. Every act of service felt imbued with love and care. The food was AMAZING! I really appreciated the balance of heart, head and spirit activities and the warm, gentle, kind, daring, knowledgeable, humorous vibe. A truly safe and nourishing retreat experience.

Catherine Mellors (Balie 2025)

I learnt so much my head is spinning. The workshops were well presented, and I could follow everything even though it was all new to me. Thank you both for being excellent teachers and being encouraging and non-judgemental.

Nicky Dodwell

Edwina and Kerstin’s writing workshops are pitched to meet the needs of both experienced writers and those embarking on their first manuscript. Their relaxed and interactive style encouraged sharing and active participant contributions enhanced the learning. The food was plentiful, healthy and delicious. A perfect combination of workshops, free time for writing, resting or exploring, yoga and meditation, tarot readings, massage, ceremony and of course, the waterfalls. I loved the experience, the learning and the people.

Rebecca Crawley

I really loved the retreat centre – the staff, opening ceremony, walk, waterfall were all wonderful. I loved my room! The food was delicious, and I loved that we had the place all to ourselves so we could hang out in the restaurant and have so much lovely bonding time. After so much time away from writing fiction, I was scared/intimidated when I thought about getting back into it. The workshops, exercises, the progression and the supportive nature really broke down those barriers. Divine!

Liana Brown (Bali 2025)

I loved the creative writing prompts best, but every workshop was packed with valuable learning. I absolutely loved the retreat centre – the remoteness, having it all to ourselves, the bungalows, and food were all excellent. I felt cared for and inspired. Yoga and meditation every day set me up to feel relaxed, creative and productive. An awesome retreat that completely exceeded my expectations.

Fiona Evans (Bali 2025)

I found the workshops fantastic, informative and practical. I learned so much. Heartfelt connection from presenters. I felt loved – so rare an experience at a retreat.

Anna Pye (Bali 2025)

Our next retreat is in ITALY!! Yes ITALY! Staying in a palazzo. Limited places are still available, so if you’ve always dreamed of sitting by an olive grove writing in your journal, breathing in the beauty and history of Tuscany, check out all the info HERE.

Don’t you deserve to live your dreams? Suddenly mine are all coming true and I wish the same for you.

Dream big! Aim for the stars then even if you miss, you’ll go further than you ever thought possible.

With big thanks to all our beautiful Bali retreaters. We love you guys!! See Anna and Bec in Italy! Woohoo! Who else wants to come?

Lots of love

Edwina 🙂 xx

Will I Ever Be Who I Am - A memoir by Gay Liddington

I first met Gay Liddington when she attended one of my Relax and Write Retreats at Burleigh Heads back in 2019. From the first time I heard about her story of courage and resilience in overcoming a troubled childhood of family violence and abuse, I knew it was a story that HAD to be told. I’m always banging on about the importance of getting those stories that won’t leave us alone out of our heads and onto the page, because, to paraphrase Salman Rushdie, we need to take control of the stories we tell ourselves about the past, or otherwise let them forever shape our futures.

When we claim our stories and start writing them, magic begins.

Suddenly the stories are not who we are, but what we make of them. We begin to believe that we can change and shape futures different from the darkness of the past. We learn we have power over the stories, that we can shape them into the story that we WANT to tell, not just what we NEED to let go of. We write and rewrite and polish until we realise we’ve done it! We’ve created something beautiful from the pain that used to define us. Now it is the beauty that defines us. Beauty of our own making.

This is what Gay has done with her brave and compelling new memoir Will I Ever Be Who I Am.

Not long after we first met, I was looking for someone to do catering for a new retreat centre where I was hoping to run writing retreats. Gay put her hand up and we’ve been great retreat buddies ever since. She cooked, I edited and gave advice and slowly over a number of years Gay’s book took shape. I also took shape, my belly growing bigger with each one of Gay’s delicious sweet treats I couldn’t resist. There’s a reason her partner Phil is known as “Tummy Big”.

Gay, her daughter Kylie and friend June with the book launch table laden with goodies!!

Gay was already a writer, a journalist writing feature articles for The Hinterland Times. Now they’re writing stories about her! Here’s the feature article (pages 4 and 5)they published recently about Gay’s book.

Gay had been writing and performing poetry, stories and comedy for decades, but this was her first concerted attempt at writing her memoir. She wanted justice, she said. And to not go to her grave with secrets weighing heavy on her soul.

Writing our stories frees us and is a safe way to right the wrongs done to us, especially when we were children and had no voice, no power.

Gay and Leah Dodds, owner of Rosetta Books at Gay’s launch.

Gay has always been a “Do It Yourself” kind of person, so she didn’t want to pursue traditional publishing. Instead, she bought a design template from Book Design Templates and figured out how to do the layout herself. She then worked with Paradigm Print Media to develop a cover and have copies printed. Her cover image is her own concept, taken from a photo of her at 17 when she’d first escaped to the army. A photo her abusive step-father had torn to pieces, and her loving mother had glued back together again.

Recently we launched Gay’s powerful memoir at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre, where, true to character, Gay donated a dollar from every book to support the programs run at the centre to support women, children and others affected by family violence. What a day it was! After months of rainy weekends, the sun shone brightly all afternoon as we sat in the outdoor covered area, close to the Serenity Grief Garden. Gay had made enough cakes and biscuits to feed an army, allocating five pieces per person!

A crowd of friends, loved ones, retreaters and book lovers cheered Gay on as we talked about what it took to transform her memories into a compelling and empowering story. As Gay read excerpts from her book, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I was already teary from the introductions, so very proud of Gay and all she’s achieved.

We were honoured to have Judith Munday OAM, who was a young officer when Gay first joined the army in 1969, officially launch the book. Judith was there to pick up the pieces and help this broken young woman take her first steps into selfhood. It was only fitting she was also there to celebrate the strong, fearless, creative woman Gay’s become.

Gay’s army memorabilia and the original torn photo.

Gay’s memoir is available for sale HERE on my website, and at Rosetta Books Maleny and Annie’s Books at Peregian. Also coming to Amazon soon for international readers.

There are many paths to publication. Gay’s path was perfect for her, the angels she has such faith in lighting the way before her step by step all the way to her magical day of celebration. Which path will you take?

Here to help you find your way!

Lots of love

Edwina xx