SEAL SKIN – earth & water elements
The seal skin is the soul skin — the story teaches about the cost of losing our connection to what keeps us alive beneath civilization’s demands. It speaks of embodiment, belonging, and the betrayal of our deeper rhythms when modern life (the fisherman, the human shore) steals our skin in the name of love, duty, or progress. To live without our seal skin is to live in exile from ourselves; to reclaim it is to risk being misunderstood — and to come home.
“Gentle swells had replaced the angry waves of yesterday. The gentle breakers made their way to shore glinting with green as they somersaulted to share. The waves showed an edge of lacy foam that caressed the sand. It was peaceful.”
Sharon Brubaker: Earth and Sea: A Selkie Tale.
Come with us to this warm community venue where cosy indoor corners flow into wide open spaces by the lake, with hidden nooks and crannies – a place woven with laughter, stories and quiet spots which invite the wind and water to join the conversation.
Book your ticket using TicketSource or email us
We invite you to these wild transformational days of shelter and sky, where you’ll find:
- Ritual & symbolic Earth traditions
- Exploring presence through dreaming, music and movement
- Soul tending and listening through stillness
- Creative practice and journallingSitting with complexity
- A sprinkle of the unexplainable &
- An optional wild swim!
- Hot drinks and a bring and share lunch
This is the first in a series of 3 full day retreat / workshop experiences that can be booked together or separately.
All days include
Each day is held in the lovely community venue The Hub (TCR) in Barnard Castle. We will be held by a lovely open indoor space with easy access to the outdoor gardens and extensive grounds, including a space to sit and dance outdoors, and options to wild swim in the lake.
Themes that ripple through all these days:
- Wild & domesticated – the tension between wild home and tamed world
- Memory & return – the soul’s insistence on remembering what modernity makes us forget
- Relational sovereignty – love that does not require captivity
- Reclaiming the wild self – the necessary act of disobedience that restores aliveness
Book your ticket using TicketSource or email us
Jayne Johnson & Andrea Hobbs are both creative and wild therapists who are experienced group facilitators.
They are both passionate about exploring all creative mediums to support self-discovery and soul-growth; in relation to ourselves, each other, and the natural world. They bring their combined loves of music, movement (dance), creating (art) and representative pieces from a wide range of materials – dream-work, visualisations, sitting with silence, and shamanic practices – gathering in one basket a unique offering that is woven together with their love, energy, and compassion.
We will provide all materials needed for your day plus teas, coffees and snacks for breaks
Please bring your own lunch or food for a shared lunch.
You may also want to bring a blanket or wrap, a cushion, a journal, water bottle, and anything else to ensure you are comfortable.
Wearing loose and comfy clothing is advisable, and if you fancy a dip in the lake, bring swimwear!
This is the first in a series of 3 full day retreat / workshop experiences
They can be booked together or separately – each one is perfect as a stand-alone day
Or you can deepen your experience by attending more than one!
You can also book/ask questions by contacting us at mail@jaynejohnson.co.uk or support@andreahobbs.co.uk
Find out more at our sway page here.
Book your ticket using TicketSource or email us
Also available and open for booking in 2026
May retreat / workshop 9th May
SNAKE SHEDDING – earth & fire elements
The snake sheds its skin in a regular and natural rhythm of embodied growth and change. It speaks of real transformations, renewals, and a fundamental ability to move towards a new way whilst retaining a core of being. The snake represents evil and healing energies in mythical stories and folklore around the world, presenting us with the choices and the complexities of life – What do I wish I could shed? What must I shed? What do I want to shed? What do I wish I could keep? What do I want to keep? What must be kept?
Who am I now and who or what do I wish to become?
September retreat / workshop 12th September
PHOENIX RISING – fire & air elements
The Phoenix is a mythical creature that appears in many stories and magical myths. The Phoenix burns up in the heat of the flame: extinguished, eradicated, destroyed, and often evoking some world or life-changing shift in the energies or destiny of those around it.
Only to re-appear, re-birth, & re-embody itself from the smoke and ashes left on the ground – a transformational alchemy of its basic elements, becoming ready for the prefect moments to fly in with its magic again and again.