GROUNDWORK
4–9 February, 2027
"Every person must live the inner life in one form or another. Consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, the inner world will claim us and exact its dues. If we go to that realm consciously, it is by our inner work: our prayers, meditations, dream work, ceremonies, and Active Imagination. If we try to ignore the inner world, as most of us do, the unconscious will find its way into our lives through pathology: our psychosomatic symptoms, compulsions, depressions, and neuroses"
Robert A. Johnson
This is an invitation only experience.
By application only. We read every word.
Our modern world rarely allows us to be still.
We move in a quiet, relentless rhythm through messages, meetings, feeds, responsibilities and noise. Days pass. Something in us keeps waiting for a pause that somehow never seems to arrive.
In this immense time of collective restructuring, exponential acceleration and great change, GROUNDWORK invites those who are seeking to be initiated into their next unfoldment, into who they are here to be and what they are truly here to do with their lives, to activate that process. GROUNDWORK is an embodied, focused and integral approach, focused in the now, not in some distant tomorrow.
We believe in the kind of connection that asks you to look into the eyes of what's most true.
We believe in people over automation.
We believe in the good, the beautiful and the true.
We believe in art and in the process of meaning-making it allows.
We believe in being in embodied relationship with one's Self, with others and with our environment.
We believe in taking play seriously.
We believe in quality.
We believe uncertainty is not a problem to be solved, but a place to explore courageously.
We are for practicality, responsibility and creativity.
We believe in the practice of presence and devotion to something greater than ourselves.
We believe in learning to dwell in questions and learning to surrender into the space of not-knowing, over forcing answers.
Four days of deep introspection.
A very small group, deeply immersed in nature. You'll be guided through a kind of "silent retreat with a twist" where we'll explore movements into more primal modes of expression, communication, connection, listening and following what reveals itself to you when the noise is turned down. No work, no feeds, no productivity goals. Instead, a carefully curated space where you'll be invited to gradually arrive into what feels most at home when there is nowhere to go, nothing in particular to do and noone to have to be.
We hold this space so you don't have to create it alone. What you bring to it and what you carry home, is yours.
Not what you'd expect. In a good way.
This is very much about what we’re not doing. We begin by saying no. No to distraction. No to distortion. No to the ways we habitually leave the present moment.
From there, we come back into the body. Into relationship with one another. Into the living world around us.
Through silence, creative work, ritualised practices, nature and carefully held experiments, we’ll explore what happens when we stay with uncertainty long enough to hear what IT is actually saying to us.
We’ll work with your story, question some of the ways you’ve come to understand yourself and support you in making room for something 'truer' to emerge.
You’ll be invited beyond the familiar, but never without care. We’ll follow as much as we lead, creating enough safety to approach the place where fear and excitement meet.
After all, that is where we've often found something meaningful begins to move from. And when it does, we'll follow it, together.
Some of the kind of activities that you participate in include:
Morning tea ceremonies
Drawing/writing exercises
Nature connection practices
Psychodrama / Processwork / Personal Narrative work
Meditation: Sitting, walking or laying down
Guided Inner Work
We're specifically not following a rigorous schedule. Instead, we're working with the idea of 'stages'. Our time away will look something like this:
- Stage one - Landing: Arrival and settling in
- Stage two - Intention: Clarifying intent and story exploration (difficulties, imbalances, life transitions, fears and desires)
- Stage three - Threshold crossing: Commiting to the unknown
- Stage Four - Liminal space: A descent, carefully curated activities to be guided through.
- Stage Five- The Return: A process of return and ritual sublimation.
- Stage Six - Integration: Grounding your experience back into consensus reality in a practical way.
There may be times you will wish to be alone, and times we will be together and other times we'll be alone together. Please expect some level of discomfort when it comes to crossing edges. You won't be doing this work alone, you will be held, supported, challenged and presenced all the way through. Most importantly your story and your capacity for choice will be encouraged, respected and honoured.
People with a question that thinking hasn't resolved.
Our work is designed for those who suspect they already know something they haven't yet acted on. The one's who are carrying something they keep imagining making, changing or becoming, that hasn't found its way into their life yet.
This deeper way of working asks for some preparation before you arrive: reducing unnecessary screen time and stimulation, and making room for quiet periods beforehand. We take this work very seriously and will lead you through responsible preparation before the event itself.
Two dedicated practitioners, holding the space.
We come from the world of making, the outdoors and from a long interest in the kinds of questions GROUNDWORK asks. We are not here to fix anyone. We are here to hold a careful, honest space and to be present within it together.
Michael Dudaš
Michael brings nine years of deep psychological study, somatic experiencing, ritual integration and therapeutic practice to GROUNDWORK. Having facilitated over 1,800 hours of transformative group spaces and 1:1 trauma-informed guidance, Michael creates a profoundly safe container for true self-discovery. His background combines formal mindfulness certifications with extensive mentorships in Zen, ritual practice, somatics and transpersonal psychology. He has been a dedicated meditation practitioner for 12+ years, is a musician and visual artist and has cultivated a unique practice of relational participation with the natural world over his lifetime. Dedicated to the gradual approach to tracking experience, rather than forcing quick fixes, Michael guides individuals beyond surface-level conditioning with a honed sense of attunement, receptivity and compassion.
Formal Qualifications:
- Graduate Diploma of Trauma-Informed Process Work Psychotherapy (Current)
- Meditation Teacher Training
- AWARD School of Creativity Graduate
- Advanced Diploma in Creative Advertising / Art Direction at RMIT
Joseph Fonti
Joseph is a registered Psychotherapist and Counsellor working in private practice on the Mornington Peninsula. He is passionate about life, people and the complex relationships we all share with one another. Joseph has been a practising artist most of his adult life and worked as an Art Therapist since 2016. He draws upon this lifelong pursuit to engage with clients and their issues in creative and non-linear ways. He takes inspiration from his years of training in Relational Gestalt Psychotherapy and Process Oriented Psychotherapy to work in spontaneous and experimental ways. His major areas of interest include addiction, narcissistic personalities and existential psychotherapy (who am I?). He has worked with hundreds of clients over his career and spent thousands of hours ‘in the chair’. He has also led hundreds of hours of group sessions in various settings and formats.
Joseph is proud to be with people in their darkest moments and sees this role as an honour of the highest accord. He takes great joy in seeing each person he works with for who they truly are.
Formal Qualifications:
- Graduate Diploma of Trauma Informed ProcessWork Psychotherapy (Current)
- Foundational Studies in Gestalt Psychotherapy (2 years)
- Diploma of Counselling
- Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) at RMIT
- Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University
GROUNDWORK stands on the shoulders of many teachers and mentors. We pay our respects and honour our primary human influences, who are:
Robert A. Johnson, Carl Jung, Arnold Mindell, Giovanni Fusetti, Sheldon Kopp, Kynan Sutherland Roshi, John Tarrant, Rick Rubin, Robert A. Masters, Sean O'Carroll, Susan Murphy Roshi, Lila Liebermann, Julian Vayne, Joan Halifax, Peter Levine, John Seed, Josh Shrei, Katica Dudas, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Stephen Harrod Buhner, Ron Curran, Stephen Jenkinson, Thich Nhat Hanh, Marie-Louise von Franz, Max Schupbach, Vismay Amrit, Nicole Netaya and Robert Moore.
A short set of questions. Answer honestly, and take your time.
The things worth knowing before you apply.
Location
Idyllic country retreat on 50 acres of bush land, offering complete privacy. Only 1hr 15mins from Melbourne. No neighbours, just green grass, a welcoming renovated country home, bushland, open log fire and wildlife.
Dates
February 4 - 9, 2027.
Duration
Feb 4 (Friday) - Arrive 3pm
Feb 5 (Saturday) - Full Day
Feb 6 (Sunday) - Full Day
Feb 7 (Monday) - Full Day
Feb 8 (Tuesday) - Leave 12.00pm
Participant numbers
We deliberately run small groups to keep things intimate and personal.
There will be 4 - 5 participants in this group, 2 facilitators, and 1 chef (who will not be involved in any activities).
Accommodation
Each person will have their own private room.
Food
All food is provided for and will be vegetarian, organic, high quality and nourishing for your body.
Preparation
Some gentle preparation before you arrive, including reducing screen use. More details will be provided upon acceptance of application.
What to bring
A list of what to bring will be sent out to you 2 weeks before the event itself.
Cost
$4000 each.
This number is meant to feel significant but possible. It represents a fair and equal exchange for the huge amount of work that goes into preparing an event of this calibre, and takes into consideration the years of training and expertise each practitioner has amassed to be able to hold a very high quality container.
Safety and integrity
Please read THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT thoroughy and extensively before applying.
This is very important.
Who are you beyond your roles? We would like to know.
Rules of Engagement
Dear potential participant,
Before sending your application we ask you to read the following carefully.
GROUNDWORK is deliberately small and intimate. The five days are designed as a continuous experience rather than a series of separate sessions. The integrity of the experience depends on each person making a genuine commitment to being there for the whole retreat.
These guidelines are not intended to tell you how to experience the retreat. They are here to help create the conditions in which something real can unfold.
If you have any questions about anything below please reach out to us before applying.
Participation
GROUNDWORK is a five day retreat and participation is for the full duration.
The retreat is a continuum. Each day builds on what came before and contributes to what follows. For this reason participants are expected to arrive on time and remain for the full retreat.
We ask that you do not make plans that require you to leave part way through the retreat or arrive late.
There will be periods of structured activity as well as periods of silence, solitude, rest, walking, making and simply being. You will not be expected to participate in every activity in the same way. There will be room to follow your own process within the container of the group.
You may move around the retreat environment when appropriate and take time for yourself. What we ask is that you do not use leaving the retreat or returning to ordinary life as a way of stepping out of something simply because it has become uncomfortable.
If an urgent situation arises or you genuinely need to leave for reasons of safety or wellbeing we will work with you to determine the appropriate response.
Silence and Presence
Silence is an important part of GROUNDWORK.
We will spend significant periods without ordinary conversation. This is not about creating a particular state or achieving a special experience. It is an opportunity to notice what becomes available when the usual stream of communication and stimulation becomes quieter.
We ask participants to respect periods of silence and to allow the experience to remain relatively undisturbed.
There will also be times when speaking is invited. We will move between silence, non verbal forms of expression and conversation according to what the retreat calls for.
You will not be required to disclose anything personal or speak about an experience before you are ready.
Staying With What Arises
GROUNDWORK may bring you into contact with feelings, memories, desires, uncertainty, resistance or unfamiliar parts of yourself.
We are interested in what happens when we can stay in contact with these experiences without immediately needing to explain them, fix them or move away from them.
This does not mean pushing through distress.
You are responsible for communicating with the facilitators when something feels too much or when you need support. We will work with you to find an appropriate level of challenge.
Part of the practice is learning the difference between something that is difficult because it is meaningful and something that is simply too much.
The intention is not to force breakthrough or transformation. It is to create the conditions in which something genuine might become possible.
The Body
GROUNDWORK is an embodied experience.
There will be walking, time outdoors, creative activity, periods of stillness and other forms of physical engagement. You are responsible for working within the limits of your own body and communicating any relevant injuries, health considerations or physical limitations to the facilitators.
You are always free to modify an activity when necessary.
Devices, Work and Ordinary Life
Part of what makes GROUNDWORK possible is creating genuine distance from the ordinary stream of information and demands.
Participants will be asked to put phones and other personal devices away for the majority of the retreat.
There will be an agreed way to access a phone in case of genuine need and facilitators will remain contactable for emergencies.
We ask that participants do not use the retreat as an opportunity to continue working, managing business, consuming social media or maintaining the usual flow of digital communication.
The point is not deprivation for its own sake.
It is to discover what becomes possible when some of the noise is removed.
Relationship to the Group
GROUNDWORK is both an individual and a collective experience.
You will have considerable time alone but you will also be sharing the retreat with a small group of other people.
We ask that participants treat one another with care, curiosity and respect.
What another participant shares during the retreat remains within the group.
We do not expect everyone to agree with one another or to have the same experience. Difference is part of the work.
There is no requirement to perform, impress, entertain or be interesting.
You do not need to become a particular kind of person in order to belong here.
Confidentiality
What is shared personally within the retreat should remain within the retreat.
Participants are asked not to repeat or discuss another person's personal material outside the group without their explicit permission.
This includes conversations after the retreat and sharing information about other participants online.
Alcohol and Other Substances
GROUNDWORK is an alcohol and drug free retreat.
We ask participants not to bring or use recreational drugs or alcohol during the retreat.
The intention is to experience the retreat with as much clarity and direct contact as possible.
Care of the Place
The environment is part of the retreat.
We ask everyone to treat the land, accommodation and shared spaces with care.
There will be practical responsibilities involved in living together for five days. These may include helping with meals, cleaning shared spaces, caring for materials and generally contributing to the life of the retreat.
GROUNDWORK is not a serviced experience where everything happens around you.
We are interested in making and participating together.
Safety and Responsibility
GROUNDWORK is not therapy and the facilitators are not acting as your treating clinicians.
The retreat may involve meaningful personal and emotional experiences but it is not designed to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.
We ask participants to take responsibility for their own wellbeing and to let us know about anything that may materially affect their ability to participate safely.
The facilitators may ask a participant to step out of an activity or leave the retreat if their behaviour becomes seriously harmful to themselves, another participant, the group or the integrity of the retreat and they are unwilling or unable to take responsibility for it.
Where possible this will be approached through conversation and care rather than punishment.
The Commitment
Perhaps the most important rule of engagement is simple:
Stay.
Stay long enough to discover what happens when you do not immediately reach for the familiar answer.
Stay when you are bored.
Stay when you are uncertain.
Stay when something becomes interesting.
Stay when you do not know what something means.
Stay with your body. Stay with the land. Stay with the people around you. Stay with yourself.
You will have space to walk away from an activity, to rest, to be alone and to regulate yourself.
What we ask is that you do not walk away from the retreat itself simply because the experience has become unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
The five days are an invitation to practise another way of being with experience.
We ask you to come with that commitment.
Arrival and Departure
Participants are expected to arrive at the designated arrival time and remain until the official conclusion of the retreat.
The retreat will conclude with a period of integration before departure. We encourage participants to leave enough space around GROUNDWORK for the experience to settle rather than immediately returning to a full schedule of work and commitments.
OUR Cancellation and Refund POLICY
The Groundwork Immersion is a small, intimate experience. For every event we book a private chef, secure accommodation and hold a place in the group. Because most of these costs are committed in advance and cannot be recovered, no payment is refundable. Please read this policy carefully before you pay.
1. Fees and payment schedule
Full fee: $4,000
Deposit: $500, due once your application has been accepted.
Balance: $3,500, due within 14 days of acceptance.
Your place is secured once the balance has been paid in full. If the balance is not received within 14 days of acceptance, we may release your place to another applicant. The deposit is forfeited in this case.
2. No refunds
All payments, including the application fee, the deposit and the balance, are not refundable. This applies if you cancel, do not attend, arrive late, or leave the immersion early, for any reason.
3. If you can't attend
If something changes, please tell us as early as you can by emailing [email protected]. Notice does not entitle you to a refund. However, if we are able to fill your place, we may, at our discretion, offer a partial refund or credit toward a future immersion. We make no commitment to do so.
4. Asking a participant to leave
If a participant enters patterns of behaviour that are harmful to themselves, the group or the facilitators and is unwilling to take responsibility for them within the context and purpose of the immersion, we may ask them to leave. Harmful patterns can be physical, emotional, psychological or interpersonal. No refund is given in this case.
5. If we cancel or change the immersion
If we cancel before the immersion begins: for reasons beyond our control (such as natural disaster, illness of the facilitators, or civil disruption), we will refund all fees paid, including the deposit, less $50 for administration. Travel and any accommodation you have booked yourself are not refunded.
If we need to stop the immersion after it has begun: for the same reasons, we will refund the unused days proportionally, based on tuition paid. Travel and any accommodation you have booked yourself are not refunded.
If we postpone or reschedule: you may transfer your place to the new dates, or request a refund as above.
6. Your consumer rights
Nothing in this policy limits any rights you have under Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded.
7. Questions
If anything here is unclear, please contact us at [email protected] before you pay. We would rather talk it through.
