wellness retreat that touches on all aspects of the body, mind and spirit is set to get underway next weekend.

The Women of Colour Yoga and Wellness Retreat will take place at the Integral Yoga Centre from January 19 to 21.

This retreat, which is being put on by the May You Be Well group, is the first in a series of three planned to run through the autumn. It has the aim of addressing issues that women of African descent face on a regular basis. The second retreat in the series will focus on issues of concern for white women while the final retreat is intended to bring all women together.

Organiser Joanne Wohlmuth, who is an organisational development (OD) conflict resolution/diversity consultant and trainer, peace and social justice activist and a yoga and meditation teacher, said the reasons for hosting an event exclusively for women of colour were many.

?What I felt was that women of colour need to come together, they need to have dialogue and they need to begin to share,? she said.

?There is a lot going on with women of colour and we don?t talk and share enough about these kinds of things. When we hear them, it is always in small circles. So how do we come together with people that we don?t even know and understand that many of us have similar issues??

The three-day retreat will cover health issues that are often synonymous with black females ? from fibroids and fibroadenomas to hypertension and diabetes.

Speakers and facilitators at the event will include: Naomi Schroeter, careers counsellor, change management consultant and diversity trainer; Jenille Smith, who is a graphic artist and personal trainer; Dr. Tracy-Lynn Harney, licensed naturopathic physician and Bermuda College professor; Dr. Argentine Saunders Craig, OD/diversity trainer and consultant, university professor/dean; and, Mrs. Wohlmuth.

Asked where the idea came from, Mrs. Wohlmuth said: ?It is something that I have been thinking about for a while and I have been talking to friends about doing a Women of Colour Retreat dealing with yoga and wellness.

?I know in Kripalu (a yoga centre in Massachusetts) they do a Women of Colour Yoga Retreat, but I wanted to include general wellness and also to include, not only the physical aspects of yoga, but also the spiritual, because I?ve been a yoga teacher for so many years and so much of it is dying.

?It?s like trying to bring it back to what yoga is meant to be.?

Among the issues that will be discussed over the retreat ? in addition to health and fitness matters ? is working your way up in the workplace.

?We know that women of colour tend to have reasonably good jobs,? Mrs. Wohlmuth said.

?We know that women of colour are getting ahead, better than our male counterparts. But it doesn?t mean that that doesn?t come with a lot of issues and also a lot of responsibility....

?How do we deal with the challenges that we encounter? It is about coming together and talking about these kinds of things.

?Our aim is to help people in the community to continue to be educated, inspired and motivated around the issues of health and wellness and spiritual growth.?

At the beginning of the retreat, there will be a session called Shoulder to Shoulder.

Mrs. Wohlmuth said of it: ?We are going to examine ourselves and look at ? on whose shoulders do we stand and who?s standing on our shoulders?

?In other words, how do we take energy, strength and support from those ancestors who we?ve learned so much from and how do we pass that onto our children??

She added: ?Also we will be doing a diversity report card, which will look at how we see ourselves in the community, in terms of our gender, our disability,? she added.

?We are going to grade ourselves and see how we can improve in all of this.

?Once we do all of that, we will then look at the spirituality part and what is our deepest desire? How do we carry out what we were called to do on this earth? We are going to get into spirituality in that sense and the riding hand of God or whatever you call him.?

So far, the organisers have had an enthusiastic response.

?People are not asking what?s in it, they are asking how they can sign up,? Mrs. Wohlmuth said.

?In bringing the women together, I decided to have women of differing ages (as facilitators), so that we could get the whole female experience.

?So we have someone in their early 30s and they would be in touch with the 20-year-olds, someone in their mid-30s who will be in touch with the 30- to 40-year-olds, and someone in their 60s and someone in their 70s.

?None of us come from the same generation.?

Attendees who have already had some experience with doing yoga may find new aspects of system exposed to them.

?In this retreat we are not only going to do physical postures, we are also going to look at mentally balancing you out and bringing you in touch with that sense of spirituality that is within and without,? Mrs. Wohlmuth said.

?Some people come into a yoga class and they want you to teach them this pose or that pose and then they walk out and you feel as if you did nothing.

?And when others come in and they get this and it is like a drink of water for them and it really quenches them.?

Mrs. Wohlmuth said the culmination of three retreats should be a positive one for the community.

?The idea being that women are pillars in our community.... How can we be more supportive of each other?? she asked.

?In the Bermudian community today there needs to be that feminine side brought to the table and it doesn?t seem to be there. It?s a question of how can we make this a more gentler, kinder and nurturing community for everybody.?

For registration or more information on the retreat (295-3355 or email jewohlmuthlogic.bm. The cost for the retreat is $200 for the full weekend or $50 for Friday evening, $75 for Saturday (high tea included) and $85 for Sunday (lunch included). May You Be Well a not-for-profit organisation interested in promoting physical, mental and spiritual well-being in the Bermuda community.