Author: Karl

A little while ago a message landed in the Sowena contact form. Alice had passed my details on to James and Audrius at Real Startup Stories, a Cornwall business podcast, and they wanted to talk about how Sowena came about.

I nearly talked myself out of it because I hate being interviewed, or interviews in general!! Then I said yes, because I know I should put myself in scary situations sometimes.

I listened to a few of their previous podcasts and prepared for the question “what advice would you give someone starting up a business?” …..Then they asked me which chapter of a book I’d be in instead! And from there on in, none of my notes were much use. I didn’t cover a single thing I’d planned to cover…but I managed to talk away for the whole time anyway (shock). Thank you to James and Audrius for having me and for looking after me so well.

I did let slip that Sunshine & Soul Fest 2027 is going to be two days which was actually the first time I’ve said it out loud anywhere public!

I hate hearing my own voice and I’ve only made it through the episode once. But the messages people have sent since have been so kind, and I’m really grateful.

If you’d like to listen along with a coffee, a wine in hand or on a walk, you can listen/watch the episode here.

 

Sunshine & Soul 2027 – Yes, I managed one month not talking about it (you’re welcome.) Last month I told you something was brewing. Well…Sunshine & Soul is becoming a whole weekend in 2027 on Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th June!

And it isn’t simply two of the same day. I felt strongly that I didn’t just want to repeat the Saturday, so the two days have grown their own character:

Saturday – Sunshine is the festival you know and love. Bright, busy, full of energy, classes, workshops, live music, food, family, and that lovely wander where you like feeling all day long.

Sunday – Soul is brand new, adults only and quieter. A smaller, gently held day of longer, deeper sessions like sound, breathwork, circle – with a meal cooked and shared around one table. The kind of slow, restorative day you can really drop deeply in to.

First…I’d love to know which day is calling you.
Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but I’ve put together a quick form to gauge interest for each day. It takes two minutes, there’s no commitment at all, and it genuinely helps me shape the weekend. Please give it a few moments of your time here.

Secondly…would you like to help make it happen?
Sunshine & Soul only exists because of the people who gather around it. I’m putting together a small working group to help plan the festival, prepare for it, and get the site set up in the week beforehand (so you know, I can actually go next year!!) It’s a proper behind the scenes role, and in exchange you’ll come along and be part of the whole thing. If that sounds like your kind of joy, just reply to this email and I’ll share what’s involved. I’d love to have you!

More details around the programme, the practitioners, the ticket news will follow over the coming months.

What happened
A lovely lady called Sydney came to our festival this year and immediately fell in love with Sowena’s land. She’s an iNaturalist ambassador which, it turns out, means someone who loves the natural world enough to give up their own time helping other people notice it.

She came to Sowena and set up a nature project for our land. She walked the whole site with camera in hand photographing things I have never once stopped to look at. When I saw what she had curated on the iNaturalist page, I was actually quite emotional. Forty years my family has held the land, but nobody has ever counted or recorded what lives here and I was really moved by it.

What iNaturalist actually is
It’s a free app, and it’s simpler than it sounds. You photograph something living like A bee, flower, beetle on a gatepost. You upload the photo, and the app has a first go at identifying it and then real naturalists, all over the world, look at your picture and confirm or correct it. Once two or more people agree on what something is, the record becomes what’s called “research grade” and joins a global biodiversity database that scientists genuinely use. Your photograph of a bee on a bramble becomes a small piece of real data about what is living where, and when.

Sydney has drawn a boundary around our land. Which means anything anyone photographs at Sowena automatically joins our project. You don’t have to tag it, submit it, or do anything at all beyond uploading it. So over time this builds into a year round picture of what actually lives here. What appears in March. What’s still holding on in January storms and what is going on in the hedgerow while we’re all inside doing yoga. You do not need to be able to identify anything. You do not need to know a hoverfly from a bee, or have any idea what that yellow thing in the grass is. Photographing something you can’t name is the single most useful thing you can do, because someone else will name it for you.

Why this sits so well with what Sowena is
Nature is at the centre of everything we are. Not always just as scenery, but as the actual thing that does the work.
This project makes that really visible AND it’s free (which we always love!).  Anyone can take part, including children. It gives something back to the land and to a genuine body of scientific knowledge which is SUPER COOL! We are geeking out over this big time.

How to join in
– Download the iNaturalist app (free, iPhone or Android)
– Make an account with an email address

Next time you’re at Sowena for yoga, a retreat, the festival or a walk down to the cabin … photograph something small and upload it.

You can see what’s on there already here.

Do have a look and geek out with us on how cool this is!

HUGE thanks to Sydney who is also planning some BioBlitz days which will be community days centred around walking the land and identifying things at different points of the year!

Proud to Host is a new space where we shine a light on trusted independent practitioners who hire the Sowena cabin to run their own events.

These are wonderful offerings from people whose work we know and believe in, but they are independently organised so you’ll book directly with the practitioner rather than through us.

This is something earned through relationship and trust and not something automatic which we think makes it meaningful for you as the community.

Check out the Proud to Host events here. 

You might notice a new Donate Now button appearing on our website and at checkout.

Every donation goes directly into our community fund, which we use to offer fully and partially funded places to people who need them.

If you’ve ever left Sowena feeling lighter, calmer, or more like yourself this is a way to pass that feeling on to someone else.

Those who can, lift those who can’t…and that’s the whole heart of what we do.

This is also a great way for anyone living afar to support the Sowena engine house.

I’ll always be transparent about what’s in the fund and how it’s being used. I also have some very exciting ideas about how to get the community involved in spending some of the money on projects brought forward by you in the community – so that’s exciting!

How can you donate? Follow the ‘Donate’ button at the top right hand side of our website menu and choose an amount that works for you.

With lots of thanks and gratitude around this, as I step out of my comfort zone and into a space where I accept donations from the community, for the community.

Early this month a group of Sowena practitioners and Sowena event attendees gathered for a LEGO® Serious Play® workshop, generously facilitated pro bono by Phil Morgan of Redbrick Facilitation.

Find out more about what happened, what it even is, and check out our new core values designed by the Sowena community here.

The workshop also helped me shape something practical and clearer about what Sowena is, what we offer, and how we work with the practitioners who are part of this community (see changes below).

Huge thanks to Phil for giving his time and expertise so generously, and to everyone who turned up and built Lego with me!

The Changes

So, what’s happening and what does it means for you?

From 1st August, there will be just two clear tracks for events.

Track 1: Sowena’s own signature programme of events, getting back to what is essentially a “Betty retreat” (thanks April for that description!!) all listed clearly on the website as Sowena events.

Track 2: Cabin hire by practitioners. Alongside this, you may also notice a new page on our website called Sowena is Proud to Host. This is a space where we shine a light on trusted, vetted, independent practitioners who hire the Sowena cabin to run their own events. (Keep reading to find out more on this).

The M Word £

So I want to be honest with you here. From 1st August, Sowena’s prices are going up. This reflects the fees we pay our practitioners as well as actually covering the essential costs of running the whole engine house of Sowena.

Three years of running Sowena on love and very little else has taught me that unsustainable pricing helps no one in the long run. The new prices reflect what Sowena actually costs to run well, and for the first time, it creates a little room for us to genuinely give back. Those who can, lift those who can’t.

Retreats and workshops will continue to be priced on a three point sliding scale which is our commitment to you in terms of accessibility. You can still choose the price that reflects your circumstances.

Starting price – for those who need it. This covers our core costs.

Suggested price – the true value of the experience. Most attendees pay this.

Supporter price – for those who can give a little more. The difference goes directly into our community fund, helping to provide funded spaces for people facing financial barriers.

We believe what we offer is worth it. And we hope you do too.

New Pricing From 1st August

I’ll be honest with you writing this feels a little bittersweet… Sunshine & Soul Fest happened at the end of June and by all accounts it was everything we’d hoped it would be… and I wasn’t there!!

I genuinely worked myself ragged the 2 days leading up to it so that on the Saturday morning I had sunstroke and had to be carted home for the majority of the day. I managed to come and enjoy it from about 3pm, but I was absolutely gutted to have missed everyone coming in, the opening circle, and just connecting with you all. Lessons have been learnt (aren’t they always!) and next year we will be seeking a Sunshine & Soul Festival committee of volunteers to get involved with prep assist in exchange for tickets.

From everything I’ve seen and heard, the day was genuinely magical.

We asked everyone to give us one word to describe the day. Here’s what you said…Magical. Joyful. Blessed. Soulful. Gleeful. Nourishing. Blissful. Connection. Inclusive. Wholesome. Uplifting. Fulfilling. Zen. Friendly. Illuminating. Happiness. Satisfying. Amazing. Full. Love love love. Sunny, bright and healing.

9.8 out of 10 average rating across all responses. 100% of respondents said they would come back next year or recommend Sunshine & Soul Fest to a friend. Highlights included the opening and closing ceremonies, the sound bath, yoga, kundalini, the Zone technique, Buddha chanting, children’s workshops, willow weaving, reflexology, the local stalls, the live music and simply being there, talking to people, and soaking it all up.

One of you wrote that your heart was full and you were buzzing all the way home. Another said this was the most welcoming space they’d ever been in and that there are a lot of places they felt they wouldn’t fit it, and that they know others who feel the same way. But that at Sowena, they felt able to relax and be themselves in a way they don’t often manage. That was really special to read, thank you so much.

Our volunteers were lovingly nicknamed the Guardian Angels by more than one of you were also singled out again and again. Stallholders were genuinely moved that someone would come and check on them.

You’ve already told us what you’d love to see more of…and we’re already plotting what Sunshine & Soul Fest 2027 could look like.

Thank you to every single person who came, who taught, who traded, who volunteered, who showed up and brought their whole selves with them. This little festival on a smallholding in Cornwall only exists because of this community … and we cannot wait to do it all again.. (hopefully I’ll actually be there next year!!)

View the full photo gallery here → 📷

Meet Katie: Guardian of (her kitty) Loki. Auntie and Sister. Emerging adventurer. Maker of treasure hunts and collector of earrings, socks and foxes. She’s also Head of Commissioning for Older People and Carers at Cornwall Council.

What was going on in your life when you first came to Sowena?
My first Sowena encounter was at the very beginning, at a time when I was going through what I can only describe as existential change. It was Christmas time. We made jolly wreaths and ate mince pies together and I had an unforgettable swim in the (ice) pool!

How has being part of the Sowena community affected you, if at all?
Sowena has given me a wonderful opportunity to meet such interesting and inspiring people. A safe space to laugh and cry, to be creative and in nature, to understand your body and mind…and to share tea and cake in the warm glow of the fire. Whenever I am struggling, I know there will be soon be something to join in with and look forward to. It’s a place where there is always kindness and laughter and compassion, twinkly fairy lights, yoga, and journaling, where I can better understand the person I want to become. Somewhere I have enthusiastically shared with my friends and family.

I’m so grateful to Betty for what she has created and for everything I’ve learned as part of this wonderful community.

Meet Ali: A former criminology graduate who quit law to travel the world, and somehow has ended up holding her sacred cacao ceremonies in a yurt on Sowena’s home. Because why not?

What is your current role in Health & Wellbeing and what does it involve?
I hold space for women through bespoke 1:1 and group ceremonies, often supported by ceremonial cacao, sound and energy work. Each experience is intuitively shaped to meet them where they are, offering a space to soften, reconnect, and access the rest, clarity and connection they’re seeking. I support women through transitions, from motherhood and postpartum to moving home, birthing a business or returning to themselves in a deeper way.

What’s the best thing or most exciting challenge you have going on at work at the moment?
I’m in the process of relocating and restoring my yurt, to be rebuilt at Sowena HQ! It’s been more labour-intensive and stretching than expected, but really amazing to be able to tend to her with such love. We’re nearly ready to rebuild her and I’m so excited to feel the difference in her energy when she’s up, on new land and with so many bespoke and beautiful new additions (special thanks to my beautiful partner, Marty, for leading the operation! He’s genuinely incredible)

What do you enjoy most about what you do?
Witnessing women experience a deep sense of homecoming within themselves. Seeing someone arrive stressed, unsure or resistant, then leave calm and connected, with a sense of remembering, and return again and again with their heart open. It’s incredibly moving and affirms to me how powerful these spaces truly are.

What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be a vet because I felt so deeply connected to animals. I later realised I didn’t want the clinical side – I simply wanted to be around them, helping them feel safe. I’m also very squeamish so it would never have been a viable option.

What’s a little known fact about you?
I have a degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice and began my career as a paralegal in child law. I was on track to become a solicitor before choosing one evening to travel instead and handing my notice in the very next day – the best spontaneous decision I’ve ever made. It changed everything and eventually led me to this path.

If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would you invite and why?
I’d invite Theo Von. I spend a lot of time in depth and ceremony, so I’d love an evening of pure silliness. If I invited someone I idolised, I feel I might be disappointed. With Theo, I imagine there would be laughter, randomness and the freedom to be completely unfiltered.

Meet Alice: Juggling an old cottage, a young family, and a passion for organic skincare and when she first learned about Sowena didn’t know she was bringing a plus one along for the ride!

Tell us a little about yourself…who are you outside of Sowena and any responsibilities?
I have an old cottage and a young family that keeps me rather busy. Outside of that, I work for an organic skincare company called Inlight Beauty. I genuinely love helping people with their skincare journeys.

What do you do to recharge, when life actually allows it?
Nature is always the key for me. If the day doesn’t allow a ramble in the woods, I’m happy with whatever sip of nature I can get. Even a cup of tea in the garden or opening a window to hear the rain in a storm.

What was going on in your life when you first came to Sowena?
A few years ago, a friend invited me to a festival with the lure of wellbeing and pizza. Unfortunately I was poorly that day, little did I know I was actually pregnant and managed to bring my baby along to Sunshine & Soul Fest the following year.

What does “looking after yourself” actually look like in real life, not the Instagram version?
Being honest, this is really hard for me. My diet and sleep are the first things to be sacrificed when life gets hectic. I try to build self care into habits so that they are harder to drop, at the moment I’m making SPF and breakfast a priority. I’m sure candle lit baths and journaling are a core practice for some people, but in my current chapter I’m very much going back to basics.

How did you first hear about Sowena, and what made you book?
Sunshine & Soul Fest was like a trailer for Sowena. What hooked me in as a regular was the promise of fireside yoga one Sunday morning in November. I turned up hoping for warmth, light and movement, and found so much more.

Is there a particular experience or moment at Sowena that has stayed with you?
One Friday we had a family emergency that left me a little shaken. Lying on the yoga mat on Sunday morning, Jo’s words resonated with me on a whole new level. “You are supported by Sowena”. I knew I could lean on anyone in that cabin, open up about anything, and receive nothing but kindness and support. Sowena is truly a special place.

What’s a little known fact about you?
I can tap dance, roller skate and roll my tongue, but I can’t roll my R’s at all! I also went to the same dance school as Orlando Bloom.