About True Nature
A platform for feminine and ecological empowerment
We design retreats and training programmes as an initiation, a heroine's journey - if you like - that will crack you open, and leave you softer, stronger and wilder.
Hi, we’re Gaia and Alana, the founders of True Nature.
We’ve worked with hundreds of women, and spent over ten years developing our dynamic approach to women’s work.
With its roots in our theatre background, and its branches in ritual, embodiment and nature connection, we create soulful spaces for you to courageously be yourself.
OUR VISION
We are tired of the old systems that perpetuate competition and separation, that are destroying our ecosystems, dispersing our communities and diminishing our feminine power.
We feel the pain of thousands of women who are feeling isolated, anxious, and disconnected from their bodies, a mirror to the larger issues humans are facing.
We understand the constant noise of criticism and judgement that many experience both from within and around us.
We envision a world where everyone - especially women - can be seen, held and celebrated in their wildness.
Where the emotional, spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing of humans and the wellbeing of the planet are seen as profoundly interconnected.
We do this by creating community;
Our wild retreats are restoring connection and wholeness; offering experiences of being loved, seen and accepted for who you truly are, where the noise of self-criticism naturally quietens, and you're able to hold yourself and others with deeper compassion and tenderness.
If you’re feeling anxious, stuck, confused, or simply hungry to shake things up and feel more alive - we see you
We’ve been there, and we invite you to follow the red thread that leads you towards your own True Nature.
Our Approach to Wholeness
Self Healing
Through our retreats and events you will witness your relationship with yourself become more accepting, loving and inspiring. Through psychological enquiry and embodiment practices we teach you the skills to question your unhealthy belief systems, feel and express big emotions and become more in tune with your body. This is about nurturing your wild self to become more self aware, authentic and embodied.
The result is a sense of aliveness, confidence, and inner peace.
Empowered Relationships
We support you to deepen your relationship with the natural world, remembering that we are part of it. We offer practices that help us commune and develop a connection with the more-than-human world. To see the earth as alive, animate and cyclical. Through the wisdom of nature and cultivating this reciprocal relationship, we support people to discover their deeper meaning and purpose.
The result is a sense of wholeness and wellbeing, living connected to the natural world and your purpose.
Ecological Awakening
We teach you how to navigate your relationships with greater compassion, depth and integrity.
To drop the masks that society expects us to wear, and encourage you to be vulnerable and honest with others. We support women to develop stronger boundaries, and softer hearts. Our retreats and events work to up-skill you in communication so that you can leave behind the “good girl” archetype and step into your power.
The result is relationships that feel fulfilling, authentic and supportive.
Our Personal Journey
Our journey into this work began with our individual experiences of extreme pain at the loss of a deep love. Ill-equipped to deal with the intensity of the grief, anger, and confusion that gripped us, we set forth in discovering how to process and heal. At the time we had no one to guide us and had to forge our own ways to deal with big emotions that are deemed unacceptable for public consumption.
We each found the practices that helped us understand ourselves and, after several years, began sharing the wisdom gleaned through our journeys. Alana found her respite in nature, and Gaia through tantra.
With a shared background in theatre, and an appetite for ritual, our friendship sparked immediately. Since then we have each grown exponentially, sharing the wisdom we picked up along the way developing several retreats together.
Our signature comes in our ability to shift and adapt to the ever changing needs of the group. We bring a fierceness that challenges our participants to bravely confront their fears and trauma, held within a compassionate container of love and sisterhood. What sets us apart is our creativity and playfulness, a balance of depth and lightness, which is an essential component to any spiritual endeavour.
Listen to Our Story and Ethos
Earlier this year we appeared on the Dandelion.Earth podcast. Listen to the story and ethos of our work to get a flavour of our work.
Our Team
We are a small and growing team of women dedicated to building communities of empowered women.
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Alana Hyde Bloom
FOUNDER & RETREAT LEAD
Alana is the co-founder of True Nature. She facilitates our flagship retreats, run’s nature connection experiences and coordinates events.
Alana is passionate about stewarding eco-centric cultures having spent several years exploring pathways to regenerate earth & people.
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Gaia Harvey Jackson
FOUNDER & RETREAT LEAD
Gaia is the co-founder of True Nature and retreat facilitator, leading our flagship retreats and EMPOWER Facilitator Training.
Gaia has been an influential part of the Psychedelic Society for the last 7 years, and now coaches couples and individuals to find personal and relational empowerment.
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Faye Gould
MEMBERSHIP MANAGER & RETREAT LOGISTICS
Faye leads our year long membership programme and heads up the communcations for True Nature.
One of her greatest joys is to create safe gatherings of women who support each other to access their inner truth and deepest power.
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Maya Bahoshy
WELFARE FOR EMPOWER
Maya leads the team and participant welfare for EMPOWER - our 9 month training programme. She is a youth development and education professional with a focus on social innovation, experiential learning and leadership development.Maya is experienced in the design and delivery of leadership and innovation training, working towards developing social leaders.
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Friedel Fink
RETREAT COOK
Friedel is our resident retreat chef who spent more than 2 decades exploring the vegetarian lifestyle learning from people worldwide to cook for health and joy.
Friedel is also a Relationships and Sex Educator for young people and founded Big Sis CIC in 2020. Big Sis is a non-profit supporting girls and non-binary children's empowerment and wellbeing before and during puberty through creative programmes in schools and community.
