Relationship Renew Retreat, Byron Bay

Six days program / Five nights accommodation, Saturday 11th - Thursday 16th July 2026, at Sangsurya

Located in the peaceful Byron Bay hinterland, the Sangsurya Retreat Centre has beautiful forest and coastal views and is within walking distance to Tallow Beach, via the Arakwal National Park.

Join Maggie and a maximum of eight couples for the unique and transformative Relationship Renew Retreat, this year offered in Australia at the beautiful Sangsurya Centre near Byron Bay. A chance to combine holiday with intensive learning and practice, this retreat will be nourishing, empowering, romantic and fun! Grounded in the theory and practice of attachment and relationships, mindfulness and neuroscience, the retreat is suitable for all couples, whatever age or stage, and whether things are going great in your relationship or perhaps quite challenged.

In addition to the daily four-hour workshops, enjoy sunrise ‘relational yoga’ sessions on-theme for that day’s workshop. Also included are most delicious meals, optional group walks through the National Park to the coast, and all workshop materials.

Diversity is warmly welcomed and valued within these retreat groups.

Images of Sangsurya Retreat Centre

Why Relationship Renew?

Because relationships are hard! Although we’re wired for love and belonging, our nervous systems have also evolved to react quickly and automatically to threat and danger. Those closest to us are the ones most likely to trigger our protective behaviours, perhaps learnt early on but no longer serving us well. Loving well takes practice. Whether your relationship is in great shape or hitting some bumps, we can all benefit from more awareness, and learning how to respond to ourselves and our partner more skilfully, so that we don’t get stuck in a negative cycle. 

Relationship Renew shares what actually works. Maggie uses her many years practicing and teaching relationship therapy, group-work and mindfulness to bring to life the evidence-based understandings from the relationship field - including from: Sue Johnson (EFT-C & Hold Me Tight); Stan Tatkin (PACT); Brené Brown; Mindful Self-Compassion; and the Gottman Method.

Comprising six four-hour workshops, the sessions are structured in a way that allows you to listen to the theory in the larger group, but then share and practice just with your partner in structured, private exercises and conversations. Daily sunrise relational yoga and mindfulness sessions are also included, so that the learning feels more practical and embodied – the theory becomes an ongoing practice for living and loving more wholeheartedly. In the afternoons, you and your partner choose whether to join a group walk, go downtown, relax around the pool or enjoy a massage treatment.

Find out more about Maggie here or for more relationship information & resources here.

What the workshop fee includes:

• Six Relationship Renew Workshop sessions (24 hours total), as follows:

  Session 1 – Wired for Love: Understanding Attachment

  Session 2 – Wired for Threat: Tracking ‘Triggers’ and Reactive Patterns

  Session 3 – The Power of Emotions, Vulnerability and Compassion

  Session 4 – Relational Mindfulness: ‘Stories,’ Repairs and ‘Fighting Well’

  Session 5 – Sex and Intimacy

  Session 6 – Living and Loving on Purpose

• Coursebook and other handouts

• Morning ‘relational yoga’ sessions and/or guided afternoon rest Nidra session

• Five nights accommodation at the beautiful, secluded Sangsurya Retreat Centre. All rooms have King or Queen bed and private ensuite bathroom

• Most meals, including delicious breakfasts, morning teas, lunches and dinners (there will be one lunch and two dinners downtown at your own expense, to explore more of Byron Bay or enjoy ‘date’ time just with your partner)

• Celebration cocktail on first and last evenings

  
  

  Not included: Airfares, travel insurance, airport transfers, any meals or activities outside of the venue. There will be the option to arrange a massage for your and your partner (at own expense) either on-site or in the venue’s partner spa

Fee

$5,990 per couple EarlyBird till 1st February ($2,995 per person), inclusive of GST. Secure your place with deposit of $990. Standard fee after 1st February, $6290 per couple ($1290 deposit), GST inclusive.

Payment, Refund Conditions and other important information - please read before booking

Fee can be paid in full or in instalments. If paying in instalments, second instalment $2500 is due 1st March, followed by final instalment balance of $2500 due 1st June. You will be able to fly to either Ballina or Gold Coast airports and then transfer by pre-booked bus to Byron Bay from there. Our first session will start at 3pm, an hour after check-in at Sangsurya, on our first day Friday 24th July, so we recommend arriving in Byron Bay or nearby the day before, or if that’s not possible, arranging an early morning flight on the day. Our last session finishes 12noon on the last day: please ensure your return flight is no sooner than the late afternoon or night of 30th July. If possible, it is ideal to book some extra days nearby for some post-retreat time, to celebrate and keep integrating all the good work you will have been doing together. The retreat is on the tail end of school holidays in some States: for competitive prices, it may be best to purchase your flights several months before the retreat and check one-way tickets to both Ballina and GoldCoast to see if this is less than a return flight.

A full refund, minus your deposit, is available up to three months prior to commencement of retreat. After 13/4/26, no refunds can be provided for withdrawals or cancellations unless a suitable couple is found to take your spots. At the time of booking, we recommend purchasing travel insurance that covers any conditions that might impact your ability to attend this retreat. If the retreat needs to be postponed or cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, a full refund will be made or, if preferred, transfer to anotherMindfulPresence retreat offered.

Typical daily format:

6:45 – 7:45am – Sunrise yoga/movement practice outdoors 
8 – 9am – Breakfast
9am – 1pm– Workshop Session (including morning tea)
1 - 4pm Lunch, optional group walk or excursion, or time for rest, swim, massage or your own exploring 
5 pm – on some days, a Nidra or integration session may be offered
7pm – Dinner

To secure your place, please submit the Registration form (above) and deposit.

Direct deposit details:
Account name: Margaret O'Shea
BSB: 633000
Account number: 145643953

About Maggie

Maggie is a Relationship Therapist and Mental Health Social Worker teaching in the Specialist Relationship Counselling Training at Relationships Australia Victoria and in the Masters of Counselling at Swinburne University. She has a private practice in Castlemaine working with couples and individuals, and also teaches mindfulness-based groups, including the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self Compassion programs, and the Daring Greatly work of Brené Brown. As a long-term mindfulness and yoga practitioner, Maggie knows the power of cultivating our capacity to pay attention, show up and be present, and is able to bring this into all her trainings so that the theory becomes a compassionate, embodied and integrated practice that you will be able to keep applying at home. She met her lovely North American partner Dave while backpacking in 1988, and truly understands the challenge of sustaining emotional and sexual intimacy over the long-term! This is what drew her back to study in 2010 to undertake her Masters degree in Relationship Therapy, and has continued ever since to explore and apply the leading evidence-based relationship models, particularly Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples (EFT-C).

Maggie is passionate about continuing to embrace change and growth together over the life span, including sexually, as partners move into retirement and beyond. She loves to create unique retreats for individuals and couples in beautiful natural settings, integrating her understandings and skills from decades of providing individual and relationship counselling and group-work, to bring to life and make practical the theory and training programs that have been most transformative for herself and others.