About Us

Wild Stillness Retreats was born on a dance floor.

We each held a seed of this vision and in the deepening of our friendship it has come to fruition.

Creating space for women to connect, know themselves and celebrate womanhood is at the heart of our philosophy and practice. We have held our unique and inspirational retreats in the picturesque Coromandel since 2021.

Vanessa Edelsten

Hi, I'm Vanessa and I'm so glad you are here.

I'm absolutely honoured to hold space and create beautiful, yet empowering retreats as co-creator of Wild Stillness Retreats. I am a life-long yoga student, mama to two young boys, wife, experienced ecologist, great hugger, and interpretive dance enthusiast. I am a certified 500hr yoga teacher, having taught Hatha Flow yoga, meditation and pranayama for over 10 years in Auckland and the Coromandel. Yoga has been my anchor for over 18 years now and I simply can't imagine life without it.

I truly get what it is like to be a busy woman in this modern world, and it's not always easy! Living with 3 males has highlighted the need to connect in with feminine energy. To bring fluidity, creativity and a gentle strength to my life has become of such importance. The classes I craft draw on this energy and are a safe space for you to ground, connect and open. Each one is carefully created to flow with the rhythms of nature and aim to provide inspiration, a sense of wholeness and relief. Every body is different and all abilities are intuitively catered for.

I love the simple pleasures in life. Connecting to the ocean, breathing deeply, spending time with my children and laughing so much it hurts are some of my top activities! Nature influences a lot of what I do and is weaved throughout my practice, home-life and job as an Ecologist.

Through nature and my daily practice I am learning more and more of how to love myself as a woman, a mother and a space-holder. I can't wait to share some of these learnings with you.

Beth Pearsall

Thank you for coming this far to find out more about us!

I grew up in, and now live in the northern Coromandel. I love to wander the hills, bush, rivers and most of all the rocky coast and beaches. In my spare time I surf, play music and dream of being able to live from what I grow in my garden.

I spent my childhood travelling the country with my parents who taught Permaculture. It was on these courses that my education in group facilitation began. I saw the transformative power of people coming together and I have been teaching and holding space ever since.

I strive to create spaces where all beings can be fully self-expressed. This wish led me to a degree in biology and work in restoration ecology. Repairing the human relationship to the living planet is at the core of my work. And I believe leaning into and raising our feminine energy is a vital step in that healing.

I have formal training in group facilitation and collaboration with Zenergy and Twyfords and I am studying somatic meditation with Dharma Ocean. I love food and have worked in catering for over 15 years. I choose fresh, local, organic and seasonal produce and combine them with flavours from all over the world.

In the past few years I have been diving deep into music as my main creative expression. I select booty shakin', soul expanding, global sounds that light up the dance floor.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to co-create Wild Stillness Retreats.

I can’t wait to meet you!