Derry nutritionist launches immersive Spring Equinox retreat to combat female burnout

An organically grown women’s community in the North West is entering a new chapter this Spring.

FEM, founded by Registered Nutritionist and Health Coach Jade Bradley, began as an intimate gathering space for women seeking meaningful connection beyond the noise of modern life. Over the past year, FEM gatherings have quietly built momentum, consistently selling out their intimate evenings at Graft in Derry.

What started as small seasonal circles of conversation and reflection has evolved into a thriving community rooted in nourishment, storytelling, and shared growth.

On March 22, FEM will host its first half-day immersive gathering for Spring Equinox at the breathtaking Dunmore House & Gardens.

In a time where here is so much uncertainty in the world and with so much communication happening online, many women are craving spaces where they can experience real conversation, not just consume content. FEM was created in response to this need.

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“Through my clinical practice, I was supporting women with hormonal imbalances and burnout and one of my key observations was that these women needed extra support with nervous system regulation and stress management,” says founder Jade Bradley. “Education is powerful. One-to-one support is powerful. But we can’t argue with the co-regulating impact community has on the nervous system. It goes back as far as time can tell.

"Breaking bread together, connecting, nurturing and bonding. We need more of this for the women who feel isolated in their growth, or for the women who are emerging from new seasons and cycles in their lives. FEM was born from the recognition that we don’t regulate or thrive alone. We do it in community.”

Research increasingly highlights the role of co-regulation and in-person connection in supporting women’s nervous systems and hormonal health. FEM gatherings are intentionally designed to offer this carefully curated environments where women can gather, feast, and rise together.

Previous FEM events have welcomed guest speakers including naturopaths, creative pathway facilitators, ecotherapists, immersive visual storytellers, women’s rights activists and each and every one with their own unique journey to where they are today. Each gathering offers a unique blend of seasonal wisdom, honest conversation, and shared nourishment.

While the much loved intimate weekday gatherings at Graft will continue, the Spring Equinox event marks the introduction of FEM’s first immersive weekend offering. The shift makes the experience accessible to women who are unable to attend midweek evenings and signals the natural expansion of the FEM community.

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Set against the stunning backdrop of Dunmore House & Gardens, the morning promises an experience that begins from the moment women travel up the sweeping driveway. Walled gardens, early spring blooms, and mature trees frame the approach to a converted barn and light-filled marquee space, a setting that feels removed from everyday life and invites reflection and renewal.

The Spring Equinox Immersive will include:

• Seasonal reflection on the transition from Winter into Spring
• Storytelling and powerful conversations about inviting the Courage To Change
• Movement with energising Pilates and a grounding breathwork sessions
• A seasonal breakfast and sharing platters designed to nourish and ground
• Live strings music from a talented local woman
• Space for women to connect, reflect, and feel witnessed

As a woman navigating her own unconventional path, Jade is passionate about showing women that there is no single template for how life should look. Some women are mothers. Some are entrepreneurs. Some are rebuilding. Some are starting over. FEM exists to remind women that they can move with the seasons and cycles of their own lives and that they do not have to walk that path alone.

"I am humbled at each and every FEM gathering, to see the women who are apprehensive to come alone, and within minutes they are sat beside another woman with a cup of tea in their hand and chatting like they have known each other a lifetime.

"Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and complete strangers gather and all leave with new women they can call friends. There have women of all ages from 20s to 70s attending. FEM is open to all women.’’

Everything is intentional, the space where the gathering is held, the welcome you receive at the door, the seasonal sharing platters that have got fresh herbs, vegetables edible flowers (when we can get them) picked on the day of the gathering and lovingly prepared along with the warming herbal tea.

There is a natural easy flow into the evening with intentional time given for the women to come in, settle into the space and connect with the women around them while enjoying some nourishing food.

Topics discussed have varied from The Womens Health Gap to the wild women who have inspired us, there have been standing Finnish meditations, creative way journalling, stories of folklore, reflections on the moon cycles, vulnerable raw story telling about the journeys that have led women to their current path. There is always an abundance of new ideas and takeaways for women to integrate into their own lives.

“Every woman who has stood at FEM so far has been uniquely courageous in her own way,” Jade says. “This gathering is about inviting that courage forward not by fixing ourselves, but by remembering who we already are.”

As part of FEM’s commitment to community connection, there have been community supported places allocated in partnership with The Derry Well Woman Centre. The Derry Well Woman has been a haven for women across the city and is an inspiring institution.

FEM continues to build as a community led space for women seeking a new way to learn about themselves, connect with others, and to live the life that inspires them.

With limited spaces available, the Spring Equinox Immersive is drawing strong interest from across Derry, Donegal, and surrounding areas.

For further information or ticket enquiries, contact: Jade Bradley- info@restorenutrition.co.uk or click link Ticket & booking details here.