Lush garden behind the retreat home
A Day-Long Retreat For Women 55+

What would one day look like, showing up for you?

A day-long creative retreat for women 55+ held in a private garden home. Somatic movement. Deep-dive writing. Intentional art-making. A sacred sound bath.

10am - 4pmOctober 18, 2026 10 spots each
36 Floresta CourtAncaster, Ontario
$247 Early Bird$297 at the door
I'm Ready to Show Up for Myself
Secure Your Spot

Something feels off in your life.
You're just not sure what.

You hold everything together. The appointments, the dinners, the family, the requests that never stop coming. You're good at it. But somewhere underneath all of it, a question keeps surfacing.

Is this all there is?

You've told yourself you're not creative. Or the kind of person who does something just for herself. You've heard it so many times you stopped questioning it.

That's what happens when you've been trained to shrink.

Be prepared to laugh, cry, and be seen.

A. Jolly

You've tried to fix it.
The trying isn't the problem.

The books. The courses. The podcasts. The yoga class that relaxes your body but doesn't touch the thing underneath.

None of it moved what needed moving because it all worked from the outside in.

This day focuses on the body first. Then words. Then making something with your hands. In a room with women who are there for the same reason.

You don't need another workshop.
It's an activation.

Most events for women give you content. Something to listen to, something to implement when you get home (if you get around to it).

The L'il Bold Ladies Club day is built differently. Creativity is the doorway here.

The sequence is intentional. Body first. Because you can't write your truth until your body lets go of what it's holding. You don't need to be creative. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to show up.

In her artistic call to action, it felt as though Lois was urging me to throw all that away and gleefully splash colours on the page with wild abandon. It was an invitation to live boldly and beautifully in the pursuit of possibility.
S. Crossman, Founder of the Awakening Author
What does the day include?

From nervous system to canvas to soul

I

Somatic Movement & Breathwork

We begin in the body, because that's where everything is stored. Dance and breath-led practices guide you from wherever you arrived (tight, tired, guarded) to somewhere more open. You don't need to know how to dance. You just need to be willing to move. By the time this is over, something has already shifted.

II

Deep-Dive Writing

A guided prompt takes you somewhere you couldn't get to on your own. Not journalling. Not free-writing. A specific exercise designed to surface what's true underneath the noise. The thought you've been circling, the thing you haven't let yourself say yet. Bring five of your favourite quotable quotes. You'll need them.

III

Intentional Art-Making

Paint. Markers. Pastels. Passion. Your five quotes. And a blank canvas that becomes something only you could make because it comes from what you just wrote, and what your body already knew. All supplies are included. No experience required. What you make, you take home.

IV

Create-Your-Own Buddha Bowl

Lunch isn't an intermission. It's part of the day. You'll build your own beautiful, nourishing bowl at a table set for exactly this kind of gathering (10 women, unhurried, talking about the morning like it actually happened to them. Because it did.

V

Sacred Sound Bath

Elvira closes the day the way she knows best: her trained voice, crystal bowls, and ancient instruments, channelled to help you relax, integrate, and carry what you've made (in your hands and in yourself) back out into the world. You'll float out of this space. That's not a figure of speech.

MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

Two women who've done the un-shrinking themselves

Elvira V. Hopper

Elvira V. Hopper

For years, Elvira was a multi-award-winning pharmaceutical sales rep, and she was miserable. Living so far out of alignment that she says she looked older at 30 than she does now at nearly 64, she was good at the job and dying inside doing it. Every day felt like walking through mud, a total imposter.

As a result, she was a target for bullies and she plummeted as she used to need outer validation like she needed oxygen... and everyone hated her, so she hated herself. What came next was a breakdown from years of living out of alignment that cracked her open and became a full spiritual awakening. She emerged as someone who finally had the courage to be completely, unapologetically herself.

That courage showed up in pieces. A coaching certification. A channel. At 51, after years of being a self-described "crappy karaoke singer," Elvira stepped onto the world-class jazz stage she dreamed of as a girl. She finally stopped listening to the voice that said she couldn't.

It was a complete identity transformation. The woman who once sold pharmaceuticals to survive is now thriving as a pro jazz recording artist who WOWS celebrities and wins awards. She's REAL, NOT PERFECT, and fully herself. She thinks of her father, who could sing like Pavarotti and never did. She refused to make the same choice.

Today Elvira is a global speaker, sound healer, and founder of the Miracle Magnet Method. A coaching framework built on one idea: when you show up as your full self, your life reorganizes around that. She has seen it happen for hundreds of women. She has lived it herself.

Elvira is REAL. No airs, no pretences, just the REAL DEAL. I was so inspired by Elvira that I signed up for her 1-1 coaching and it's a decision that has changed my life for the better.
Janet Shore, verified course graduate
Lois Lenarduzzi

Lois Lenarduzzi

At 40, Lois closed her massage therapy practice. Three surgeries. Health issues that had been building since she was 19. The career she'd built (the identity she'd built with it) was gone. She remembers the question that followed her into that blank space: who am I and what am I if I don't have a job?

One afternoon she grabbed some paints, slapped them around, blew them with a straw. That was her first painting. She had no training. She didn't know what she was doing. She just knew she needed to make something.

Twenty-seven years later, Lois is an artist, a published author, and someone who keeps finding new ways to stretch. Last year she took to the stage to deliver her own monologue - doing what she does best: making people laugh and think. She finally stopped waiting for permission.

Lois brings her work in creative self-expression, movement, and writing to every room she's in. She has a gift for making the ordinary feel extraordinary - and for making women who say "I'm not creative" pick up a paintbrush anyway.

Lois's story is powerful, inspiring and sparkling. In her artistic call to action, she was giving me permission to grow, expand, and express.
L. Yuhas & S. Crossman
testimonials

What women say about being in the room with Elvira and Lois

Working with Elvira came at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed, grieving the loss of my 31-year corporate career, and questioning my self-worth. Through our work together, I was able to shift my perspective, reconnect with my value, and begin to see that what I had experienced was leading me toward something better. The greatest gift from this experience has been rebuilding my belief in myself.
Mary Jane McQueen
Most of my life has been about colouring inside the line, doing what I am supposed to do. In her artistic call to action, it felt as though Lois was urging me to throw all that away and gleefully splash colours on the page with wild abandon. It was an invitation to live boldly and beautifully in the pursuit of possibility. She was giving me permission to grow, expand, and express to break through my own oppressive tendencies and simply give myself over to the joy of creation.
S. Crossman, Founder of the Awakening Author
Thanks to being in Elvira's magical world, I now have more resilience, more confidence, and I have goals, faith and a commitment to live my best life as the best version of me. I may visit bad days, but I no longer have to live there.
Elizabeth Smith
With authenticity, humour, and bravery, Lois's memoir speaks to the heart of every woman. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and be seen.
A. Jolly
Mixed media journal canvas reading Give Yourself a Life, To Shine Not Shrink
THIS IS FOR YOU IF...

You'll fit right in if...

  • You know there's more in store, and you're willing to explore.
  • You've said "I'm not creative" at least once in your life and you're not entirely sure you believe it.
  • You're ready for a day that asks something of you - and gives you something real in return.
  • You want to be in a room with women who are there for the same reason. Not to perform. Not to pose. Just to show up honestly and to joyfully become MORE themselves.
  • You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to walk through the door & to be open to boldly go with your unique flow!
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become fully yourself”
Carl Yung

This probably isn't for you if...

  • You're looking to sit back and be entertained.
  • You're not open to trying something that might surprise you.
  • You want a passive experience - no movement, no making, no going anywhere uncomfortable.
  • We want women who are curious, open, and willing to play. As Elvira says: if it ain't fun, we're done. We mean that.
Dates & Investment

Only 10 spots per session — held in a private home

This isn't a conference. It's not a venue. It's Lois's home — a private garden space in Ancaster designed for exactly this kind of gathering. Ten women. That's it. When it's full, it's full.

  • Sunday, October 18
    10am - 4pm
    Open
Your Investment
$247 $297
Early bird, due 2 weeks before your session. $297 up to the day of.

All art supplies included. Buddha Bowl lunch included. Sacred sound bath included.

Click Here to Secure Your Spot ☆

Questions you're probably already asking

I'm not creative or artistic. Will I feel out of place?
Not even a little. Lois said the exact same thing about herself — until she grabbed a paintbrush with no training and made her first painting on a blank afternoon when she didn't know what else to do. "I'm not creative" is something every woman in that room has said. It's also exactly why they're there. No experience of any kind is required.

Is this too spiritual or 'woo' for me?
Elvira spent years selling lab equipment to hospital buying departments. Lois was a massage therapist who did stand-up comedy. Between them, they bring more grounded, real-world "been there" energy than most wellness spaces you've been in. The sound bath is real, and it's beautiful, but this day is built on honesty and humour, not jargon. "No airs, no pretences, just the real deal" is how one of Elvira's clients put it. That's the room.

I won't know anyone. Will it be awkward?
Ten women. One private home. Six hours. You will know everyone in that room by the time lunch is done. The intimacy isn't incidental. The group size makes it safe to actually go somewhere.

What's included in the $247?
Everything. All art supplies. The Buddha Bowl lunch. The sound bath. The guidance, the space, the six hours. The only thing you bring is yourself and five of your favourite quotable quotes, you'll find out why when you get there.

What if I can't make my date after I've registered?
With at least 48 hours notice, we will offer you a rain cheque to our next session, honouring your payment, in Spring 2027.

Garden sculpture with a stone, arms raised among ferns and hostas

Make this SUNDAY a DAY FOR YOU

The question - is this all there is? - isn't going to answer itself. And you already know that another masterclass, another book, another scroll through Instagram isn't going to be the solution.

Join us for 6 hours. Only 10 spots available.

Secure Your Spot Now!