By Dongyun Kwon
The Wayapa for Wellbeing workshop program was launched at Healesville Library on Saturday 21 October.
The event marked the beginning of the Wayapa for Wellbeing workshops, which are set to be held Thursday fortnightly from 26 October to 7 December.
Event Organiser Sharni Steel said the event was wonderful with nice weather.
“We had a lot of activities outside in the pop-up space out at the front of the library,” she said.
“We had multiple activities for a broad age group.”
“It was energising and I enjoyed the Storytelling very much. Actually, I enjoyed the whole day,” local resident Vera White said.
The event started off with the Welcome to Country by Aunty Julie Coombes, speaking about the local history of Coranderrk.
It was followed by two activities in which attendees could choose one out of two activities; Rope Bridge Making for the native wildlife or Storytelling.
Rope Bridge Making was hosted by Eco Warriors Australia.
Eco Warriors Australia is a not-for-profit Incorporated Association composed of environmentally minded people in order to do good things and support projects.
One of their main projects is Bridging The Gaps: Wildlife Rope Bridges for Native Arboreal Marsupials in Storm Impacted Habitat.
It aims to install wildlife rope bridges in areas with extensive damage from the 2021 June storms to restore habitat connectivity, particularly in the upper canopy.
Eco Warriors Australia member Alana Begg said the group also provided a free barbecue for lunch and had a small fundraising stall.
“We were selling some slushies to raise funds for helping us build bridges,” she said.
“It turned out a lot of people were very interested in and excited about the things that we are doing as well as what the library is doing.”
In the meantime, Storytelling by Melanie Blacksmith was going on, as she shared stories about ancient wisdom.
“Basically, all of the activities we did reflected the practice or the principles of Wayapa in one way or another,” Ms Steel said.
The last session of the event was the Introduction to Wayapa Wuurrk Workshop which was held by event organiser Sharni Steel who is also an accredited Wayapa practitioner.
Wayapa is an earth connection practice that is based on ancient Indigenous wisdom that focuses on taking care of the Earth as the starting point for creating earth mind body spirit well-being.
“When anybody traces their history back into their ancestral line, everybody would be linked to a culture of hunting and gathering,” Ms Steel said.
“Wayapa is based on the ancient wisdom of the cultures that practice the hunter, gatherer and the earth connection where there is balance and harmony with the Earth.”
Wayapa for Wellbeing is to promote the well-being of locals and their connection to the Earth.
Every workshop gives an introduction to what Wayapa is and how it can be practiced.
The workshop is underway in partnership with Your Library, Wayapa Wuurrk and Eco Warriors Australia along with support from the Valley Community Recovery Committee.
It starts at 5.30pm in Healesville Library and bookings can be made either in person at any library, by calling 9800 6497 or through the website, events.yourlibrary.com.au/event?id=45981.
