Verve chats with Kassandra Lynne about her road from California-based masseuse to Otago boudoir photographer and retreat founder.
Your journey has been an incredibly varied one, beginning as a massage therapist, owner of a wellness centre, working as a professional photographer and now running women’s retreats. That being said, all of these areas of work seem to have fed into each other in some way. Can you speak to us about the intersection between these disciplines?
To be honest, when I moved into full time professional photography I never really considered that my experience in the health & wellness industry would come into play. I had spent 14 years developing my massage practice founded in San Diego, California, which evolved into a multi-faceted wellness & creativity centre based in Dunedin, NZ. I wore so many different hats during the time I owned the centre and was constantly finding myself in states of burnout and overwhelm. It’s so funny when you think about it, running a wellness centre & creating an atmosphere of healing for others while, when the day’s done, I’m pretty much at my breaking point on a regular basis.
Photography was always in the background in these developmental years and I was steadily building a clientele & finding my niche. When the opportunity came to jump into photography full time, I was so ready and really welcomed a break from the pressures of owning a wellness centre. Focusing on photography, I had the chance to finally start practicing what I had been preaching all these years and sort of started my journey back to self. I was able to connect back to my creative side and explore different avenues within my industry. In this time, I started gravitating toward boudoir photography & found that a lot of the women I work with are on a similar journey to myself.
We all have different lived experiences but so many of us lack self confidence, self worth, self love, and rarely extend the kindness to ourselves that we openly share with others. I started recognising that as I was sort of a ‘therapist’ often for my massage clients, I also started to share & hear the stories & beliefs from the women I worked closely with leading up to & during boudoir sessions. It was at this stage I saw a clear intersection between my background in health & wellness, my own personal self healing journey, and my now thriving photography career. I never expected that photography could be so healing & transformational, yet I’m so grateful for this aspect as it really makes my work so much more rewarding & meaningful.
You mentioned that both photography and women’s retreats offer a space for self-discovery. How has your own personal journey of self discovery evolved?
I like to use the analogy of our personal journey of self discovery being a path or road that we can travel on if we so choose. My path is like an old road in the back country, you might not know where it’s gonna lead, but it sure is exciting and full of hope & wonder. I started my journey when I studied for my diploma in massage therapy as a part of this course was to navigate areas of self healing. Not only was I fascinated by the human anatomy, but also the connection between mind, body & spirit. As I worked more and more with clients, I realised the potential we have to heal each other. We are all mere reflections of our lived experiences and we attract the people in our lives that can help us learn whatever lessons we need to learn or overcome.
I’d love to say that I stuck to the path and never veered from that country road but let’s be real, life throws us curve balls & brick walls. Shiny lights make us turn left or right to see what’s going on over there, beautiful distractions that take us away from what really matters. So I’ve taken a few turns here and there but I find myself back on the road, navigating my journey of self discovery.
Since moving to Aotearoa, I’ve learned about the various forms of Rongoā Māori and have integrated some of these practices into my daily life. My connection to nature has been strengthened as well since I moved here and I believe I learn so much from the time that I spend in the wild forests, back country, and rugged coastlines of this country. It really is a magical part of the world and from the first moment I cruised into the South Island, I knew I had come home. When you truly feel at peace somewhere, you have the ability to facilitate true healing from within, a chance to rewild your soul.
These days my journey is focused on peeling back the layers of trauma, pain, and conditioning that have led me to a negative spiral of shaming, hating my body, burning myself out constantly, and a very real fear of true intimacy & connection. I’ve gone to workshops, treatments, 1:1 coaching, online courses & a healthy daily practice to really get into dissecting what it is to be me and why I’ve created these unhealthy stories & beliefs about myself. It’s been tough! But I’ve made heaps of progress in the last couple of years and through this time I’ve been able to share my experience and help others along the way.
What inspired you to move into Boudoir Photography?
I’ve always loved boudoir & fine art nude photography when it’s done well. I spent a lot of time in front of the camera as a model when I was living in California and have also been a life drawing model for artists. Growing up with a distorted body image and total lack of self confidence, I think it did me a world of good to see myself from so many different perspectives. Walking around during break times as a life drawing model and seeing the various interpretations of me through different art forms was such an interesting experience. Even with different photographers, they always seem to bring out your beauty in a different light and hone in on the magic that is you. At the end of the day, we are perceived by others in entirely different ways and our view of ourselves is totally unique to our own internal process. Having the chance to be an observer of yourself through the lens or paint brush of another is a really powerful way to build confidence and flip the script on your own internal dialogue. This is why I wanted to jump into this niche of photography, because not only can I see that beauty in others but I have experience in front of the lens as well, making it very natural to be able to guide women through the process.
Boudoir Photography can be quite a vulnerable experience. What would you say to women who are interested in doing a Boudoir Photography session but are a bit nervous to reach out to you?
I can tell you that 98% of the time, we all get nervous prior to a session like this. I have maybe a handful of clients that expressed no worries prior to a session and were just excited to try something new. For the rest of us, it’s like we are hyping ourselves up and imagining everything that can go wrong or we are worried about how we’ll look or what do do, what to wear etc… The list goes on but I can guarantee you that this nervousness & anxiety is all in our heads. We create a world of stress for ourselves, we all do, but the courage to step outside of the comfort zone and say fuck it, let’s do this, is how we transform. There is no magic weight, shape or size that will make you feel confident, it’s all the mindset and that’s where my 1:1 coaching prior to the session will come into play and the entire experience itself will begin to help you peel back those layers and realise your own potential to shine.
Boudoir Photography has the unique ability to go so much deeper than a portrait of the outward/physical self. Can you talk about how this can become an empowering experience of body positivity and self love?
I struggled with this when I first started doing these sessions as I felt like maybe there was an element of vanity & that this was too surface level for me. However, the more clients we began to work with, the more we started to realise the impact a session like this can have. I have clients book in with me from all walks of life and with varied backgrounds & lived experiences. Women healing from trauma in all forms, loss of connection to self, loss of their feminine expression, and so much more. Each session is completely different to the next and it’s amazing how I can actually see the transformation as I’m taking the photos.
It’s more than a portrait session, it’s a moment in time where we connect and discuss our backgrounds, past & current traumas, our desires, our fears etc… It is a level of intimacy and vulnerability that when held in a safe space, can be so incredibly healing for my clients & myself as well. Part of that safe space is creating an environment that is not only lush, luxurious and full of character but also incorporates an element of secluded or private access to wild nature.
Tell us about Rewild Retreats, who are these for? What can someone expect when attending one of your retreats?
This element of connecting with nature within these boudoir sessions is what inspired my Rewild Portrait Experiences and the creation of Rewild Women’s Retreats. I found that during many of my boudoir sessions, the times that I saw clients most relaxed and authentically express themselves came about while in nature. Connection to nature is so powerful and something that we are so disconnected from in our society these days. I find that being able to facilitate this connection for myself and for my clients really allows us to ground these elements of transformation & self discovery deep within.
The formation of Rewild Women’s Retreats was inspired by the idea that I wanted to help women continue to nurture this journey of self development. Any woman can have an incredibly transformational & powerful perspective shift during a portrait experience with me, but there will inevitably be a time after this session where she will come up to a barrier, something that sets her back on her path to self-love & self confidence.
I want to be able to share the tools I’ve learned, the awesome workshops I’ve been on, and the knowledge I continue to accumulate over the course of my own education & personal experience, so that a woman can continue this journey even when she comes across obstacles in life. These tools & experiences are for any woman, all women that want to see positive change in their lives.
These retreats combine self-development workshops, practices, creative expression through portrait photography & art, and an element of adventure all amongst some of the most remote and wild nature Aotearoa has to offer. A retreat that can help you dive deeper into self and also step outside of your comfort zone to try new things so you can realise what you are truly capable of, all while connecting with other like-minded wahine on a similar journey.
For the women that see the path, but are too afraid to walk it. We are here doing this work together, you are not alone.
Connection to self is of course an ongoing journey. At some stage after one experiences a photography shoot or a retreat, women are bound to come up against a barrier or another challenge. What tools do you offer/teach your clients to empower them to continue to work through this?
A cornerstone tool across many workshops that we provide incorporate the concept of mind, body & spirit connection. We teach how to drop into the body, really feel where your emotions are within your body and to really start talking & understanding your body’s language. Connection to nature and water is also a beautiful tool to ground ourselves and work through our fight/flight responses. Through elements of yoga, meditation, intuitive medicine, exploring values, somatic therapies, vulnerable connection and creative expression we can work through our layers to find a better understanding of our patterns, beliefs & stories. Once we begin to understand these patterns, then we can start rewriting or rewilding… finding that essence of who we truly are and what it is to be authentically expressing our self.
What has been one of the most powerful stories of transformation that you have witnessed?
I can imagine this will change regularly but at the moment, the most powerful experience I’ve witnessed so far of transformation was at our first Rewild Women’s Retreat at the beginning of November this year. We had 12 women attend this event and after our last workshop on the Sunday, we had our final women’s circle where we reflected on our experiences after the final workshop & the weekend as a whole.
I’ll start with saying I knew this weekend would be powerful and full of transformation, this is a vision and project that has been brewing within me for a few years now and I have been so proud to watch it come to fruition as it has… naturally and intuitively. But far out, I had no idea it would bring about the breakthroughs that transpired within all of these women. The epiphanies that each woman expressed so bravely and vulnerably in this circle truly blew my mind. From realisations of reclaiming power, no longer outsourcing pleasure/happiness, the freedom of emotional release, the ability to feel love, the healthy expression of anger, and the true power of connection & embodiment, etc… it was humbling and beautiful to witness. I’m so proud of these women for taking some brave & courageous steps to show up for themselves and for each other.
Excited for this Rewild journey and what it continues to evolve to be for every woman… Check out what’s coming in 2022/2023!
Find out more about upcoming events and/or book a photography session
@rewildfromwithin
@kassandralynnephotography
