Women's Book Club

### The Return: A Four-Week Immersion into Authenticity & Internal Trust Thursday evenings across June #### How much of who you are today is *you*, and how much is a collection of "shoulds," "musts," and the quiet habit of people-pleasing? Join us for a dedicated **four-week immersion** designed to help you peel back the layers of societal conditioning and rediscover the internal voice that has been waiting to be heard. This isn’t about becoming someone new; it’s about **The Return**—stripping away the masks and learning to trust your own internal wisdom: honouring yourself, distinguishing your yes's from your no's, & reclaiming true rest. #### **What to expect:** Over four Thursday evenings, you will join the same group of women to explore: * *The Authentic Self*: Identifying unhelpful habits and conditioning that keeps us small * *Somatic Release*: Gentle yin yoga and movement * *Sacred Circle*: The power of being seen and held in a community of like-minded women * *Inner Inquiry:* Reflection through curated journal prompts to bridge the gap between your mind and heart *Inclusions:* * *Guided workshop series designed and guided by clinical psychologist & yoga instructor, Dr Zac Elizabeth Buchanan* * *Nibbles & tea to nourish each evening* * *Connection with like-minded women* * *Take home journal and goodies* #### **Is this for me?** The Return welcomes women of all ages and stages of life. Whether you are navigating a major transition—such as **motherhood, career change, perimenopause, or retirement**—or simply feel a quiet pull to deepen your self-awareness, you are welcome here. #### **The Details:** * *When:* Thursday evenings (June 4, 11, 18, 25) * *Time:* 7pm - 9pm * *Where:* A cosy, boutique studio in Balwyn North (precise location provided upon RSVP) * **Please note - a commitment to all 4 Thursdays is required.** #### **Investment:** * $310 (+ booking fee) - tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-return-a-4-week-womens-workshop-series-tickets-1988474174785 * EFT available to avoid booking fee - please email hello @ drzacelizabeth.com #### **Spaces are limited to keep the circle intimate and deeply held. I would love to see you there** ♥ [Claim your spot](https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-return-a-4-week-womens-workshop-series-tickets-1988474174785)! > **A Note on the Nature of Our Space:** While this series is facilitated by a clinical psychologist and explores psychological concepts, it is a wellness-focused immersion and is **not a substitute for clinical therapy.** It is intended to complement any personal work you may be doing elsewhere. We invite you to join us for communal growth and somatic reflection, ensuring you have the appropriate professional support in place for any acute clinical mental health needs. ####

We’re excited to bring our community together again — this time with a focus on **Building resilient AI**. As LLM-powered applications move from experimentation to production, a new challenge emerges: **how do we secure what we don’t fully understand yet?** In this session, we’ll explore two critical layers of AI defense—**protection** and **proactive testing**—through real-world practices and practical demos. **Topics** **1\. Shielding your LLMs with AWS Bedrock Guardrails** Ever felt like deploying an LLM is a bit like letting a genius but unpredictable intern talk to your customers? Join me as we explore how to move past the unregulated nature of unregulated AI using AWS Bedrock Guardrails. We’ll dive into the six pillars of AI safety and deploying guardrails to build AI that isn't just smart, but is fundamentally trustworthy and brand-safe. **About the speaker** [Maitreyi Singh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maitreyisingh/) is a Data Scientist at [REA Group](https://www.realestate.com.au/), currently working on developing AI agents and intelligent systems. She has experience in Generative AI and enjoys exploring innovative applications of AI in real-world solutions. Outside of her professional work, Maitreyi enjoys painting as a creative hobby. **2\. Red Team Your LLM App Before the Bad Guys Do** As LLM-powered apps become more common, they're also becoming bigger targets. Prompt injection, jailbreaks, and harmful content exploits are real threats — and most developers don't discover them until it's too late. In this talk, we'll cover why guardrails are essential for any production LLM app, and why red teaming is one of the most effective ways to uncover vulnerabilities before bad actors do. We'll then put theory into practice with a live demo: a vibe-coded AI app on Amazon Bedrock, attacked using an open source red teaming tool — first without guardrails, then with them. The difference will speak for itself. **About the speaker** [Vanessa](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-kong-8069601a7/) is a Senior Product Security Engineer at [REA Group](https://www.realestate.com.au/) with five years of experience spanning cloud infrastructure security, security tooling and automation, and AI security. She specialised in building secure systems end-to-end, automating security workflows, wiring up tools to catch issues earlier in the pipeline, and exploring the evolving security challenges that come with AI-powered applications. She loves getting into the weeds of how things break — and helping people build them more securely. **Agenda** 5:30pm – Food and networking 6:00pm – Presentation 1. Shielding your LLMs with AWS Bedrock Guardrails 6:30pm – Presentation 2. Red Team Your LLM App Before the Bad Guys Do 7:00pm – Networking We’re incredibly grateful to our sponsor — [REA group](https://www.rea-group.com/) for supporting our community and making this event possible. Join us for an evening of learning, meaningful conversations, and great company, we can’t wait to see you there!

**join us at a local cafe, to connect with people who are interested and practice journalling. this event is intended to allow people to connect socially over a coffee or desert and discuss all things journalling and make new friends.** **what is jounralling. it is a reflective practice of writing or typing your experiences. this might be used as a tool to organize your life or to process difficult events.** **come join us by signing up**

BOOKING NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS EVENT ! Games start 6 pm at Girls Grammar School South Yarra (entrance from Chapel Street) \*ALL LEVELS WELCOME\* This event is for adults only! (18+) The fee is $17 payment by card on spot. Membership available Become a IVC member - get cheaper fees for camps, insurance + IVC game jersey - ask for more info today! [#International](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/international?__eep__=6&__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVWqTrC41QG8leik-TstHubA-byf5_UTz2Qo5bQ73HIIc7qB6xsAMS7gJpmbCDggNrqajl4UPwH1y4uocs5NVV9Sjwx9Jpq1z_anmw14HxzWMwIy3x2sTV3vAfgbR5sXuLNDL99e6dM3x4s8y0QoxoP&__tn__=q) [#Volleyball](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/volleyball?__eep__=6&__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVWqTrC41QG8leik-TstHubA-byf5_UTz2Qo5bQ73HIIc7qB6xsAMS7gJpmbCDggNrqajl4UPwH1y4uocs5NVV9Sjwx9Jpq1z_anmw14HxzWMwIy3x2sTV3vAfgbR5sXuLNDL99e6dM3x4s8y0QoxoP&__tn__=q) [#Club](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/club?__eep__=6&__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVWqTrC41QG8leik-TstHubA-byf5_UTz2Qo5bQ73HIIc7qB6xsAMS7gJpmbCDggNrqajl4UPwH1y4uocs5NVV9Sjwx9Jpq1z_anmw14HxzWMwIy3x2sTV3vAfgbR5sXuLNDL99e6dM3x4s8y0QoxoP&__tn__=q) [#Melbourne](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/melbourne?__eep__=6&__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVWqTrC41QG8leik-TstHubA-byf5_UTz2Qo5bQ73HIIc7qB6xsAMS7gJpmbCDggNrqajl4UPwH1y4uocs5NVV9Sjwx9Jpq1z_anmw14HxzWMwIy3x2sTV3vAfgbR5sXuLNDL99e6dM3x4s8y0QoxoP&__tn__=q) To be protected by International Volleyball Club Member Protection Policy and covered by our Personal Accident Insurance, everyone participating in a International Volleyball Club event or with a International Volleyball endorsed club, association, or provider is required to maintain an active membership at the appropriate level with International Volleyball Club. For more information message us

Join your fellow LGBTQIA+ folks for a social evening of board games at Marché Board Games Cafe. We have access to the games library at the cafe. If you have a game that you want to share, please feel free to bring it along. We play all sorts of games - card games, party games, strategy games - and we're happy to teach new players. Groups for games usually form between 6:30-6:45, so it's important to try arrive on time to ensure you're allocated to a game/group. Anyone arriving late may have to wait for a game if all groups have started. The cafe has drinks and food available. Check out their menu here: https://mbgcafe.com.au/menu.pdf We only accept payment at the time of booking to reserve your spot. This means you will need to pay the booking amount via PayPal at the time of booking to confirm your spot. If you can't make it to the event, please ensure you get in touch by messaging the event hosts or emailing rainbowbg.melbourne@gmail.com at least one day before the event, and we can reverse your payment via PayPal. The cafe does NOT have a liquor licence. Consuming alcohol on the premises is illegal, and will result in any members being banned from future events. See you on Thursday!

We read Sally Hepworth’s novel Mad Mabel, about an 81yo Melbourne woman with a big secret - as a 15yo she murdered someone.

Join us for the Twenty-second Page! Theme: **bookshop or library setting** This month we're celebrating books about bookish places. Choose a book where the setting is as much a character has the people wandering through it. Feel free to bring along any discussion questions you can think of or theme suggestions. Happy reading :) See you there!

Welcome! Last month, we trialled Dymocks Cafe for our venue and people loved it. So we're going to meet there this month too. **HOW TO FIND US** When you enter 234 Collins, go down the escalator to the basement where Dymocks is (you can't miss it, there's books and people everywhere), turn right and you'll see the cafe next to the cashier. Come up the stairs and join us. **ITINERARY** 11am: Meet at Dymocks Cafe (upstairs) inside Dymocks Bookstore, 234 Collins St. Choose your seat. Order a drink to support the cafe. (They have a decent range of sweet and savoury snacks.) Enjoy your book. 12.15pm: Let's chat about what we read, what we loved, and why. 1pm: End of event. [OPTIONAL EXTRA] For those who are not too tired, we can go for lunch together after the event. **COST:** There is an organizer fee of $5 for this event. You can bring cash on the day or PayID me at 0403 413 056 (Serena Low). **GETTING THERE:** The closest train stations are Town Hall (4 min) and Flinders St (6 min).

**The Gals Monthly Walk** Replacing our women's only monthly brunch, we bring you our *Monthly Gals Walk*. As the months get cooler, and cost of living goes up, we need a place to be held accountable to getting out of bed, getting in our exercise and not spending a tonne of money we don't need to. Our monthly women's brunches have always been a space where we can be surrounded by like-minded women in a super welcoming setting, discuss important topics related to bettering ourselves and get below the surface level small talk - all whilst making some great new friends! You can still expect all of this at our monthly walks. Our *June* topic will be announced closer to the date. Bring all of your go-to tips, bring your questions you need answered and let's connect through movement and coffee. If the weather turns, we will still go ahead, just indoors at a local cafe. Make sure you follow our IG page for latest updates on events: https://www.instagram.com/findyourtribemelb/ This event is aimed at women who identify with being young spirited - typically women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s will attend, however we have also had women in their 60s and 70s. We are open to all ages 18+ as long as you identify with being female, young spirited and open minded. We can learn so much from different women at different stages of life. **Meeting Location: Baker Bleu, 183 Domain Road South Yarra.** Meet by 9:15am to order coffee. Walking by 9:30am.

Hi Radiant Ladies, After our morning walk, come and join us at Windchimes Café for coffee, warm conversation, and a lovely relaxed catch-up with your favourite ladies! 🅿️ Easy 2-hour parking right out front. See you there! Lyn ☕💓

Hi Radiant Ladies, Join us for a refreshing Saturday walk at Ruffey Lake Park. 👭 Walk at your own pace 🐕 Dogs welcome ☕ Coffee after 🌦️ We walk every Saturday (unless it’s pouring) New ladies welcome. See you! 



Leanne & Lyn 💕

June meetup at the Library. We’ll play games and have casual conversation in Japanese and in English. All levels of Japanese ability, from non-speaker to native, are welcome. After the meetup we will go out to eat at a local restaurant.

Welcome, readers! Our May read is **_Kindred_ by Octavia E. Butler.** The story follows Dana, a Black woman living in 1976 California, who is suddenly pulled back to a Maryland plantation before the Civil War. She learns her survival is tied to a white slaveholder’s son. Forced to move between centuries, she must endure the brutal realities of slavery while fighting to hold on to her identity. Tense, intimate, and unforgettable, Kindred explores how the past refuses to stay buried. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Welcome, readers! Our June read is ***Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible*** ***Voyage*** **by Alfred Lansing.** A work of nonfiction, and one of the most astonishing survival stories in history, we follow Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after their ship is crushed by Antarctic ice. Stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth, the men endure months of isolation, freezing temperatures, and near starvation—yet refuse to give up hope. Lansing brings their ordeal to life through vivid detail and firsthand accounts, capturing both the brutality of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. At its core, the story is a powerful testament to leadership, perseverance, and the unbreakable will to survive against impossible odds. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **all** **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

[Columbus library link to book](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3351321) Location: The Goat River South 219 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215 Street parking is free on Sundays [Menu](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/686d3ed16745133042482c5f/t/68ff654dbb03b96875430bde/1761568077220/all_brunch-20250311.pdf) Book summary: On a hot day in Bethlehem, a twelve-year-old Palestinian-American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother's response only intensifies a sense of shame: 'You exist too much,' she tells her daughter. Told in vignettes that flash between the U.S. and the Middle East--from New York to Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine--Zaina Arafat's debut novel traces her protagonist's progress from blushing teen to sought-after DJ and aspiring writer.

Join us as we discuss our June pick: Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider! Book description: Even though she's not one of them, Brynn has spent her life among the Alaha, training to be a guard and waiting for the chance to attend the annual market hosted by the Kenta–the very same people who exiled her adopted community to a life at sea. Going to the market is a rite of passage eagerly anticipated by all young guards, but Brynn does not anticipate breaking a century-long peace treaty while there. Nor does she plan for the intense encounter with an enemy soldier that now threatens to unwind the fragile coexistence between their people–and everything Brynn once believed about herself to be true. Brynn's loyalty to the Alaha is tested when the truth of her identity is brought to light by this soldier who's taken an oath to bring her back to where she belongs. Narrowly escaping death on the violent high seas, Brynn's connection to the Alaha is further tested when she learns about the world of magic she's been denied. She was once certain of her fate and where she belonged, but the dark, knowing eyes of this stranger have her questioning everything, including her heart. Packed with knife fights and seafaring adventure, METAL SLINGER is the smash-hit start to the romantic fantasy duology, the Fire & Metal series

Welcome, readers! Our July read is ***A Short Walk Through a Wide World*** *by Douglas Westerbeke*. We'll follow a young woman bound by a mysterious condition that forces her to keep moving across the globe. As she journeys through vibrant cities, quiet landscapes, and centuries of time, each stop reveals new connections, fleeting relationships, and deeper questions about belonging. The novel blends adventure with introspection, exploring what it means to search for home when you can never stay in one place. It’s both a love letter to the vastness of the world and a poignant meditation on identity, memory, and human connection. Looking forward to discussing with everyone We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar** Happy reading!