RETREAT
Flowing in the River of Life
Retreat Overview
With this retreat we aim to nurture your authenticity and self-expression with yourself and others. By bridging mindfulness, meditation, yoga, sound healing, dance, singing and other conscious and embodied practices, we will hold space so as to allow you to unfold exactly as you are, deepening your own understanding and connection to yourself and to others.
Starting on the first evening on the 9th of April with clear intention setting, a cacao ceremony and sound journey to awaken the senses and open our hearts to the immersive experience that lies ahead.
On April 10th, our focus will lie in each person’s connection to themselves. Through a nourishing morning yoga practice, an ecotherapy-based meditative walk in the surrounding forest, guided meditations, free and creative painting, individual improvised dancing and a singing circle – all aiming to encourage your awareness and connection to yourself and to your own authentic inner voice.
On April 11th, we will shift our focus towards our relationships and connection to others. Starting the day as well with a grounding yoga practice, an ecotherapy-based walk enriched with group dynamics and activities, group breathwork and eye gazing, as well as exploring and expressing emotions and vulnerability with the other through dancing, conscious and active listening and sharing – all in a safe, respectful and protected space.
Every day of the retreat will be enriched with ritual and clear intention setting, as well as many sharing moments.
In order to establish conscious relationships with others, we first need to get to know ourselves and to be aware of our own inner landscape. As we cultivate awareness, self-compassion and patience, through mindfulness-based practices, we are able to feel and accept more deeply what is exactly happening within us in every single moment.
Change is a constant in this universe, and our inner life, thoughts and emotions, are just like a river. The waters carry us through many different places and they never cease to flow, to change and to take us with them. It is up to us to choose to flow with the current of our river of life, instead of drowning in it. These waters also connect us to the second chakra, the sacral chakra – the main focus of the first day.
This retreat will then be an opportunity to engage with the waters of our own emotion, fertility and creativity. By inviting presence and being able to welcome everything that is a part of us and of our lives, we allow our inner child to come forth, thus allowing ourselves to relax, to flow and to be curious and creative – as well as open towards others.
Relationships are mirrors and wonderfully deep opportunities for us to grow and expand. In order to fully connect with another, we need to open up space for shared vulnerability. This is no easy feat, as our past conditioning, trauma and fears have made us believe that to be vulnerable isn’t safe.
Just as our river of life takes us through different emotions, thoughts and inner landscapes, it is also connected to other rivers and to the ocean, and to the rain, the clouds and the air around us. Change and exchange is a constant as well within our relationships and in the way we connect with others. And the winds of conscious communication allow us to flow in relationship and to more authentically connect. These winds are connected to our fifth chakra, the throat chakra – the main focus of the second day.
For these reasons, this retreat will also be an opportunity to engage in authentic self-expression and sharing with others, in a safe and protected space. Being held, active and conscious sharing and listening, empathy and communication, are all qualities and practices we will be focused on nurturing together.
Our Intention
Facilitators
Maria Branco
Maria is a curious, sensitive soul that is incredibly passionate about the world and all aspects of the human experience, in particular our ability to nurture compassion and our existential and spiritual connection to Nature. She is a certified yoga instructor and student, having done her RYT-200 in Rudraprayag, India in 2016.
Having taken a bachelor’s in Psychology and currently finishing her master’s in clinical psychology, she has worked for some years in a Portuguese eco-therapy project, Breathe Portugal, guiding and facilitating many yoga and mindfulness-based practices immersed in nature. She is also deeply passionate about altered states of consciousness and the cultural, spiritual and therapeutic use of psychedelics and plant medicine, having also volunteered at a psychedelic crisis intervention service, Kosmicare, at Boom Festival.
Recently, she has been involved in the world of mindfulness and of sound healing, having taken a training with Soneiro Collective in Berlin. Music has been a deep part of her life since her early childhood and she is at present exploring its wonderful therapeutic, ceremonial and space holding use. She is also working on her advanced yoga studies, with Sage Yoga Boise, USA, to become an RYT-500.
Her work and approach are deeply based on the principles of mindfulness, allowing others to nurture within themselves the qualities of self-acceptance, self-compassion, kindness and openness. She is currently giving yoga and meditation classes, both online and in Lisbon and Cascais, Portugal.
Luna
Luna , also known as Alma, is a fiery and deep soul that is passionate about bringing change into the world. She deeply believes we can build a new earth where love, compassion, respect and abundance are embedded in its foundations. She seeks to be of service and support towards such individual and collective growth.
She has been fascinated by spirituality and our inner worlds since a young age, yet in 2018 she went through a breakthrough experience that connected her to this deep inner calling of working with and supporting people’s spiritual and emotional processes. Such a calling, led her all the way to the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, into the YAWANAWA indigenous lands, where she lived first hand the life changing and healing experiences brought by plant medicine and altered states of consciousness.
She is a certified yoga instructor, having taken her training (RYT-200) in Goa, India, and a trained actress. In addition, her curiosity and thirst to learn have led her to pursue different short and medium-term courses and trainings, in the fields of aura reading, sacred sexuality, tantra and intimate alchemy, psychology and family constellations.
At present, she works as a yoga instructor, an actress and as an aura reader. She also facilitates powerful and transformative women circles, as well as men & women wircle, jam sessions and music circles, and is currently on her second year studying shamanism and shamanic practices through the “Sopro de Deus” school.
Luna’s approach to all her work is based on the different paths she walked and all the knowledge and experience she has been acquiring, as well as her own intuitive process and individuality. In this way, she offers a very personal, tailored service to every person she holds space for.
In addition to all activities, we will provide you with delicious and nourishing vegan meals designed and cooked by the wonderful chef Carol Massote.
Carol is a Psychologist, who worked for many years with Human Resources in International Investment Banks, but always had her heart connected to yoga, plant based cooking and a sustainable way of living.
Having had the courage to leave her corporate life behind, she strongly followed her heart and went to Bali to study yoga and vegan culinary. Ever since, she has worked in many different places, such as Italy, Brazil and Mexico City. In 2019, she moved to Portugal, where she initially worked as chef for "My Mother’s Daughters", a plant based restaurant in Lisbon.
Now, Carol keeps managing plant based cooking and yoga classes and workshops, with great focus on short retreats and private events.
It’s time to enjoy her delicious food at our retreat as well.
Meals
Price
Early bird ticket: 250€ (until March 20th)
– 125€ to reserve your spot
Normal price: 280€ (from March 20th on)
The price covers all space holding and activities hosted throughout the retreat, as well as the accommodation and the meals.
Feel free to contact us either through e-mail, facebook, or even instagram.
We look forward to seeing you!