*SALE* 8-14 May 2024 ~ New Beginnings Spring Retreat in Portugal
Join Mie and Franzi for this week-long retreat to fully nourish all aspects of yourself – your body, mind and spirit. In a safe and loving community, discover how a yoga practice, as well as various nourishing rituals and techniques can help you to reconnect to your own inner self. Leave inspired and empowered.
HIGHLIGHTS
Experience a holistic healing week with deep yoga, delicious wholesome meals, wild nature, and beautiful culture
The venue: Shanti Space: quietly cocooned in nature, beautiful, sacred retreat center created with love and dedication, ideal to deepen your yoga practice
Opportunity to deepen your yoga practice with two experienced and certified yoga teachers, Mie and Franzi
All meals prepared fresh by a local natural chef Amabilé Kolenda, specially planned for this special week
We’re offering a space to connect again ~ connect with ourselves, connect with other beings, connect with the world again. To connect with the more hidden parts of ourselves, the ones that are never really gone, but shielded and kept safe for later times when safety allows for vulnerability. These hidden parts know best what we truly long for and how we really want to engage with the world. How can we allow ourselves to connect to our depths, let what is within us emerge more fully and more graciously?
Mie and Franzi will guide you through various techniques and rituals, drawing from yogic and other wisdom traditions, to help you rediscover the connection to your own inner wisdom in a safe space and with the support of a loving community.
The Yoga
There are two practices and a special workshop daily. Morning practice is focused on connecting movement and breath to awaken your energy and move it through your body. Authentic and creative practice will include mantra, meditation, purifying breathing practices and well-rounded body movement.
Evening yoga sessions are designed to bring you back into the present moment and to help you release deep-seated tension in your muscles and tissues. You will be able to surrender and relax with a yin/restorative practice, which will help to activate meridians along the whole body and balance the flow of energy. This session will help you to calm the nervous system, find stillness and invite positive energy towards the end of the day. Both practices will end with deep full body relaxation and sound healing.
The practice is open- level at beautiful and spacious yoga Shalas. A Hillside Yoga Deck has a phenomenal view of the magical valley. The dappled light from the surrounding pines creates ample shade and a sense of being held by the surrounding natural environment. The Garden Shala is a large converted Victorian Greenhouse overlooking the apple orchard, one feels contained yet amongst the beautiful garden. Take your practice to a deeper level through mindful vinyasa flow yoga approach, breathing techniques, and powerful meditations.
Daily Schedule
7:30 – 8:00 am: Warm drinks and snacks
8:00 – 9:45 am: Guided Asana and Pranayama practice
10:15 -11:30 am: Breakfast/Brunch
Free Time
3:00 – 4:30 pm: Workshops *
5:30 – 6:30 pm: Chanting/Meditation/Philosophy/Yoga Nidra
6:30 – 8:00 pm: Dinner
* no afternoon programs on 12 May Sunday afternoon
While we invite all participants to join all classes and workshops, we understand if you need more time to relax and recharge on your own.
Meet Franzi
I am thrilled to offer this special retreat with Franzi, my dear friend and a dedicated yoga practitioner and teacher. Franzi found her way to yoga 12 years ago during her University studies and was immediately drawn to the combination of meditative and physical aspects of the practice and the quality of lightness that her practice left her feeling. Over time she was more and more drawn also to the Philosophy behind yoga and Buddhist wisdom traditions and yoga became the path to realizing how life unfolds within and around her and what is asked of her to make this unfoldment a gracious one.
She teaches the Ashtanga Mysore program in Bonn (Germany) and has a vast knowledge on Vinyasa Krama, an intelligent asana sequencing method. In her classes she combines asana with pranayama and meditation so that students can connect to all aspects of their being. She teaches with kindness and compassion and acknowledging the uniqueness of each individual.
Meet Amabilé
Amabilé Kolenda is originally from Brazil but calling Portugal home for the past six years. She has been passionately working in functional gastronomy since 2013, wearing different hats from being a retreat chef to conducting culinary workshops, consulting for restaurants and content creator for her instagram page @amabilekolenda. She also already has a creative culinary studio in Lisbon called UNA Create, and collaborated writing the first book about functional gastronomy in Portugal called “Cozinha Funcional” in 2022.
She is forever curious and always in study mode when it comes to different culinary styles and ancient medicinal practices.
What truly moves her is the simplicity of natural ingredients and the infinite possibilities they offer in terms of flavors and textures. During retreats, her goal is not just to fill plates, but to nourish souls. Seeing participants feel well-fed, satisfied, and happy is my ultimate reward and makes me feel connected to the greater human experience.
Meet The Shanti Space
The Shanti Space is a beautiful Quinta set in a forest bordering a national park. Quietly cocooned in nature, our neighbours are an Iberian Wolf Sanctuary, the Tapada de Mafra National Park where many animals like deer, wild boar and owls also reside. As a retreat venue it is an utterly unique and tranquil place. The Shanti Space offers the compelling blend of comfort, space, convenience, creative freedom, and calm; the perfect canvas.
For Yogis the Shanti Space offers two unique practice spaces: a spacious garden Shala, flooded with light and surrounded by greenery and a wooden Yoga deck in between the trees where Yogis can reconnect to nature on a deeper level.
Shanti Space was created by our friends Jessica & Jack Weaver, who poured their hearts and souls into crafting the sanctuary. Down to Earth yogis and healing artists with a soft spot for gardening, wholesome food and making music, they and their team support the retreat and regenerate project of the lands surrounding it. Mie met Jessica and Jack in February 2022 at her Zanzibar retreat and is thrilled for this magical collaboration.
Meet the Area ~ Mafra, Portugal
Our venue is a hidden sanctuary in the widely untouched wilderness of Portugal.
Conveniently close to Lisbon Airport (app. 40 minutes by car/Uber)
Within a stone throw away from the picturesque town of Mafra, be prepared to find yourself star gazing at night in the middle of the woods.
The woods surrounding us are always inviting for short and long walks.
A short ride (app. 20 minutes) to the warm and sandy beaches Ericeira and Carvoeira, with breathtaking rock formations and turquoise water.
Ericeira is a fishermen's village and a World Class Surfing Reserve that provides waves and surf spots for all levels within a very short distance. Ericeira was distinguished in 2011 as the first World Surfing Reserve in Europe.
Nearby towns of Lisbon and Sintra offer historical monuments and the UNESCO heritage site
Optional Activities Include:
UNESCO site Sintra
Ericiera Surf Beach / Town
Mafra Palace
Iberian Wolf Sanctuary
SUP yoga
Surfing
Swimming
Healing Therapies: Acupuncture + consultation / biodynamic craniosacral therapy / energy & sound healing / holistic healing, deep tissue massage
Room Options and prices (per person, in Euros) Spring Sale until 18 April!
******If you would like to avoid the payment of 7% tax, please contact me via Whatsapp (a button below) or email, so that I can direct you to other forms of payment (Paypal & bank transfer).
Single with ensuite bathroom
€1515 ~ NOW €930!
Single with shared bathroom:
€1480 ~ NOW €895!
Twin with ensuite:
€1420 ~ NOW €780!
Twin with shared bathroom:
€1215 ~ NOW €720!
Make it stand out
Bunk Bed Quadruple with shared bathroom:
€1110 SOLD OUT
Spacious dorm room with bunk beds and a shared bathroom
Make it stand out
Single Bell Tent with shared bathroom:
€1355 SOLD OUT
Twin Bell Tent with shared bathroom:
€1095 SOLD OUT
What’s Included?
6 nights accommodation at Shanti Space, a sanctuary quietly cocooned in nature neighbouring Tapada de Mafra National Park
Brunch, 2x snacks and dinner with fresh, locally sourced ingredients specially cooked by a local chef
Drinking water and tea all day
Daily yoga sessions with Mie and Franzi covering all aspects of a wholesome Yoga practice
Daily guided Mediation and Pranayama (breathing techniques)
Mantra chanting / Kirtan
Asana Clinic (ask any questions about asanas and beyond and receive private adjustments)
Interactive talks on how Yogic philosophy can help guide our lives
Special workshops
Cacao Ceremony
Opening & closing circle: Opening circle, arrival yoga flow & welcome dinner / closing circle with a fire ceremony and celebration dinner
One month free Flow with Mie online livestream subscription
What’s not included?
Flights & local transportations
Insurance
Drinks apart from water and tea
Optional activities & spa treatments
Everyone is warmly invited to join, regardless of their level of experience. All you need to bring is an open heart and free spirit and an eagerness to discover something new.
