COME TO PORTUGAL. COME BACK TO YOURSELF
YOU'VE DONE THE YOGA, THE WALKS & THE EARLY NIGHTS. SO WHY DO YOU STILL FEEL DEPLETED?
Because information isn't the same as understanding and movement isn't the same as rest. At a Sweetyoga retreat we go deeper than the practice. We look at what your nervous system is actually doing, why your body holds what it holds, and what your version of equilibrium looks like, not someone else's.
Six days in the Portuguese countryside with a maximum of 8 women. No big groups, no getting lost in the crowd, just a small, warm gathering where the yoga is adapted to you, not the other way around. Your own ensuite room is standard. Meals are cooked from scratch. Your airport transfer is chaperoned and included. If you're travelling alone, you're in safe hands from the moment you land.
You don't have to organise a thing because Justine has been running these retreats for over 13 years so she's thought of everything. She holds it all so you can finally stop.
WHAT WE WORK WITH Therapeutic yoga twice daily ⚫︎ Understanding your body workshops ⚫︎ Why your body reacts the way it does ⚫︎ Breathing tools that actually work ⚫︎ Rest practices ⚫︎ Stress and anxiety tools ⚫︎ Taking yoga into daily life ⚫︎ Reflection and enquiry time ⚫︎ Noble silence ⚫︎ Sound Bath
WHAT'S TAKEN CARE OF Your own ensuite room ⚫︎ Three meals a day cooked from scratch ⚫︎ Chaperoned airport transfers ⚫︎ Pool and wild swimming ⚫︎ Ayurvedic Massage ⚫︎ Face Massage in your room ⚫︎ Picnic excursion ⚫︎ Maximum 8 women
6-12 June | 5-11 Sept | 19-25 Sept | 17-23 Oct
£1,200 per person, own ensuite room
£750 per person, shared with friend/partner
Absolutely fantastic retreat. It was so well organised, fabulous yoga, food, rooms, views, great bunch of women. I hated leaving, I want to return next year. Brenda.
YOGA
The yoga here isn't about getting it right. It's about finally understanding what's been getting in the way.
Whether you've never unrolled a mat or you've been practising for decades, or you're a yoga teacher who just needs to stop for a week — this is for you.
Most women arrive having practised before and discover in the first session that nobody has ever really explained their body to them. Why a pose doesn't work the way it's supposed to. What they've been pushing against without realising. What their particular body actually needs instead.
That's where everything shifts.
The practices are therapeutic, unhurried and responsive to whoever is in the room that week. You'll never be told to push through or keep up. We adapt, adjust and take our time.
You'll leave with a practice that feels like yours. Not shapes you were told to make. Something you understand from the inside out — so you know exactly what to do with it when you get home.
I loved learning how the poses could feel easier in my body. Maria.
FOOD
For most women being cooked for is quietly one of the most powerful parts of the week. Not because the food is fancy — though it is genuinely delicious — but because for six days nobody is asking you what's for dinner.
The menu is vegetarian, made entirely from scratch and changes daily. Think proper veggie lasagne, fragrant curries and fresh foccaccia straight from the oven. Comfort food that happens to be good for you, made with the same care and attention that runs through everything here.
Breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm, dinner at 7pm. Wine is available by the glass with your evening meal if you fancy it.
If you have specific dietary requirements, just mention it at the point of booking — we'll do everything we can to accommodate you and will let you know if a small surcharge applies.
The icing on the lovely lemon polenta cake is that the food is fabulous, as a gluten free-er I was looked after. Laura.
VILLA & AREA
This isn't a purpose-built retreat centre. It's a spacious holiday home on the edge of a real Portuguese village — and that's entirely the point. Because the whole thread of a Sweetyoga retreat is learning to take your practice into daily life. Not a fantasy bubble you have to leave behind when you get home. Because tools learned in the real world actually work in the real world.
The villa is generous with it's space so you get your quiet moments. Bedrooms across two floors, a lounge, a pool, a patio and a yoga room with a view across the valley that will stop you in your tracks. Wander the vineyard, pick figs or lemons, sit in the hammock. Your free time is yours.
Two types of massages are available during the week at very good prices — an ayurvedic body massage or a tension relieving facial. A little extra something if you want it.
Vila Nova do Ceira sits 35km from Coimbra, the famous old university city and Praia Fluvial das Canaveias is a ten minute walk away — a beautiful, clean river beach with a bar and café if you just want to sit and do nothing. It's a blue flag water area, meaning the rivers and beaches meet the highest standards for cleanliness and safety. On picnic day we visit the magnificent Castelo da Lousã, an 11th century castle in the mountains.
At night, the stars are something else entirely.
As a newcomer to yoga I felt extremely comfortable and I went away with tools to start my day more wisely and live more calmly in my busy life. Regina.
* The village has a chemist, supermarket, post office, cafe and cash point should you need anything. I have local inside knowledge having lived nearby for many years.
The Frequently Asked Questions page has lots of useful information. It explains where the retreat takes place, what the schedule is, the group transfer info, booking flights, what to pack, weather conditions ........
BOOK EARLY & STRETCH YOUR PAYMENTS
Let me know your preferred date OR if you are curious, either way, it will be nice to connect!