8 Day Awakened Path: A Vision Quest Retreat Near Monchique, Portugal
Wellness Retreat in Portugal
This retreat is an intentional withdrawal from modern life and an invitation to step into a direct relationship with nature, stillness, and inner truth. Held in a secluded off-grid mountain valley in southern Portugal, this is not a passive retreat but a guided Vision Quest held within a supportive retreat container.
Meet the instructors
Highlights
- Kundalini yoga
- Healing ritual practices
- Guided 24-hour fast as part of the vision quest experience
- Conscious Connective Breathwork
- Two-way airport transfers for a smooth experience
- 7 nights accommodation
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Yoga styles
7 days with instruction in English
Accommodation
Rural Escapes
Escape to a hidden sanctuary in the Southern Mountains of Portugal! Tucked away in a serene 6-hectare valley in the breathtaking Serra de Monchique, Algarve, this rural, off-grid retreat offers the perfect escape from the noise of modern life. Just 20 minutes from the healing spa town of Monchique and 35 minutes from the stunning surf beaches of Odeceixe and Aljezur, this is a place where time slows, nature sings, and you can truly unwind.
Step into a world untouched by the rush of daily life. Here, you can disconnect from distractions and reconnect with the rhythms of nature—whether it’s swaying gently in a hammock under ancient trees, exploring hidden trails, or gazing at a sky free from light pollution, where the stars shine like a jeweled tapestry.
Sustainable, Off-Grid Living
Rural Escapes' commitment to sustainability runs deep. Here’s how they live in harmony with the land:
- Solar-powered simplicity: Rural Escapes relies on the sun for electricity and even generates some of its own gas through an innovative biogas system.
- Pure spring water: The drinking water comes from a natural spring, filtered through a charcoal system. They encourage guests to bring reusable bottles to reduce waste.
- Wholesome, plant-based cuisine: Most of the food is homegrown or sourced locally, including happy, free-ranging hens providing fresh eggs directly from neighbors' farms.
- Eco-conscious practices: From compost toilets to natural building materials, they minimize and embrace a waste-free lifestyle.
Room options
Set in 6 hectares of land with stunning views of valleys and mountains, Rural Escapes Portugal still has an intimate feel to it as we accommodate just 12 guests at any time, giving you an exclusive yet affordable experience. So if you are looking to get away from it all, then you really don’t need to look any further!
The accommodation is simple and comprises the following:
- Four spacious bell tents, sleeping two guests comfortably on slatted beds with proper mattresses and warm bedding
- A cabin that sleeps two and has its own seating area with a log burner, compost toilet, and shower.
- A shepherd’s hut with own shower, compost toilet and log burner – perfect for vision quests
- A camper van
Facilities
All bell tents and rooms are fitted with comfortable beds, and the facilities include the following:
- Four compost toilets
- Four solar-heated showers
- A shared outdoor kitchen and eating area
- Clean bedding and towels
- A washing machine (5 EUR per load—free for volunteers)
- A pool
For this retreat, the bell tents, cabins, and one apartment are open for the participants. Allocation of accommodation is applied when you arrive together. Flat fee for all types.
Program
Integrated Kundalini Yoga, Meditation, Digital Detox, and Initiatory Vision Quest
During the retreat, participants are invited into:
- A digital detox
- A simplified way of living
- Time in nature
- Silence
- A 24-hour fast
- Practices designed to gently but clearly challenge habitual patterns
By removing distraction, stimulation, and comfort-seeking, you create the conditions for true listening to the body, the land, and the quiet intelligence beneath thought.
A Phoenix Moment – Vision Through the Inner Fire
A vision quest is not about escaping life but about meeting it more honestly. This retreat is a personal vision quest experience for each participant, a threshold moment where you are invited to step beyond familiarity, remain present through discomfort, and allow what is no longer needed to fall away.
This is the Phoenix Moment:
- a conscious descent,
- a shedding,
- and a return with renewed clarity, direction, and inner authority.
Insight here is not forced, but it is earned.
Rebirth: A Vision Quest Within a Held Retreat Space
This retreat is a deep immersion into your personal healing and rebirth process. Through Integrated Kundalini yoga, meditation, ritual, nature immersion, fasting, silence, and creative inquiry, you are supported to:
- Reset and strengthen your nervous system
- Release outdated identities and patterns
- Reconnect with inner guidance and intuition
- Receive insight into the next chapter of your life
- Return with clarity that can be lived, not just imagined
Each day is carefully structured yet spacious, allowing insights to arise through direct experience, not mental effort. This is not about self-improvement. It is about remembering what remains when the noise falls away.
Digital Detox, Fasting and Nature Immersion
Throughout the retreat, participants are required to engage in a complete digital detox, creating space for the nervous system to recalibrate and perception to deepen.
At the heart of the week is a 24-hour fast, undertaken within a guided and supported container, as part of the vision quest process. Fasting has long been used across cultures to sharpen awareness, access intuition, and mark a threshold moment.
Supported by:
- Extended time alone in nature
- Forest walk at dawn
- Time by wild water and open sky
- Silence, simplicity, and rest
In the absence of constant input, clarity returns, creativity reawakens, and a deeper inner rhythm is restored.
Yoga and Meditative Journey
Two daily sessions support both activation and integration, helping participants meet challenges without overwhelm and gain insight without bypassing. Morning practices build vitality, resilience, and inner fire. Evening practices support assimilation, grounding, and nervous system repair. All practices are accessible to all levels, and no prior experience with fasting or vision quest work is required — only willingness
Join now!
This retreat is for those who feel the call to pause, reset, and listen more deeply. For those standing at a threshold. For those ready to let something old fall away and allow something truer to rise.
Instructors
Ashley Jones
Ashley Jones is a London-based Kundalini yoga and meditation instructor. Ashley is a compassionate and intuitive teacher with over 10 years of experience to share. Her classes are dynamic, friendly, fun, and delivered with a down-to-earth approach. Ashley is also a life coach and thrives on creating the space for expansion and growth both on and off the mat. She believes there is a way through every perceived obstacle or block and encourages her students to tap into their full potential and to remember always how amazing they are, no matter what challenges may surface.
Camilla Bergman
With over two decades of committed inner work, Camilla’s path has been shaped through 26 years in 12-Step fellowships alongside ongoing practice in yoga, breathwork, ritual, and sound. She has been teaching yoga since 2012 and has guided retreats in Tenerife, Brighton, and Portugal. Recently certified as a Conscious Connected Breathwork facilitator and trained in sound healing with Don Conreux, Camilla brings a grounded, intuitive presence to the spaces she holds. Her work is devoted to supporting honest self-inquiry, embodied awareness, and the gentle unfolding of insight through breath.
Retreat location
What's included
- Airport transfers to and from Faro
- Structured solo time in nature
- Kundalini yoga
- Healing ritual practices
- Deep mediation practices
- Guided journaling exercises
- Guided 24-hour fast as part of the vision quest experience
- Sound baths
- Conscious connective breathwork
- 7 nights accommodation
What's not included
- Airfare
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Transfer included
Faro Airport
68 km away from your destination
Roundtrip transfers are included.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 14 days before arrival.
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