6 Day Wild & Free Yoga Women's Retreat in Algarve
Yoga Retreat in Portugal
Go on a journey to reconnect, rewild, and remember how it feels to dance with life, to let go, to go inwards, to find clarity, peace, and deeper self-love. Are you ready to re-awaken your wild woman within? Wild & Free is a women’s retreat designed to give you space to connect with yourself and like-minded women. Tune into sacred feminine wisdom and embrace your authentic self. Rediscover the wild energy within and celebrate your true essence. This transformative retreat is about reclaiming your power and nurturing your soul.
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- Daily morning Vinyasa/Hatha style yoga classes (some workshop-style yoga classes to learn technique and go deeper in your practice)
- Daily morning guided meditation sessions and journaling workshops
- Experience a sound bath evening, a cyclical wisdom workshop, a cacao ceremony, and reiki and cacao healing circle (each evening is different)
- Evening Yin Yoga class
- Some yoga classes will be outdoors on the wooden deck
- All the yoga equipment you will need will be provided
- 5 nights accommodation
- Daily buffet style breakfast, vegetarian lunch (except market day), and 3-course vegetarian dinner
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Yoga styles
Accommodation
Facilities
- Swimming pool (outdoor)
- Garden
- Bicycle rental
- Board rental
You will rest in modern, eclectic rooms that have recently been renovated and styled. You will enjoy organic, vegetarian food that is grown and produced on site, prepared by local vegetarian and vegan chefs. The farm produces its own jams and honey for you to enjoy.
This venue also has a salt swimming pool and a terrace, a gorgeous spot to watch the sunrise and sunset. The beautiful Mediterranean garden has a century-old fresh water spring where you can cool off or rest to the sound of gentle waterfalls.
Program
Included:
All retreats are 5 nights & 6 days. All meals and retreat activities are included.
Each day includes:
morning meditation and ritual
guided journaling
yoga class suitable for all levels
There will also be workshops:
women’s circles
sacred cyclical wisdom
cacao ceremony
sound healing
Plus other special activities weaved into the retreat. All of this, plus plenty of free time to enjoy the heated swimming pool, kayaks & paddle boards for rent and the lush mountains, meadows and lakes that surrounds the retreat venue. This is a time for you to soak up the Algarve sunshine and feel supported by a community. You will learn tools and practices that you can bring into your daily life to bring more ease, flow & harmony.
Move your body, eat nutritious home-cooked food, heal, laugh, share, soak up the sun and dance under the moon with like-minded women.
Wild & Free is inspired by the sacred feminine that is attuned to nature and empowers her life by living in sync with the cyclical nature of all things (the moon, the Celtic Wheel and our own feminine cycles).
You will each set an intention at the start of the retreat and that can simply be to rest and recharge or to receive guidance on a big life decision. All intentions are welcome and some women come not knowing why (and that will usually gently reveal itself).
Yoga
Daily yoga classes will take place out in nature or in a beautiful indoor space. Start the day with a 90-minute Vinyasa-Hatha style practice. Sarah teaches yoga as a way to find freedom in your body. She incorporates a workshop style to the class where you will learn specific technique to improve your practice. The classes are suitable for all levels - so if you are new to yoga that’s ok, you are welcome. On the first day, in the evening, you will have a restorative or yin yoga practice and yoga nidra session.
Meditation
Every morning, start the day in silence and go straight to meditation. Sarah guides you through her meditation technique using your 5 senses. You will learn techniques, experience guided meditations and develop your practice over 5 mornings of dedicated practice. The intention is that you will have a meditation practice to incorporate into your morning ritual to use when you return home. Follow the meditation session with a guided journaling session working with the energies present at the time of year (Celtic Wheel / moon phase). These sessions offer you tools to go inward and really listen to what your soul is calling for.
Cacao ceremony
At Wild and Free you are invited to join a cacao ceremony. Cacao is a plant medicine that has been used in Central America for several thousand years for spiritual and ceremonial purposes. Sarah is a trained cacao facilitator and she creates a beautiful, abundant, fun and joyous ceremony for you to experience your wild woman. Here you will learn about cacao, experience its healing benefits and integrate the medicine with sound healing, movement, creativity and yoga nidra. Many of the women say this is the most special part of the retreat.
Sacred Cyclical Wisdom workshop
A unique part of Wild and Free is the workshop Sarah lead called ‘the sacred woman'. This is an interactive space to learn, share wisdom and practice working with cycles - the moon phases for manifesting and co-creating with the Universe, menstrual cycle awareness as a tool for self-care, and the Celtic Wheel for living more in alignment with nature and your soul’s mission. Learning about these cycles and weaving them into your consciousness with help you connect deeply with the feminine and live with more ease and joy.
Sound bath
You will experience a sound bath with João (Kior Sound Healing) during your retreat. This is a special event where you will lie in comfort and let sound clear discordance and stuck energy within your energy field. João uses a variety of instruments including gongs, crystal singing bowls, Tibetan bowls, guitar, voice, handpan, shamanic drums, shruti box and more. Prepare yourself for something special and enjoy
the benefits of relaxation, an increased sense of wellbeing, expanded awareness, and access to inner visionary experience.
Things you will enjoy:
Reconnecting to nature
This venue is set among 800 hectares of rugged, wild nature with mountains, meadows, lakes and springs all around. Together we will go for a lake swim, and practice a water cleansing ritual. Another day you will hike as a group and enjoy a picnic lunch at the mountain top. During your free time you will have the opportunity to explore the area by doing your own hike, or renting a bike, kayak or paddle board.
The beach
On one of the days we take a special adventure to the sister restaurant to enjoy breakfast with a different view. You will then walk to the nearby Praia da Falésia beach to swim and soak up the sun.
Sisterhood
One of the most beautiful things about Wild and Free is the connections that women make here. You will be gathering with like-minded souls in a high vibrational setting. You share your experiences and your wisdom in this supportive, safe space. It is a space to listen and be heard; space to find medicine in the stories of others; and connecting, sharing and healing together. Women of all ages gather at Wild and Free - on most retreats Sarah have women in their 20s, 30s, 40, 50s and 60s - making it a big wild circle of wisdom and inspiration.
Wild and Free retreat schedule (examples)
Example schedule 1
08:00 – 09:00 Morning meditation and journaling
09:00 Breakfast
11:00 – 12:00 Morning yoga
Free time
Explore the surrounding area by foot, kayak or bike. You might have a massage or treatment in the retreat centre. Some days there will be planned things that are included in your retreat like a hike with picnic at the mountain top.
- 17:00 Evening yoga
- 19:00 Dinner
- Relax, chill and connect in the evenings. You can book in an evening massage
Example schedule 2
- 08:00 – 12:00 Morning as usual with meditation, yoga outside and breakfast
- Free time
- 16:00 Cacao ceremony
- 19:00 Dinner and chill
Example schedule 3
- 08:00 - 12:00 Morning as usual with meditation, yoga outside and breakfast
- Free time
- 16:00 Sound bath
- 19:00 Dinner and connection with your tribe.
Example schedule 4
- 08:00 - 11:00 Meditation, yoga outside and trip to special venue for breakfast
- Day at beautiful beach - Praia da Falésia
- 17:00 Evening session
- 19:00 Dinner
Included excursions
Enjoy a group guided hike/walk to the lake on the land to swim in a still rain water lake, use the soft mud for a facial mask and allow yourself to feel your inner wildness.
A tour of the farm to see restorative farming in action, learn from the owner and visit a jam making factory and learn about drying figs.
Instructors
Sarah Shannon
Sarah is a yoga and meditation teacher, cacao ceremony practitioner, and moon circle host. She shares offerings through her online platform, retreats Wild and Free, and in Algarve, Portugal. She believes that, through yoga and soulful practices and rituals, you can connect to something powerful and beautiful: your own natural power. The practices that she shares have allowed her to discover who she is and they have given her the confidence to let her light shine in this world.
João
João is a sound healer. Kior sound healing uses a variety of instruments including gongs, crystal singing bowls, Tibetan bowls, guitar, voice, hand pan, shamanic drums, shruti box, and some more.
Laura Walsh
Laura is a Reiki master and will join Sarah for a cacao and reiki healing circle experience for guests.
Retreat location
The retreat will take place in a stunning venue in Benafim, Algarve, Portugal.
Wild and Free is taking up residence in a stunning venue this autumn, set among 800 hectares of wild rugged nature - the perfect backdrop to let your wild woman free. This center, just 35 minutes' drive from Faro airport, has magnificent views of the mountains, meadows, lakes, and springs that surround it, with bikes, kayaks, and paddleboards available to use for exploring in a myriad of different ways.
Faro Airport (FAO) is less than three hours' flight from London Gatwick, and only just over three hours from Dublin and many other European destinations.
This Yoga Retreat is vegetarian-friendly
Click to see more vegetarian-friendly Yoga Retreats
Food
Farm fresh food
Enjoy breakfast out on the deck with scenic views. The breakfast is prepared with fresh products including scones, pancakes, fruit, fresh orange juice, jams produced on the farm that we are on, cheese, eggs, yogurt, toast, muesli, coffee, tea and infusions made with herbs from the farm.
Lunch is served every day at 1pm (except one of the days where there is an optional market excursion).
Every night will be a delicious three-course meal prepared by local chefs with food grown on the premises. The farm produces beautiful honey (and jams) which you can purchase to take home with you.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
- Detox juices
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Organic
- Whole food
- Other dietary requirements on request
Things to do (optional)
During your free time you will have the opportunity to explore the area by doing your own hike, or renting a bike, kayak or paddle board. Or enjoy a massage/reiki treatment in the spa.
Optional you can enjoy a trip to the market in Loulé. A local town with a buzzing and vibrant market, cobbled streets, cafes and restaurants and wonderful places for you to shop and buy spiritual gifts for yourself like crystals and incense. (must arrange your own taxi/transport)
Spa treatments
At an additional cost, you will be able to book a massage or Reiki treatment during your free time at Wild and Free.
What's included
- Daily yoga for all levels
- Daily chakra morning meditation
- Daily guided morning journaling
- Daily guided meditation
- Heart-opening cacao ceremony
- Wisdom of cycles candlelit circle
- Healing sound bath and kirtan
- Reiki & cacao healing circle
- Hiking and lake swimming
- Journal and pen
- Hairdryer, bath towels, shampoo, body wash, and body lotion
- 5 nights in luxury accommodation
- Daily nutritious & vegetarian breakfast and
- Daily evening 3 course vegetarian dinner
- 3 vegetarian lunches
What's not included
- Flights and transfer
- Any meals/coffees on your free time adventures at the venue and outside of the venue
- Activities at and outside of the retreat center that you may choose to do such as bike and water sport rentals, and local tours.
- Optional healing treatments paid directly to the therapist
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Faro Airport
28 km
Transfer not provided
Lisbon Portela Airport
192 km
Transfer not provided
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 24.2% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 56 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookYogaRetreats.com. All major credit cards supported.