The passion behind our yoga retreats

We're delighted to present 3 new videos shot earlier this summer by the talented Lisbon film director, Tiago Pedro de Carvalho. We asked Tiago to capture the passion of our team, to take a look behind the scenes and explain a little better why we love practicing and teaching yoga here, why we prepare such delicious and nutritious food, and why we include massage and acupuncture treatments on every retreat.

You can also find these videos on our Facebook page. Help us spread the word about Vale de Moses by sharing with those you think might really enjoy retreating with us. View our calendar of retreats and reserve your place online via our Vale de Moses retreat website.

10 reasons to retreat to Vale de Moses

By Katherine Smith, republished with permission from her own blog.

The mountain air rouses me from sleep, tickling the tip of my nose, as I breath deep. It’s not quite dawn and in the darkness the expectant moon shines through my window before it disappears behind the swaying tree line.

I rise in the stillness, to the sound of silence. I shower swiftly and pick my way across the olive terraces to the yoga retreat below.  A quick coffee, a reflective moment and I am ready for the day, which always began with practice then teaching.

Stretching, sweating, laughing and sometimes even swearing before giving in to Savasana is how I remember mornings at Vale de Moses. It is the place I called home for two years before moving to Amsterdam and where I’ll be leading yoga retreats this May, August and October.

Vale de Moses is a small old valley farm nestled in the remote and picturesque foothills of the Serra de Estrela mountain range, Central Portugal. Here you can retreat for a week on the edge of wilderness, in the beautifully restored home of the Winter family, who will enchant you.

From mud-baths and forest walks to healing hands and floating yoga spaces there are almost too many reasons to retreat to Vale de Moses. It is full of magic and might just be the very escape your soul has been searching for.

Here are 10 reasons to go on yoga retreat at Vale de Moses:

1. Healing hands

With one treatment included in every yoga retreat no-one misses out on benefiting from an incredible massage and/or acupuncture session with Vonetta or Peter.

2. The floating yoga shala

The yoga shala is perched above the vegetable patch and fragrant herb garden, providing stunning panoramic views of the surrounding forest and mountains, which burst into full bloom in May.  Yoga classes are offered every morning and afternoon in this serene spot.

3. Hidden spaces & secluded spots

If you get tired relaxing by the natural plunge pools, lounging on the sun-terraces or feasting in the sunken courtyard there are plenty of secret spots to discover where you can enjoy time alone, in close proximity to nature, beneath the Portuguese sun.

4. High vibes, mountain climbing and hikes

If yoga isn’t enough and you still have energy to burn, you can take off on the multitude of hiking trails through the mountains, visit local villages for a cheeky coffee or go climbing with an experienced guide.

5. Morning walks in the woods

Let Andy lead you through the forest on one of his infamous morning walks that never fail to inspire. It is the perfect way to wake up your body for the yoga class that will follow.

6. Furry friends

The dogs at Moses are very much part of the yoga family and love cuddles.

7. The food

Vale de Moses believes in abundance and feeding guests well. You will be served nourishing, homely meals rich in pulses, grains and fresh vegetables that are intended to be gentle on the digestion.

8. The wilderness

Magic happens when you immerse yourself in nature. Research has shown that spending time outdoors can have a positive impact on your health and happiness. Here you can bath in the natural pools, the forest, the mud or just the sun.

9. Getting here won’t break the bank

Flights to Lisbon or Porto are usually inexpensive, from within the rest of Europe, if you time it booking them right. According to Skyscanner 7 weeks ahead of your trip is the best time to book affordable flights. (Direct coaches to Oleiros on Sunday afternoon where there'll pick everyone up by car. Lisbon 1.30pm Porto 4.30pm. Rede Expressos site.)

10. Lisbon

It is hard not to fall in love with Lisbon. Its sunny colours, corner cafes and arty ambience provide the perfect stop off on route to Vale de Moses. There are plenty of beautiful Airbnb properties at reasonable prices, not to mention an incredible range of hostels offering rooms for as little at €15 per night. Be sure not to miss the Pasteis de Natas in Belem!

And if you’re still not convinced. Watch this video.



Join me at Vale De Moses for Wild & Whole, 1-7th May, 7-13 August, 2-8 October or Get on your mat with Kat, 8-14th May, 14-20 August, 9-15 October.

Online Reservations showing live availability for each of my retreats. Prices start from €740 for couples or friends sharing a private room, 790€ for a place in the old stone cottages, or 890€ for a private bedroom, Soulpad or Tipi as single occupancy.

Kat x

The State of Deliciousness, my retreat review by Chloe Skinner

Lying on my yoga mat this morning I was 'invited into stillness' by Von - my favourite yoga teacher, and now, after my third visit to Vale de Moses, my friend. I lay there in the beautiful yoga shala overlooking mountainous forests, gleefully anticipating the joy of the astanga practice that was to come - a yoga practice guided by Von's playful, sincere and genuine love of sharing the joy of yoga with others. 'Stillness' isn't something that I find easy to 'achieve', but here at Vale de Moses, even in the invigorating movement of a vinyasa flow, a meditative morning walk with Andy, or a solitary hike up a hill, I can - albeit apprehensively and reluctantly at times - find stillness.

Stillness in the surrounding mountains; stillness in the stars on a clear night; stillness in the people around me; stillness in myself. Stillness can be intimidating, particularly following or during life's storms - the times I have found myself journeying back to Vale de Moses - but the warmth and love of those that live and work here, coupled with the ease of finding solitude, is such a nurturing environment in which to seek stillness.

As someone more naturally inclined toward movement however, the ability to balance this stillness I need so much with the delight of  physically flowing - as well as the inevitability of a concurrent emotional flowing - is one of the many dynamics which draws me to Vale de Moses. After a morning walk with a sparkly-eyed and warm-souled Andy - predominantly silent but with a vignette of wisdom sprinkled in - a yoga class in which all different bodies are lovingly celebrated, 'held', supported and encouraged by Von, and a body and soul nourishing breakfast with good food and good people, I spent some time alone yesterday down at one of the natural pools - basking in the cool, fresh water, the fire of the sun, the rich smell of the earth and the silkiness of the light wind.

In the nurturing stillness, I found the rarity of the time to 'look' - simply 'look' - and found movement, adventure and busyness. Watching the small fish under the surface, the insects resting on the water's surface, the sway of the surrounding trees, I thought about how lucky I am to find myself in a place where I am reminded of the ease of loving this life, this world, these people, this self - even amidst the inevitabilities of pain and hardship which came before, and will come after, this moment, this week, this retreat.

All of this and it was only midday! The afternoon followed with mouth-tingling nourishment, brain-stimulating conversation, heart-warming laughter, body-quenching yoga practice and, all in all, soul-quenching life! Lovely life!

This morning, after hearing ourselves moving, stretching, and breathing into our bodies alongside one another - bodies that have recently been deeply massaged by the expert hands of Pete or Von - two of the other guests remarked upon how good an idea it was to come to Vale de Moses. I couldn't agree more - it is an excellent idea... indeed, it is my favourite! It is true, however, that one of my 'favourite' volunteers here said yesterday that 'every 'thing' is your favourite'. But that is just how I feel at Vale de Moses...as Von said to me,

'it is just about moving from one state of deliciousness to another'. 

And it is. It is delicious here.  Come.

Chloe Skinner

Kids leaving home & Yoga at Christmas in the Bajan Sun - by Vonetta

We've been having another super summer here at Vale de Moses. So many guests once again have made long trips from all over the world to spend a week or 2 with us in our home in these remote Portuguese mountains. Doesn't feel so remote here when we're surrounded by all these lovely people. You should see some of their sweet photos of their stays on our FB page and some kind words in reviews on our new Trip Advisor page.

We’ve had tremendous help from lots of great people too. Our Karma volunteers have relentlessly and cheerily washed dishes and tidied spaces. Katherine Smith has continually created culinary delights in our kitchen, wrote our first retreat menu cookbook and teaches her afternoon yin yoga classes. Fleur van Hille from Amsterdam is sadly leaving us today after running 4 inspirational vinyasas flow retreats in July and August. And Peter Packard, who Maria Mercati (my TCM teacher from Body Harmonics in the UK) sent us, has been brilliantly massaging our guests this summer and treated me too with regular with acupuncture and Thai, keeping my own body in good energetic shape for teaching and treating everyone that comes here.

Pete and I have decided to run our first Thai Massage Course with Yoga this October, 19th to 25th. We're really looking forward to it. If it goes well, we plan to run a few more courses next year too.

Big family changes are on the close horizon for us in the next few weeks. My Eloise got accepted into Art School in Lisbon, António Arroio. So she’ll be leaving home end of September to stay with a family there until we can find a place to rent together in Lisbon from January onwards. Gulp.

Joshua is also moving to Castelo Branco to finish off his last year at a new school, Nuno Alvares, studying Physics. He’s in England at the moment with Andy’s folks touring a few universities to consider. So both Eli and Josh are leaving home at the same time in under a month!! A little earlier than we had thought they would. Andy keeps telling me "breathe, Vonetta, breathe. Change is inevitable. It’s all gonna be OK."

I went shopping with Ellie and a friend of mine the other day and picked up a number of items of clothing I felt best represented my present incarnation as Von.  As I lifted up the choices for my friend’s inspection, I was thinking “yep, nice look”.  My friend raised her nose, smiled out of the corner of her mouth and noted “you can take the island girl to the city and through the desert and place her in the middle of the Portuguese forest, but you definitely can’t take the island out of the girl!”  I looked again at the clothes, one with a palm tree printed over bright magenta, others with orange, sunshine yellow or cobalt blue fabric.  I smiled back recognising the truth of her statement. I am an island girl and that is never going to change, no matter how far I have come since leaving Barbados at 17.  I left the shops that day knowing what I really wanted. To go home to that beautiful, feisty tiny rock in the middle of the cobalt Caribbean Sea, and teach some yoga surrounded by real palm trees.

Teaching and living in a temperate climate like this in Portugal is exciting.  As the seasons change, so too does my yoga practice.  More expansive in the summer months. More internalised in the cold winter months. Feeling the surge of energy as the Spring sap rises in the forest, and being refreshed by the Autumn rains as they douse the acute dryness of our long summer months. Yet there is nothing like practicing in a constant climate - the day and night temperatures are relatively stable in Barbados. Even the sea temperature varies little.  Air humidity is moist with a cooling drying sea breeze.  This constant temperature means that the body has the opportunity to remain in a pretty constant state of muscular relaxation. There are no sudden cold chills to shorten the back of the neck and lock the hips.  Flexibility is greatly improved by consistency, not only consistency of practice but also consistency of environment.

While recently away with Andy and the kids (and Sally & Jonathan my inlaws) on the Costa Vicentina in June, down on the South West gorgeousness of Portugal, I needed a vigorous practice of backbends, handstands and salutations before my body temperature was high enough to cope with the invigorating Atlantic sea.  It was fun to run around, get hot and then charge into the ocean, but I definitely felt the need for strength over flexibility.  While lying on the sand recovering from the shock and thrill of the cold water, I found my memory drawing me to a particular practice time I experienced last year when we ventured back to Barbados.  It was one of those practices you don’t forget easily. Instant ecstasy.

Everything feels more alive when we practice outside especially with the song of tropical birds in the ears and a turn to face the waves of the ocean or a monkey stealing a mango from its tree. A pre heated supple body, softened by an early morning swim in warm clear water retreating from the Caribbean sun to a shaded veranda for a long slow indulgence in the fine art of stretching and breathing.  I began the practice that morning with breath work and was immediately delighted by the ease of my breath. Warm salty water into the nose from the sea rather than from my usual neti pot meant my breathing was silky smooth and entirely relaxed.

In my sun salutations, I felt like a hot knife moving through room temperature butter as all 650 plus muscles in my body surrendered to the Bajan sun. There was no crunch in the spine as I slid from Chaturanga Dandasana to Updog.  I was able to assess the liquid nature of my spine as I folded into forward bends and the strength of fully relaxed muscles as I sprung into Full Wheel.  For the first time in several years I was able to effortlessly place both feet behind my head and sit, it was so good to experience easy open hips.  I emerged from Yoga Nidrasana thinking once again, “This yoga shit is the bomb”.  My mind was quieted and utterly present as the gentle swish of the lapping sea, placed me in a mellow mood.  I walked along the beach after practice towards the kids snorkling with Andy out on the reef and as my entire pelvis swayed effortlessly from left to right I lost the sensation of having bones or separate parts.  The supple nature of my spine made me feel somehow taller and thinner.  Liquefied is the word that most aptly describes the experience of practicing yoga in Barbados. My nervous system in tune with my mood worked with me and everything within flowed as one.

My practice on the beach in Barbados that day made me realise that I wanted to find a way for others to feel this comfortable while practicing yoga. For those who struggle with tight hamstrings, stiff hips and a rigid lower back, retreating to my little island might be just the thing for them to escape the pain and discomfort in their bodies that colder northern winters often bring. When we got back to Portugal we decided we’d run retreats there one day if we ever found the right place.

Bathsheba along the East Coast of the island has always been my favourite part of the island.  Our Sunday afternoon family outings there as a child always involved a drive and rest watching the waves of the Atlantic ocean crashing against the shore.  My mum and my dad both live in more populated and buzzing parts of the island. Bathsheba in contrast ushers in an energy of reverence as the small hills and dunes formed out of the flat chalk areas of the rest of the island and scenes of busy hotels and home districts fade to small wooden chattel houses and fecund tropical vegetation.  No matter the time of year we could always find a good breeze to lift the spirits and dry away the tropical humidity, easing us into serenity. Bathsheba gave me this as a child and 25 years later nothing has changed, serenity is still very much the spirit of the east coast.

Earlier this year my Dad called to say he had found us the perfect place to have Yoga Retreats and it was, of course, in Bathsheba.  A newly built retreat called Lush Life with a dozen or so luxury eco lodges, set in an 18 acre palm tree forest far from the often overcrowded parts of the island with their big hotels. We checked out their website and Youtube video and I immediately knew where we were going to be spending our winters from here on in, out of the European wet and cold and in with the new, hot Christmases of yoga and gentle rebalancing and maybe a little partying at night on the lively South Coast bars and clubs.

So we’re off to Barbados this December. Just for a couple of weeks this time. December 16-30. In these retreat weeks we will yoga chill, immerse ourselves in the tropical heat, moisture and natural Vitamin D boost of the sun, and explore a more supple, yielding, willing, adaptable body, possibly a little freer from our winter aches and pains.

My shopping friend was right, I am indeed still Vonnie from Barbados and I’m sooo looking forward to sharing my little island with those coming with us this Christmas.

When we return to Portugal in the New Year, it will be to a new phase of our lives, based more in Lisbon, until our 2015 yoga retreat season starts again at Vale de Moses.  We will have spent 7 years living here full time in this beautiful peaceful forested valley, and from January our adventure and our daughter are drawing us to the charming capital city of Lisbon.  Perhaps we’ll add to our annual retreat calendar, not just more Thai Massage courses and winter trips to Barbados, but also some short Spring and Autumn city breaks in Lisbon with yoga classes and treatments. I wonder....:)

Watch this space.

Peace and Love

Vonetta xxx

Tired of Speaking Sweetly - a poem by Hafiz

Bom Dia!  A good friend of ours David Pott sent us this poem this morning by the 13th century mystic Sufi poet Hafiz, and I couldn't resist sharing it on the blog.

Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us, 
Break all our teacup talk of God. 
If you had the courage and 
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights, 
He would just drag you around the room 
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world 
By your hair, 
That bring you no joy. 

Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly 
All your erroneous notions of truth 
That make you fight within yourself, dear one, 
And wants to rip to shreds 
And with others,
Causing the world to weep
On too many fine days.

God wants to manhandle us,
And practice His dropkick. 
Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself 
The Beloved sometimes wants 
To do us a great favor: 

Hold us upside down And shake all the nonsense out. 

He is in such a “playful drunken mood” 
Quickly packs their bags and hightails it 
But when we hear 
Most everyone I know 
Out of town. 

~ Hafiz ~
The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

We've been revelling in the retreats so far this year. So wonderful to have guests animating the landscape once again. It's such a joyous thing to watch people relax into their week, with themselves and with other people around them. If you've been here you'll know exactly what I mean.

After a few days of daily yoga practice, morning meditation walks through the forest, dips in the natural river pools, good food, clean spring water to drink and bathe in, and most importantly of all, some massage and acupuncture from Vonetta, the months of stress and tension that often lead people to come on retreat, begins to melt away.

You see it on the face first of all. I really should take before and after photos of everyone so you can see what that looks like. "Angel faces" is how our last week's group aptly described the phenomenon. When the tension that builds up in the small muscles of the face disappears, it's like seeing a brand new version of someone.

A special thanks also to our Karma Yogi volunteers this year. Lou from the UK, Maria from Germany and our dear friend and yoga teacher Sara from Oleiros were so helpful in getting us started for the year. Thanks for your patience in the chaos of set up. Much appreciated. :)

This month we have the delightful Petra & Sophia from Holland and Dylan from south Australia. All the volunteers have worked incredibly hard to enable the retreats to run smoothly and with a lot of fun too. You guys are stars. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the team. You've set the bar high for the teams that follow!

Our friend Tashi Dawa flew in for a fortnight of retreats in April and as always lifted our spirits with her loveliness. So sad to see her leave but we wish her all the best in her retreats in Italy and France this year with Kaliyoga.

That's all for now, just wanted to share Hafiz's poem with you today as I loved the idea of the divine playfully turning us upside down now and again.

Saude, Paz e Amor

Memphis

A little Life Yoga - by Vonetta

2013 was a firecracker of a year. Well alive. As usual we Winters have had some great successes and some not so successful times.  The good thing about being floored by experience is that on the floor we can be inspired to bow down and look for encouragement in the tiniest little detail.  There have been times this year where I have been grateful for the quiet beauty of a single act of nature unfolding, or the soothing melody of the water continually flowing below, calming all.   At other times the quiet and solitude of the Vale was shown the door and the hills reverberated with the aliveness of everything; people, music, birds, dogs, bugs, jostling against everything else looking for a role in the play.

Andy’s Mum Sally once said to me that my hubby was the kind of man who liked to entertain.  At the time I thought that didn’t seem so bad, a little entertaining.  Never in my youngest dreams did I imagine that we would be entertaining coach loads of people.  Never did I imagine that I would have Happy Birthday sung to me in eight languages, in my own home.  Never did I imagine that my son would play piano to our guests and sooth us all into conversation.  Never did I imagine that I would watch my 14 year old daughter bossing around an entire kitchen, well perhaps I imagined that.  And yet, all that has occurred this year has seemed so natural, so obvious. Perhaps the great Tapestry Maker of life has been weaving this particular pattern for some time, if so, thank you Tapestry Maker, I like the pattern, and may we repeat what is beautiful and correct our mistakes.

Particularly brilliant threads of this year:

• Joshy Bear’s soothing piano playing filling the silence.  Your kisses on the forehead every time I thought my brain might explode.  A kiss, simple but effective medicine.
• Fleur blowing the trumpet; Fleur exclaiming how wonderful everything is; Fleur in fairy wings and sparkly dust.  I like your groove.
• Tashi giving me what for and making me sit up straight.  Thanks Tash, my L2 and L3 will always thank you.  When asked if we yoginis should keep the bandhas on at all times, Master Dawa replied that you could wait for a bus, or while waiting for a bus put your bandhas on and practice yoga.  Favourite Soundbite of the Year:  Master Dawa “I would rather practice yoga than wait for a bus”
• Ellie and Andy leading up a pizza storm and dancing in the Kitchen.
• Emma Jane Bunn.  My London Girl.
• The amazing Viking lady, Marte, who ran up and down the hills every day after the silent walk and after 3 hours of yoga. Awesome.
• The art installations in the Forest made by our guests.  Placing something in the path encourages us to visit the path more often.  Thank you …for the mosaic in the Forest and the blue painted trunk, they never fail to make me smile. 
• Being nurtured, soothed and calmed by Liese van Dam and her Ayurvedic oils. Yummy. 
• Shrieks of laughter and squealing coming from the River in the Valley.
• Running through the valleys, at the end of the day knowing that everything is being looked after by lovely people at home.
• My crazy family on both sides.
• Spending a whole four days with the Fantabulous Jagos, we are coming to home to you in 2014, make room for the Winters.
• Everyone and anyone who chose to practice A Little Life Yoga at Vale de Moses.  As some of you may know I am taking a course in Natural Medicine over the next three years with The School of Natural Medicine.  I hope to gain a little empirical knowledge by posting up a few short questionnaires on Facebook.  Answering some of the light questions may be fun.  I hope you enjoy what we are learning and are willing to share your experiences.
• Standing up on a Surf Board while staying with Sara Serrão's at her Cerca do Sul paradise.

• The chaos of puppies, born on my birthday, hearing Alex squealing "PUUPPIIEEEES" in excitement.  Life is funny, for years I have repeated this mantra to calm my baby making hormones, “No late babies! No late babies” and then life presents us with 6 four legged hairy babies for my birthday, and of course their poos and the pups constantly doing everything they shouldn’t do. 
• My girl Spin floating up into Bakasana, balancing her Shiva dreads.
• Laughter Yoga with The Ernesto Fleetwood a.k.a Ollie Pell.  I still have your laughter ringing in my ears from time to time, “Very good, very good, Yeah!”
• Giving more treatments of Acupuncture and Massage in one year than in any year previously.   At the end of 2013 I think it is the giving that makes this work so rewarding.
• Practising with Hugh and Kim, you two have such apple wholesome sunshine country angel vibes.
• Sitting on the back steps with the Katherine Smith, sipping something salubrious from a straw.  You lighten our lives and make things…better.
• Being warm, warm, warm from the Forestry clearing of Andy and Fernando.  Cleaning the land and looking after ourselves with this free energy keeps us warm in so many ways. "Good Jawb" as our gorgeous American volunteer Ashley would say.
• And finally, seeing in the New Year with our delightful Portuguese friends Sara, Raquel and Francisco and their boys.

Everything that has happened thus far has indeed changed my life, and because of all that has happened thus far I am becoming more relaxed and am able to accept that my life is ever changing.  Thank heavens for The resting place, the constant resting place within the hurly burly of everything, ‘the beloved sticky mat’.  When I started yoga I did it because I thought it would be good for me.  It is with considerable gratitude that I have found that all these years of practice have brought love to bloom.  Sometimes love is like that, it takes time to realise itself and for the lover to realise what love is.

The teachers and students of 2013 have confirmed for me that I love any yoga, and I really do not think it matters, to me what I practice so long as I am practicing as sincerely as possible, in the moment. Who cares whether your practice is steeped in silence or sprinkled with a sweet song?  Who cares whether Shavasana is your great delight or whether you like using your head as one giant foot?  Who cares whether it is austerity that floats your boat or playful flaying your arms around grinning.  I understand through this year that my mat helps to clarify what needs to be kept and what I no longer need.  Sometimes silence does helps, sometimes a tune.  Sometimes I am as stiff as a board and I feel all of my 40 years and at other times I am up for challenging the litheness of my kitty cat Angel.  It really doesn't matter.

What matters is the love, the love of asana, philosophy, colour and light and chanting and drumming and jumping and trying to be really really still and quiet and playing with your breath and doing it all with a sense of ‘Wow´, a miracle has happened and it isn’t yet 9am!  Come on the Day!  Yoga has given me that, for sure.  There are things I would like to leave me now in my life and there are some things that are keepers.  Thank you Andy Winter lover, business partner, friend, father of my babies and well, my everything, including, sometimes the one who drives me round the bend; for coming into the Shala cussing and swearing about the lack of light on this strangely dreamy, misty Old Year’s Day.  These photos will remind me that some New Year’s resolution is worth making.  Old Year’s Night 2012 I promised myself that I would attempt to acquire a little comfort and stability in Pincha Mayurasana in the middle of the room.  Pincha M, you have taught me that love conquers fear, you definitely a keeper.

So, do I have any New Year’s resolutions?  Loads… There are so many, many, many improvements I would like to make in the Vale.  There are postures I would love to experience and teachers to meet.  However, mostly I would like to indulge the Mummy Von this year.  The babes will be leaving these woods soon for senior school, and so, while with enthusiasm I say bring on the 2014, there is a little part of me, that says, ‘slow down’.

One of our guests gave me a beautiful bottle of true thick syrupy White Musk from Saudi Arabia.  Each time I open that bottle to indulge in a drop of the oil I am reminded that life is like this oil, achingly sweet and precious and I determined to savour every drop.

So to end, may our 2014 be as precious oil…let’s not waste a drop of it! Happy New Year’s Day and a Prosperous 2014.

Vonetta