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

Maybe in the stillness....

I love winter. The wind, the rain, the cold that drives us inside. Still stacks to do outside to get ready for spring, but when the weather howls, the fires get lit to roaring and we retreat inwards to the warmth of the hearth and stove; metaphorically and physically. Probably meta-physically too in some way. That's why I love it so. Every winter we've spent here since 2008, I've relished the time to read, to reflect, to plan, to ponder, to dream. To retreat.

Vonnie favours the sunshine of the summer, for she, after all, is a tropical island girl and genetically designed for a daily shower of free vitamin supplements that never cease to rain from the ever shining Barbados sun.  I suspect our future winters might be spent in other warmer climes, bless, but for this one, we're here, in Portugal, in the mountains, on our own, and it’s raining. Inside we remain. ;)

In this reflective season, something dawned on me. Over the course of 2013 an unexpected pattern had begun to emerge, on Facebook no less. Every week it seemed I was seeing another new profile or cover photo emerge on our guests FB pages (as they commented and shared each others holiday snaps), shots taken here on their stay at Vale de Moses. 

It was flattering to think people would choose our place as a beautiful setting to display their virtual identity on the cloud. Face after face of happy, bright souls with dreamy sunsets and misty valley vistas. All looking like they were feeling pretty lovely about life, bordering on content.

I realised it's on places like retreats and healthy holidays we often feel quite lovely. About everything. Relaxed, nourished, minds clear, bodies given an MOT and service, all far from the maddening crowds. The least worried. The most meditative. The most still. Even though every day our bodies are paradoxically more active than normal, practicing yoga, walking in forests, swimming in rivers, surfing, whatever. We feel the most active and yet the most still.

Maybe in that stillness of retreat, we get to know ourselves a bit better. 

And perhaps we actually like ourselves a little better than the stressed out version of ourselves we left back at home.

One thing is certain to me, everyone definitely shines after a week on retreat. “You’re positively glowing, darling”. So maybe it's only natural that photos taken at those moments are the ones we choose to share with the FB universe. Because we feel more like ourselves. And to make our friends jealous too no doubt!

Thanks to our guests who have let me share their selfies and Vale de Moses photos with you today. Each one of these photos today on the blog are from their FB covers or profiles and aren't they all beautiful! 

That's it really. To say it’s winter. Which you knew. And that Facebook is revealing patterns in our own human social behaviour and projection of virtual self image. Again, you knew. And that going on a retreat is really really good for you. If you've not gone on one before, and you are able to do so this year, then

"Retreat, retreat, retreat!"

Choose any one of hundreds of wonderful retreat spaces all over the world. Any one of them. Just go. Especially if you're not feeling particularly like the best you have ever felt. Book a retreat as soon as you can. If it's with us, we very much look forward to meeting you and showing you around this stunning part of Portugal.

Also in this last week we've had an enormous response to our Karma Volunteer recruitment, so successful in fact that looks like we're fully staffed already! If you'd like to be contacted in case anyone of our volunteers have to cancel, and at the same time be considered first for our 2015 teams, please still do apply for our Reserve team this year. 

Finally, finally, you might like to read the interview Vonnie had last week with the delightful Tameera Kemp who runs Light Stays Retreats in Australia. Great site.

Wishing you lots of warmth and cosyness wherever you maybe be wintering.

Memphis