10 Day Partly Silent Retreat

This is a partly silent retreat. Within the 10 days there will be 3 or 4 fully silent days (depending on the group), somewhere in the middle. During the silent days the main focus will be on meditation, but the morning yoga practice from 11am – 1pm remains. There will be a maximum of 22 people on the retreat. It’s best to come to this retreat having done a retreat with Esther already, or having had experience of a silent retreat.

 

 WHAT TO EXPECT 

This retreat is designed to slow you down and restore and revitalize you on a very deep level. When you are relaxed and your energy system is balanced, you can easily gain access to the world of reality, with all its joys, rather than being stuck in the world of the mind. We will mainly use yoga and meditation, but also lectures, inquiry, pranayama and silence as tools.

During the 10 days we observe mouna (silence) every morning from waking up until the yoga practice starts at 11.00. The early morning starts with meditation and pranayama. After breakfast and a silent break, we will continue with a fluid yoga practice that focuses on loosening, as well as strengthening and stabilizing the body and easing the mind. In the afternoon we gather again to learn about ourselves and life through short lectures, inquiry, meditation, restorative yoga and yoga nidra.

For 3 to 4 days we will all observe silence for the whole day. During class times, there is room to ask questions if they arise.

Monday June 20th is our arrival day, and you will have time to chat and meet your roommates. Day 11, Thursday June 30th is a travel day again.

Please note: To really give the body and mind a break and observe true silence, all mobile phones will be collected during the few days that we are fully silent. A phone number of the retreat centre will be provided for emergencies.

As you begin to relax into stillness, you cultivate presence, awareness and an authentic relationship with yourself. You will get in touch with a felt sense of ‘being’. It is a universal felt-sense that we all have within us. From birth, and throughout every moment of your life, being is a constant, quiet, background presence that’s always with you. But until it is pointed out it can go unnoticed.

As well you may discover that being together with others in silence allows for a different sense of connection that can be more satisfying than spending the same time engaged in conversation. You will access that same shared state of ‘being’. Rather than knowing others through their stories of who they are and what they do, the silence highlights our sense of connectedness.

 DAILY SCHEDULE 

• 08:00 – 09:00 Meditation/Pranayama
• 09:00 – 11:00 Breakfast + break, in silence
• 11:00 – 13:00 Yoga / Mindful movement
• 13:00 – 17:00 Lunch/Free time
• 17:00 – 19:00 Meditation / discourse, with short breaks in between
• 19:00 – Dinner
• 20.15 – (optional) Meditation or a restorative practice

During the silent days the lunch break is shorter, and we will start at 16.00 or 16.30 Arrival is on Monday June 20th, Departure is on Thursday June 30th. Both days are travel days. I will offer a short grounding practice to those who are there on arrival day in the evening and meditation on the morning of the 30th of June.

 

PRIING

Cost per room for 10 nights

• Shared room 2 people – € 1665
• Single room with shared bathroom facilities – €1825
• Single room with private toilet and shower – €1965
• Single luxury cabin – €2100

Please visit the D’alijo Yoga Retreat Centre website for photos of the accommodation options and the beautiful surroundings. Includes ten nights’ accommodation, fantastic meals served three times daily, plus all meditation and yoga sessions.

HOW TO BOOK 

Please select accommodation type below. 

HOW TO GET THERE  

Please fly to PORTUGAL PORTO AIRPORT.

Transavia, Tap, Vueling, KLM, Ryan Air, all fly there.

Transfer time to the D’Alijo centre is 60 minutes by car from Porto airport. There are no public transport options to the centre.  However, if you are not travelling by plane you can take a metro, bus or shuttle from Porto city centre to Porto airport and then join a shared transfer.

Transfers to and from the D’Alijo centre are not included in the prices. We can arrange shared airport transfers to and from Porto airport at € 110 per car one way, maximum three persons. For bigger groups we can organise a bus.

A few weeks before the retreat we will ask you for your travel details and if you want to share travel to the centre. We will group you together so you can share costs.

Alternatively you can find cheap car rental options via https://www.rentalcars.com or Transavia and RyanAir. Please make sure you travel with valid travel insurance