It was easy to choose Bali as the first destination of our Annual Retreat outside of Portugal, which starts on April 20th, because this part of the world remains one of our special places.

Despite the many hours of flight, from being a large tourist destination, and from the sad and unfortunate amount of garbage and plastic inside the water and beaches, the truth is that here, we can live days in a simple, quiet way, full of connection!

When we arrived at the island of the Gods, we always started on this side of the Bukit, and we slept in the same place where Jo stayed 17 years ago, the Pondok Indah Bali, favorite and beloved place of many Portuguese, the Linie’s house! This is where we create a simple day-to-day, yet so perfect to stop, feel and breathe without any trace of haste!

We get inspiration from what we most like, Jo wakes up, has breakfast, usually includes a mix of local fruits, pancakes and coffee, and go out for surfing. I wake up, I take my Bali coffee, and I’m going to practice. We meet again at home, he arrives with a smile of full happiness, due to what he lived in the water, and I feel with my a soul full from another practice of Ashtanga Yoga. The rest of the day is done slowly, with time to surf together, be on the beach, visit new places that open a little everywhere, enjoy local food, and also enjoy the wonder that in Bali there are so many spaces with healthy meals and cared for. It is a daily holiday, without grand plans or definitions, where the only thing that delimits the day-to-day is the beginning of the morning, where for him is to go to the sea, and for me is to get on my Yoga mat.

We try once a year to make this kind of pause, just the two of us, despite the longing for our two daughters, and our beloved practice house, the Ashtanga Cascais. But this year the holidays will be short, because in a few days we will return to work, where we will receive a group of Portuguese who come to us to participate in our retreat of 7 days of detoxification, connection and transformation.

April 20, we will be waiting for you, to begin this special Retreat in this our favorite place, Bali.