The Ochre Hideaway is an intimate yoga, meditation and well-being retreat, in the forested hills of central Portugal, where the focus is on nourishment and renewal.Sometimes the challenges life brings can be overwhelming, leaving you feeling depleted and stressed. A retreat is the perfect antidote: the combination of sensitive yoga, therapeutic massage, deep restful sleep, wild nature, healthy food and fresh air works wonders. If you need to recharge your batteries, reclaim your health and rediscover your joy, you’ve come to the right place.Our Welcome Pack has all the essential information about coming on retreat here but feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have.
Michelle
HelloMe on the Yoga Platform 3 and welcome. I am the owner of The Ochre Hideaway, as well as the resident yoga teacher and massage therapist. I have been a yoga practitioner since 1997 and working as a yoga teacher and massage therapist since 2002. I’m passionate about many things, but in particular how an authentic yoga practice, based on sensitive self-enquiry, invites a deep relaxation and ease from the inside out.
If you have a body and can breathe, you can practice yoga. It really is for everyone, irrespective of capacity and experience. The retreat is designed as a course that evolves day-by-day to give you the confidence and knowledge to have your own self-practice, or to deepen your existing practice.
Holistic Yoga RetreatClasses are based upon the Dynamic Yoga Method which is a rhythmic and meditative practice, with a strong focus on structural integrity, especially of the spine. You will be invited to explore your capacity, become intimate with your body’s inherent intelligence and to shift your focus to feeling deeply, rather than thinking. As your focus shifts, the mind quietens naturally and effortlessly, grounded in the sensations of the body, and that is why an authentic yoga practice, based on sensitivity to what is actually happening, is so deeply relaxing and restorative. What you do on your mat should make you feel good, inside and out.
Massage
banner photo 1A good massage is one of life’s greatest pleasures – that feeling of deep relaxation and inner peace simply can’t be beaten. A full-body therapeutic massage is included within the retreat package and is given at the start of the week to give you a head-start on feeling as relaxed as possible.
The power of massage to transform, release and renew is greatly enhanced in a retreat environment as the body is more receptive to treatment when combined with yoga posture practice. Yoga and massage is a winning combination and it never ceases to amaze me just how different a body can feel in 5 days – in this case, feeling is believing.
The house was built from the local stone and clay sometime well before 1748 which is when the family built the second house in the hamlet. In the past it was very much a working house as well as living space and was the centre of village life where linens were spun, chestnuts roasted and skinned, and all the bread for the village baked in the stone oven. Since buying the house in 2008, I have invested energy and love into restoring it into a space that honours the traditional character and innate beauty of its past but with all the comforts of modern living. It is furnished simply yet tastefully and has been restored using natural materials wherever possible, including limewashed walls coloured from Ochre pigments, hence The Ochre Hideaway.
Food will be hearty, wholesome, vegetarian or vegan and will be prepared from scratch wherever possible to retain the maximum vitality and nutritional value. A wholefoods-based diet is perfect for yoga practice as it softens the tissues, supports clear thinking, promotes healing and gently cleanses the body.