Yoga Retreat in Portugal

The retreat is held Sunday to Sunday. The weekends are there to arrive, settle in, relax and explore the surroundings. We run our program (also food!) Mondays to Fridays.

Monday to Friday, we start each day with an invigorating, energetic Vinyasa Flow Yoga class. The yoga classes always start with a short meditation practice and pranayama (breathing exercise). Every day we work through the body with a special focus.

After the yoga, a healthy, vegetarian breakfast buffet is waiting for you. Our breakfast is truly yummy homemade with a lot of love and different every day. You can make yourself a lunch pack for the day, if you like. We accommodate for your special diets (lactose-free, vegan, etc).

In the evenings, we offer a gentle Hatha Yoga class with elements of Restorative and YinYoga. We also lead a Yoga Nidra Session.

Monday to Friday, we offer you a healthy, vegetarian breakfast buffet. Our breakfast is truly yummy homemade with a lot of love and different every day. It includes cereal and muesli, a big bowl of fresh made fruit salad, a variety of cheese, baked vegetables and vegan spreads like Hummus or Baba Ganoush. We have coffee and tea for you as well as a fresh juice or smoothie every day. After breakfast, you can make yourself a lunch pack for the day, if you like.

We start each day with an invigorating, energetic Vinyasa Flow Yoga class. We incorporate always some meditation and pranayama, to clean the energetic system of the body and allow the mind to become settled, clear and joyful. You are practicing yoga on a terrific terrace with an ocean view. We are practicing outside, so you can really recharge your batteries with the fresh clean air of the Atlantic west coast.

In the evenings, we offer you a more gentle, meditative yoga class that draws elements from Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga and classical Hatha Yoga. We will also guide you into a deep yoga nidra experience on one of the days.

If the weather allows, we invite you for one yoga session to come out to the beach with us and practice to the sound of the waves.

The accommodation for our Yoga retreat is in Peniche, Portugal. We have a beautiful retreat house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There is an ocean view from the deck where we will be practicing yoga every morning. The house comes fully equipped with everything you need from bathing towels to cookware. There are single and double rooms available. The beach is only a few minutes walk away and the house also comes with free Wifi. This amazing part of the Silver Coast of Portugal with its stunning landscapes, nice fishing towns and the Surf City Peniche is really an incredible place to spend a holiday.

Your teachers are Dr. Yvonne Stolz-Longaker and Donovan Longaker, the founders of Apura Yoga.

Yvonne has been practicing yoga for over 15 years and has been teaching classes in many different countries. She is also a consultant and systemic coach and founder of Apura Consult (www.apuraconsult.com). Her spiritual practice is Tibetan Buddhism, she follows Sogyal Rinpoche as her teacher. Her yoga classes are creative and energetic. Yvonne has been certified to teach yoga by Yoga Shala Berlin and through Yoga Alliance. She draws from many styles of yoga (Ashtanga Vinyasa, Restorative, Yin, Kundalini and Sivananda). Yvonne’s gentle guidance through the practice provides a safe environment for students on different levels and with different physical backgrounds to reconnect lovingly to their bodies.

Donovan comes from Santa Cruz, California and has been practicing yoga for nearly two decades. He has been teaching Vinyasa style yoga throughout the world. Donovan was raised in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition as a young child and has received instructions on meditation from many great teachers over the years. He completed a 3 year Buddhist retreat in the South of France in 2010 under the spiritual guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche. He has been practicing Yoga with Victor Dubin, Marc Stephens and David Swenson. Donovan’s yoga classes are dynamic and powerful. He works thoroughly through the whole body while allowing the student to stay focused on the breath, so the mind can settle into a deeper meditation.