Yoga and Pilates retreats in Europe and England

Family Retreats 

Chill out, re-charge and pack the family!

Picked for best family yoga holidays in Europe and beyond by The Green Parent 08/2012

Our long term venue in  Portugal is no longer running family retreats, therefore we are currently looking for a new venue to hold family retreats again in 2015, tips welcome! We are looking for flexibility in accommodation, catering and childcare provision.

Why family retreats:

When we start a family our previous Yoga routine can become rather sporadic and another type of Yoga takes over: service to your family. If we didn't have a practice prior to having a child it can get even more difficult to find the space and motivation, as life with young children takes up all our time.

As we both had first hand experience with this, we decided to create a week somewhere really beautiful where we provide a peaceful space to help you back into your practice or assist you in starting up a new routine- and at the same time have the family around.  We are working with a Faro based, english speaking babysitter agency to provide professional childcare.

" I just wanted to say thanks again for a fantastic break- it was just what I needed 9 months after birth"   Sonia 2010

The venue:

Quinta Mimosa is a beautiful retreat centre near Faro, set in ten acres of orange and almond groves with 3 swimming pools and charming, comfortable Portuguese farmhouses, all with air conditioning and excellent self-catering facilities. Those are especially useful when storing or preparing baby or small children's food outside the communal meals!

Beaches and pools:

Quinta Mimosa is close to local beaches. However, it is not walking distance, approximately 15 min by car. Participants arrange taxi share or car share. On site are 3 lovely pools to choose from and hang out by. We usually have a 'quiet pool' for babies to float and adults to swim and one for the kids to splash about!

The day will look something like this:

  • Morning: meditation and dynamic Yoga practice
  • Abundant vegetarian brunch
  • Freetime to go to the beach, or hang out by the pools, or schedule a massage by one of the fantastic practitioners at Quinta Mimosa.
  • Afternoon Yoga session. Those are mini work shops and include Strengthening after childbirth, Meditation and Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation) 
  • Depending on the level of students we also have Yoga jams, where we work on inversions, handbalances and other more advanced asanas

The Studio

Is purpose built and has everything we need: mats, blocks, belts and bolsters to relax.  It even has ropes coming out of the wall, as an Iyengar teacher designed it.

Evening off

Wednesday afternoon and evening will be free for you to go off and explore. We organise an optional trip to the local market during the day and an evening out to a local restaurant, or we have a BBQ at Quinta Mimosa.

Catering

The food is prepared by Wendy and Elena with much love, care and skill, using organic local produce where possible. The meals are vegetarian with the final Friday meal being an exeption as it includes a seafood option. Vegan diets, allergies and food sensitivities can be catered for.

For busy mums (or dads) it means no thinking about meals, clearing up, organising a babysitter, rushing to a class...

Just relax, get back into your body and enjoy! And best of all your family can be part of this experience, making it enriching for all.

"taking such care to consider everyone's individual needs make Mimosa a very warm and special place where we felt really well looked after....the childcare also meant we made a lot of progress as a family, so we're looking forward to lots more nights out from now on!   Rhys, 2010