Vale de Moses: Yoga, Massage, and Acupuncture in the Portuguese Mountains
One of the best things about the racket I run here are the folks I "meet" from all over the world. This week I received emails from Germany (Hallo, Bettina!), Guatemala, (Hola, Annie!), and-- as you may guess from the title of this post-- Portugal.
Ola, gorgeous Vonetta. (*correct my Portuguese as need be, and blame Google translator)
Vonetta is the Senhoria of Vale de Moses, a retreat center in the Portuguese mountains. She read some of my posts from the past years about yoga and gardening (the season of which is upon us! Hurrah!) and emailed me about some upcoming yoga and gardening in Paradise (I mean, Portugal) retreats she has coming up. After some email correspondence, I decided I didn't want to keep her all to myself, so (without further ado, or further parenthesis), I introduce something very exciting:
The very first Joy of Yoga interview! Listen, folks. This is a lengthy post, by my usual standards, but read Vonetta's story. It will inspire the beechnuts out of you and she writes like a story teller. Enjoy, and visit Moses. Seriously.
Emma: You started a retreat center in Portugal called Vale de Moses. Is there an easy version to the story of what led you there?
Emma: Off blog, we talked a bit about your love of gardening, and how you saw it incorporated into Moses. How long have you been gardening? Why do you love to garden?
Emma: What are some upcoming retreats you have scheduled?
Vonetta is the Senhoria of Vale de Moses, a retreat center in the Portuguese mountains. She read some of my posts from the past years about yoga and gardening (the season of which is upon us! Hurrah!) and emailed me about some upcoming yoga and gardening in Paradise (I mean, Portugal) retreats she has coming up. After some email correspondence, I decided I didn't want to keep her all to myself, so (without further ado, or further parenthesis), I introduce something very exciting:
The very first Joy of Yoga interview! Listen, folks. This is a lengthy post, by my usual standards, but read Vonetta's story. It will inspire the beechnuts out of you and she writes like a story teller. Enjoy, and visit Moses. Seriously.
Emma: You started a retreat center in Portugal called Vale de Moses. Is there an easy version to the story of what led you there?
Vonetta: A story can be as easy or complex as we like. I would say that we as a family moved out here from London because we were searching for a new way of life based on constructing and creating rather than deconstructing as has been the social tendency of our inner cities for sometime. Human energy is very powerful when harnessed. We were drawn to a place that would allow us to pool our energies and see something remade out of that combined energy. Our lives in London were very entertaining but not truly enlivening. As a family we always enjoyed having people in our home. We hope to do more of that in Portugal, to base that activity around healing and yoga is ideal in a place such as this, afterall, someone has to go out and build it.
On a more what actually happened note, the story goes like this, "How our dog Moses found our Promised Land
"
In 2007 my husband, 2 children Josh and Eloise and our golden retriever Moses packed up our life in London (my husband ran an ad agency for charities and I ran a yoga and massage clinic from home) and went on a trip round Europe in a motorhome. We kept a blog of that little adventure under the title "Poop In Europe Tour". We used to joke with our friends that we had named Moses because one day he'd lead us to the promised land! We had no idea where we wanted to live but we set out looking for abandoned farms in France, Italy, Sicily and Spain. We finally arrived in Portugal and magically found an old stone terraced farm in the middle of the forested mountains that had the same name as Moses. We had to take a look.
The estate agents weren't able to show us the property for a fortnight as they were on maternity leave, but we went looking for it anyway with just the name of the village to go by. When we arrived we had only been in Portugal a week and couldn't speak a word (we're all now fluent thank God), and the villagers obviously didn't understand our questions about Moses as in Portuguese it is pronounced Moshjz. Feeling a little disappointed after a long journey to get there, we turned to our dog and said "find it boy, find our new home". He legged it down a road from the village and we ran to catch up. From a distance we saw him fly off the road down a track on the mountain and there, lo and behold a few hundred meters down the track was the farm we had seen pictures of on the internet.
He really did find us our promised land. We loved it instantly, fell in love with the village and the people, returned to London, sold our home and moved out to start the long process of restoration. Over this time we have been keeping a blog, http://welovemoses.
Emma: Talk a bit about a typical day, if there is one, at Moses.
Vonetta: A typical day begins with Yoga practice for me around 7am in the morning in the yoga studio for an hour and a half, this is a must and is non-negotiable. Right now we are in the off season and so I am able to indulge in 40 mins of meditation. Breakfast follows and a quick ordering of the home, there is a great deal of sweeping to be done when one lives in the middle of the Forest. Sweeping always reminds me of time I spent in India, where sweeping is virtually a religion. After this, the new baby seedlings for the current years crops all need to be watered and fed each according to their specific needs. This takes quite sometime as we are awaiting a greenhouse. All of the seedlings have to be taken outside and watered and then brought back in as it is still quite cold. However, warmer weather is fast approaching and that will make this task easier.
After this big tasks are performed, such as digging over or preparing land for crops. Lunch follows and an afternoon rest of around half an hour before afternoon activities begin. This varies and may include more gardening, forestry, chopping firewood, building stone walls. Afternoons are best used according to the energy you have, rather than a specific task that needs to be performed. It is very easy to work ourselves into the ground here. There is so much that we want to do. Late afternoon may include a second quieting yoga practice before the evening meals are prepared. Evenings are spent as a family chatting with the kids about their day, listening to music, playing games, reading or we may occasionally watch a film. We tend to go to bed very early around 10:30pm and are asleep by 11, except at the weekends where we may light a bonfire and do a little dancing or visit friends or going to the nearest large town as a family. Maintaining what seems normal to us is very important.
Emma: What are some of your future dreams/goals for Moses? Where do you see it going?
Vonetta: We hope to live here and that lots of people will be able to come and enjoy the space here with our family. We hope to continue our work with the land and to explore building stone cells out of the beautiful natural stone we gained from our Earth Works here. We hope to become as good farmers as our Portuguese neighbours. We hope to join the wider group of people living this life, what some may call Cultural Creatives, in producing good wine and Olive Oil and to encourage others to acquire the skills they need to establish their own little homesteads, in a growing quest for a more self sufficient lifestyle. On a more personal note I hope to leave behind something beautiful for my children and their children's children, a woodland garden in the Forest would be a very special legacy to leave.
Emma: Off blog, we talked a bit about your love of gardening, and how you saw it incorporated into Moses. How long have you been gardening? Why do you love to garden?
Vonetta: I have been gardening, always. I started gardening as a child in the West Indies. I continued gardening through my University years as I always found gardening good for relieving the pressure of exams. Gardening produces a sense of contentment at engaging with the land, it is wonderful exercise. Since moving to Portugal I have become passionate about food growing, it is very rewarding to grow your own food, cook it and then serve it to my family and guests. No matter the trials of a day, something happens to me when I see flowers or a plant beautifully growing, I have never been able to cure the gardening addiction. I can think of nothing better to give oneself to than the earth, we are entirely dependent on her good will after all.
Emma: What are some upcoming retreats you have scheduled?
Vonetta: This year we have packaged our retreats to include yoga, acupuncture and massage treatments. The Spring dates for these are on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/valedemoses, summer 2012 dates up next week.
"Rainbows on your Eyelashes" A quiet contemplative week for those feeling delicate or thin skinned, restless or sleepless. Easily accessible yoga postures combined with meditation and guided relaxation will encourage a conscious awareness of your true nature and a sense of peace and internal freedom. As well as all food and accommodation the retreat also includes:
6 Morning Yoga Classes
2 Acupuncture sessions to release the 4 Gates of Energy and a Crown to Calm the Mind
2 30min Indonesian Massages
Maximum of 6 People
Price 350 Euros
"Cultivate Contentment"
Imbalance in the elements of earth and space encourage worry, overthinking and weak muscles. In this week we will explore grounding yoga postures to strengthen the body, soothe the stomach and invite a sense of spaciousness within, we highly recommend a course of Acupuncture to nourish the earth element easily weakened by the stresses of modern life. Imbalance to the earth may facilitate poor concentration, muddled thought, sluggish digestion and muscular weakness. Tui Na massage gets right in there where you need reinvigorating, this deep and penetrating clothed massage will stimulate circulation and bolster your nervous system. Gardening is recommended for at least one or two afternoons to help you tap back into the earth. Includes:
6 Morning Yoga Classes
3 Afternoon Yoga Classes
2 Acupuncture Sessions to Balance the 5 Elements
2 30Min Tui Na Chinese Massage Sessions
Maximum of 5 People
Price 400 Euros
Passion Puller
Release your inner vitality, manage frustration, moodiness, anxiety and resentment over the past. Dump denial and dithering. Energising and revitalising back bends from the simple to the more complex will open the heart and sooth the liver. Indonesian oil massage will soothe an assaulted body and reignite your passion for your destiny, for your life! Stone building workshops are also offered on this retreat for those who wish to build something with their excess elemental energy. Includes:
6 Morning Yoga Sessions
3 Afternoon Yoga Sessions
2 Indonesian Massages of 1hr
2 hour Stone building Workshop
Maximum of 5 People
Price 450 Euros
oft Power
Nourish your Yin qualities, banish lethargy; lose inertia, lack of motivation and unfounded fears. Attune yourself to the water element within, reclaim the capacity to move around obstacles, raise stamina and deal with that back pain. Your yoga practice is designed to explore slow and sustained movement on the breath followed by more complex sequences. The slow presses and joint manipulations of Thai massage will help release your pelvis and promote flexibility. Includes:
6 Morning Yoga Sessions
3 Afternoon Yoga Sessions
2 Thai Massage Sessions of 1 1/2 hrs each
2 Acupuncture Sessions
Maximum of 4 People
Price 500 Euros
We will be rotating these weeks regularly through this year's yoga retreat season. And are more than happy to prepare bespoke packages for groups or other yoga teachers wanting to take their students away to Portugal on retreat.
So much gratitude to Vonetta for sharing her story. Again her website: http://www.yogaportugal.co.uk/
Obrigado!