Quinta da Pomba is my home, where I live with my beloved partner, Trevor, our two crazy dogs and cat, and a wonderful French lady, Cecile. We love to share our home with family, friends and those who feel aligned with what we’re doing here – I feel the lovely sense of a growing ‘Pomba family’, who consider our land a home from home, a nature haven and a welcoming, nourishing place to let go of the tensions of life, unwind and reconnect to self and nature, whenever they feel the call. It’s a beautiful thing!
It’s an eleven hectare piece of land in a stunning valley in the mountains of Northern Portugal and a very special place indeed. We see our life on the land as a living land experiment following permaculture principles that aims to demonstrate alternative ways of living, including low-impact building techniques using natural materials, creation of a food forest, organic veggie gardening and use of sustainable off-grid energy where possible. The outer activity on the land is matched by a strong focus on inner work, particularly through a commitment to the embodiment practices of yoga, tai chi, chi gong, trauma release exercises and hypopressives. Community is at the heart of what we do here, and living a simple, natural, healthy and grounded life full of connection, music, dance and laughter is what lights us up. We enjoy sharing our land with others that feel drawn to be here, and witnessing the healing and transformation that occurs in our guests is the best feeling in the world… 🙂
We have a beautiful Roundhouse for community and group events, including yoga, tai chi, chi gong, hypopressives, sound weavings, meditation and dance. We have a community kitchen for group meals and self-catering, a cosy geodesic dome chill-out space and various quirky accommodation options including, currently, four caravans (one with large private deck), a gorgeous geodesic dome, a campervan with private awning area, a room in our renovated stone farmhouse and the option to glamp in a bell tent or bring your own tent or campervan. We also have a pyrapod being constructed by our amazing friend, Paul, at the moment, which will be another quirky habitable space in the future.
If you feel you would like to come and stay with us, we have the following options:
Join a group retreat – We are steadily building a regular schedule of retreats on the land, so be sure to keep checking the retreats page of the website for up-to-date news.
Work exchange – Come as a volunteer for us and contribute to our work on the land for 20 hours over the course of a week in exchange for your food and accommodation. Accommodation will probably be a cosy caravan (unless you prefer to bring your own campervan/caravan) and we will provide all ingredients necessary for your self-catered meals and will also cook a hearty meal for you on at least one work day. From my own experience, I know how healing it is to spend time tending the land and learning from nature – this kind of working retreat is perfect if you feel you need to ground, reconnect with the land and refocus your energies on the here and now. It’s also perfect if you want to learn skills that are helpful for off-grid living, food forest creation, sustainable building techniques, land stewardship and organic gardening – we will happily share our experience (Trev is a seasoned expert on this kind of life, with over 35 years in the game!). Tasks will be dictated by the needs of the season and could include gardening, tree planting and tree care, general weeding and prettifying of the land, sustainable building and land infrastructure projects, general maintenance of existing structures, cooking meals, produce harvesting and processing. We will always try to give you tasks that you feel a passion for, but sometimes we all just have to muck-in with whatever’s needing to be done, regardless, such is farm life! This offer is open for a minimum stay of one week. Please time your stay to ensure that you are able to join us for the required 20 hours work per week – we will discuss in advance how best to divide up the hours over your stay.
Tailor your own personal retreat – If you prefer to have your time to yourself, you’re also welcome to come and stay in one of our accommodation options for a nightly exchange, and either self-cater or receive meals for an extra exchange, or a combination of the two. During your stay you can participate in the various public events on offer in the Roundhouse and in surrounding projects in our valley and we can also arrange private yoga, hypopressives, tai chi and chi gong classes with myself and/or Trevor and massage treatments with myself and/or excellent local therapists if you wish. Together, we can tailor your retreat for your personal needs. It’s up to you how much or how little you do. We can currently comfortably accommodate up to six people at a time (more if you’re happy to camp), so you can also bring some friends and make this a special time of self-care together to remember!
Run your own mini-retreat – Finally, if you wish to share your magic with your own group in a very supportive environment, and if we find a natural ‘soul tribe’ resonance between us, we are potentially open to hiring out our facilities. As this land is also our home, we would base this invitation on an ongoing dialogue between us to see if it feels like a win-win solution for everyone. With all our accommodation in use, including 3 bell tents and another large tent, we have 9 individual sleeping areas, many of which can be shared. The Roundhouse comfortably fits 15 yoga mats in a circle, to give you an idea of size. Camping is seasonal unless your group is hardcore!
All profits that we receive go straight back into the project, nurturing soil and soul for future generations…
If you feel drawn to visit, please get in touch.
frond yoga with Rebecca May 