THE REAL PRACTICE: PORTUGAL 2027

REST • EASE • AWARENESS • LETTING GO

April 11–17, 2027 | Moodz Spa & Resort | Algarve, Portugal

A Week in the Algarve

Join me in Portugal for six nights and seven days of beautiful food, peaceful mornings, expansive views, quiet evenings, meaningful connection, and plenty of room to breathe.

We’ll have the retreat center entirely to ourselves, with room to be together when you want company and find a quiet corner when you don’t.

This is a week for slowing down, sleeping deeply, eating well, moving your body, spending time in nature, laughing, resting, learning, wandering, and remembering what it feels like to have nowhere else you need to be.

Yoga for Real Bodies

You do not need to be “a yoga person” to come on this retreat.

Mornings will begin with simple, therapeutic movement to wake up the body and help you feel good moving into the day. Evenings will slow down with quiet, supported yin: blankets, bolsters, candlelight, long exhalations, and the kind of practice that turns the volume down inside you.

Everything is beginner-friendly and optional. There is no performance, no pressure, and no expectation that your body needs to do anything impressive.

The REAL Practice

This is not simply a yoga retreat in Portugal.

At the heart of our week is The REAL Practice, an original methodology I’ve developed through my work with yoga, mindfulness, embodiment, nervous-system regulation, and the questions that keep showing up in real life. This work is unique to RealJoy, and this retreat is an opportunity to spend a full week immersed in it.

The REAL Practice is about expanding our capacity to be more fully engaged and present in the lives we’re already living. At its heart, it is a practice of relationship: growing our capacity to be in relationship with ourselves, with reality as it actually is, and with the people we love.

Life is uncertain. Things change. Plans fall apart. Beautiful things happen. Difficult things happen. We lose people and things we love. We find ourselves in places we never expected to be.

We can’t control most of that.

We can practice how we meet it.

How do I stay present when I’m uncomfortable? How do I listen to my body without letting every feeling make my decisions for me? How do I know what matters to me? How do I make room for uncertainty? How do I stay in relationship with the people I love when things are difficult? How do I let go when something has changed, ended, or simply isn’t mine to control?

During our week together, we’ll explore this work through four accessible practices:

Rest, Ease, Awareness, and Letting Go.

Underneath them is the deeper framework of The REAL Practice: becoming more Regulated and Embodied, finding greater Alignment between what matters to us and how we choose to live, and discovering the Liberation that can come when we loosen our grip on what we cannot control.

We’ll set aside dedicated time throughout the week to go deeper into The REAL Practice together through teaching, conversation, reflection, writing, meditation, and experiential practices.

This is real practice, but it isn’t about fixing yourself or accomplishing something before you go home. You can engage at the depth that feels right for you, and participation is always your choice.

Yoga is part of this retreat. Portugal is part of it. The beautiful setting, food, rest, and time away are all part of it.

But The REAL Practice is the heart of the offering.

And it doesn’t stay in Portugal or on your yoga mat. You’ll leave with practices and questions you can return to when life is uncertain, when something changes, when relationships ask more of you, when you’re holding on too tightly, or when you simply need to come back to yourself.

You don’t need to change your whole life.

The practice is learning to be more fully engaged in the life you already have.

Your Retreat Center

We’ll have Moodz entirely to ourselves, with beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces for yoga, wellness, gathering, resting, and finding a little solitude.

There will be plenty of unscheduled time to enjoy it all. Take a sauna. Soak in the jacuzzi. Cool off in the pool. Read. Nap. Sit outside. Have a long conversation. Or do absolutely nothing.

There is room to gather and room to be alone.

Food

A private chef will prepare three fresh, healthy, seasonal meals each day, with vegetarian and meat options, plus coffee and tea. A variety of dietary needs, allergies, and sensitivities can be accommodated with advance notice.

Special Experiences

Special experiences woven into our week will include guided sound healing under the vast Algarve sky and professionally guided breathwork with the option to experience an ice bath afterward.

Participation is always your choice.

Some evenings will have a little more structure. Others will be open for dinner, conversation, quiet time, the jacuzzi, or an early night.

Optional Adventures

You can spend the entire week at Moodz without going anywhere else and have a full retreat experience.

If you feel like exploring, there will be time for that too. Depending on weather and interest, you might head to the beach, explore the Algarve coast, wander through town, take a boat excursion along the cliffs and caves, or book a massage or other wellness treatment at Moodz.

Optional excursions, transportation, meals away from the retreat center, and personal wellness treatments are not included.

Some people may want an adventure. Others may decide the sauna, a book, and nowhere to be sounds much better.

You get to choose what feels right.

Spring in the Algarve

April brings mild spring weather to the Algarve, after the spring-break travel rush and before the busy summer high season. Typical daytime temperatures are around 70°F, with cooler evenings around 54°F.

Spring can bring sunshine, clouds, breezes, or rain. It’s a lovely time for yoga, walking, exploring, lingering outside in the sun, and warming up in the sauna or jacuzzi when there’s a chill in the air.

Accommodations & Room Arrangements

Moodz is designed for shared retreat-style living. Guest rooms will be double occupancy, and bathroom facilities will be shared. Private bedrooms and private en suite bathrooms are not part of the retreat accommodations.

The main villa offers several shared bathrooms. The spacious hammam can also be locked for complete privacy and includes a beautiful shower.

If our group grows beyond the villa, we’ll expand into Moodz’s private lodges, which have varying shared sleeping configurations and their own bathrooms. There are also two additional toilets in the yoga shala.

Final room assignments will be made closer to the retreat based on our final group. Please let me know when you register if you plan to room with someone specific.

Getting to Moodz

Travel to Portugal and transportation to the retreat center are not included.

Faro (FAO) is approximately a 45-minute drive from Moodz, and Lisbon (LIS) is approximately 2½ hours away by car. I’ll help guests coordinate transportation and shared rides when possible.

Alcohol

Alcohol is not included. Guests may purchase their own, but I ask that it be enjoyed responsibly and in a way that supports the restful, intentional nature of our retreat.

Cancellation Policy & Travel Insurance

A $550 nonrefundable deposit is included in every registration and secures your place on the retreat.

If you cancel on or before December 31, 2026, any payments made above the $550 deposit will be refunded.

Beginning January 1, 2027, all payments are nonrefundable, regardless of the reason for cancellation.

Travel insurance purchased promptly after booking, ideally within 14 days, is strongly recommended. You may wish to consider a policy offering Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage. Coverage, eligibility, purchase deadlines, and reimbursement amounts vary, so please review your policy carefully.

Guests who decline travel insurance will be required to sign a waiver acknowledging the cancellation policy and accepting responsibility for uninsured losses. RealJoy Yoga / RealJoy Retreats cannot provide refunds outside the cancellation policy for illness, injury, personal or family emergencies, travel disruptions, or other circumstances beyond our control.

Retreat Agreement

After registration, you’ll receive a Retreat Agreement by email. Please sign and return it within three days of receiving it to complete your registration. If you’d like to review the agreement before registering, just ask and I’ll be happy to send you a copy.

The agreement will collect health and dietary information, emergency contact information, passport information, and other details needed for our retreat and travel records.

Payment & Processing Fees

Retreat prices do not include payment processing or WeTravel platform fees. Guests paying through WeTravel are responsible for applicable processing and service fees.

To avoid these additional fees, you may pay RealJoy Retreats directly by check or cash.