Dear Ocean & Yoga lovers,

my name is Jana and I created the project Ocean & Yoga in 2013. Since then, many transformations have been happening... from traditional surf & yoga retreats I moved to a wider approach of remembering what it means to be humble, simple and free, ... how to be a happy and peaceful human connected with nature and all its elements. The sessions that I now offer still include the wisdom of yoga, but are way more somatic in their nature and include free movement, energetic and therapeutic work and dance. 

I host and guide all of our Mountain Retreats, and some of our Ocean & Yoga Retreats, and - if I am not guiding those - I support Edu as a guest teacher for some rich somatic movement sessions and to offer individual Transformative Bodywork (more information here).

What I share in my retreats is my passion for life.

For a life well lived, in full expression, honesty and integrity. 

I will share with you generously everything that I have found valuable on my own path of studying Yoga, Meditation, Body Mind Centering, Contact Improvisation, Feldenkrais and Transformative Bodywork. This means a whole lot of movement! I integrate what I am learning from nature with a lot of love into my movement sessions.

I also to my best ability: my full presence. We’ll explore together the natural anatomy of the breath, pain-free movement, healthy alignment principles in yoga asana, meditation, animal movement and dance, deep relaxation exercises, always respecting the laws of nature, our bodies and our sensations.

with love, Jana    

                                                                                                                                                             read more about Ocean & Yoga and  Jana's work

Eduardo Terzidis

retreat host, yoga teacher and water adventure guide

Eduardo guides most of our retreats at Olho Branco and will be your main yoga teacher. He will offer meditation sessions in the morning and hatha yoga and somatic movement, yin yoga and take you on our ocean adventures.

Eduardo is a yogi, surfer, Permaculture designer and sustainability freak. He has started playing with the waves since he was a kid and surfing has shaped the person he is today. How could he accept all the cruelties towards Nature after he had received such beautiful gifts from the Ocean? 

After graduating as an engineer, Eduardo has worked as a researcher to try to solve the modern environmental crisis. It didn’t take him long to realize that there was a profound disconnection between the work he was doing and the real needs of the world. He has then set off on a journey to find a way to truly be of service to the planet and re-gain a lost connection with himself.

During this journey, the practice of Yoga has always been a central point. Moreover, Eduardo believes that sustainability starts from our own selves and it is only when we learn to be gentle and loving with ourselves that we can become such with what surrounds us. This and other principles are what he bases the method “Nature Yoga”. Eduardo is a Permaculture designer and he likes to integrate Permaculture principles in the practice of Yoga and viceversa. He has an understanding that we truly are all one and what is good for the planet is good for us.

find Eduardo on the web: https://www.eduardoterzidis.com

Olga Sadowski

plant-based chef, wisdom keeper and activist

Olga creates our plant-based meals made with purpose and love on both our Ocean & Yoga and Mountain Retreats.  

Olga has been dedicated to plant-based cooking and mindful eating practices for several years, has worked and curated healthy and creative meals as a chef in upscale yoga retreat centers and is always creating new and nourishing inspiration for yogis and people who are curious about a healthy lifestyle.

She will guide us through mindful eating rituals and share her wisdom on conscious & delicious cooking and inspire our understanding of our belonging to nature by eating. Our daily cooking sessions with her will include stories, recipes, room for questions and tons of inspiration to take home for a plant-based diet. 

Olga founded the local crafts shop CARDO to support local artists, designers, and local small business owners.

find Olga on intagram: cardo.handmade

find Olga on the web: https://www.cardo-utopica.com

Eva & Fernando

hosts at our retreat location Olho Branco

All Ocean & Yoga Retreats are hosted by the family of Eva and Fernando, the owners of the beautiful farm Olho Branco. They have two daughters and two cuddly dogs and some chicken and they focus on a simple and healthy lifestyle as close to nature as possible.

Fernando will make sure that you have everyting that you need during your time with us. He is the man in the garden and he co-creates with Olga our delicious homemade, local and organic meals with the freshly harvested veggies from the garden. He is also a passionate surfer and tree-planter.

Eva guides workshops in deep ecology and knows a ton about the healing remedies of plants and herbs growing here. She runs an alternative school project, supporting children to connect with nature. 

They will share their wisdom & home with you: a piece of paradise between mountain, ocean and sky...full of hidden valleys, rivers and stunning hills covered with Mediterranean forest and wildlife, breathtaking cliffs and ocean views, desert beaches with amazing waves and a wonderful community.

Apart from our retreats, if you are interested in renting

holiday houses at Olho Branco? click here or here

Julyana de C. Galietti

family constellation thearapist and psychologist

Julyana offers individual family constealltion sessions during our Mountain Retreats to offer ways to work through resistance, open the perspective for different perspectives and story lines and support you in resolving and moving past limiting patterns and blockages.

Psychologist with international graduation – PT/ ES/ BR since 2007
•    Trainer of multinacional companies’ workshops since 2005 
•    Specialist in Memory Regression - Milton Menezes 

•    Trainer Neurolinguistic Programming – Metaforum Internacional 

•    Energetic Alignment Sacred Fire therapist - Quantum Energy Technique by Monica Oliveira 

•    MBA in Human Resources Management - Getúlio Vargas Foundation 
•    Family Constellation Facilitator - International Metaforum, Iralem and Hellinger Schule

She whole-heartedly offers individual assistance, Workshops, Family and Organizational Constellation

More about Julyana's work:

www.psicoterapiacocriativa.com.br

Pedro Collares

musician somatic movement & soundjourneys, kirtan and singing circles, sweatlodge

Pedro creates rich soundscapes on Jana's movement journeys and brings in the way of bhakti and beauty, co-creating sweatlodges and singing circles in most of our Mountain Retreats. He also guides us through a healing soundjourney in our Ocean & Yoga Retreats, a magical experience of sounds that will lead you into a deep state of meditation. 

Pedro is a passionate surfer and recently became a father and is dedicated to this new sacred path of family life. The gifts that he shares include healing music, men's retreats and indigenous traditions of living a sustainable life on Earth. He is also deeply connected to the Yawanawa Nation from the Amazon (Acre, Brazil) by visiting them to study their healing ways and sacred ancient songs. He is blessed with their prayer to guide sacred meditation journeys which are available as an additional offering after some of our Mountain Retreats.

More about Pedro's work:

www.organichealingsound.com // www.pedrocollares.com

Ana Tippi

musician somatic movement & soundjourneys, voice opening workshops, kirtan and singing circles, and aura readings

Ana offers her beautiful voice and music during the movement and soundjourneys on some of our Mountain Retreats and also offers voice opening workshops and concerts.

During the retreat you can also book aura readings with her!

Woman, Mother, Artist, Student of Nature and its mysteries. 

Always dedicated to artistic expression, through music, theatre, painting and writing, Ana studied music and theatre with the purpose of finding the freedom that comes from the creative expression of the Being. 

It was in Oslo, Norway, that initiated an awakening that would bring her back to Portugal, where she met Monte Mariposa. There, her spiritual path begin to open through shamanic practices, meditation, yoga and living in nature. She traveled through Americas receiving inspiration from the wisdom of its people and traditions. In that learning, she reconnected with music as a way of healing and meditation, what brought her to different circles and ceremonies and later, recording her first album “SER”. Her crescent passion for Nature made her start a project of regeneration of the forest and space for retreats in Monchique mountain, where she lives with Miguel and their children.

listen to Ana's music: https://anatippi.bandcamp.com/album/ser 

Math Garcia 

musician somatic movement & soundjourneys, music workshops, kirtan and singing circles, and tarot readings

Math offers his beautiful voice and music during some of our Mountain Retreats. 

During the retreat you can also book tarot readings with him!

Math brings music in his heart since early ages, passing his childhood and teenagerhood with music projects sharing his magic together with brothers that he connected with during his life. Graduated in music production but still not feeling to fit in the general music market, he went in search for a deeper meaning to his life and virtues, awakening to a higher perspective of life and death after reconnecting with nature through important ceremonies and initiations. 

Passing through many lineages around spiritual houses in Brazil, he starts to get an universalist perspective of his path, shaping his skills accordingly to his heart's callings. Nowadays, he sticks to his practices that vary through yoga, meditation, breathwork, prayer, tarot, reiki, music and so on in an organic and flowing way. He began to offer Tarot Readings after personal immersions on this matter and learning from different masters to bring this reading to other people. He brings his Sun in Gemini and Rising Libra to shine on his communication and sensible work with the Tarot.

find Math on instagram!

Mariana Root 

musician somatic movement & soundjourneys, voice opening workshops, and singing circles

Mariana offers her beautiful voice and music during some of our Mountain Retreats. 

Born in in Porto, Portugal, Mariana Root grew up among her aunts, grandmother, mother and sisters, all of them singing..!

The roots and richness of the ancient traditions through which she travels and that inspire her, the search to "co-create with the present moment"; And so they shape her music into a free, authentic, daring expression. Her main instrument and focus is the voice, she gives voice to the infinite spectrum of emotions. She gives voice to what she sees, what she feels, what she desires. She gives voice a voice.

Mariana Root took a college degree in Jazz (Voice/singing focused) in 2012 by the University of Évora (Portugal), and has soon after that travelled through South/central America, exploring and learning different rituals, cerimonies and “oferendas” (offerings to the Earth) with indigenous people from the Amazonian Jungle, the Huni Kuin, Yawanawa, the marakames Huicholes from Mexico, Queru’s from the Andes, Koguis and Wymas from Serra Nevada in Colombia.

listen to Mariana's music here: https://www.marianaroot.com/music

Joao Noronho

surfing lessons and ocean excursions

Since his childhood, João began to get used to the gifts that the ocean and aquatic energy are capable of offering. through respect and observation, a deep connection with the ocean has expanded in his life and brought different possibilities to explore and experience this force. Joao is a designer and photographer and brings the ocean and its nuances as the main focus of his work. nowadays, Joao offers aquatic guides for surfing as well as guides for more subtle experiences in the ocean linked to the different natural factors that influence the behavior of water movements and energies in general.

"when we understand that the practice of activities and sports in the ocean is completely related and depends on the union and junction of different and charming natural aspects, which interact and that we have no control over them, and which nevertheless allow us different ways to experience some exchange between us human beings and nature, we also began to learn about the humbleness necessary to relate, with the ocean and with life."

Tiago Rouxinoul

musician ecstatic dance 

Tiago has been working in many areas related with the human evolution. He works with alternative education, runs reforrestation projects, has a huge passion for music (his band Yemadas has been playing at many festivals all over the world), and guides music workshops to make music more inclusive and accesible for everybody. Also, he has studied Non Violent Communication and giving workshops for mediation and Conflict Resolution. He loves sustainable living, growing veggies, offering art residencies and self development retreats. He works with the sacred masculinity in his Yang Gathering to open the heart and the soul of the participants to understanding the deep meaning of being Alive!

Emilia Cianci

somatic movement journeys

Emilia is a yogi, circle facilitator, dancer, traveler, Earth activist and poet. She met yoga at a very young age, in search of answers that would connect her more deeply to life, and she has continued walking this path since then. Every day is a new discovery for her, understanding more and more that yoga emerges out of feeling totally present in our body, thoughts, actions.

Her journey has brought her to study and practice - along with yoga - meditation, somatics, dance and expressive arts. She has also studied under the guidance of various elders from different indigenous tribes, learning from their ancient knowledge about their ceremonies, rituals and how to live in harmony with nature. Her approach to yoga is one that allows the person to delve into his or her inner world and softly unravel all the holding places that don't allow our true selves to emerge.

Recently, she has developed an approach to yoga that she likes calling “Nature Yoga”, which combines yogic practices with nature connection practices and allows to experience our inherent interconnection with all beings. She considers our bodies as maps to a greater understanding of our past, present and future and the first place to encounter our innate freedom. 

find Emilia on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cianciemy/

Maria Terra

yoga teacher, fascia release, aura readings & trance dance

“With trust and faith I walk my path, praying to my ancestors for remembering why I am here...”

Terra is an experienced yogi, dance and women’s circle facilitator, traveler, moon dancer, writer and a guardian of the forest and indigenous peoples project.

She often goes on immersions in Mexico and in the Amazon rainforest, where she has been blessed to study with elders from the forest, indigenous people, wisdom keepers, grandmothers about nature and its mysteries, plants and their healing properties. Terra believes and teaches that yoga is a path of life, a coherence between words, thoughts and actions. Yoga has taught her everyday to walk her talk, honor her existence, respect everything and everyone, be present, have a simple life and always be in gratitude. To always walk with humbleness, to ask permission, learn and teach about the beauty of life and the depth of our existence.

Terra is a hatha yoga teacher, facilitator of indegenious, body, spirit, sound & water work, and shares her wisdom at Yoga events around the world (e.g. Yoga Conference Barcelona, Bali Spirit Festival, Sound & Silence, Boom/Being Gathering)

find out more at Raiz do Ser

Algarve Adventure

surfing lessons

For the surfing lessons we team up with the local surf school Algarve Adventure with locations in Arrifana and Monte Clerigo. Their certified teachers Hugo, Nelson and team will make sure that you have fun and feel safe in the water and they will share their vast ocean knowledge with you. We chose a team with surf teachers who know intuitivey when a little bit of pep talk is needed - or when to encourage you that it's absolutey fine to take a break ;) 

If you choose to to book extra surfing lessons or rent equipment on additional days, you can visit them here: http://www.surfcamp-portugal.com.

Dr. Farnaz Fahimi

co-teacher of the retreat: Ayurveda, Yoga & Surf Retreat - a relaxing week to enjoy and learn more about body & nature  

12. - 19. October, 2019 

"Im Rahmen meines Medizin-Studiums, welches ich 2010 in Giessen abgeschlossen hatte, durchlief ich diverse Praktikas und Famulaturen in Indien. Dort und im Zuge meiner Promotionsarbeit beschäftigte ich mich mit Ayurveda Medizin. Auch nach dem Studium galt mein Interessenschwerpunkt der ganzheitlichen Naturmedizin. Neben meinem Facharzt im HNO-Fachbereich, vertiefte ich mein Wissen mit Fortbildungen und begann 2014 das Ayurveda Studium für Mediziner an der europäischen Akademie in Birstein und Berlin. Im Verlauf entstand das Herz-Projekt in Portugal - Ayurveda Yoga Retreat. Seit 2017 arbeite ich als angestellte Ayurveda- und naturheilkundliche Tagesklinik-Ärztin im Immanuel Krankenhaus Berlin."

Bristol Baughan

co-teacher of the retreat: Yoga, Surfing & Leadership, March 31 - April 6, 2018                          

Bristol is an Executive Producer of Emmy-winning and Oscar-Nominated films, Author, and Executive Coach. She founded Inner Astronauts to support people in thriving at work and coming fully alive in service to the world. She serves leaders from Silicon Valley to Hollywood to the Lummi Nation.  Bristol works with leaders to create cultures for people to thrive in. She coaches executives to master and impart skills to their employees in authentic leadership, vision, and time, stress, and relationship management. 

Maren Brand

co-teacher of the retreat: Family Retreat - a yoga retreat for parents & their offspring, July 14 - 20, 2018

Maren teaches classic hatha yoga in Bielefeld, Germany.

"Im Sommer 2003, als ich in Spanien arbeitete, bin ich morgens barfuß zum Strand zu meiner allerersten Yogastunde gegangen. Bereits die ersten Asanas fühlten sich für mich so vertraut an, als hätte ich schon immer Yoga gemacht. Geprägt von diesem positiven Erlebnis war es kein Wunder, dass Yoga zu meinem morgendlichen Ritual wurde. Die Fokussierung auf den Atem und die daraus gewonnene Energie für Körper, Geist und Seele kannte ich bereits aus früheren Erfahrungen in meiner Kindheit und Jugend. Damals habe ich intensiv Physiotherapie für meine Skoliose (Wirbelsäulenverkrümmung) gemacht und diese mit gezielten Übungen und der Kraft der Atmung gut in den Griff bekommen habe."

Lese hier ein Interview with Maren.

Annie Malecki

Into The Wild! a Yoga & Nature Retreat to return to Source

October 6-12, 2018

Annie Malecki, Wilderness Trainer, systemic Constellation work, Healing work, Coach, existential-spiritual Companionship (Karen Horney Institut), sustained Meditation practice, Traveller and Mother loves to melt with nature and support others to return to Source.