Dear Ocean & Yoga lovers,

to share a bit of the history of our project with you:

I founded Ocean & Yoga in 2013, about a year after I followed a vision that called me to leave my home in Berlin and to move to a place that I had never visited before. The call was clear: "Portugal" just emerged out of nowhere. I trusted myself and this clear voice and gave up most of what I had known before and in return fell in love with this new landscape, a way simpler life and the community here in Southern Portugal.

I met Eva and Fernando, the farm owners of Olho Branco which is now the home base of my retreat offerings, during my first few weeks here, and over a cup of tea we seeded the dream of inviting people from all over the world to spend some time here to learn from the land and plants, to connect with the ocean and our own bodies, to find inspiration how to live a simple, happy and respectful down-to-earth life.

The seeds sprouted and grew. A couple of years after hosting my yoga and surf retreats and yoga classes in fancy holiday homes, distinctive wine cellars, former school buidings and beaches, the construction phase at Olho Branco was completed and ready to receive its first Ocean & Yoga guests.

My intention is to invite people who give a damn. About nature, our shared nature, about themselves and their bodies, about each other, about life. I want to host retreats that allows for everyone participating to fully relax into the sense of being. Being yourself is a simple medicine that we have forgotten about in our having-to-be-someone-world. 

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 also share songs and 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 Jana's bio

Eva & Fernando

All retreats are hosted by the family of Eva and Fernando, the owners of the beautifu 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 is the man in the garden and on some retreats, he even creates our delicious homemade, mostly organic dinners with the freshly harvested veggies from the garden. He is also a passionate surfer and tree-planter.

Eva guides nature reconnection workshops in deep ecology and 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.

Olga Sadowski

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

Emilia Cianci

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. 

Eduardo Terzidis

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, allowing him to find a centre wherever he was. 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” on, that he has developed with Emilia. Together with teaching 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.

Pedro Collares

Whenever he is not traveling or on surfing adventures, Pedro facilitates soundhealings for our Ocean & Yoga retreats throughout the season guiding us through a magical evening of sounds that will lead you into a deep meditation. All you have to do is lay down in savasana and enjoy the concert!

He also co-guides our men's retreats.

Passionate by healing music, surfing, indigenous traditions and new ways of living a sustainable live on Earth, Pedro walks the Red Path, learning indigenous ways from the Lakota Nation by going yearly to Vision Quest and Sun Dance. 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. 
More about his work:

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

Max Goldschmidt

Our friends call him the "yoga foodie" because he just know exactly what a yogi craves during a yoga retreat. And as a passionate surfer, he knows what we need before heading out into the waves. He will amaze us with his smoothie and porridge creations for breakfast and just-perfect-surf-picnics.

During the yoga & surf retreats, Max will not only make sure that you get the most nutritious breakfast/brunch that you can wish for - but he will also be your ocean guide accompanying you during the surf course days. The more advanced surfers amongst you are also welcome to pick up some advice from him, and he will be sharing his never-ending knowledge and passion for the ocean in our beloved ocean guiding nature reconnection workshop. Activate your senses & ask any questions that you have!

Tiago Rouxinoul

Tiago co-guides our men's retreats at Ocean & Yoga.

He 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!

Janna van Duijkeren

Meet Janna, our retreat coordinator and your host & yoga teacher during the Family Retreats. Janna has been traveling and working around the world for the past 5 years. Yoga has changed her life drastically - as she learnt to understand deeper layers of the body and mind and was finally able to connect with the soul within, her purpose in life became clear: Janna wants to elevate herself & elevate others, because life is a gift, a play, a dance to enjoy while we can - knowing that all is impermanent and ever-changing.

Soon after starting to live in conscious alignment, Janna encountered Ocean & Yoga and found a beautiful soul sister connection with Jana and a loving community in Portugal. She has been a part of the Ocean & Yoga family ever since (you might already know her as Ocean & Yoga's retreat coordinator). It’s an honor for her to be hosting and guiding the Family Retreats in July 2020, sharing the yoga & meditation knowledge she has gathered along the way (most recently a meditation teacher training in India) and she looks forward to be spreading love and joy over the valleys and to all the little ones with their parents. “My wish is to give all the families an unforgettable holiday - full of love, joy, relaxation, grounding, unwinding, compassion, nature, nourishment, body-mind connection, play and tons of fun! I am excited to pamper the adults every day with breath work, meditation and mindful yoga, while the kids are taken care of and are expressing themselves freely in the open playground of beautiful Olho Branco. Can’t wait for our beach days together, the family dinners outside on the veranda, and the endless trampoline sessions in the garden - to have all families united as one."

Maria Terra

“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

Astrid & Johannes

Offering a sweet combination of sound bowls and strings, Astrid and Johannes will guide us through some of Ocean & Yoga's sound journeys, creating a magical evening of sounds that will lead you into a deep meditation. All you have to do is lay down in savasana and enjoy the concert!

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.