Central Portugal · 22 days
Cara Creek sits on a riverfront property in a valley in Central Portugal, where the River Seia runs along the lower boundary and meets the Mondego. Ashley and Rory have been on the land since 2017 and built the lodge from natural materials, running it off grid with a low carbon footprint. For three weeks in August it b…
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Central Portugal · 22 days
Cara Creek sits on a riverfront property in a valley in Central Portugal, where the River Seia runs along the lower boundary and meets the Mondego. Ashley and Rory have been on the land since 2017 and built the lodge from natural materials, running it off grid with a low carbon footprint. For three weeks in August it becomes home to the Off Grid Yoga School's teacher training.
A training day starts with your own practice: meditation, then asana, then pranayama. The school's view is simple — to teach yoga, your own practice has to come first, so it's built into every morning rather than squeezed in around lectures. After practice comes a daily reflection session, which the hosts call a cornerstone of the course. These use Gabor Maté's Compassionate Inquiry method, so expect to talk about how the practice is landing for you, not just about alignment.
The style is Traditional Hatha Yoga, drawn from what Ashley and Rory learned at the Atmavikasa Center of Yogic Sciences, mixed with other trainings they've done. What sets it apart from a typical vinyasa-based training is the pace: postures are held for extended periods, and the stated focus is on strengthening the nervous system. If you're used to flowing quickly from pose to pose, this will feel very different, and quite hard in a different way.
Practice teaching starts early in the course and builds week by week. The goal by week three is that you can plan and teach a full 60-minute class on your own. Classes happen in an indoor shala with cork mats, glass doors and a wood-burning stove, or on a panoramic outdoor shala looking over the valley.
The land does a lot of the work in your downtime. There's a natural swimming pool kept clean with a sand filter, UV filter and aquatic plants, with an infinity edge looking down to the river. There's a hot tub for stargazing, a sauna, a fire pit among the trees, a guided sweat lodge, local clay you can rub on before rinsing in the river, a private beach, stand-up paddleboarding on the Mondego, a rock jump and a creek to swim in. A waterfall hike and a neolithic dolmen site are both nearby.
After the course, you join an alumni network. The school runs a book club and online circles so graduates keep practising and talking with each other after they go home.
- 22 days of Traditional Hatha Yoga teacher training - Daily meditation, asana and pranayama - Daily Compassionate Inquiry reflection sessions - Practice teaching throughout the course - Graduation ceremony - Access to indoor and outdoor yoga shalas - Use of natural swimming pool, hot tub and sauna - Access to private river beach and fire pit - Membership of the alumni community (book club and online circles)
- Flights and travel to Central Portugal - Travel insurance - Holistic therapy treatments (bookable separately) - Personal expenses