28-Day Healing & Reconnection Retreat in the Algarve, Portugal

The site is Quinta Giovanna, a rural property at Sitio de Franqueira near Silves in the Algarve. There are gardens, wildlife, and long views toward the ocean. You're within reach of beaches, local villages and markets, waterfalls and walking trails, so there's room both for quiet days on the land and for getting out.

Every weekday starts with a group meditation or 'inner journey' at 10:00. Lunch is served at 13:00 — vegetarian, mostly vegan and mostly gluten-free, cooked with ingredients grown or sourced locally. Between 15:00 and 17:00 you have your personal therapy sessions, which are drawn from bodywork, kinesiology and energy-based therapies. Depending on how long you stay, you get two to three of these one-to-one sessions, plus one session supported by animals and one group session with the therapy animals. Evenings are free: rest, read, use the art materials, or walk.

What separates this from a standard wellness retreat is the animals and the land. TOTEM, one of the host's projects, works with horses and other animals as conscious participants rather than props, and animal-assisted sessions are part of the package. The property itself is a working regenerative project — you're living alongside it for the month, not visiting.

The retreat is led by No'An, who founded Ninho do Guarda-Rios. She came to this work through contemporary dance and improvisation and has spent about twenty years studying bodywork, nervous system regulation, aquatic therapies, intuitive touch, shamanic practice and meditation. She doesn't work from a fixed method — sessions are shaped around what each person brings. She's supported by Rebecca and Fine, who hold space for the group, and Andres, a therapist working within the community.

Because the format is open rather than fixed, the group that forms on any given month shapes what happens. Practically, that means group meditations, shared meals, outings to nearby sites and whatever comes up in individual sessions. If you're looking for a tightly timetabled schedule with a different activity every hour, this isn't it. If you want a month of slow days, one-to-one work, and animals and land around you, it is.

What's included

- 27 nights accommodation (private wooden house or en-suite room) - Shared vegetarian lunch 5 days a week - Breakfast and dinner ingredients for self-catering - Water, tea and coffee throughout the day - Group integration and initiation - Daily guided meditations, inner journeys and activations (weekdays) - 3 personal therapy sessions across the 28 days (bodywork, kinesiology, energy-based therapies) - 1 personal therapy session with the support of animals - 1 group session with therapy animals (Totem) - Additional therapies on request - Community lifestyle immersion - Group outings to nature and nearby sites - Free access to art materials - Wifi connection - Parking - Luggage storage

What's not included

- Flights to and from Faro - Airport transfers (Uber or Bolt from Faro costs around 35-40 EUR) - Breakfast and dinner (ingredients provided for self-catering) - Meals at weekends - Additional individual therapy sessions beyond those included - Bicycle rental - Personal expenses - Travel insurance