One-Day Somatic Retreat For Couples To Attune, Align & Activate
Move beyond routine and rediscover the depth of your connection through body-based intimacy practices and relational neuroscience
18 May 2025
12am-8pm, Mujo, Cascais!
What Couples Are Saying
Why Is This for you?
Relationships don’t thrive by chance. They flourish with intention. This retreat is designed for couples who are committed, curious, and ready to deepen their connection in a meaningful, embodied way.
- Strengthen intimacy & deepen trust
- Learn science-backed skills for emotional attunement
- Create safety in your body so love feels natural, not forced.
- Move from habitual patterns to mindful presence
- Experience a “relationship retreat” in just one day
Who is this for?
This retreat is designed for committed, growth-oriented couples who are ready to deepen their connection, rekindle intimacy, and invest in their relationship—not because something is broken, but because they believe love flourishes with intention, presence, and embodied connection.
This is for you if:
- You’re committed to each other and believe in your relationship.
- You’ve re-found each other in some way.
- You’re curious about experimenting with somatic ways of connecting.
- Both of you are excited to intentionally plan, explore, and build momentum for a thriving future together.
- You're at a point in your relationship where you are ready to 'level-up'
This isn’t couples therapy—this is for couples who are already functioning and committed, but who are ready to turn toward each other with more presence, joy, and depth
This isn’t about “fixing” your relationship—it’s about discovering what’s possible when your body feels safe enough to love fully.
Where Is Your Relationship Headed Next?
1. YOU MET
Attraction, curiosity, and excitement spark the connection.
2. YOU LEARNED ABOUT EACH OTHER
Patterns emerge, attachment styles show up, and you begin to navigate each other’s world.
3. YOU FACED CHALLENGES
Misunderstandings, conflicts, and unmet needs arise.
4. RUPTURE & REPAIR
Tough moments test the relationship, but through effort and communication, trust is rebuilt.
5. YOU RE-FOUND & RE-CHOSE EACH OTHER
Commitment deepens as you consciously move forward together.
WHERE YOU ARE NOW: READY FOR THE NEXT STEP
You don’t want to repeat past conflicts or fall into the same patterns.
You are ready to vulnerably deepen connection, build somatically attuned skills, and plan for how to maintain a thriving relationship.
You want to create a vision for the life you want together—not just avoid rupture, but truly grow.
YOUR NEXT STEPS:
Attune – Tune into your nervous systems, shift from coexisting to co-regulating.
Align – Set a shared vision, remove outdated patterns, and build new relational skills.
Activate – Integrate your learning into daily life, create lasting connection, and thrive together.
What to expect?
A Fully Experiential, Transformative Day
This is not a lecture—it’s an immersive, guided experience to learn about and strengthen your connection in real-time.
The design of this one-day retreat will ensure that you move through deep presence → intentional planning → sustainable action, giving your couple both the felt experience of connection and practical skills to take home.
1. Attune: The Art of Turning Toward
Before anything else, connection begins in the body. In this opening phase, you and your partner will tune into each other’s nervous systems, rhythms, and emotional landscapes—not just through words, but through presence, breath, and sensation. You’ll explore:
✔ How to shift from co-existing to co-regulating
✔ Practices to strengthen attunement, safety, and trust
✔ The power of micro-moments of connection that shape long-term intimacy
2. Align: The Architecture of Partnership
Strong relationships don’t happen by accident—they are intentionally built. In this phase, you’ll clarify your shared vision, uncover what truly matters to both of you, and lay down the building blocks of a thriving future together. You’ll explore:
✔ How your individual values and dreams align
✔ Identifying the strengths and blind spots in your relationship structure
✔ Creating practical, body-based rituals that sustain connection over time
3. Activate: Love in Motion
A great experience is only as powerful as what you take with you. This final phase is about bringing the retreat insights into real life, so you leave feeling not just inspired, but equipped. You’ll explore:
✔ How to integrate new habits of connection into daily life
✔ Strategies for staying attuned, even in stress or conflict
✔ Holding hands—not just in love, but in life’s unfolding journey together
“
Widening your window of tolerance means it's easier to be in relationship in difficult circumstances
Meryl Rowlands
A Unique Immersive Experience
This one-day retreat is a process of insight and inner transformation. Our program is a unique combination of guided experiential processes (journalling prompts, dynamic discussion and supported sharing), somatic practices (transformational breathwork, movement and embodied exercises), and space to pause (private time to build your inner resources together as a couple). You will leave with an enriched inner sense of resourcefulness and co-regulated attunement with each other, to take back to your life in the real world.
Your nervous system is constantly shaping the way you connect with your partner, often beneath conscious awareness. Through neuroception, your body instinctively detects cues of safety or threat, influencing trust and emotional openness in your relationship. By cultivating polyvagal safety, you create a space where both partners can settle, co-regulate, and feel truly seen without fear. Expanding your window of tolerance allows you to stay engaged, listen deeply, and navigate challenges together with greater resilience, transforming moments of stress into opportunities for deeper connection.
Unlike many retreats, we truly are an intimate offering. Never more than 4 couples, this exclusive intimacy sets the scene for deeper and more meaningful connections. It also enables us to tailor the experience to your individual needs and allows you to have one to one time with your two facilitators. This personalised approach results in more internal resonance for you. Every voice is heard and celebrated at our retreat. You will co-regulate with each other, you will belong and feel supported.
This retreat will be guided by two facilitators: Joanna Januszewicz who is a certified breathing coach, mental health practitioner, and body-centred psychotherapist, and Meryl Rowlands an accredited somatic coach whose approach is based in the teachings of Hakomi, Gestalt and person-centred psychotherapy, interpersonal neurobiology and embodied cognition. We understand the importance of safety and trust in doing this type of work.
This immersive retreat is a time for deep insight and inner work, as well as a time for rest, reflection and restoration. Letting the body decompress and reorganise back to its natural biorhythm. You will take a deep break from your busy life and immerse your senses in the world of embodied self-awareness.
“
Your ability to love and be loved isn’t fixed. Your body holds the key to deeper connection—one you may not have even imagined yet
Joanna Januszewicz
One-Day Retreat Schedule
How Will You Feel After This Retreat?
🔸 Rekindled sense of love, play, and connection
🔸 A deeper, embodied understanding of your partner
🔸 Practical tools to sustain intimacy beyond the retreat
🔸 A shared experience that strengthens your foundation
Location
We’re so lucky to be hosting this retreat at MUJO, a beautiful little oasis in Cascais. It’s a space designed for movement, connection, and feeling good—inside and out. With its open, airy studios and calming vibes, it’s the perfect spot to slow down, breathe deeply, and soak in the experience.
Plus, it’s just a stone’s throw from the ocean, so you can feel that fresh coastal energy all around. We can’t wait to share this space with you!
Pricing
€270 per person
what's included
Full-Day Immersive Workshop – A guided experience to help you reconnect, deepen intimacy, and strengthen your relationship.
Interactive Practices – Somatic exercises, breathwork, and partner-based activities designed to enhance communication and connection.
Expert Facilitation – Led by experienced somatic and breathwork practitioners, creating a safe and supportive space for exploration.
Integration Tools – Practical techniques and embodied practices to carry the experience into your daily life.
Nourishment & Refreshments – Enjoy water, tea, and light snacks throughout the day, plus a wholesome light lunch to keep you feeling good.
Meet Your Instructors/Trainers
joanna januszewicz
Joanna is a certified breathwork, integrative somatic trauma and somatic sex and relationship therapist and coach.
She combines neuroscience, attachment theory, and somatic psychology to guide clients through deep trauma resolution and nervous system regulation. With a background in advanced somatic bodywork and body de-armouring, her work bridges cutting-edge trauma research with practical embodiment tools.
Her journey began with a fascination for the physiological effects of breath on the autonomic nervous system, leading her to study and train across India, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland, and Austria. She integrates techniques from multiple modalities—uniting bottom-up and top-down approaches to healing.
Joanna specializes in helping clients map the relationship between physical symptoms, emotional patterns, and survival-based responses. Through a blend of breathwork, somatic tracking, and relational attunement, she supports lasting change at the level of the body and mind.
meryl rowlands
Meryl Rowlands is an accredited somatic coach, her integrative practice draws on wisdom from the following modalities: Internal Family Systems, Hakomi, Gestalt, person-centered psychotherapy, interpersonal neurobiology, and embodied cognition. Meryl is currently training in intimacy and relationships with the IFS Institute.
After 13 years in the legal industry, she retrained with The Somatic School, the world’s first ICF-Accredited Body-Oriented Coaching school. Since 2021, through her practice Co-Curious, she has worked with individuals and couples, offering one-on-one coaching and self-development workshops.
Meryl believes we all have the innate ability to support our own growth, but finding the time and direction can be challenging. Her approach helps clients cultivate embodied self-awareness and, most importantly, integrate their insights into lasting change.
Based in Lisbon, Meryl’s work is guided by her core values: Connection, Growth, Freedom, and Play.
Bonus Reflective Questions
🔸 What unspoken patterns or tensions show up between us, and how might our bodies be holding onto them?
🔸 What’s one way we could learn to move through conflict or disconnection with more presence and ease?
🔸 What’s possible for us as a couple that we haven’t yet explored in our connection, intimacy, or future vision?
🔸 What sensations arise when we imagine stepping into an even more expansive version of our relationship?
Tackle these and more together at the one-day retreat.
Q&A
Not at all! This retreat is designed to be accessible, whether you’re completely new to somatics and breathwork or have some prior experience. All you need is a willingness to engage, explore, and be present with your partner.
No, the work you will do on this one-day retreat is firmly in the realm of transformational and somatic coaching. If you are looking for couples counselling/therapy or tantra practices this is not the right retreat for you
Sounds like you might need some more support to get through a crisis. If you’re not sure if this is the right retreat for you and where your couple is at, please have a go at this Quiz and the results will guide you.
If you cancel your participation 30 days (or more days) prior to the event, you are eligible to request a full refund.
Cancellations 29 days or less prior to arrival date : no refund of any payments received.
This retreat will be conducted in English, ensuring accessibility for participants from diverse backgrounds to engage in a shared journey of self-discovery and transformation.
No, this is not a therapy session. The retreat is designed to be experiential and interactive, with guided exercises and practices that help you connect as a couple in new ways.
This retreat is designed for couples who are committed to their relationship and want to deepen their connection. Whether you’ve been together for two years or twenty, you know you’ve chosen each other and want to prioritize your relationship. You may have been through challenges—perhaps the spark has dimmed or life’s pressures (like parenting) have taken their toll—but at your core, you respect and care for each other. This is not a therapy session, but an interactive experience for couples who are open, curious, and ready to explore new ways of relating.
Yes! While this retreat is not a replacement for therapy, it can complement the work you’ve already done. If you’ve previously explored your relationship in a therapeutic setting and now want to focus on embodied connection and practical tools for reconnection, this is the perfect next step.
Expect a mix of guided breathwork, somatic exercises, and interactive partner work. These exercises are designed to help you tune into your body, enhance communication, and foster deeper connection. You’ll be supported throughout, with clear guidance and a safe, welcoming space.
Yes. This experience works best when both partners genuinely want to be here. It’s important that both of you are open to engaging in the process and prioritizing your relationship during the retreat.
Wear comfortable clothing that allows for movement. Bring a water bottle, a notebook to jot down reflections, and an open mind. We’ll provide everything else you need.
That’s completely natural! Everything in the retreat is an invitation—nothing is forced. If something doesn’t feel right for you, there will always be space to opt out or adjust the exercise in a way that feels comfortable.
Absolutely. This space is inclusive and welcoming to all couples, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Not sure if this retreat is for you?
Fill in the Quiz below:
"The session made both of us feel so connected to one another in advance of the day. We both kept some of the things we discussed in mind during the wedding and it allowed up to appreciate the day all the more. We hadn't considered doing anything like this before, but it felt really special and we would highly recommend it."
Fi & Emily