Embodied Self – Women’s Retreat 2026
5 day somatic and breathwork journey into self-discovery, feminine essence,
and the shift from survival into thriving
7 October – 11 October 2026
When trauma softens, what comes next?
This is not a large retreat or a quick escape, but a rare and highly personal experience. With only a handful of places, you’ll receive the kind of depth and attention usually reserved for private therapeutic work — held within the inspiration of community. Guided by somatic breathwork and archetypal maps of the feminine. An intimate and highly tailored experience designed for women ready to move beyond healing into true embodiment.
Awaken Your Authentic Self!
Step away from the noise and rediscover your Heart, Body, and Soul.
7 October – 11 October 2026
Why Therapeutic Somatic Retreat for women
Many women arrive at a point where healing trauma alone is not enough. The nervous system stabilises, yet something deeper calls: the need to feel fully alive in the body. To explore feminine essence and sexuality not as performance or goal, but as a source of vitality, clarity, and inner power.
This retreat is designed for women who are already familiar with body-based work and are ready to go further — into the feminine ground of the womb, pelvis, and breath. Through guided practices you’ll learn to listen to the messages of the body’s core — the organs, the womb space, the cervix — places often ignored in daily life but essential to our wholeness.
energy activation
Emotional release
embodied self awareness
Why Somatic therapeutic Breathwork?
Breathwork goes beyond traditional therapy by engaging both mind and body. While traditional talk therapy focuses on thoughts and emotions, transformational breathwork includes the body’s energy systems, where many memories, stressors, and emotions are stored. Through deep breathing, movement, acupressure, and meditation, you can release what no longer serves you.
energy activation
Emotional release
embodied self awareness
A Unique Immersive Experience
Resources: An Experiential Programme
This retreat is a process of insight and inner transformation. Our program is a unique combination of guided experiential processes (archetypal workshops, morning practices, and conscious conversations), somatic practices (therapeutic breathwork, movement, and embodied exercises), and space to pause (time to rest, reflect, and connect with nature).
Across five transformative days, the path unfolds through The Mother, Maiden, Wild Woman, Queen, and Sage — guiding you from grounding and freedom into love, discernment, and embodied wisdom.
Regulation: Small Intimate Group
Unlike many retreats, we truly are an intimate offering. This retreat is intentionally limited to just 10 participants, creating an intimate, high-quality environment for deep personal transformation. It also enables us to tailor the experience to your individual needs and allows you to have one to one time with your facilitator. 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.
Integration: Tailored and Ongoing Support
This retreat doesn’t begin and end in four days. We’ll start with a free discovery call, so you feel clear this is the right space for you. During the retreat there’s room for personal support within the intimacy of a small group. And afterwards, you’ll receive online practices and integration support, so what you experience here can continue to unfold in your daily life.
Safe Guidance: Expert Facilitators
This retreat will be guided by Joanna Januszewicz who is a certified breathing coach, and somatic integrative trauma therapist whose approach is based in the teachings of Hakomi, Gestalt, IFS and somatic psychology, attachment and developmental theory, affective and interpersonal neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and body-mind integration, including bioenergetics, breath analysis and deep bodywork. We understand the importance of safety and trust in doing this type of inner work.
Release & Surrender: Time to Pause
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. You will walk in nature, rest in peace, easefully learn and expand your understanding of yourself. We encourage journaling throughout your stay and have crafted the programme to allow for much self-reflection and slowing down.
All-Inclusive Content
During the 5-Day Retreat
This women’s retreat offers a structured, therapeutic journey into the body and psyche. Guided by somatic therapy, breathwork, and interpersonal neurobiology, the program explores how survival patterns shape emotions, behaviours, and relationships — and what it means to move from survival into thriving.
Across five days, you will experience a complete archetypal arc of the feminine:
01
The Mother
Safety, belonging, and inner-feminine healing.
02
The Maiden
Curiosity, vitality, and sensual awakening.
03
The Wild Woman
Expression, boundaries, and reclaimed freedom.
04
The Queen
Love, sovereignty, and creative power.
05
The Sage
Discernment, clarity, and embodied wisdom.
Through daily somatic practices, breathwork journeys, and integrative sessions, you will reconnect with parts of yourself that may have been silenced, over-controlled, or forgotten — and begin to embody a more authentic, balanced, and grounded self.
This retreat will help you:
- Recognise survival states in the body and shift toward regulation and thriving
- Release stored emotional imprints and restrictive patterns
- Explore relational dynamics and systemic imprints that shape your inner world
- Reconnect with feminine essence and integrate inner feminine and masculine polarities
- Anchor new experiences of safety, vitality, and embodied authority
The entire program is designed to be deeply experiential and therapeutically grounded, offering tools you can integrate into your everyday life.
Integrative Therapeutic Approach
This retreat brings together a carefully crafted blend of workshops, somatic practices, and therapeutic breathwork. The integrative design goes beyond mental insight alone — it allows you to feel, release, and reconnect through the body itself. By combining nervous system regulation, archetypal exploration, and breath-based transformation, you’ll move past old loops and return home with a deeper sense of clarity, vitality, and well-being.
Location
Retreat Venue
Our retreat takes place at Quinta Marugo, a boutique wellbeing centre and sustainable sanctuary nestled in one of Portugal’s untouched regions. Surrounded by 30 hectares of unspoilt nature, it is a place to step away from the noise of daily life and reconnect with your body, values, and inner compass.
Here, every corner invites restoration: the Pagoda with panoramic views of rolling hills and open skies, designed for breathwork, movement, or simply sitting in awe under the rising moon. A natural swimming pond, outdoor terraces, and peaceful gardens invite you to slow down and recharge. Inside, the library and cosy communal spaces create warmth and intimacy, supporting quiet reflection as well as meaningful connection.
Quinta Marugo is also proudly Green Globe certified — a recognition of its commitment to sustainability, environmental care, and community support. This alignment with nature and responsibility reflects the spirit of our retreat: living and transforming in harmony with life itself.
All of this — and more — is waiting for you.
,
Rooms & Accommodation
Your stay at Quinta Marugo offers elegant and comfortable rooms designed to feel like a true home away from home. Each room opens to panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, with the elevated location offering clear skies free from light and noise pollution.
All rooms have private external entrances sheltered by porticos, inviting you to enjoy the warm, balmy days and nights of the Alentejo countryside — perfect for moments of reflection and peace. Natural cooling and heating systems, along with the swimming pond, ensure full comfort while minimising your carbon footprint.
Food Philosophy
Food at Quinta Marugo is fresh, nourishing, and deeply connected to the land. Guests enjoy a delicious selection of vegetarian dishes prepared with organic, seasonal, and local produce. Much of the food comes directly from the property’s vegetable gardens, beehives, and orchards, cultivated with permaculture principles that give back to nature. The rest — cheeses, legumes, grains, and flours — is sourced from local organic farmers and sustainable suppliers.
Home-baked goods and desserts are prepared with natural sweeteners, avoiding refined sugar and processed ingredients. Vegan alternatives are available, and special dietary requirements such as gluten- or wheat-free diets can be accommodated upon request.
The guiding principle is clear: mental, emotional, and physical health are closely linked to what is eaten. A wholesome vegetarian diet supports cleansing, vitality, and renewed energy, while regenerative food-growing practices protect the environment for future generations.
BOOK YOUR SPOT
Our retreat takes place at Quinta Marugo, a boutique wellbeing centre and sustainable sanctuary nestled in one of Portugal’s untouched regions.
RETREAT PROGRAM
Meet Your Instructor/Trainer
Joanna Januszewicz
Integrative Somatic and Psychosomatic Trauma Therapist
Joanna is an Integrative Somatic and Psychosomatic Trauma Therapist whose work bridges breath, body, and consciousness. Her approach combines therapeutic breathwork and body-based processing of trauma—through movement and sensation—with an exploration of how psychological and emotional patterns manifest as physical symptoms. She integrates insights from Hakomi, Gestalt, Internal Family Systems (IFS), attachment and developmental theory, affective and interpersonal neurobiology, and psychodynamic psychotherapy, guiding clients toward regulation, embodiment, and coherence between body and mind.
Drawing inspiration from Alexander Lowen, Peter Levine, and other pioneers of body-oriented psychology, Joanna weaves together therapeutic breathwork, bioenergetics, and advanced somatic bodywork for trauma release and self-dearmouring. Her sessions support clients in transforming stored emotional imprints and reconnecting with the body’s innate intelligence as a source of clarity and power.
Trained extensively across Europe and Asia, Joanna brings an international perspective to trauma integration and consciousness expansion. She facilitates retreats, trainings, and individual sessions worldwide, creating safe and deeply transformative spaces where participants can release, integrate, and awaken to the living field of their own consciousness.
Her work rests on the understanding that embodied awareness is fundamental to consciousness — a living map through which healing, presence, and wholeness unfold.
Meet Your Yoga Teacher
Cláudia Rodrigues
Yoga and Breathwork Teacher
Claudia has been practising Yoga since 2008, having done her first training in 2010 and since then she shares her love for Yoga, with the theme of integrating several lines of Yoga, respecting the origins of this wisdom that seeks true happiness (ananda).
Enthusiast of balance and health between body, mind and spirit. An activist in practices such as Yoga Therapy, Multidimensional Therapy, Voice Therapy, Shamanism and Bioenergetic, in which she became certified with the aim of obtaining better knowledge to achieve her cure and support others. Dedicating herself to these practices for years, she ended up becoming a Rebirthing Therapist & CBM (Conscious Breathing Movement) coach. Her work aimed at emotional health, inner diving, overcoming emotional blockages, personal growth and spirituality.
More about Claudia: Here
- 7 Wed - 11 Sun Oct 2026
- 15:00
- FROM
- 1550 €
- Spaces are very limited, as the retreat is kept intentionally small. Previous editions filled months in advance — early application is highly recommended.
Let’s connect
Connect with us and prepare yourself for a magical and transformative retreat to discover who you truly are!
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the retreat held?
The retreat takes place at Quinta Marugo, a Green Globe certified wellness and retreat center in Alentejo, Portugal. Surrounded by 30 hectares of untouched nature, it offers serene gardens, a natural swimming pond, and dedicated spaces for movement, meditation, and rest.
Can I stay longer at Quinta Marugo?
Check-in for the retreat begins at 3:00 pm on the first day, and rooms must be vacated by 12:00 noon on the final day. Guests may remain at the venue until 3:00 pm after lunch. If you wish to arrive earlier or extend your stay, please contact us directly and we will check availability with Quinta Marugo. Additional charges may apply.
How do I get there?
The nearest major city is Lisbon. From there, you can travel by bus or train to Serpa and then take a short taxi to the venue. Shared van transfers from Lisbon Airport can also be arranged for an additional fee. We’ll provide detailed travel information once your booking is confirmed.
What should I bring?
We recommend bringing comfortable clothing for movement, swimwear for the natural pond, a journal, and any personal items that support your practice. All yoga and meditation equipment is provided on-site.
What is included in the retreat package?
Your stay includes all retreat sessions, accommodation, and three nourishing vegetarian meals each day (one meal is lighter, such as a soup or salad with fresh bread). Tea, coffee, and snacks are also available throughout the day. All retreat materials, use of the yoga equipment in the Pagoda (yoga and meditation space), and access to the retreat’s grounds, including the natural swimming pond and gardens, are included.
What is not included?
Flights and travel to Portugal are not included. Airport transfers can be arranged at an additional cost (shared van options are available from Lisbon). Extra services such as massages, acupuncture, sound baths, or horse-assisted coaching are also optional add-ons.
What kind of food can I expect?
Meals at Quinta Marugo are fully vegetarian, prepared with seasonal, organic, and locally sourced produce from within the Iberian Peninsula. Vegan and gluten-free options are always available, though those with very severe celiac conditions should note that absolute cross-contamination cannot be guaranteed. Meals are designed to be nourishing and light, supporting the body’s natural rhythms during retreat.
What is the accommodation like?
Quinta Marugo offers 10 elegant ensuite rooms, each with either a king-size bed or two twin beds. Rooms include private bathrooms, heating, fans, a wardrobe, tea set, towels, and sustainable, plastic-free toiletries. WiFi is available in the common areas but not in bedrooms, encouraging deep rest and disconnection.
What is your cancellation policy?
We understand that life is unpredictable. At the same time, organising a retreat requires significant commitment and upfront investment in our venue, team, and resources. Thank you for your understanding and support in respecting these arrangements.
60+ days before the retreat (before December 28, 2025): balance payments are refundable (deposit remains non-refundable). 30–60 days before the retreat (December 28, 2025 – January 27, 2026): 50% of balance payments are refundable. Less than 30 days before the retreat (after 27 January 2025): all payments are non-refundable. No refunds or credits for late arrival, early departure, or inability to attend.
We strongly recommend purchasing comprehensive travel and health insurance (especially if travelling from abroad) to cover medical emergencies, travel disruptions, and cancellations.
Your commitment allows us to create a safe and nurturing retreat experience for everyone.
What language will the retreat be held in?
The retreat will be facilitated in English.
Is this retreat suitable if I’ve never done breathwork before?
Yes. The practices are guided step by step and held in a safe and supportive way. Whether you are completely new to breathwork or have experience with somatic practices, the program is designed to meet you where you are.
How does Quinta Marugo support sustainability?
Sustainability is at the heart of Quinta Marugo. The retreat center is Green Globe certified and follows regenerative farming practices, organic food sourcing, renewable energy systems, and circular water usage. Plastic-free toiletries are provided in every room, and linens are changed only once a week to conserve water in this drought-prone region. The entire venue is designed to minimize environmental impact while offering maximum comfort.
Are there additional therapies available?
Yes. Quinta Marugo offers optional therapies such as deep tissue massage, craniosacral therapy, Tibetan bowl massage, acupuncture, and horse-assisted coaching. Prices vary and can be booked on-site depending on availability.
When is arrival and departure?
Arrival is from 3:00 pm on the first day of retreat February 26th. Departure from rooms is by 12:00 noon on the final day, March 1st, though guests may remain at the center until 3:00 pm after lunch.
Are children or pets allowed?
Quinta Marugo is an adults-only retreat center, and children or pets are not permitted.
What makes this retreat different from other wellness retreats?
This retreat goes beyond “time out” from daily life. It combines therapeutic breathwork with somatic practices such as fascia release, body mapping, and shadow exploration, creating an experience that is both deeply transformative and safely held. Unlike larger group retreats, we intentionally limit participation to just ten people, so every voice is heard and every journey is supported with individual care. Integration support continues beyond the retreat, giving you tools and resources to bring the transformation into your daily life.
