Three years ago, my wife and I decided to leave our jobs in the city to start a self sustainable community and yoga retreat centre in Portugal. After two years of research and saving, we quit our full time jobs in Singapore and embarked on our life changing journey to find land in Portugal. This blog summarises our journey to find our plot of land in Portugal. more “Finding land for Keela Yoga Farm in Portugal”
After volunteering for the past few months in various parts of Portugal and learning a lot about gardening, community living and most recently meditation, we were looking forward to working with Fiona and Nonu at Yoga Holidays Portugal for a new experience. more “Yoga Yurt Holidays Portugal”
At the beginning of June we started volunteering at the Awakened Life Project in the mountains of central Portugal. An established sustainable spiritual awakening association with an ever expanding local and global community. more “Volunteering at Awakened Life Project Portugal”
In May 2016 we volunteered at Vale Da Sarvinda Permaculture project near Castelo Branco in central Portugal. We were based inside a national park right on the border with Spain. Here we saw how the permaculture principles can be applied on a very large scale. more “Vale Da Sarvinda Large Scale Permaculture Portugal”
In May 2016 we volunteered at ‘A Quinta’ in Alentejo, south west of Portugal and not too far from the coast. A project with 130 hectares of beautiful land that is being restored through permaculture practices and regenerative agriculture. This farm consists of a small community of residents and volunteers, has many examples of the permaculture systems that we hope to use in the future, and was a great learning experience for us both. more “Volunteering at A Quinta in Alentejo”
Before we buy land of our own to start Keela Yoga Farm we are traveling through Portugal and volunteering for other communities, yoga retreats and families that are having a go at the self-sufficient lifestyle. Our first stop was Osho Gardens in Algarve. more “Saving an orchard at Osho Gardens in Portugal”
Whilst staying is Lisbon we visited Terra Alta in Sintra for a weekend course on Food Forests. This is a method of growing food using nature’s way. In nature, forests are made up of hundreds of types of trees, shrubs and plants all growing with and around each other in an ecosystem. The forest is abundant with life without the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides that is needed for conventional farming. more “Food Forestry Course at Terra Alta, Portugal”
After more than two years of planning to leave our jobs and start a self-sustainable yoga community, we have finally made it to Portugal where we will set up ‘Keela Yoga Farm’. more “First month in Portugal”
I spent the month of January 2016 teaching Yoga at Angkor Zen Gardens Retreat Centre whilst sitting out the Portuguese winter. In addition to teaching at the retreat centre, I had the opportunity to take groups for extra yoga and meditation to Angkor Wat and other close by temples. more “Yoga in Angkor Wat Temple”
As we change our lives from the busy city life in Singapore to a quieter life on Keela Yoga Farm, we decided to go on a full body detox at Orion Healing in Thailand during our six months research trip. more “Detoxing at Orion Healing”
You don’t wake up one day and decide to start a self sustainable yoga retreat and then quit your job when you arrive in the office, at least that isn’t how we did it.
more “Why Portugal?”
The idea to start a sustainable yoga farm first came to us while traveling South America in 2013.