Retreats

Meet the Team

Accommodation

Food

The Art of Unwinding
Retreats

10th - 15th May 2027 Central Portugal

The Art of Unwinding Retreats brings together a carefully curated team of experienced practitioners, each practitioner on the retreat team has been handpicked by me and I have experienced their work personally .I want you to enjoy the same quality of care, expertise and genuine connection that I look for in my own well being together, they offer a rare combination of clinical knowledge, therapeutic skill, and heart-centred practice. This is a programme designed to support the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.

Aoife’s vision for The Art of Unwinding has been shaped by nearly 30 years of experience as a therapist, running her own private practice and working within Portugal’s wellness and retreat industry for more than 17 years. For 13 of those years, she worked at Juicy Oasis, Jason Vale’s renowned boutique health and wellness and juice retreat business, while continuing her private practice and pop up clinics in the Uk and Ireland and working with many other retreats over the years. These experiences have inspired her to create retreats that bring together skilled practitioners, who can help facilitate long lasting life changes creating meaningful opportunities to unwind, reconnect and restore.

Whether you arrive needing rest, movement, healing, or simply the space to breathe, you will be held by people who know their craft deeply and who care about what happens to you long after you leave.

Aoife Brewster is the founder of The Art of Unwinding Retreats and author of The Art of Unwinding. Her work is rooted in her own healing journey and a deep belief in the importance of slowing down, self care, releasing inherited patterns, navigating life's inevitable challenges, and finding our way back to a more calm authentic version of ourselves.

Alongside her work in retreats, Aoife has built her own private practice, supporting clients through hands-on therapies and a range of approaches to well-being. Her work has evolved over the years, shaped by continued learning, personal experience and a deep interest in the connection between body and mind and how trauma effects us.

Over time, her work has grown beyond traditional bodywork into something richer and more integrative. Drawing on breath work, sound, meditation, therapeutic movement, and trauma-informed practices, she creates experiences designed to support deeper levels of release, self-awareness, and renewal. A guiding principle running through everything Aoife does is that prevention is always more powerful than cure. Rather than waiting for the body or mind to reach a point of crisis, she helps guests develop the awareness to listen to their bodies and build daily practices that sustain their wellbeing.

A particular focus of Aoife’s work is the relationship between mind and body in chronic pain and long-term health conditions. She is passionate about helping guests cultivate a pain-free body, or, where that is not possible, a wiser and more compassionate relationship with the conditions they carry, so that life can be experienced with greater ease, freedom, and genuine vitality.

As host and founder of The Art of Unwinding Retreats, Aoife brings all of this together to create grounded, nurturing spaces where guests can peel back the layers, restore their equilibrium, and step forward with more presence, resilience, knowledge and self-understanding.

What's Included

• 5 nights' accommodation at our farmhouse retreat, double or single occupancy

• All meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, vegetarian and vegan friendly

• Daily morning juice or smoothie

• A full retreat programme: Yoga, Pilates, Therapeutic movement, Breath work, Sound healing,walks, fitness and meditation.

• Full use of our pools, sauna, hot tub, yoga studio, electric bikes, meditation yurt and gardens

• Arrival welcome gift bag

See the full list of what's included, and what's not,

Please read our payment and cancellation terms

A Taste of the Retreat

Each day will offer a gentle balance of movement, connection, nourishment and time to simply unwind.

You can expect a rich and varied program including meditation, yoga,Therapeutic Movement, conscious connected breath work, Sound, Pilates, walks in nature, journaling, Fitness, Treatments and beautiful shared meals. There will be plenty of choice, so you can take part in the activities that appeal to you, enjoy the surroundings, or make time for yourself.

There will also be moments to pause, watch the sunrise or sunset, share a silent dinner, and enjoy a few little surprises along the way.

The exact flow of the retreat will unfold naturally, allowing space for the group, the weather and the energy of each day. The program is full and thoughtfully designed, but it is not a boot camp. You are welcome to join the activities that feel right for you, or spend time exploring, relaxing or enjoying the surroundings instead.

Please note that the retreat program may be subject to change. Activities and timings may be adjusted to suit the group, the weather and other circumstances, while maintaining the overall intention and experience of the retreat.