• 10 - 12 Sep 2026
  • Ponte de Lima, Portugal

Play & Contemplation: cultivating accessible intuition for uncertain times

Life transitions can be challenging to navigate only with our minds. Join a Circle of Trust® retreat where spontaneity meets wisdom.

Date

Thursday: 2:30pm.-6:30pm.
Friday: 9:00am.- 9:30pm
Saturday: 9:00am.-12:00 pm.

Cost

495€: accommodation in triple room, 565€: accommodation in twin room

Venue

onsite

Travessia do Sol
Rua da Quinta do Sol 170, Gemieira, Portugal

Registration Deadline

Jun 30, 2026

Register now

Life transitions, whether chosen or unexpected, can leave us feeling uncertain, tender, but also open to new possibilities.

At work, we might feel called to a new vocation, experience burnout or question our professional direction. In relationships we might shift between family roles, end or begin a new relationship or experience a shift in friendships. We might change countries or communities and with it, our sense of belonging. Or we might simply feel something needs to change in our life, yet we don’t know what.

For anyone standing at a threshold, between roles, identities, or life chapters, the combined power of play & contemplation can be “good medicine”. It can provide the necessary space to pause, listen, and rediscover the path to accessible intuition.

“Intuition is often thought to be an endowment or mystical force enjoyed by the gifted alone. Yet all of us have known moments when the right answer “just came” or we did “exactly the right thing without thinking”, wrote Viola Spolin, considered the mother of modern improvisation theatre.

In this three day retreat you will be nurtured by an experience weaving together the playful, liberating practices of Viola Spolin’s improvisation method with the reflective, compassionate framework of the Courage & Renewal® approach, developed by Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal, informed by centuries of wisdom traditions from around the world.

No prior experience with either of the two methods is needed.

You will be welcome by:

  • A balance of movement and stillness
  • Lightness and deep reflection
  • Personal insight and collective connection
  • A confidential trustworthy, carefully facilitated environment 

Over the course of three days, we will:

  • Participate in games that awaken life creativity and presence
  • Engage with deep listening without fixing or advising
  • Reflect through poetry, storytelling, and silence
  • Honor each person’s inner wisdom and intuition
  • Speak from personal experience rather than opinion
  • Explore the questions and possibilities emerging in our life transitions

Everyone is welcome!

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More about the two methods used:
Spolin Theatre Games: carefully guided exercises where participants can reconnect with their spontaneity, intuition, and embodied presence.
“Through spontaneity we are reformed into ourselves” – V. Spolin
These playful exercises invite curiosity, loosen the habitual patterns of our minds, and help us access new perspectives, often revealing insights that thinking alone cannot reach. Improvisation becomes a laboratory for renewal – a safe space to try, notice, laugh, risk, and surprise ourselves.

Circle of Trust: a process that creates a respectful, contemplative space where participants can listen deeply to themselves and others.
“Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up.” – Parker J. Palmer
In this setting, silence, reflection, and honest sharing are welcomed, allowing each of us to explore our inner landscape at our own pace.

Meet Your Courage & Renewal Facilitators

Schedule:

10 Sept, Thursday:9am – 2:30pm – Arrivals, accommodation check-in, free time
2:30pm – 6:30pm – Session 1 with afternoon break included
6:30pm – 7:30pm – Dinner
7:30pm – Free time

11 Sept, Friday:
8am- 9am – Breakfast
09 am – 12 pm – Session 2
12pm – 1 pm – Lunch
1pm – 2:30 pm – Free time
2:30pm – 5pm – Session 3 with afternoon snack
5pm – 5:45 – Free time
5:45pm – 6:45 – Dinner
6:45 – 7:00 – Free time
7:00 – 9:30 – Evening Session – Clearness Committees
9:30pm – Free time

Saturday, 12 Sept
8am – 9am – Breakfast
9pm – 12pm – Session 5
12pm – 1pm – Lunch
1pm – Farewell

Meals cooked by a local chef including organic local ingredients will be provided at the accommodation and they are included in the fee of the retreat, starting with dinner on Thursday evening and ending with lunch on Saturday noon.

Retreat Venue:

TRAVESSIA DO SOL – https://www.travessiadosol.com/pt

Travessia do Sol is a family owned contemporary and eco-friendly house that hosts retreats, events and rentals all year round, in the verdant valley of northern Portugal, 1h away from Porto.

Based in a small village close to the historical city of Ponte de Lima, this eco-lodge offers rich and eclectic activities and safe spaces to rest and recharge.

Here we find an atmosphere of gentle, serene simplicity. Contemporary and eco-friendly, Travessia do Sol was designed according to the philosophy of permaculture and well-being in mind.

This welcoming place was born from a shared family dream: to create a place where we could recharge and pamper ourselves, while enhancing local biodiversity and our own connection to nature.

The views over the river, waterfall and mountain, as well as the trails that lead to the forest calls us to adventure. The region offers various outdoors opportunities like hiking, kayaking, and biking, or even surfing on the closest beach.

Awaken to the sounds of the birds, you can rest under the shadow of the oak trees, rejuvenate in the natural pool, treat yourself with their fresh organic fruits and berries, and leave with amazing memories.

We encourage you to check the dates carefully and commit to attending the full program before registering. 

We also understand that life challenges can emerge and changes happen. 

If for any reason you need to cancel your registration, you must do so by sending an email to Maria Carbunaru at carbunaru.maria@gmail.com. 

If you cancel your registration before June 30th you will receive a full refund minus €50 processing fee. 

Between June 30th and August 10th the fee is 50% refundable. 

After August 10th, refunds will not be granted. 

Extraordinary circumstances can be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

In the event that we must cancel a program, registrants will receive a full refund.

Before 10th of May: confirmation fee of 200 Euros.
Before 30th of June: full payment.

See payment options in the registration form

The fee includes:

– accommodation for 2 nights & 3 days (10-12 Sept) at Travessia do Sol Eco-retreat center (check the section “Provided by the accommodation” to see what it is included)

– meals cooked by local chef, including organic local ingredients: 

Thursday, 10th – dinner

Friday, 11th: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner

Saturday, 12th – breakfast, lunch 

– materials and supplies

– fully equipped kitchen for self-organized lunch on Thursday, the 9th

– access to training room equipped with yoga mattresses, pillows and chairs

– access to pool

– resources for integrating the experience after the retreat (readings, podcasts, practices, invitations, playlists etc.)

– access to using the bikes of the venue

Transportation to and from the venue is the responsibility of the participants. 

The lunch on the arrival day, 10th is the responsibility of participants. 

However, you can arrive at any time on the 10th and have lunch at the venue. Self-catering in the venue’s kitchen or pre-arranged lunch with the venue are available. If you have a preference, feel free to let us know in the registration form. 

Provided by the accommodation

  • Bed linen (1 set per bed)
  • Bath & pool towels (1 set per bed)
  • Toiletries & hairdryers
  • Light daily cleaning + final cleaning
  • Electricity, water (conscious use), central heating
  • Use of multipurpose room which can be equipped with chairs and tables
  • Yoga equipment: mats, blocks, straps, blankets
  • Massage table
  • Flip chart, sound system with mic, large TV, beamer, screen
  • Swimming pool
  • Ping-pong table, 4 bikes
  • Fully equipped kitchen (fridge, freezer, coffee machine, juicer, dishwasher, washing machine)
  • Retreat assistance: Welcome & orientation by House Manager

For those in Porto you are welcome to join the monthly series workshops offered by Maria Carbunaru – “Possibility: the gift of uncertainty”. 

Workshop dates: 

  • March 28th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30
  • April 18th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30
  • May 16th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30
  • June 13th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30
  • July 11th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30
  • August 8th, Saturday – 16:00 – 18:30

See: https://meadows.today/possibility-monthly-workshops/

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