Portugal 2026

Breathe, Move, Heal — Taste Life Deeply

A TaoZen Retreat in Portugal

This five-night, six-day retreat in beautiful Portugal is rooted in TaoZen Life Practice — an approach that brings together inner cultivation and everyday living.

It is not only a collection of methods. It is a way of practicing how to breathe, how to move, how to heal, how to rest, and how to live with more awareness and enjoyment.

For me, this is also what I mean by life as an art. Not making life perfect, but learning how to meet life more deeply, more beautifully, and more consciously.

In this retreat, we will focus especially on four pillars: breathwork, bone healing, qi movement, and meditation.

Breathwork

We will explore more than a dozen breathing practices, so that we can experience a real variety of breathwork.

In TaoZen, there is no one “best” breathing method. Different breathing patterns support us in different ways. Some calm us. Some energize us. Some deepen rest. Some help us focus, release, restore, or awaken vitality.

Through this exploration, breath becomes much more than a technique. It becomes a Life Practice — a way to widen our range, deepen our awareness, and open ourselves to a fuller spectrum of life.

Bone Healing

Bones are not just hard structures that support posture and movement. Bones are alive. They hold deep information and support our life in a deeper way than we realize. When we begin to listen to the bones, we begin to awaken a kind of bone wisdom.

We will explore bone healing through bone meditation, breathing, inner awareness, and gentle qi tapping practices. And of course, when we work with the bones, we also naturally support tendons, muscles, the nervous system, and the body as a whole.

Qi Movement

For our movement practice during the retreat, we will learn Achala Qigong.

This is a lively and enjoyable TaoZen qi movement sequence, with the feeling of a journey. Through it, we connect breath and body, energy and awareness. We support circulation, grounding, vitality, coordination, and presence.

This is not movement for performance. It is movement as practice, movement as enjoyment, and movement as a way of living. In this sense, qi movement also becomes part of life as an art.

Meditation

We will explore different forms of meditation, especially in connection with breathwork and bone healing.

This includes sitting meditation, standing meditation, walking meditation, and lying-down meditation.

Meditation in this retreat is not limited to one posture or one fixed form. Rather, we will explore meditation as a living practice — one that can support stillness, clarity, restoration, and deeper listening.

The Place

The retreat will be held in a beautiful area of Portugal, near the sea, about two hours from Lisbon.

We will stay in a lovely villa, in a peaceful and nourishing environment, surrounded by beauty, fresh air, and a relaxed atmosphere. The setting itself is part of the retreat — a place to slow down, breathe more fully, rest more deeply, and reconnect with yourself.

A Day by the Sea

During the retreat, we will also enjoy a special day trip to one of the most beautiful seaside areas of Portugal.

We will visit a local town, enjoy the landscape and atmosphere of the coast, and share time together outside the formal practice space. There will also be a chance to enjoy local food and seafood, and to experience the beauty of Portugal in a more direct and relaxed way.

This too is part of TaoZen Life Practice — not only formal practice, but learning how to enjoy life, place, beauty, and human connection more deeply.

Closing

Through breathwork, bone healing, qi movement, and meditation, this retreat offers a practical and nourishing way to restore energy, deepen awareness, and reconnect with what is essential.

Held in a beautiful part of Portugal, near the sea, this retreat is an invitation to practice deeply, live gently, and taste life more deeply.