Portugal

ELEVATE

CONSCIOUSNESS

SEPT 28 TO OCT 3, 2026

A Yoga & Food Awareness Retreat

with Susan

A Retreat to Nature, to our Essence

Tucked away in the Portuguese countryside, 40 minutes south of Lisbon, this year's Elevate Consciousness lux retreat will be unfolding at Casas na Ferraria - a nature-centric century-old heritage organic farm set on 130 hectares of protected natural reserve land, also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Daily yoga & meditation

Nourishing food for body & mind

Be one with nature, the essence

With a backdrop of the Arrábida mountain range, close enough to the coast to smell and feel the ocean in the air, come ready to slow down, to redirect your senses from its usual pre-occupations, and to reconnect with nature which is the essence of the Self.

Nourish your mind and body with scheduled daily morning and evening movement and stillness practices led by Susan at the sanctuary's well-equipped yoga-shala. As the sun rises, you'll be guided into a mat practice that will be energizing yet rejuvenating; and as the sun sets, your mind and body will appreciate the planned restorative mat practices.

To nourish the mind and spirit, there will be wisdom sharing on yogic philosophy and food awareness, plus a few optional pranayama sessions at night (maybe under the stars, if possible).

For some additional fun, we will be going on a guided nature walk in the reserve and also on one morning, we will be going dolphin spotting together.

Whether you're looking to deepen your yoga practice, unwind in nature's embrace, or positively affect your personal relationship with food, this nature orientated yoga retreat will definitely offer you a unique and transformative experience. Take this time to step away from the hustle of daily life and reconnect to your Self. You deserve this.

The Premise

If you know me, you will know that I am almost as obsessed with food as I am with yoga. For the last twenty plus years, I have pretty much experimented on myself (much to the frustration of friends and family) with many kinds of discernment-eating ideas.

And to make myself even more socially unacceptable, I started adding routine fasting (intermittent as well as extended) into my health protocol from 2012. It's true that the types of food we put into our bodies are essential to our well being, but fasting, which is the act of refusing the admission of food (for a specified period of time) is equally important- especially in terms of enhancing the body's self-healing qualities. And how do I know what works for me? I go by how I feel. When I feel energized, clear headed, pain and blemish free, I know whatever I am doing is working for me.

But change is imminent so whatever works now, doesn't mean it will work forever. Continuous tweaking is necessary, but before tweaking is possible, a strong connection to our body and mind needs to be forged. This is where yoga plays a huge role. Yoga as taught at Manasa Yoga, is a practice about elevating awareness of self, of others and the environment of which we are in. It is about seeing what is happening to us, to our bodies, to our minds, and in the seeing, giving us the resolve to make necessary changes, no matter how challenging they are.

What to Expect at this Retreat

Expect nourishment. At this 5-day retreat, there will be daily morning and evening sessions as well as a few moonlit guided pranayama sessions where our focus will essentially be to nourish the mind, body and spirit.

Through these sessions, we will nourish our bodies with energizing and restorative movements (and with food as well, after each session); we will nourish our minds with ancient breath-work practices and we will 'nourish' the spirit with wisdom teachings of yogic sciences and food awareness.

Expect wisdom sharing on yoga - where I will be expanding on essential and useful wisdom teachings from the Sadhana pada (the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras). And as usual, I will also be sharing about food and the crucial importance of elevating our knowledge and wisdom on food awareness to keep our bodies nourished. Each of us is gifted with one body, and if we want this body to be free of pain and suffering, we need to be proactive in our approach to keep it nourished. Knowledge is the only way to do this. I will be sharing useful insights and tools on what you can and need to do, to better connect to your body and move towards feeling the best you possibly can.

Nourishing Food

Local, in-season and delicious food freshly prepared by a private chef is what you can expect at this retreat three times daily: brunch, a light afternoon snack, and dinner. We might also do dinner at a local restaurant on our final night (TBD).

What's included?

5 nights stay in a modernly renovated farmhouse with a pool and a cold plunge
Daily yoga and pranayama sessions
Daily wisdom sharing on yoga philosophy and food awareness
A guided group nature walk
A dolphin-spotting morning excursion
3 delicious meals a day: Brunch, light afternoon snack and dinner
Unlimited exploration of walking trails and nearby lagoons
Water, tea and coffee
Unlimited dips in the pool
Unlimited use of cold plunge pool

What's not included?

Air travel to Lisbon
Ground transfers to the retreat venue (Uber or group transfers can be arranged)
Shared transport to dinner venue on final night (should we decide to dine out)
Travel insurance (recommended)
Beers, wine, cocktails
Extra food whilst out of the house
In-room or in-villa massage & spa treatments
Day trip to the beach
Unplanned excursions to nearby towns and places of interest (Uber is a good option)

More on Accommodation

Casas na Ferraria is a unique place 40 minutes south of Lisbon, where the air is filled with the smell of eucalyptus trees. Strolls through pine trees and cork oaks will make you forget that you are just kilometres away from Lisbon. The owner, a passionate architect, has renovated the typically Portuguese farm buildings but has conserved their very beautiful structures and architectural proportions

We will be staying in tastefully decorated rooms with ensuite bathrooms. Choose to take a private room or share with a friend. If you don't have someone to come on the retreat with, please don't worry, we will pair you up with someone. Casas na Ferraria is designed to accommodate participants all year long and in all seasons. It will be cool in the Summer and very comfortable in the Winter due to its floor heating system. We will be going in late September to early October, so the weather will be perfect. The materials used are natural, mostly environmental-friendly clay and reclaimed wood. All rooms are en-suite.

The Explore Faro Extension Option

For those of you who can and would like to extend your stay in Portugal after the retreat, I would suggest Faro.

The good news is if you plan to join the Faro Extension, you can choose to fly into Lisbon and out of Faro. We can and will also assist in booking train transfers, hotels, etc.

Faro, the laid-back capital of Portugal's Algarve, is a town where history, nature, and everyday life blend effortlessly. Behind its ancient city walls, the cobbled streets of the old town open onto sun-washed squares, Moorish architecture, and a beautiful cathedral with views over terracotta rooftops. Just beyond, the Ria Formosa lagoon stretches out in a mosaic of islands, salt marshes, and beaches, making Faro a paradise for birdlife, boat trips, and quiet seaside escapes. With its warm light, relaxed cafés, and authentic local rhythm, Faro charms visitors not by trying to impress, but by inviting them to slow down and stay a while.

Share a room

two persons to a room

Early bird

Early bird rate is applicable when you sign up with a non-refundable deposit of 600 euro by 15 March 2026

1680 euro / person

Regular

A non-refundable deposit of 800 euro is required to book your spot after 15 March 2026

1880 euro / person

Room to yourself

you get the whole room to yourself

Early bird

Early bird rate is applicable when you sign up with a non-refundable deposit of 800 euro by 15 March 2026

2540 euro / person

Regular

A non-refundable deposit of 1000 euro is required to book your spot after 15 March 2026

2740 euro / person

Payment Transfer Details

Please make payment in Euro.

You can transfer via WISE in Euro to:

SUSAN KEE
+6012 337 5955
IBAN: BE72 9676 6148 6816

Or if you need additional bank transfer details, let me know and I will give them to you.

Booking & Cancellation Policies

Retreat deposit and fees are to be paid in euro
Booking is confirmed upon receipt of a NON-REFUNDABLE deposit
Balance payments are due AUG 1st, 2026
If for some reason you are not able to attend the retreat, you can get someone to come in your stead.

About Susan

Susan Kee Thulin has been a student of Guru Manoj Kaimal of Manasa Yoga (the premier yoga school in Malaysia) since mid-2002. She enjoyed her time as a yoga student in her early years at Manasa, but decided to take on the Manasa teacher training in 2007 upon the insistence of her guru. She was very grateful for the life changing experience that the 200-Hour Teacher Training with Manoj gave her, and it was during this time when her love for yogic philosophy got entrenched! She completed the Manasa 500 Hour Teacher training in 2010 and has been assisting Manoj in the Manasa teacher training programs as a mentor since 2011.

A resident teacher at Manasa since 2009, Susan is passionate about sharing and teaching how breathing and movement can be tools used by anybody to skillfully empower and positively impact their lives. She is convinced that yoga is therapy and was active in the assistance and teaching of therapeutic classes at Manasa from March of 2011 until late 2015 when it ended. She expanded her experience and service in therapeutic yoga by leading a small team of Manasa senior teachers in offering thrice-weekly restorative yoga to cancer patients in SOL KL from 2019 until March 2020 (then Covid happened!).

In January 2020, Susan was assigned by her Guru to go on a week-long stint representing Manasa Yoga, as a Yoga Philosophy teacher at the All Yoga Teacher Training in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Late February of the same year (just before Covid disruptions), Susan co-hosted her first yoga and fasting retreat where fasting and food wisdom as well as restorative and breath practices were shared with the fasting yogis. Susan has been organizing Manasa Yoga's annual yoga retreats since 2007, but the fasting retreat in 2020 was the first retreat she organized for herself. She enjoyed the experience of leading a small group on a yoga and fasting retreat and so in June 2024, she led a group on her first Elevate Consciousness retreat to the Maldives. After the Maldives, she decided that the Elevate Consciousness retreat will be an annual affair and so in September 2025 the venue was Paros and now in 2026, the destination will be in the Portuguese countryside where the central theme will be a return to our essence.