4 DAYS IMPACTFUL SURF & YOGA - GIVE BACK TO NATURE RETREAT IN CASCAIS

My journey with the physical body has been a long one, the obvious has been clear since I was born, but to be more specific: I started weight training at a very early age, when I was 16. My cousin had a gym and I helped out in the reception area, so of course the motivation for me was to be in the room training, as I loved pulling iron back then!

Later at the conservatory where I completed my acting training, I discovered the body as a vehicle for my emotions, I discovered body expression, fluid and loose movement, the creativity of dance, and it was a whole new vision. If there's one thing that acting has given me over the years, it's this body awareness, this mastery of breathing to serve a character, this inner fire that springs from every creation, and that's why acting is so exciting. However, I always continued to work on my strength in gyms and later even competed in the women's bikini fitness category, coming third at national level.

Weight training is demanding, it takes discipline, which is so important to me because as a creative soul I tend to get lost in the clouds! When I was pregnant, I started yoga, which I thought was therapeutic and gentle for that stage of my life! Our ideas and prejudices really can deceive us. Little did I know that the real challenge was actually being on the mat, learning to tame my restless mind and working on my physical and mental flexibility, agility and perseverance. Yoga is a journey of self-knowledge. I've taught many theatre classes where I've included some vinyasanas as warm-up work and preparation for rehearsals and the stage. I had the privilege of studying with VeenaPani, an incredible Indian woman who fuses the techniques of yoga and ayurveda for acting work, where martial arts, dristi, ahimsa were always present. In the journey of the physical body here on earth, I find myself interested in perceiving the pains that we somatise, manifesting as tensions or blockages, even illnesses. I have been developing studies to help relieve pain and get to know our sacred temple better.

My training is in hatha yoga, but it's in ashtanga that I've been challenging myself, realising so many limitations that I didn't even know I had. So in my self-healing and personal development, I serve myself with the tools I learn. Today I integrate various techniques: in massage therapy I integrate Ayurveda, Thai, oriental chiropractic, Chinese medicine, traumatology, harmonics, drainage, sports, among others; in yoga I honour the great masters and I also integrate Qi-Gong, fitness and intelligent, intuitive movement. By bringing more focus and practice to the mat, combined with massage, the results are incredible.

The Surf Social Wave Project promotes the social inclusion of young people and adults through surfing and access to the professions that make up the surfing ecosystem.

For us, surfing is more than just a sport, it's a way of being in life.

We want to influence young people and adults in situations of social fragility so that they bring the lessons and values associated with surfing into their daily lives.



Surfing to be happy
When we go surfing we know that we can catch the wave of our dreams, but we also know that we have to be resilient and never give up. Many days we go out to sea and the waves are difficult and it's cold, and sometimes it rains too. On those days we think about what we're doing out there. And then we catch an incredible wave, which turns a difficult session into an unforgettable one. We spend the rest of the week closing our eyes and feeling that we were on that wave, on that day, at that moment, and we think that if we hadn't been able to go despite the setbacks, we would never have caught that wave. We're happy because we went and because many times, despite being afraid, we didn't give up. We surf because it makes us happy.