Life Wide Awake™ Retreats
Small, unhurried retreats for capable people who have spent years holding everything together. Fewer plans, more presence, and the company of people asking the same questions.
Portugal · October 9–16, 2027
A Life Wide Awake™ experience
K · A
From the desk of Karen · A personal invitation
If you are reading this, something in you has already said yes. Maybe it was just a whisper that there’s another way to live, with a little more space to breathe, a little more clarity, and a connection to yourself.
This week isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering yourself. And Portugal gives us the gift of slowing down.
Come as you are.
Life Wide Awake™
Your experience begins long before Portugal, and continues long after you return home.
Before you arrive
A gentle beginning, together. We prepare so that when you land in Portugal you arrive already open, already softening, already on your way.
The heart of it
Seven nights held in beauty and quiet, where the deeper work unfolds: unhurried, supported, and entirely yours.
The return
Coming home is part of the journey. We stay with you as you carry what you've remembered back into your everyday life.
Every experience includes
The work of the week
Identify. Befriend. Reclaim.
Somewhere along the way, you learned to leave parts of yourself behind. This is where you meet them again. Tender, quiet work, less about changing who you are than about befriending the person you've always been. The parts of you that once kept you safe are not flaws to fix. Here, they become companions to walk beside, with more understanding and choice.
What you leave with isn't a new self. It's a truer one.
Envision. Choose. Author.
Awareness is only the beginning. Once you see the patterns that have shaped your life, a new question opens. This is where you turn toward what's next: not the life you inherited or the roles you took on, but the one you actually want to live.
You'll leave with more than insight. You'll leave with direction.
Early-registration gift · Reserve by March 1, 2027
A gentle, beautifully made guide and workbook, the foundation the whole journey rests on. It's where you begin to understand, softly and at your own pace, how your body learned to respond. No fixing. No performing. Only the quiet relief of seeing the pattern clearly.
You are not broken. You adapted.
Reserve by March 1, 2027 and Held in the Body™ and the companion course What’s Mine to Carry? are both yours, so you land in Portugal already softening, already on your way.
The companion course · Also yours when you reserve by March 1, 2027
The heart of the work, in three gentle movements that meet one honest question: how do I stop abandoning myself when the pattern shows up? Move through it with Karen, with guided support, or at your own pace, so you arrive in Portugal already on the path.
The venue · Terra Quinta
A restored quinta in the Ribatejo countryside, forty minutes from Lisbon: light-filled rooms, gardens and pools, a circular yoga studio open to the sky, and gathering spaces made for slowness.
Rooms
Custom-designed by the hosts, single or shared, each with a private bath
Grounds
Gardens, pools, and a circular open-air studio
Getting there
Forty minutes from Lisbon airport (LIS)
Rooms & pricing
In the Retreat Guide
Nourishment
Slow mornings and long, lingering meals. Food grown close to where it's served: simple, beautiful, and shared.
Farm-to-table plates, terrace lunches, and a Portuguese celebration dinner with live music. The particular connection that only happens when no one is watching the clock.
Woven into the week
Who holds this space
A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 18 years of clinical experience, integrating evidence-based relational skills, trauma-informed care, and nervous-system-aware practices. Karen taught as adjunct faculty for graduate students and co-authored UNLV's Graduate Certificate in Medical Family Therapy.
A yoga therapist trained in the Kripalu lineage, with deep expertise in nervous-system regulation and somatic awareness. Amanda has hosted self-discovery retreats across the US, Nepal, Greece, Mexico, and Costa Rica, bringing ancient wisdom traditions and contemporary neuroscience together.
In case you were wondering
Yes. Most guests do. You'll arrive as an individual and leave part of a small, warm community.
Not at all. Morning yoga is gentle and always optional, welcoming to every level and body.
Intentionally small, so the week stays intimate and personal.
The week is gentle and adaptable. The horse day and walks all have restful alternatives.
Terra Quinta in the Ribatejo, about 40 minutes from Lisbon.
Lisbon (LIS). Recommended arrival windows and transfer details are coming soon.
Yes. Please share them when you register, and we'll confirm with the culinary team.
Custom-designed rooms in the Casa Principale and the Ecuries, single or shared, each with a private bath. And yes, you can request a roommate when you register. Room prices are in the Retreat Guide.
A thoughtful packing guide will be shared before departure.
Riders and non-riders are welcome. A guided walk runs alongside for anyone who prefers it.
A regional experience is woven into the week. Optional add-on experiences are available and priced separately.
Yes. On-site Ayurvedic massage, booked personally in afternoon windows. Pricing to be confirmed.
Once booked, there are no cancellations, because the property is paid in advance. That's also why travel insurance is required: we understand unforeseen circumstances can arise.
Reserve your place
Places are limited and held with care. Get the Retreat Guide for rooms, pricing, and everything else, first.
“The real journey isn't across an ocean. It's the journey back to yourself.”
— Love, Karen
Where it began · Nosara, Costa Rica · June–July 2026
When I imagined our first Life Wide Awake™ retreat, I hoped people would leave feeling more connected: to themselves, to one another, and to the life they wanted to live. What I didn’t expect was how quickly a group of strangers would become a community.
Pura Vida
Looking back on Costa Rica
Throughout the week, we explored what it means to Allow, Align, and Act. We slowed down, noticed the patterns that quietly shape our lives, and practiced making space before reacting. We laughed often, challenged ourselves, reflected deeply, and discovered that when people show up with open hearts, meaningful connection follows.
Costa Rica gave us more than beautiful scenery. It gave us Pura Vida, a reminder that life is unfolding in us, not simply happening to us.
To everyone who joined us: thank you. You reminded me that this work isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering who you’ve been all along. I can’t wait to welcome the next group.
With gratitude, Karen xoxo
