Discover how to nourish your body, mind, and voice
through moving, sounding, and singing
Cultivate clarity and presence
Unlock your creativity
Awaken your vitality
Restore, rest, reflect
Release into flow
THE EMBODIED VOICE
KATE SMITH
VOICE YOGA
OLIVIA PREYE
PORTUGUESE SONG
TERESA MELO CAMPOS
Anyone who sings regularly knows that it can feel great. Indeed, singing has been proven to have multiple health benefits - it’s a natural antidepressant, it strengthens the immune system, it reduces stress.
But have you explored singing as a tool for getting in touch with yourself, who you are, who you can be, your relationship with your body, your priorities and purpose in life?
Singing Into Presence is a retreat for anyone ready to take that next step towards discovering how to use voice as a tool for unlocking a deeper inquiry into being.
The Embodied Voice ©, by Kate Smith, is proud to offer this one-of-a-kind voice retreat, in collaboration with Olivia Preye, creator of Voice Yoga. And because we are hosting this retreat in Portugal, we'd like to honour the land and culture by inviting guest teacher, Teresa Melo Campos, to teach us some traditional Portuguese songs as well!
We propose that singing - when paired with mindfulness and embodiment - can be a way of encountering yourself, your mind, thoughts, habits, and ways of being. And that - through moving the body, fostering play and creativity, and building our capacity for awareness - singing can help us become more centered, empowered, and resilient.
With greater presence, we can learn to not only improvise music, but also improvise in the greater flow of life, with grace, light, and curiosity. Treat yourself to a nourishing retreat, as we explore -- Singing Into Presence.
.png)
EXPERIENCE
VOICE & BODY WORKSHOPS
-
Morning meditations and voice-body warm ups
-
Indian classical music-based singing meditations
-
Voice and body integration workshops
-
Expressive voice and vocal improvisation sessions
-
Harmony singing
-
And a special guest workshop on traditional Portuguese folk song
ENJOY
REST & RELAXATION
-
Afternoons free to rest, journal, and swim in the salt-water swimming pool
-
A day off in the stunning Portuguese countryside including a swim and picnic lunch at Castelo do Bode lake
-
Followed by a trip to Tomar, Portugal’s city of the Knights Templar, where we'll visit the Convento do Cristo, and enjoy a traditional Portuguese dinner
RESTORE
LUXURY ACCOMMODATION
-
6 nights accommodation in a boutique manor house nestled in the mountains of rural Portugal
-
3 delicious organic home-cooked vegetarian meals a day, and to-die-for afternoon tea and cake
_small.jpg)
THE EMBODIED VOICE
Kate Smith is a vocal acrobat, composer, and facilitator known for her seamless blend of musical precision, free improvisation and physical exploration. As the creator of The Embodied Voice©, a research, performance and teaching practice, Kate’s many-faceted creative endeavors address themes of presence, the body-mind relationship, and human rewilding, through the expressive shaping of voice, movement and improvisation.
Vocal training through somatics and embodiment practices
Improving musicality through movement
Improv-based tools and games for accessing vocal freedom and creating music-in-the-moment
The Embodied Voice is a practice for living more joyfully in mind and body by bringing together voice, movement, mindful awareness, and improvisation. Balancing science and technique with play and creativity, The Embodied Voice helps us tap into a voice and body that is free, expressive, vital, and present.
The Embodied Voice emerged from Kate's voracious desire to draw connections between practices, searching for fundamental ways of being that transcend genre and dogma. Drawing on a deep commitment to embodied research, Kate likes to question received wisdoms through experimentation and playful curiosity.
As a result, the practice draws on many influences including yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method®, Body-Mind Centering®, mindfulness, contact improv, dance, and theatre. Kate has studied with a variety of leading artists in the voice and movement fields, including Meredith Monk, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen (BMC), Seke Chimutengwende, Margaret Pikes (Roy Hart Theatre), Grzegorz Braal (Song of the Goat), and more. She studied Feldenkrais-based vocal pedagogy with Robert Sussuma, and is a 200hr Yoga-Alliance certified teacher of Authentic Flow Yoga. She is grateful for the inspiration of her colleagues and mentors, including Jenni Roditi (TIC), Guillermo Rozenthuler, David Eskenazy and more.
Her workshops can therefore run the gamut from sessions of soulful sounding, to technical lessons on voice-body anatomy, to creative games for embodied musicality, to wild and playful movement explorations. What holds all the diversity of approach together is Kate's consistent commitment to holding safe and welcoming spaces that encourage us to reconnect to our essential being.
VOICE YOGA
Liv has been working with the voice as a tool for healing for 15 years in a diversity of settings from prisons to concert halls, psychiatric units to cathedrals, hospital beds to treehouses. Inspired by her studies of Hindustani singing and years spent in India, she weaves together her work as a jazz singer, creative practitioner, singing therapist and yoga teacher to create and facilitate a practice - Voice Yoga - that deeply nurtures spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
Bhakti yoga is at the heart of the way Liv works and lives. She believes that the key to healing and living a full, undefended life lies in connection to the unique awareness which can be experienced when we sing with our authentic voices. For this reason, much of her work is in facilitating vocal exploration and expression to help people let go and free fall into the arms of grace though making vocal music both collaboratively and individually.
Indian classical music provides the sonic context of Voice Yoga. Music in India is intrinsically linked to spirituality. Songs are not just songs; they are colours, moods, entire worlds! Most importantly they are a direct channel to the divine - what ever that may mean to you. Each individual's spiritual path is an intimate and sacred idea for which there is no need of external validation or justification.
Traditional Indian music comes in the form of 'Ragas' and these ragas provide countless different paths on which the voice can dance along. Singing is steeped in a sense of connecting with the divine, with universal consciousness: all who have gone before us and all who will follow us. Practising Voice Yoga fully charges you with cosmic energy by helping you deeply integrate the vital energy or 'Prana' that is the source of life for all. Voice Yoga shows us how to breathe in this pranic energy as life giving air and release it back into the world as beautiful life enhancing music.
Sessions begin with meditation and end with song. They include exercises that: explore the various places in which you can resonate in your body, teach you about the anatomy of the voice and help you discover your own unique voice. A warm, open and intimate atmosphere is nurtured in which we discuss any issues that may arise as a result of the feeling of letting go that is facilitated through connection to the breath and the singing voice.
In order to improvise with your voice, you must leave the past and future behind and stand fully in the present. You must empty yourself and allow room for inspiration to enter you. This is where the magic happens and Liv's work is to support you in meeting this magic for yourself and build your own practice around this connection with your deepest presence.
Singing meditation and energy clearing based on traditional Indian ragas
Traditional Portuguese polyphonic folk song
Guest Teacher
TRADITIONAL PORTUGUESE SONG
TERESA MELO CAMPOS
Teresa Campos sings, composes and leads educational and collective musical projects in Portugal, Spain, France and Argentina. With a BA in Education and a MA in Music with Community, she is particularly interested in the power of traditional music as a social and creative tool.
As a multidisciplinary artist she collaborates with Nenad Kovačić on soundtracks for dance, theatre, and Croatian documentaries, and co-created two performances for schools and families: Castōr e Pollūx - considerate lilia with Inês Campos, and Trois voix, quatre saisons with Nils Peschanki and Darragh Quinn commissioned by Jeunesse Musicale de France. She is a member of Collado, an octet of musicians exploring Iberian traditional music, and co-founder of Sopa de Pedra, a group of ten female voices gathered around portuguese polyphonic traditions, and çhâñt élečtrónïqùe, an international collective of musicians from Ireland, Croatia, Bosnia, France and Portugal, brought together to explore the potentialities of ancient singing traditions and electronics. She is fortunate to do what she loves.
“Finding authentic ways of artistic expression through sound, movement, rhythm that by myself I wouldn’t be able to find. It feels so good to be able to play with others, releasing perfectionism. Just being present in our bodies, in our voices. Awakening so much power, awakening feelings that may be there repressed. Understanding that I am music, that I don’t need anything else than my voice and body to create magic."
Libe, artist
The Embodied Voice Testimonial
SCHEDULE
Please note:
Check in - Saturday May 24th after 17h00
Check out - Friday May 30th before 11h00
OUR HOME
We will be staying in a beautiful 100 year old manor house set in a secluded rural valley surrounded by nature. Transformed into a dedicated holistic retreat sanctuary, the venue consists of the main manor house, shaded courtyard garden for al-fresco eating, herb & flower garden, vegetable garden, orchard, Yoga shala, and swimming pool.
Our hosts, Keith and Torsten, will be cooking for us, creating organic, locally sourced, naturally high-in-energy and balanced home-cooked vegetarian meals (including various raw and vegan dishes).
Our afternoon cake is freshly made each day, served with tea infusions, and raw, dried figs are available for snacks all day long. There will also be an honesty bar for those who would like to taste a selection of local wine and beer.
Tuesday will be our rest day, as well as a break for our hosts, so we encourage you to join us for dinner in Tomar. On our last night we will enjoy a vegetarian and pescatarian BBQ.
“Yoga with Liv is like no other yoga I have tried before, and I have tried quite a few! She helps you to really resonate in the body and that brings you out of the mind and into being."
Annie Wood, Environmental Activist
Voice Yoga Testimonial
“Liv creates a wonderfully safe, sacred space where we use our voices in harmony with each other to connect and it's a bodily experience but I believe it's more than that - it's a spiritual blessing. A very deep and relaxing time. Very beautiful."
Hannah, Ex-priest, chef
Voice Yoga Testimonial
WHAT'S INCLUDED
⭐️Daily sessions in The Embodied Voice with Kate Smith, and Voice Yoga with Olivia Preye
⭐️A special workshop on Portuguese folk song with Teresa Melo Campos
⭐️Opening and closing ceremonies
⭐️Morning movement and meditation
⭐️Evenings spent in community singing shared songs and creating music on the spot
⭐️6 nights in a boutique Portuguese mansion
⭐️3 meals a day plus afternoon tea and cake
⭐️Picnic and swim in nature on our day off
⭐️Entrance to the Convento do Cristo in Tomar
⭐️Goodbye BBQ
_JPG.jpg)
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED
★Flights and transportation to/from the retreat center
★Extra treatments (massages, reiki etc)
★Travel insurance (recommended)
★Alcoholic drinks
★Tuesday evening meal in Tomar
YOUR INVESTMENT
ARE YOU READY TO JOIN US?!
_small.jpg)
SPECIAL DEALS!
The Vanguard Discount - 15% off! up to £254 off!
The first 3 people to book will secure 15% off the Regular ticket price! So act fast so scoop these up!
Early Bird Discount - 12% off!
Secure 12% off the Regular ticket price if you book before January 24th, 2025!
The Equity Boost
The Equity Boost tickets are intended for those with good financial resources who wish to support the participation of others to help rebalance systemic inequity. By choosing the Equity Boost ticket, you will enable us to open up a bursary place to someone who could otherwise not afford to join us. To counter rising inequality in Portugal, we are committed to offering our first bursary spot to a Portuguese individual living on a typical Portuguese salary. The suggested additional amount is £255.
Late Bird Ticket
After April 24th, 2025, all Regular Tickets will increase price to become Equity Boost tickets, so be sure to sign up in time!
REGISTER
We're so glad you're ready to join us!
To book, please send an email to
Discover.Curiosa @ gmail.com
registering your intention to join Singing into Presence.
Please include:
-
Your Name
-
Telephone Number
-
Where you will be joining us from
-
Your room preference
-
If you intend to book a special discount or offer an Equity Boost
-
A little about yourself and why you are interested in this retreat
-
How did you find out about this event?
We will get back to you letting you know if your room preference and special discount are still available.
In the meantime, you can go ahead and reserve your spot by sending in your deposit of £250 (or euro equivalent) to these bank details.
Bank Transfer (Euros) to Starling UK, Name: Curiosa Ltd.
IBAN: GB13SRLG60837106638852,
BIC: SRLGGB3L
Bank Transer (GBPs) to Starling UK,
Name: Curiosa Ltd.
Bank/Sort Code: 608371,
Account Number: 91075939,
IBAN: GB43SRLG60837191075939
“Kate has a special skill for working the with voice in an intuitive, personal way, making the whole experience very comfortable, even for a complete novice like myself"
“Kate leads through a new experience of your movements, new ideas of your body parts. She has great creativity. Which leads you into your own. The most powerful moments are these, where a group creates a whole new symphony together."
The Embodied Voice Testimonials
BOOKING TERMS
We require a £250 deposit to reserve your spot. Then choose whether you'd like to pay in full or in instalments, as long as we receive the full amount by March 24th, 2025.
Your deposit is non-refundable. If for any reason you need to cancel, we encourage you to see if you can transfer your booking to another person. If not:
-
Cancel before January 24th, you'll receive a refund of 100% of your fee minus deposit
-
Cancel between January 24th to March 24th, you'll receive a refund of 50% of your fee minus deposit
-
We will not be able to issue refunds of any payments after March 24th, 2025
Only in the case that we have to cancel the course for some reason will you receive a refund of your full investment.
_edited.jpg)
FAQs
Q. Is the Retreat wheelchair accessible?
A. Unfortunately, the Retreat has not yet been made wheelchair accessible.
Q. Do I need to bring my own linens and towels?
A. All linen and towels are provided, except for pool towels. All bed linen is 100% cotton, made in Portugal. There is a change of towel every 4 days for those who request it and bed linen in the middle of the retreat. If you require clean towels every day, there will be an additional laundry cost of 2€ per towel each day. To keep the bath towels white, please bring your own pool towels.
Q. Are the rooms shared accommodation?
A. There is one single room available. Otherwise, accommodation is based on people sharing. All rooms are of very high standard and are extremely comfortable, clean and well located with washing facilities. If you have any particular requests (same gender, with friends etc), please let us know.
Q. Do I need to bring my own yoga mat?
A. Yoga mats, blocks, blankets are all provided.
Q. Is there WIFI?
A. Free WiFi is available, please note the speed can be limited due to the rural location – although, we would advise turning your phone off and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the valley.
Q. How do I get to the retreat center?
A. Our retreat is located in Central Portugal between the towns of Tomar and Sertã and near the small town of Cernache do Bonjardim. We are about 3 hours drive from Porto, and 2 hours drive from Lisbon.
If you wish to explore the country while here, or tourist a bit before or after the retreat, then we recommend you rent a private car.
-
Europcar www.europcar.co.uk
-
Avis www.avis.co.uk
-
Sixt www.sixt.co.uk
-
Guerin www.guerin.pt
If you’re just coming for the retreat, then an alternative option to renting separate cars is to hire a minibus with driver. This option requires a group to depart together from the airport. Prices vary depending on amount of people in the group – a single trip will cost from 25€ per person in a group of 13 people. If you are interested, please contact us for an exact price.
We are so excited to share this week with you! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Discover.Curiosa @ gmail.com
