From Himsa (Violence) to Ahimsa (Nonviolence)
Embark on a transformative journey from Himsa (Violence) to Ahimsa (Nonviolence), a six-day retreat dedicated to cultivating compassion, awareness, and nonviolence in both practice and life. This retreat invites you to explore how yoga can become a powerful tool for healing and transformation, starting with a Welcome Circle to foster connection and safety. Each morning, Mysore-style practice allows you to deepen your personal journey, while pranayama and meditation sessions with Petri and Wambui guide you toward inner calm and presence.
Throughout the week, thought-provoking workshops will delve into nonviolent communication, adjustments, and the creation of a safer yoga environment, as well as how to meet life’s challenges with resilience and grace. Inspired by Alice Walker’s wisdom, you’ll explore themes like "Hard Times, Furious Dancing"—learning to embrace the moment with courage and authenticity. The retreat culminates in a reflection on Dharma for the World, inviting you to carry the principles of ahimsa (nonviolence) into your daily life, both on and off the mat. Leave feeling empowered, connected, and inspired to create a more compassionate world.
We will have 1-2 batches of Mysore classes on the weekdays mornings starting at 6am (April 14-16) and 1 batch of the afternoon workshops. The led primary series class with Petri on Friday 17th will take place at the yoga shala at 6am and led accessible yoga with Wambui will start at 8am. On the weekend (April 18-19) we will have 1-2 Mysore batches starting at 6:30am (if one class) or 6:00am and 7:45am (if two classes).
Besides the yoga program, we will have dinners, beach hang-out time, surfing, nature walks and trips together (or as you wish), with bigger or smaller groups of students. There is a great opportunity to try surfing as there are surfing schools in every bigger beach in the area.
Mysore Style = Self Led practice with Petri’s experienced, sensitive and healing adjustments.Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings
Led Class = On Fridays guided full primary series class. If you are not doing the full Primary series, you can decide when you would like to stop your practice.
Accessible Guided Class = On Fridays, you can join in a softer, slower, gentler quarter primary series with Wambui. This option is suitable for beginners, those with mobility concerns and /or recovering from injury; or those who wish to gain the benefit of the Ashtanga Yoga practice but through a trauma-informed framework.
Pranayama = Light, simple and beneficial breathing exercises for a deeper understanding about the breath and energy work.
NOTE: Some of the afternoon classes, especially Pranayamas can be held outdoors, if the weather is suitable!
Discover the schedule and details below to choose the option that feels right for you
Full Program
Weekend Program
Morning Practises only
Morning Practises + Single Classes of your choice
Separate Drop-Inn Class
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Tuesday 14th
Mysore Style: Starting Times: 06:00 Group 1 // 07:45 Group 2 (if needed)
11:15-12:15 Welcome Circle workshop opening; Getting to know one another + creating safety in the practice
Tea Break
12:30-14:00 Afternoon workshop TBA
Wednesday 15th
Mysore Style: Starting Times: 06:00 Group 1 // 07:45 Group 2 (if needed)
11:15-12:15 Pranayama + Meditation with Petri: Comfortable, simple and easy pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditations.
Tea break
12:30-14:30 Afternoon workshop with Petri: Nonviolent view. Adjustment, communication and mantras. How to make the yoga space non-violent.
Thursday 16th
Mysore Style: Starting Times: 06:00 Group 1 // 07:45 Group 2 (if needed)
Free afternoon
Friday 17th
06:00 Led Class Primary Series with Petri
8:00 Accessible Trauma Informed Yoga Led Class with Wambui
Yoga Shop open (you are warmly invited to support our local vendors and take a piece of Costa Vicentina home with you)
11:15-12:15 Pranayama + Meditation with Petri
12:30-14:30 Afternoon workshop with Petri: Nonviolent adjustments for a safer yoga environment. Hands-on adjustments.
Saturday 18th
Mysore Style: Starting Times: 06:30 (or 06:00 & 07:45 if there will be more than one group)
Yoga Shop open (you are warmly invited to support our local vendors and take a piece of Costa Vicentina home with you)
11:30-12:30 Pranayama + Meditation with Wambui : Comfortable, simple and easy pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditations.
Tea break
12:45-14:15 Afternoon workshop with Wambui Hard Times, Furious Dancing*: Meeting the Moment (*Alice Walker quote)
Sunday 19th
Mysore Style: Starting Times: 06:30 (or 06:00 & 07:45 if there will be more than one group)
Yoga Shop open (you are warmly invited to support our local vendors and take a piece of Costa Vicentina home with you)
11:15-12:15 Pranayama + Meditation with Wambui: Comfortable, simple and easy pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditations.
Tea break
12:30-14:00 Afternoon workshop with Wambui: The Burning Ocean: Dharma for the World
14:15-14:45 Workshop closing circle with Wambui
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Full workshop March 17-22 with 5 Mysore mornings, Friday’s Led class and all afternoon sessions 360 €/week
Weekend March 20-22 with 2 Mysore mornings in both days, one Led class (Friday) & afternoon sessions 220€
Single classes (Mysore or Led), possible if there will be space in the shala 35 €
Single classes (Afternoon Techniques), possible if there will be space in the shala 50€
Single class (Lectures), possible if there will be space in the shala 25€
Single class (Pranayama or Meditation), possible if there will be space in the shala 20€
Send an e-mail to register for single classes to yogarootsodeceixe@gmail.com
Workshop opening and closing on Tuesday and Sunday Free of change
All prices include 23% vat
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We follow and respect the Ashtanga Vinyasa system as taught by T. Krishnamacharya and K. Pattabhi Jois, but are aware the harm their teaching method have caused.
We center each individual practitioner and their unique needs and capabilities. We do not follow a dogmatic, ‘one size fits all’ approach to the Ashtanga method. Our aim is for healing, both the physical and spiritual; acceptance and freedom. We’re open to discussing your individual Ashtanga practice and find ways how the method can be customized for your needs. Please feel open to sharing anything with us which might affect your practice at the moment (i.e. injuries, childbirth, etc).
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While the assumption in the Mysore room is that people come for physical adjustments, we practice asking for permission before physically adjusting you. Consent is crucial and non-negotiable. If you’re happier not to be physically adjusted during your asana practice, we respect this choice as well. We will check in on a regular basis regarding consent to being physically adjusted. Some days you may want to be adjusted and other days not, and we welcome this. Feel free to be yourself and find your own way to practice Ashtanga. We are here to help you in your yoga process.
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Yoga can be an effective and beneficial tool for reaching a more peaceful state of mind, managing stress better and getting physically well. Our workshops and retreats are designed for people with normal physical and mental conditions. If you are on medication, are currently taking (or have taken) therapy and/or counseling, or have any known mental condition(s) that would in any way hinder your participation in a workshop or retreat, please inform us, as well as your doctor/therapist before registering. We do not provide any specialist therapy or counseling at our workshops/retreats who would be able to help, should the need arise. If a student’s behaviour causes disruption for other workshop participants and the teachers, he or she will be requested to stop participating in the workshop and to seek appropriate help. In such a situation, we do not offer refunds, but are available to provide any documents necessary for insurance claims.
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In case of cancellation the payment is not refundable after April 3rd 2026. Before April 3rd, a full refund (minus 20€ for management costs) is given. Please email your bank account number for the refund if needed.
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Local Students with a 10 x practice card to Yoga Roots ODX – 50% from the original workshop price
Local Odeceixe Portuguese citizens – 40%
Portuguese citizens – 30%
Disabled Practitioners – 30%
BIPOC, Caste-oppressed Practitioners – 15%
LGBTQIA2S+ – 15%
Single parents – 15%
Portuguese Residents – 15%
Students (15 – 30), Parents on leave (up to 18 months) & Retired (65+) – 15%
For the students with a low income we are offering a Volunteer exchange option (below).
*When registering, please send us proof of your discount (ie. student or disability card). Otherwise, we use the honor system and invite you to be transparent with us regarding your reason for a discounted tier.
Voluntary help at the fruit tree garden, herbal garden or park. Voluntary workshop exchange option for 2-3 students per workshop. Please ask more if you are interested.
Why Discounts?
We believe the practice of yoga can heal the world, both on and off the mat. We have witnessed the wisdom contained within the tradition of yoga for both individual self- transformation and collective, societal progress. In this spirit, we recognize our aspiration for our yoga spaces to feel welcoming and warm for anyone who wishes to take practice. We continually contemplate how we can make our yoga spaces safer, welcome and more accessible to all, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, caste, sexual identity, class, age, nationality, immigrant status, disability etc.
One way we aspire to live by our yogic ideals is around economic accessibility. Yoga should not be a luxury only for those who can afford it. Yoga must be made accessible, both economically and culturally, for those who most need it. Based on our individual social locations and whether these identities are proximal to, or distant from, power and privilege, we recognise that institutionalized oppression, visible and invisible, recognizable or hidden, affects how some people are seen, heard and valued in society. How some are afforded rest and ease and others are not.
How some can breath with peace.
And how, for others, their breath gets stolen from them, both literally and figuratively.
We wish to balance the scales.
Starting with our circle of influence in our yoga space.
If you identify as more than one on the list above, please choose the tier that is most essential for you to tend to. We recognize that some of you may embody multiple, intersecting identities of marginalization, and would be eligible for multiple discounts. We also acknowledge that there are several more intersections not mentioned that require care and equity. While we aim to extend as much community care out, we must also protect our energy output and ensure our livelihood and needs as a family are also honored.
For those who embody social locations close(r) to societal privilege and power, this is an invitation to be in active solidarity with others who move through society differently than you. We are sensitive to the fact that life is hard for us all. Being human is hard. However, there are many experiences that are facilitated for one based on any number of factors, and having privilege often means that we don’t need to notice the ways structures are set up in our favor. We invite you to pay the full price with a generous spirit. Equity, meaning everyone getting what they need, for those who have enjoyed privilege might sometimes feel like oppression.
In this moment, breathe, slow down and tend to yourself with care and honest accountability.
Fannie Lou Hamer is known to have said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” We are all needed to get where we need to be, as an inter-species. Let’s start embodying this interdependence and interconnection with one another.
Side by side.
Both on and off the yoga mat.
May all beings get what they need to be well, cared for and tended to.
May our actions bring us one step closer to making it so.