'I thoroughly enjoyed Fiona's one to one yoga class in a tranquil outdoor setting at the yurt retreat. I found Fiona to be very informative and the yoga was perfectly tailored to my needs.'
Sarah Fishman, yoga teacher - UK

Vaisisthasana variation

The sacred syllable Aum

"Yoga came into my life when I was in my late 60's, when I moved to a small quinta in central Portugal to try to start a new life after the death of my husband. Now I am very happy to say that meeting Fiona and attending her wonderful yoga classes has been one of the most important and pleasurable aspects of my new life. After a lifetime of bad posture, stress, high blood pressure, and aching bones and muscles, I am slowly learning to live at peace with my body..... gently correcting years of neglect by the calm and gentle techniques I have learnt from yoga classes. "
Rebecca, Portugal

Utthita Parsvakonasana

Adho Mukha Svanasana

"I thoroughly recommend the yoga classes given by Fiona. As an older person I thought yoga would be too difficult for me but a year on I am far more flexible and supple than before and really enjoy the whole experience." Sheila Dennis, Serra da Alvorge, Portugal.

'I am always open to the experience of others/students, and what they can offer. Creating a practice that is appropriate to the individual is an important and integral part of the yoga tradition. The practice of yoga is ultimately an individual experience, as a yoga teacher we can only point the way for the practicioner back to themselves, to eventually find their own practice, and proceed on their path.

I am constantly learning from my experience as a practicioner of yoga, a teacher of yoga, a mother (where most of my learning occurs!) and as a being at this time on this planet. I very much enjoy sharing my learning with others.' Fiona

"When I left England to come and live in Portugal one of the things I really missed, as well as my family and friends was my yoga teacher. After a couple of years I was introduced to a jewel, Fiona. Her classes are a joy, never boring, always lots of variety, very imformative, not too much pressure and the relaxations at the end should be bottled."
Elaine, Portugal

Yoga classes and yoga holidays at Portugal Yurt Retreat

Teacher - Fiona Macleod.
Fiona is a mother of two - Myra and Elsie, a painter and a certified yoga teacher. She has been been practicing yoga for over 13 years (see more) and teaching two regular classes a week in the local area. She has also taught classes for Portuguese teenagers, and private classes at Lakeview Yurt Retreat. Fiona started teaching friends in 2008 and soon realised the necessity for formal training particularly in anatomy, physiology and yoga therapy. Fiona completed a 500 hour teacher training RYT (Yoga Alliance) in Australia at the Byron Yoga Centre, Byron Bay, Australia in 2009. Fiona continues her professional development and has attended intensive Jivamukti Yoga workshops in London, 2009, 2010, a pranayama weekend in Lisbon, 2010, and is currently completing a year long Yoga Anatomy course.

Currently we offer yoga classes for guests on a class by class basis, please mention when you make a booking if you are interested in yoga classes. In 2014 we will start offering specific yoga retreat weeks through the summer.

'I believe that the practice of yoga can be made accessible to everyone, and that we all have the right to this ancient practice if we desire it - all bodies, all ages, all 'limitation'. I lead sessions according to the individuals I am teaching, with awareness of seasonal changes, the temperature, and cycle of the moon. The practice of yoga is a practice of connecting - connecting with ourselves, our loved ones, humanity, life around us, our planet and our universe.

I do not have a dogmatic approach. I teach an alignment based vinyasa practice, I believe that detailed attention to alignment prevents injury, and can aid the focussing of the mind. I find that vinyasa practice (the practice of moving with the breath through the postures) offers a much deeper experience of asana, once the asanas have been properly absorbed by the individual body.' Fiona

Fiona is happy to tailor classes to your needs. Eg- Beginners week, alignment focus, inversions, vinyasa flow, or recovery from injury or illness etc. If you would like to make a booking for a yoga week, and want a specialised week of classes, please email with any relevant information. If you would like to book on a yoga week, please see our yoga site.

'This was the first time I took a yoga class and it turned out to be perfect for those with little experience (even though some people who had been to classes before enjoyed it just the same). Fiona would always adjust the pace to those present (or the outside temperature for that matter, at 40°C you don't want to jump around a lot!). I very much appreciated the fact that we were taught to listen to our bodies and not force ourselves into postures out of ambition. Like this, I realised after a while that my flexibility and strength had increased almost unnoticed.' Andrea - Pedrogao Pequeno, Portugal

We can also offer you a number of relaxing treatments to compliment your yoga practice with local practicioner. These include Reiki, Aromatherapy massage, facials, Swedish massage, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, and an energetic spinal realignment technique (Dorn-Breuss). These treatments can be organised upon your arrival. (see treatments)

'I had only been to a couple of yoga classes before I stayed at the Yurt and received Fe's instruction. Although we were beginners, Fe was responsive to our learning so that we felt we were making excellent progress. She answered the questions we had and we had access to her library of yoga books which further inspired us. Because there was only two of us, Fe was able to give us much greater attention than is possible in the big class settings I had experienced in the past. This made me feel really safe as Fe would help me to correct my stance and avoid injury. She was flexible with what she taught; as we wanted to focus on meditation she ensured we had the perfect environment for this. I would highly recommend Fe and I hope I get a chance to learn from her again.' Bryn - London

Fiona's own practice is inspired by many teachers and tends towards a more fluid, dynamic style. She studied three years at the Iyengar Institute in London, and has been most inspired by the contemporary American teachers, Shiva Rea, Seane Corne, and the Jivamukti method. Fiona regards Randall O'leary as her first and most important yoga teacher. Jungle Yoga Ashram

'As an absolute beginner I found Fiona's yoga classes to be surprisingly beneficial. Before beginning yoga, I had a recurring back problem and a very stiff and inflexible neck. Over a period of time my back became stronger and the problems less frequent and my neck became much more flexible. Now I rarely have problems with either.

One of the things that I particularly like about Fiona's classes is that anyone can take part no matter what their ability and everyone can develop at their own pace. Fiona is always very encouraging and takes a lot of trouble to make sure everyone knows the correct posture and has the confidence to stretch and challenge themselves'. Jill, Ansiao -Portugal

Asana - finding your seat.
The Sanskrit word asana translates as 'seat' - the practice of moving the body into shapes or postures. Asana can also be interpreted as 'connection'; to the ground underneath you, and to the beings and world around you. Through the practice of asana we can relieve our bodies of years of built up stresses and strains, traumas and stored memories. We can start to 'disentangle our spirits'. Our physical body will come to feel more alive, vibrant and dynamic, gaining in strength and flexibility. Through sustained practice we come to learn so much about ourselves, recognise and break through our barriers and boundaries and find new ways of opening and releasing. These qualities seep through into our day to day lives - yoga 'off the mat'.

Pranayama - getting to know your breath.
The practice of pranayama, generally translated from the Sanskrit as restraining or controlling the breath, is a practice that can really put us in touch with the basic connection of being alive. Our breath is what keeps us 'alive', if we did not breathe, we would not live. Before we start to practice many of the yogic pranayama practices we must untangle our breath from years of habitual holding. As our bodies hang on to unconcious memories of physical and emotional experience, so our process of breathing becomes unnatural as we grow through life. We all develop habits of holding, both body and breath, which we need to unwind and understand before we can move on.

Meditation - being in stillness and space.
We can introduce you to two different meditation practices if you are interested as a part of a yoga week or single class. Meditation is something that will develop over time when the mind has been calmed, or focussed with practice of dharana (concentration). It is only through dhyrana that dhyana (meditation) will come. There are endless techniques for cultivating dhyrana, one of which is midfulness. A common technique if the mindfulness of the breath.

Ahimsa - non harming.
The first of the Yama's (or moral code) in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. Ahimsa, non harming or non violence extends into every aspect of our lives. When we bring the quality of Ahimsa into our day to day living, we become aware of every interaction, physical, verbal, and psychological, with those around us, particularly our family. Ahimsa extends to all living creatures, and leads the practicioner of yoga to embrace a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in order to avoid the cruelty caused to living beings every day in the dairy and meat industries. A good place to start Ahimsa is to be aware of the ways in which we harm ourselves, with our thoughts, inner criticisms or dialogue. In observing this we begin to tranform.

Pratyahara - withdrawing the senses.
Pratyahara is a drawing inwards, a closing in, internalising. Closing down the outer sensory organs and tuning in to an inner space and understanding. Pratyahara is a quality which helps us to turn our asana practice into something deeper. When we cultivate pratyahara, we start to understand asana as something other than a physical practice. Conscious relaxation of the facial muscles, ears, nose - those muscles around our sensory organs will start to develop pratyahara.

We are very interested to hear from any certified teachers who might be interested in spending a summer (2014) in portugal - please contact us if this interests you. We are looking for someone to share daily classes with Fiona and help out generally with cooking and garden/childcare in between retreats.