The creative Heart Retreat
Portugal | July 15-20, 2026
This retreat is an immersion into feeling and creative expression, a return to your nature.
With Bela Crowder & Allegra Monk
Bela and Allegra invite you into a five-day, in-person immersion, where creativity is alive between us, and expression becomes a natural and honest extension of who you truly are.
Grounded in the foundations of The Embodied Heart, this is a space where expression rises naturally from what is felt.
Where your voice can tremble, your body can move, your truth can be seen, as you allow your authenticity to become a living expression.
We begin by returning to centre.
Building the inner security and stillness to stay in your experience rather than leave it.
To feel rather than react.
To allow rather than control.
From that place of intimacy with yourself, something begins to open. The tightness of self-monitoring softens. The pressure to get it right falls away. You’re no longer trying to perform or manage how you’re coming across. Instead, you begin to respond to life as it is actually moving. To create rather than conform.
Words come more easily. Expression feels more natural. There is a sense of flow.
BEYOND INNER WORK
This retreat is for those who have already spent time turning inward. Who have met themselves. Developed a level of self honesty, awareness, and internal stability. Who are no longer looking for more answers, more understanding, or more ways to work on themselves.
At a certain point, the question begins to shift.
Not what needs to be healed, but what wants to be birthed. Not what is unresolved, but what is ready to be given into.
When there is enough internal safety, something else becomes available. We become less driven by who we think we are, and more inspired by what wants to be created through us.
Creativity, here, is not self-improvement. It is participation.
Not as performance.
Not as identity.
But as something honest, and something offered.
What You'll Experience
We work in response to what is here. Gently loosening our reliance on the mind, the habits of trying, controlling, and getting it right, and returning to direct contact with experience as it unfolds.
What you feel becomes the material. Tension, pleasure, uncertainty, longing, pain, the energy in your body, all of it.
Through voice, movement, music, improvisation and group process, you’re invited into a different relationship with creativity. Not as something you produce, but something you surrender to. A space where expression isn’t rehearsed, but discovered in the moment.
At times this may feel like play. At times it may bring you into contact with parts of yourself you haven’t yet expressed.
What’s been held back can begin to move. What hasn’t had form can begin to take shape.
This is about loosening the patterns that interrupt your natural way of expressing and being. There is nothing to perform, nothing to prove.
Only a space to meet what is here, and to discover what becomes possible when you stop interfering.
This is where you become living art.
THIS SPACE IS FOR
This space is for those willing to listen to what is true beneath preference, habit, and identity.
To what is present, before it is shaped, managed, or made more comfortable.
Not to improve it, but to be in relationship with it.
To let it have its place. To let it move. To let it be expressed.
You do not need to be an artist to be here.
You are already a creative being. Our nature is creative. That hasn’t been lost.
Whether creativity has been central in your life, or you’ve simply felt a longing to live and express more freely, you are welcome here.
Details
15–20 July, 2026
Adamae, Portugal
16 participants
5 nights accommodation
3 meals daily
Investment:
€1900
A £300 deposit secures your place. Payment plans are available.
The Venue
The retreat takes place at Adamae, in the Portuguese countryside.
https://www.adamae.pt/
A quiet, natural environment surrounded by open land, ocean, rolling hills, cork oak forrest. There is space to be outside, to move, to rest, and to let the work continue in the spaces in between. The land itself becomes part of the process, inspiring and holding us.
Who We are
We share a devotion to sourcing truth within our own hearts. We don’t meet you from theories or concepts, but from the depths we have each met within ourselves and continue to live.
Bela’s path led her to the wisdom of the human heart. She has guided hundreds of individuals to embrace more of their full-spectrum humanity, from intimate emotional depths to expansive spiritual awareness. Her commitment to meeting herself in difficult places shapes the grounded, real, and compassionate way she meets others. Clients often share that, for the first time, they are meeting themselves with an honesty and vulnerability that transforms both their inner world and their relationship to life.
Allegra’s life as an artist has been the source of her deepest understanding of what it is to be human. Through over a decade as an actor, she has moved through many layers of expression, discovering that within each of us lives the capacity for everything. In her work, people feel their full range is welcomed, finding freedom to express what has been denied or held back. She sees creativity as an intelligence that not only deconditions, but opens you to who you can be.
These paths have shaped two distinct bodies of work: Bela through The Embodied Heart, and Allegra through Embodied Creativity. Together, something new is emerging, a widening of the field and a deeper invitation into freedom. A space where what is alive within you can be felt, expressed, and transformed into creation.
“I am so grateful to Bela for teaching me and providing me with the space to grow my self awareness. The insight gained through the Embodied heart have given me what I needed, to be able to embark upon the next stage of my life. I am scared but I feel confident that I am enough to hold myself through this no matter what.”
- Claire Darnell, london
“I have worked with both Bela and Allegra separately over a number of years and I know them to be exceptionally rare humans.
Simply being in their presence – witnessing how naturally they inhabit themselves – has been a profound transmission for me. It has awakened a deeper freedom in me to be myself.
Through my work with them, I have become more courageous, more honest, more vulnerable, and have expanded my capacity to let more of life move through me and be expressed.
There are no two humans who have inspired me more through who they are. That’s a big claim, but it’s honestly true.”
- Laine tracey, Mullumbimby
“Working with Allegra has been deeply transformative. I learned how to listen to my body, soften into stored experiences, and release what was ready to move. As a fellow artist, Allegra holds a profound understanding of the self-doubt, and inner narratives that often arise on an undefined creative path. She has a rare ability to guide you back into connection with yourself. Reminding you of your wholeness and truth and that you are already enough.”
-Sascha Taurich, perth
FAQ
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This retreat is an opportunity to immerse yourself deeply into your heart and your creative channel. The main intention of this retreat is to support you to be yourself, and you can expect a space that is held in love and safety so that this can occur. You can expect a space where all of you is welcome.
Structurally, what this looks like is supporting you to drop out of your mind and into your embodied, felt experience. This will be facilitated through group or partnered practices, Bela and Allegra working with people 1-1 with group witnessing, and other supportive group exercises to empower your creative expression. The retreat will also include regular morning tea ceremonies and space for showing/sharing your creative expression with group witnessing.
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No. You do not need to identify as an artist. If you feel inspired to embrace more creativity in your life, that’s all you need. Established artists are also encouraged and supported in this space.
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You will receive more of a schedule when you arrive, however you can expect that:
Each day, there will be morning embodiment practices, tea ceremonies, Embodied Heart sessions, Creative expression sessions and practices, music and acting practices and gentle evening activities.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be fully catered for, and there will be opportunities for group or solo nature walks, ocean time, river walks and out door sessions.
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Yes, you can still join. This retreat is available for anyone ready to commit to their own personal transformation, and journey the next step of their emotional evolution, and creative embodieme
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It is recommended that participants have some prior experience with embodiment and/or self-development work before attending the retreat. This does not mean you need to be “advanced,” but that you have already spent time in practices that involve turning toward your inner experience rather than avoiding it. This may include meditation, breathwork, somatic therapy, parts work, relational or body-based practices, or other forms of self-inquiry.
The retreat is not an introduction to personal work, but a space to deepen your capacity to stay present with yourself, your body, and your feeling experience. As part of the application process, you will have a call with Bela to explore whether this retreat is the right environment to support you at this time.
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The Creative Heart retreat is an immersion that is made up of practices and experiences for the purpose of your personal and creative evolution. This is not a training where you will leave with practices to teach other people. It is recommended that the practices we do together on the retreat are not used in your own therapeutic or teaching services. This is for your own personal experience of deepening into your own intimate feeling practice and journey of self expression.
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Adamãe was born out of our mutual dream of living close to nature, completely off-grid, with a self-sustained regenerative lifestyle.
The accommodation is comfortable and thoughtfully designed, with en-suite rooms that provide both privacy and ease. Communal spaces are warm and welcoming, inviting shared meals, rest, and connection, while the surrounding land offers space to walk, reflect, and breathe.
There is a simplicity and steadiness to West Lexham that allows the nervous system to soften. It is a place that holds you gently, making it easier to arrive fully, feel what is here, and meet yourself with honesty and care.
The property is completely off-grid, self-sustained and overlooking country sights of endless hills, herds of cows, sheep and thriving cork trees. It provides a deep-within-nature kind of feeling, even though it is actually located just 20 min away from the stunning beaches of Porto Covo and amazing surf spots,
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It is important to note that the space Bela and Allegra offer is quite distinct from most therapeutic or self-development spaces/modalities. The Creative Heart Retreat provides you with an immersive group experience that will support you to develop an intimate relationship with your human feeling heart and creativity. You will learn how to feel rather than react to life and bring your most authentic self to your creativity. The experience is curated to support you to honour yourself in ways you haven’t yet known how, and to open into vulnerability while cultivating the internal safety and capacity to truly welcome your honest felt experience. There will be moments of guided creative collaboration and devising of work. There will be hands on moments of writing, drawing/sketching, sharing from your truth in front of others and immersing in the richness of the creative field.
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Your comfort during your stay at Adamãe is very important to us. We are equipped to host up to 22 people in 12 Glamping tents, including the retreat leaders.
We have 5 tents of 5m diameter, a spacious and stylish set up which can host up to 3 people. Each tent is elevated on a comfortable wooden platform and have their own private balcony, pergola and hammock. Names: Madeira, Fogo, Terra, Metal, Agua.
And we have 7 tents of 4m diameter, very comfortable and beautifully decorated, each with two single beds. Names: East, North, West, South, Sol, Estrela, Lua.
Our shared bathroom and showers are stylish and authentic. While offering the comfort of a home away from home, they are designed as highly sustainable off-grid solutions.
As part of our sustainable vision to regenerate and live in harmony with the land - all the water used in Adamãe comes from the land, gets filtered and goes back to the land through our irrigation system.
We provide complimentary organic soap and shampoos.
Healthy and nourishing food will be catered for you the entire stay.
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Adamãe Retreat Centre is located in southwest Portugal, in the heart of the Costa Vicentina, just 1h50 south of Lisbon Airport and 1h45 north of Faro Airport.
Getting here is very easy, guests can arrive comfortably by rental car, Bolt or Uber, and we are also very happy to assist with the organisation of a private mini-bus transfer for groups, if needed.
There is also a direct Rede Expressos bus running several times a day from both Lisbon and Faro to our area.
We are just 20 minutes from Porto Covo and some of the most remarkable beaches and surf spots that Portugal has to offer.
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Phone reception can be limited, but there is wifi on site.
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Journal
Water bottle
Clothes that are comfortable and versatile, for lots of sitting and movement practice
Any personal items you need for six days away
A special item for the altar
Painting/Drawing Art Supplies
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The retreat begins on the first day with arrival and check-in from 4:00pm, followed by an opening session in the early evening.
We will finish on the final day at 10:00am, after a closing session and breakfast. -
A deposit of 300 euros is required to secure your place on the retreat, or you can pay in full upfront. From there you can commit to a payment plan which will be secured through Acuity.
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No. The Creative Heart Retreat is a non-refundable event.
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The Embodied Heart is the next step in your emotional evolution if you have tried various other modalities and feel like nothing ever really changes for you. That you experience the high of “figuring it out” or something new, but really you’re getting lost in an endless web of personal shadow work. It’s for you if you feel like you spend more time managing your reaction to the perceived threat of feeling rather than actually reaching the core. It’s for you if the cutting edge in your evolution feels like immersing yourself into creative expression artistry. It’s for you if you feel like you are growing out of old ways of creatively expression yourself and are looking to reinvigorate your practice. It’s for you if you are ready to be seen, heard, felt, and expressed for the creative being that you are.
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You may have noticed that this is something I am very discerning about: that there is a huge difference between emotion and feeling.
Emotion is a reaction to feeling shaped by your ego’s interaction with your felt experiences. These reactions are linked to your beliefs and identity construct.
Authentic feeling is the act of embracing the present moment within your body, as your visceral felt experience arrises. This is separate from any mental interpretations or assigned meanings.
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The easiest way to know is if you are in your head. What this means is you are trying to “figure out” who you are and using your known patterns, ideas, and experiences. When you are not truly feeling, you are moving through life habitually, following patterns and addictions rather than being yourself.
