Detail on experiences and happenings at quinta minuvida

Seven life lessons in 7 years in the Azores

2/13/2022

Post by Rimi

It was seven years ago. Feb. 13, 2015. A historic winter storm crippled Boston and João and I narrowly escaped with a one-way ticket for São Miguel, Azores.

Our lives enter new “chapters” marked by major changes every seven years, many believe, and 7 has a long history as a “sacred number” within all major faiths. On this momentous occasion, I share 7 life lessons I’m grateful for since moving here, and hope they inspire you in some way to fully embrace each chapter of your life ;-)

#7 Patience, once a bully now a friend
While I recently wrote about our nightmare getting funding (long story short, we didn’t), it certainly taught me patience. It might as well have slapped me in the face, batted me over the head and shoved me to the ground as that’s the way this overambitious American had to learn it ;-)

My greatest realization has been that while ideas and motivation can be exciting and seem urgent, implementing them can take a lifetime, and there’s a joy to be savored in that dance. So, DON´T RUSH IT. It helps to have beaches, lava stone cliffs and steaming volcanoes within a 15- to 20-minute drive to turn my attention to ;-)

#6 Keeping love alive with my business partner and husband
It was a “wedding location scouting trip” that first led me here as João and I chose to get married in his hometown. In the first year after moving from Boston to São Miguel the major culture shock, frustrations over language, project financing and endless delays meant the so-called “honeymoon period” wasn’t exactly easy.

While we didn’t always see eye-to-eye (João wanted to let things happen in due time and I insisted on blasting full force ahead), we were always in it together. Not only did we share a home in this beautiful island paradise, but we also shared a vision and purpose to Elevate Consciousness.

What kept love alive in our relationship is 1.) Clearly defining roles and responsibilities (and then not overstepping them and actually trusting the other to carry out those roles and responsibilities), and 2.) Making time for our relationship; which means taking breaks, planned time off, and for me avoiding the itch to business brainstorm with João while on a hike ;-)

Many times I stop, gaze up at the star studded sky and realize just how special it is to have co-created a life that enables me to live my dreams and inspire others to live theirs.

#5 Building a community that nurtures my roots
Each week, visitors, expats (I prefer “imports”) and locals join in classes to breathe, chant and move in ways that leave us all feeling better 90 minutes later. After class tea time encourages exchanges and ideas that open our hearts and minds.

I show up 100% as myself and in so doing have created a safe space to share, explore, be vulnerable and ask for and give support. Teaching yoga isn´t just something I do, but it´s a form of self-care where everyone benefits.

#4 Learning a new language in my mid-30s
I subjected myself to several highly embarrassing situations in order to really learn Portuguese. I gave several business talks, taught yoga classes, and often mixed up words, telling people to place their hands on their “pork chops” (costelas means ribs, but I said costeletas, which means... pork chops!).

Being truly comfortable in both Portuguese and English has enabled me to understand the richness of the culture and tradition (and humor!) here that often gets lost in translation. Plus it´s been good for my brain.

#3 Co-creating the life of my dreams
Getting away from the 9-to-5 means the freedom to run and live your life the way you want it. Here in the Azores, in this rich volcanic soil in the womb of the Earth, what you wish for happens. Shakti, the creative life force, is gurgling under our feet and she’s given form to the multitude of ideas and intentions over the years. I often joke, “Be careful what you wish for here”.

Wishing for businesses that serve our communities and not just our financial ambitions has resulted in MINUVIDA AZORES, LDA, having survived the pandemic, now in our fifth year of operation with our solid local team still in place, an even clearer vision and mission of who we are, and a growing community of mindful travelers who seek us out to Elevate Consciousness.

Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned living here is we don’t actually need all THAT STUFF!

Wishing to take our business lessons globally I started running various mindful leadership programs for individuals and companies, now working with teams and leaders all over the world.

Many times I stop, gaze up at the star studded sky and realize just how special it is to have co-created a life that enables me to live my dreams and inspire others to live theirs.

#2 Evolving in my journey of consciousness
In the many hardships we faced (not getting funding, frustrations over bureaucracy, staff challenges, marital challenges, family challenges, you freakin’ name it!), I finally realized that these were all lessons I needed to learn. I had “signed up for them”. And if I didn’t learn them, I’d get more opportunities to master them. Yay…

Lessons like, “Forgiveness”, “Letting Go”, “Trust”, “Setting Boundaries”, “Valuing Myself”, the list could go on and on. This magical place is truly special in that I genuinely felt supported here and was able to stop identifying with my ego and “what happened to me”. The powerful volcanic energy here is like Gaia coming up to embrace you, if you stop to feel it.

I started to see that the lessons I was learning were universal to each and every one of us. This led me to incorporate my experience into my teachings, to pursue energy healing, access the Akashic Records and deepen my meditation practice to continue to serve as a channel for Source.

#1 Living Simply, Living More
Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned living here is we don’t actually need ALL THAT STUFF! The raw elements here demand that we pay attention (have you been here during a storm?!) so amidst all the other lessons described above I started listening.

I realized that instead of buying new clothes it was way more fulfilling, cheaper and more fun to trade with friends. I learned that all our cosmetics, lotions and hair care products come from nature and can easily be made with ingredients you grow yourself. I traded in commercial crap for things I made with love and intention. We started growing more of our own food and grocery shopping at farmers markets or trading with friends.

While some revel at the fact that Amazon now delivers here in just under a week and there are more international imported items in grocery stores, I am grateful we’ve been able to live more attuned to the land, living with her, not just on it. What we do to the land and our planet, we do to ourselves – and vice versa.

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The biggest story we never told

11/29/2021

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Post by Rimi

As we near the end of one of the most difficult years for the tourism industry, we have PLENTY to be thankful for. And boy, do we have a story to tell…

Cue dreamy music and blur to flashback: November 2015

We are racing to submit our incentives application. A critical factor in our financial planning for MINUVIDA rests on getting a government incentive that would reimburse us for up to 70% of construction costs.

After extensive research and our consultants’ expert opinion, we are certainly a shoe-in for the funding, as ours is one of the best projects they’ve seen.

Our application is IN! The first one in that year´s round.

We start construction with bullish confidence, a massive renovation project to transform a dilapidated villa into Quinta Minuvida.

But something wasn't right.

We were supposed to receive an answer in "about two months" from our application. But nothing. When we inquired, government bureaucrats informed us that our application needed extensive revisions due to new, stricter program requirements. So we scrambled to resubmit information, which ultimately wasn't deemed satisfactory by the program deadline.

Instead of receiving 70% of our construction costs back, we were not going to receive a dime.

I felt like the rug had been swept out from under us.

Meanwhile, construction continues. We sold everything, including our condo in Boston, liquidated mutual funds and invested our life savings. We went to local banks and applied for a construction loan. No one cared about our past successes. They wanted three years of operating history. Tough luck.

This was truly rock bottom, I thought. (My post-pandemic self is now giggling)

However, we had planned for this possibility.

This was "worst-case scenario".

So we changed a few things in our construction plans. Value engineering. Ah, now I get this term.

We started small. We made our own decorations with driftwood and lots of love. We started with the basics and reinvested as we grew. We only put the fancy local wood floor in the yoga studio nearly two years after opening.

We had some really amazing first guests who didn’t mind the bare rooms and minimal furnishings. It was the experience that mattered.

Maybe that’s how it should be.

Yes, I even learned how to use a machete.

This was truly rock bottom, I thought.

However, we had planned for this possibility.

This was "worst-case scenario".

At the start of 2020, we celebrated five years since moving to the Azores and launching MINUVIDA. We were keenly aware of how focusing on the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit), and PURPOSE has lead to tremendous personal and professional success.

Celebrations + Gratitude
Thanks to our experiences starting MINUVIDA, the pandemic wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. We learned then to plan for the worst-case scenario.

We reopened this past May with a nearly sold-out summer season and successfully hosted three group retreats rescheduled from 2020.

As the year winds down, we are reminded of what led to our success:

Aligning decisions with values: Purpose + Planet
We are an intentional, sustainable business. Not all our business decisions are about turning a profit.

We receive dozens of requests to host groups and yoga retreats every year and say NO to most of them. What?! It’s worth spending the time to find the right people rather than quickly fill rooms with the wrong ones. Been there, done that.

While many businesses make a significant portion of revenue on alcohol sales, we have chosen not to sell alcohol at all, a decision that supports our mission to help people connect with their wiser selves.

We have five full-time employees, as well as a varying number of part-time staffers. We partner with businesses on a regular basis to support our transportation and meals needs for our burgeoning groups and retreat market. We purchase artisanal bath products from a local supplier. Our success leads to their success.

You're unlikely to find another business on this island with the guest to staff ratio at Quinta Minuvida and most people here think we are crazy to carry such high operational expenses.

By focusing on what we do best, João and I have put our efforts in generating the kind of revenue that permits our high employment levels. We have focused on growing the top line, not trimming the bottom line.

We have also adopted a thrifty lifestyle. We wouldn't care if our staff had better cars or clothes than us. It would be a testament to our success. And of course we don't give a damn about what kind of house, car or suit our business peers parade around the island.

Moreover, our sustainability pledge has one of its strongest pillars in our commitment to provide local employment and fair wages in an impoverished community.

We will never sell out
We have seen our favorite places getting written up in the New York Times and then getting overwhelmed, exhausted and burned out and then having to outsource so they could stay sane, losing "what made them special" with it.

What we are doing is really special. We want to make it ever more special. We want to remember the people that come through our property. We want to welcome them back.

So, we have chosen to give our best those who chose us. And we are taking planned weeks off so we can rest and recharge.

ANNOUNCING: MYMINUVIDA PROGRAM
We are inviting you to even more intimate and exclusive experiences with us on a application only basis.

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Guest teacher highlight: Who is my teacher?

4/7/2021

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Andrea Fotopoulos is keeping with the middle road through the pandemic.

One of the biggest silver linings of the pandemic has been an increase in the responsibility of the yoga student -- a step toward “studentship”, Andrea shares. She cites the pandemic as enabling an evolutionary growth of the student-teacher relationship, which expands on the “who is my teacher” question.

She also shares from her own personal experience this past year: “We can’t see the light if we didn’t have the dark... it’s the recognition that these things live side by side and the sitting with what IS for me, instead of what I wish it was... Reflection is possible only when we see one with the other.”

We talk about the “ISness of things” and how it applies to our yoga practice and specifically what it means to be “strong” in your practice.

Plus, Andrea shares how she gets her “personal hits” and builds her kula as well as making yoga accessible to all. We can’t wait to welcome Andrea and her retreaters in November!

“We can’t see the light if we didn’t have the dark... it’s the recognition that these things live side by side and the sitting with what IS for me, instead of what I wish it was... Reflection is possible only when we see one with the other.”

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Guest teacher highlight: The path of happiness

3/19/2021

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Emotions can run our life, or we can guide them in our favor.

At the Center for Human Flourishing, mental + emotional well-being through education take centerstage and in September Filipe Rocha will bring that message to Quinta Minuvida.

A medical school student in Northern Portugal, Filipe will be run a weeklong retreat at here focusing on cultivating emotional balance, Sep. 11 - 19.

In this interview he shares how we can harness our emotions to cultivate balance in our lives. Emotions are not “good” or “bad”, but rather can be “constructive” or “destructive," he says. Filipe shares how we can get out of being “gripped” by emotion.

Emotions can also be a path to real happiness. Too often happiness equates to the chase for MORE in order to fill a void. How can we make emotions work in our favor?

Emotions are not 'good' or 'bad', but rather can be “constructive” or “destructive. Emotions can also be a path to real happiness.

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Guest teacher highlight: The magic of water

2/24/2021

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In this juicy interview with Dakota Channel we hear about how the sacred waters of the Azores called Dakota to host her retreat here.

“One of the best ways I love to connect to a place when I first arrive is to find a spring and drink water from the place, because that water… has the energy, the spirit of the place.”

Dakota’s shares with us her powerful daily practice and “anchor-point” of communing with her water altar. You can get a free guided video on how to incorporate and connect with the magic of water at https://dakotachanel.com/free-water-priestess/

We talk about the legend of Atlantis and what traveling here and partaking in ceremony can mean for the healing of the world. “The group of women that’s come together for this is so special and to be with all of them and to do these ceremonies and practices, and offerings, I just know that magic and miracles are going to happen and I can’t wait."

We can’t either!

“When I first started working with water and women... I started to realize this softness and this strength. This deep feminine power that’s not a power over but a power through unity and through connection… and the teachings of the water of love, unconditional love, where she washes us all clean, equally. She is so abundant in her love and grace.”

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Five-year itch

2/11/2021

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Post by João

AFTER OUR FIVE-YEAR GLORIOUS JOURNEY came to a screeching halt in 2020, we figured it was time to turn inside.

We've helped scores Discover and Feel the Azores, a driving vision for the MINUVIDA AZORES operation of lodging, outdoors experiences and retreats since 2015. But all along we wondered if that was all we were doing or could do. We started noticing that what people really need, now more than ever, is to turn inside, awaken their consciousness. Elevate.

So, after many in-confinement stream of consciousness sessions, we ultimately settled on a new vision (the why) and tweaked our mission (the what and how). We evolved our look and are set on changing travel. (We kind of had plenty of time to do all this...)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVOLUTION (ABRIDGED)

Welcome to our new symbol and logo. It not only signifies the volcanic peaks of São Miguel island at sunrise, along with their lakes, but it also shows that much more lies below the surface, inviting the journey inside. The shapes can either signify A for Azores, M for MINUVIDA or even MVA for MINUVIDA AZORES.

Our website is also now more focused with a clear message, plus more interactive features. (Just navigate this site to learn what we're talking about.)

Travel can be much more than getting away from it all. It can also be about opening our minds to new worlds and new ways, taking the time to listen to our true selves, to turn inside.

We are therefore pleased to announce that our vision is now ELEVATE CONSCIOUSNESS.

To Elevate Consciousness through Travel, through Mindfulness, through the Journey Inside.

We feel strongly that travel can be much more than getting away from it all. It can also be about opening our minds to new worlds and new ways, taking the time to listen to our true selves, to turn inside.

With that, we are still helping you Discover and Feel the Azores, but that is now part of the how, or our mission. The why is to Elevate Consciousness. You'll see that we are developing new, immersive themed experiences to connect you to all your senses through food, mindfulness and the wondrous nature of the Azores, probably the main reason bringing you here in the first place.

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Guest organizer highlight: Transformative travel

2/4/2021

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Itching to travel again? As retreat organizers and experts in the wellness travel biz, Kristin and Ian of SolSeed Retreats give us some great insight about what travel looks like and the kinds of meaningful, transformative trips people are going to be interested in taking.

If you have or are planning to have any kind of event you’re not going to want to miss their “must have sales and marketing tips” based on their knowledge of working with retreat leaders around the world.

Ian shares with us some tangible tools on things you can do TODAY to make sure that when we can travel again, you’ve got a head start on the process.

Find out more about SolSeed by following them on Instagram and Facebook and we look forward to hosting our retreats again with them soon!

“Coming off of a year of introspection is going to lead to some profound travel experiences across the board.”

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Guest teacher highlight: A wise woman

1/25/2021

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What a pleasure it was interviewing Cyndi Bulka and hearing her many gems of wisdom for us all.

As a yoga teacher, retreat leader and certified coach Cyndi talks about how the pandemic gave her a chance to consider her “legacy” as she reinvented herself (yet again!) at 60. “I knew I had to sit with all the difficult emotions first... I didn’t deny myself that, and I knew that if I gave myself the time to process all that, I’d actually have the energy to decide what I wanted to do next, to have the clarity of the heart and mind to move forward. And that proved to be a good decision," she says.

Cyndi shares with us a powerful exercise in shifting emotion and getting out of anger and fear. Cyndi is launching her Wise Woman Wellness, an on-line holistic weight management program starting Feb.1. You can find out more about Cyndi and about her offerings at: www.zaktihealth.com/ and join her Wise Women Facebook group.

We look forward to receiving Cyndi here to the Azores!

“When you’re aligned with purpose and passion, the Universe just sort of unfolds it for you...I feel like that’s where I am.”

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Supporting the guest teacher community

1/12/2021

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MINUVIDA welcomes several guest teachers and their students each year. We’ve hosted 35 international retreats and had a sold-out 2020 retreat season before the pandemic.

We missed group hikes, conversations and songs by the firepit, our amazing meals together and the knowledge exchange between participants and teachers from all over the world. 

As 2020 blurred by we sorely missed our groups, whose retreats were postponed. We missed group hikes, conversations and songs by the firepit, our amazing meals together and the knowledge exchange between participants and teachers from all over the world. We thought, how can we help support this incredible community?

So the Highlighting Guest Teacher Community series was born!

We hope you enjoy meeting the leaders who will be hosting upcoming retreats at MINUVIDA and find inspiration for your own practice, journey and maybe future trip here.

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The brave new world... of travel

5/19/2020

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Post by João

I explored the makeshift markets of Kolkata and found connection in the suspicious quarters of Rio. I talked serious cross-the-channel politics in London pubs and strayed off the track in Puerto Rico to discover its authentic food.

When traveling in any of these places, I always instinctively social distanced from the crowds and wandered off-the-beaten-path, even in and especially when visiting big tourist traps, to find deeper connection. The slums of Rocinha and Pedra da Gávea, or the Zona Norte in Rio showed me a truer picture of the city than any Copacabana.

The allure of getting up at the crack of dawn, jump on a crowded bus ride, and wait for hours in long lines wasn't enough to convince me to visit the not-to-miss hallowed marbles of the Taj Mahal. Instead, I wandered the neighborhood markets of Kolkata and Old City Delhi, swerving around speeding rickshaws in the narrowest of lanes, despite the nagging that I must visit the Taj and see the new and shiny sections of Delhi.

When the talk got serious, and maybe, I'll admit the drinking of local beer, at a particular London pub, I didn't walk away from an Irishman living in London who filled my ear about the his country's difficult relationship with the good old UK. We virtually closed the door of the early night drinking hole talking about how we're all connected and how we're all the same in the end. Why the wars?

What I'm getting at, and keeping with the message of my previous post, it that this novel coronavirus pandemic is reinforcing what I always believed: Travel should be about discovery and connection. The virus doesn't like crowds, mass confusion, debauchery. Neither do I.

MINUVIDA FAMILY EXPERIENCE

Want to travel in a new way with us? Join our MINUVIDA FAMILY EXPERIENCE program for families seeking to reconnect this year in a natural, welcoming and stunning setting.

Contact us for full details.

"I wandered the neighborhood markets of Kolkata and Old City Delhi, swerving around speeding rickshaws in the narrowest of lanes."

When did travel become a sideshow? When it become the realm of selfie sticks and casual ascents to Everest? Of helicopter drops in remote places from glamping excursions that only leave places dirtier and poorer? When did travel become about getting so wasted that I don't remember which island of the Caribbean I visited or if Bali is even an island?

Maybe the time of jetting around the world endlessly for weekend warrior type vacations on a whim is over. No more crazy Vegas junkets, in-and-out ski trips to Vale, or Paris flyovers to wait hours in line to eat a croissant at that new patisserie. Just imagine the carbon footprint of all of that.

Maybe senseless 10-hour flight business trips for a couple of one-hour meetings in Moscow, and just maybe a peek at the Red Square, are a thing of the past. What's not over is true travel. The type of discovery travel that true explorers, like you, relish.

Maybe instead of five-trips-a-year-to-faraway-places-for-weekend-entertainment-because-work-doesn't-allow-for-longer-trips, we will all start to take one, longer trip a year to places like MINUVIDA. Maybe we will take the to truly connect and discover. Maybe we even take the time to better ourselves.

How about that?

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<<Previous

Seven life lessons in 7 years in the Azores

The biggest story we never told

Guest teacher highlight: Who is my teacher?

Guest teacher highlight: The path of happiness

Guest teacher highlight: The magic of water

Five-year itch

Guest organizer highlight: Transformative travel

Guest teacher highlight: A wise woman

Supporting the guest teacher community

The brave new world... of travel

MINUVIDA FAMILY EXPERIENCE

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