THE RECONNECTION RETREAT
24th - 28th SEPT 2025
PORTUGAL
The Reconnection is a women's psilocybin retreat created to reconnect you to your body and your feminine power through deep rest, softness, and community.
Weaving together ritual, embodied movement, self-inquiry, trauma release, and sacred ceremony, in a slow and gentle way, this retreat is your permission slip to fully rest, unwind, recharge, and re-awaken to the truth of who you are.
The experience is co-created and held for you by Laura Wilkes and Lauren MacDonald.
-
"This was a week of remembering how we evolved to live - slowly, intimately, and connected to others. There is nowhere to hide, and you will find yourself looking into yourself, and into the eyes of others, with love and compassion. That's where the magic lies!"
Zoe xxx
-
"I cannot recommend this retreat enough. Lauren and Laura held such beautiful space, allowing a deep and lasting connection between a group of strangers, now friends. They wove yoga, ceremony and dance to reconnect us to ourselves and each other. I am infinitely grateful I had this time with you both. Thank you for holding and uplifting us all. Peace & love ✌️"
Poppy xxx
-
"It has been an absolute privilege to meet Laura and Lauren. Their deep wisdom, energy and openness made it such a fertile place for me to do my own work and gain my new insights. The balance between everything was just perfect. Thank you for being wonderful human beings able to hold and dark and light, with lightness, joy and honouring."
Sophie xxx
-
"The feeling of being held, not only by the incredible facilitators, but also by the the soul-family that had been brought together gave space to deep rest and transformation. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and I say that not with sadness, but the knowledge that I was blessed to participate in something so extraordinary, with the added bonus of having made beautiful life-long connections."
Christine xxx
The Reconnection is your space to explore your inner world and release what you no longer need. It is a retreat that bridges light and dark, deep healing and pure fun, masculine structure and feminine flow, tears and laughter, shedding and rebuilding. A dance of opposing energies that complement to return you to feeling whole again.
Using psilocybin therapy within a safe and supportive community, we will weave together ritual, embodied movement, self-inquiry, rest, and sacred ceremony to allow your body and mind to fully rest, recharge and re-awaken to the truth of who you are.
At the core of this retreat is sisterhood, self-healing and expansion. Holding each other through it all, the lightness, the joy, the challenges, and the dark, as we authentically reconnect to our essence.
It is a journey back to yourself, your body and your soft feminine energy, so that you can deepen your relationship with the beauty and great mystery of life.
Your Experience.
Our Practices.
Our practices are a tapestry of healing tools that honor your mind, body, and spirit.
From Yin and Gentle Yoga, somatic release, and TRE to embodied movement, ecstatic dance, compassionate inquiry, and meditation, each practice is crafted to encourage a profound sense of well-being.
We’ll move slowly, gently, and in a way that embraces your feminine essence; guided to soften your body, release deep tension, and open up to a deeper curiosity of who you really are.
A sacred psilocybin ceremony will held at the mid-point of the retreat as a tool of unfolding, shedding and releasing.
Allow yourself the time you need to rest and be held.
Honoring the restorative power of sleep, our retreat values the importance of deep rest and a feminine way of being. The schedule has been planned with lots of time for naps, reading in the sunshine, nature walks, integration, and spaciousness.
You’ll have you nourishing meals prepared for you and your days planned out, so you can surrender to deep rest and time to focus on yourself.
Allow the gentle whispers of nature and our supportive community to cradle you into a space of relaxation and rejuvenation.
Prioritising your Safety.
This retreat supports healing, reconnection, and lasting transformation which is only possible when you feel safe and held throughout your experience..
Over a six-week preparation process, we connect through a 1:1 call, a group preparation session, and a range of supportive psycho-educational resources. This helps establish trust and safety within the group, so you arrive at the retreat already feeling connected and held.
Integration starts after the ceremony and continues long beyond the retreat.
Our process includes online group calls, ongoing somatic practices, and integration tools designed to help you embody your transformation and carry the retreat’s teachings into your daily life. For those seeking further support, additional 1:1 integration sessions are also available.
OUR HOME
Adamae, Costa Vicentina, Portugal
Nearest Airport: 2.5 hours from Lisbon or Faro
Hiring a car is recommended and we will help connect you to the other guests to share.
THE RETREAT FLOW
The Reconnection Retreat has a spacious retreat schedule that has been created to hold you in practices as well as provide enough time for you to to disconnect you from life and reconnect you back to you. This requires space and rest.
Our general daily flow will look like…
7.30 am warm teas and morning snacks
8 am gentle yoga / somatic movement and dance
9.30 am nourishing family breakfast
11 - 1 pm sharing circle / integration session
1 pm family buffet lunch
2 - 4 pm gentle rest to explore, read, relax
4 - 6 pm embodiment class / yin yoga / TRE
7pm family dinner
8.30pm evening ritual / yoga nidra / chats
YOUR RETREAT GUIDES
-
LAUREN MACDONALD
Lauren Macdonald is a doctor, psychedelic therapist, and group facilitator. Over the last few years she has worked as a clinical trial doctor and therapy guide at The Centre for Psychedelic Research (Imperial College London) and as a lead facilitator at legal psilocybin retreats around the world. She is passionate about holistic, whole-person wellness and draws upon her training in medicine, psychology, nutrition, mindfulness, yoga and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
In the retreat setting her approach is holistic, relational, somatic, and mindfulness-based. She is skilled at creating a safe and loving environment that encourages deeper healing, transformation and growth. She offers group work, self-inquiry and ceremony to help you reconnect to your authentic self, and open up to the beauty and mystery of life.
-
LAURA WILKES
Laura Wilkes is a yoga teacher and trauma-informed somatic practitioner who specialises in women’s health and fertility. She has extensively studied the female body and the nervous system, and is trained in yoga, meditation, and trauma release. She is currently studying to be an acupuncturist and threads Traditional Chinese Medicine through all of her teaching.
After years working on yoga retreats and exploring holistic wellbeing on her journey to heal from the stressful, masculine, corporate world, Laura has created a unique and empowering style of teaching. Her classes are soft and deeply healing, soothing for the nervous system, and honour a reconnection to the feminine energy that has been robbed from us in today’s stressful modern world. She places deep importance on creating safe and held experience that support true healing and bring you home to your authentic self.
-
MARY BONETT
Mary is a Somatic Therapist and Yoga and Somatics Teacher with over a decade’s worth of experience working with people in recovery from physical and emotional trauma, survivors of domestic and sexual violence, those struggling with substance misuse and facing mental health challenges.
On this retreat she will be bringing and sharing her Somatic Toolkit for everyday life, sharing theory and practices for nervous system regulation, including voice and breath work, and of course movement practices - all from a trauma-informed lens.
Mary loves being on retreat and she’ll bring her light and bright humour, care and love to support your experience to feel held and safe. She'll be sharing somatics in support of all our TRE practices and will be offering 1:1 Somatic Experiencing sessions on the retreat.
“You two women, your deep wisdom, your authenticity, your energy, and pure openness allowed ours to flow so much. You are so complimentary in your offerings. You both made it feel like such a safe, fully trusting sisterhood. It’s what made the retreat for me.”
“You two women are beyond anything I have experienced before - your entire being seems to be dedicated to us and our development for far more than the time we were on the retreat. You have changed my life forever - you enabled growth and encouraged me to love myself until I truly believed it. Thank you x”
What are the benefits of a sacred psilocybin ceremony?
Psilocybin, the active component of magic mushrooms, is a sacred spirit medicine (aka. psychedelic). Indigenous cultures in various parts of the world have used psilocybin-containing mushrooms for centuries in their spiritual and healing practices and the western world has recently begun to recognise the value and wisdom of these compounds for our physical, mental and emotional health.
Research has revealed psilocybin is one of the safest and non-addictive psychedelics, and it works by stimulating neurogenesis (the growth of neurones) and new neural pathways, rewiring the brain to break free from entrenched patterns of negative thoughts and old stories that are associated with various mental health disorders including depression and anxiety. The research is now exploring a variety of other potential physical health benefits of psilocybin for women's health, fertility, and wellbeing.
Our safe, loving and beautifully held ceremonies draw upon our backgrounds in various therapeutic and spiritual traditions, including psychedelic-assisted therapy. Taking part in a group ceremony gives you the chance to explore your inner world, gain insights, and experience profound spiritual connections. This can lead to long-lasting positive changes in overall wellbeing. Journeying with psilocybin in the group setting also increases a sense of community, oneness and shared humanity (aka. ‘communitas’).
ACCOMODATION OPTIONS
TRIPLE £1,900
DOUBLE £2,200
SINGLE £2,800
INCLUDES:
In intake with Lauren and Laura
3-month group container: pre and post retreat
6-week of Retreat Preparation: journaling, practices and pre-reading (all optional)
Group Welcoming Call - pre-retreat (online)
4-nights accommodation
All food and drink: 3 x nutritious meals a day plus snacks, juices, and herbal teas (vegetarian menu)
Classes and Practices: somatic enquiry, meditation, yoga, authentic relating, TRE, dance, and more - to support your journey of self enquiry and reconnection
Sharing circles and lots of integration time to feel held and supported in community for the whole retreat
Guided afternoon ceremony at midpoint of the retreat (Friday)
2 x Group Integration Call - post-retreat (online)
Payment plans are available on all options.
