Fire Your Wild Imagination: 5 day Portugal depth writing retreat, Sept 30th – Oct 4th

We are all born with a wild imagination. It is through this unlimited resource that we can access the unconscious, connect with our intuition, develop a greater degree of self-awareness and expand our sense of possibility. Fire Your Wild Imagination will be a chance to explore this vast inner superpower through the Jungian-inspired process of depth writing – a transformational practice aimed at nurturing depth of connection with self and world via the depths of the creative psyche. It will take place the beautiful cork woods of Portugal’s Alentejo region under the gentle guidance of Dr Rachel Newsome.

Who is Fire Your Wild Imagination for?
The focus of Fire Your Wild Imagination is on process, rather than outcome, and on what comes up in the writing, rather than craft. This retreat is for writers, creative & therapeutic practitioners and those on a journey of self-discovery who are curious about how writing & imagination can be used to support transformative growth and who are comfortable with diving deeper.

What will we be doing?
There will be two daily writing workshops on each of the three full days of the retreat. The morning workshops will be a chance to fire your wild imagination through attuning to your curious inner child, your sage inner guide and the wisdom of nature. In the afternoon you’ll have plenty free time to explore the cork woods or relax by the infinity pool. The day will finish with a reflective workshop focused on exploring your experiences of the morning session and any insights arising from it more deeply. Both sessions will include guided writing prompts as well as sharing and discussion.

A note about care
Throughout the retreat you’ll be invited to take responsibility for your experience by taking from the material what you need and working with it at a level that feels right for you. You’ll also be invited to practice CARE – confidentiality, attention, respect & empathy – with others. For those who have a writing or other creative practice, depth-writing can be used as an adjacent activity to support, deepen and expand your projects. Wherever you are at, this retreat is a chance to fire the creative, healing superpower of the wild imagination which courses through all of us.

Cost (includes accommodation, vegetarian meals & writing workshops)
Luxury room single use: 1,000 Euros
Luxury room sharing: 850 Euros pp
Budget room single use: 650 Euros
Budget room sharing: 550 Euros pp
Deposit: 150 Euros
*The deposit is refundable up to May 1st 2026. Outstanding payments are due by July 31st 2026.

Getting there by plane: The nearest airport to Monte da Japonica is Lisbon. A pick can be arranged from the airport direct to Monte da Japonica for 50 Euros per person. Alternatively, you can get the bus to the nearest town of Redondo or a train to the nearest city of Evora. There is a small charge for a pick up from Evora. Pick up from Redondo is free.

About Dr Rachel Newsome
I’m a writer, speaker & creative guide with Jungian arts-based PhD in writing-as-inner-work. I have a background in both the media and academia and now run a programme of depth writing courses and workshops throughout the year aimed at nurturing depth of connection with our deep creative self. I’m a Seed Talks expert speaker, serve on the Editorial Team of the London Arts-Based Research Centre and am co-Editor of forthcoming Routledge publication The Creative Psyche: Between Self & Spirit. I write about my travels between worlds on my Substack, Dreaming Awake. And, as you can probably tell, I love to dive deep.

https://rachelnewsome.co.uk/
https://drrachelnewsome.substack.com/