The
Nature
of Love
Retreat
a somatic journey back to your natural state of love, wholeness & erotic innocence
mixed-gender container
10th - 13th September, Arrábida (Portugal)
There is a part inside of you that is still waiting to be liberated....
You come to this earth.
Naked.
Innocent.
Filled with unconditional love.
Unfiltered and alive in your expression.
Full of life force and childish curiosity.
And throughout the years this natural state may be covered with shame, conditionings and wounds.
Maybe you learn that love is something, which needs to be earned.
That sexuality is shameful and performative.
That pleasure is a reward - not a priority.
That it's safer to silence yourself and to shut down, instead of fully being seen.
Your source of love, life force and pleasure has always lived inside your body - it's time to remember.
The Nature of Love Retreat is a Somatic Self Intimacy Journey, where we come together as humans.
This journey is your invitation to:
𖤓 Take off the masks and be vulnerable.
𖤓 Come home to the body
𖤓 Reclaim your erotic and sensual innocence
𖤓 Remember your inner wholeness
𖤓 Meet in truth - not in pleasing
𖤓 Play, feel juicy and wildly alive
𖤓 Remember pleasure as your birthright
𖤓 Release the shame and conditionings, which keep you small
It's a space, where your body can finally experience:
It's safe to be my authentic self and to be in connection
This journey is for you, if...
𖤓 You have already done some inner work, but a part of you is still holding back - especially in intimacy
𖤓 You carry shame or old stories around your body, pleasure or sexuality and you are ready to remember your erotic innocence
𖤓 You feel a calling toward a mixed gender container - also to heal your relationship with the inner and outer feminine and masculine
𖤓 You are tired of performing and pleasing and you crave to meet yourself and others in authenticity and truth
𖤓 You want to step into deeper sexual integrity
𖤓 You are longing to feel fully alive, sensual and home inside your body
𖤓 You long for a space where you can be vulnerable, raw and real - without pressure or expectations
𖤓 You feel deep down that the source of intimacy begins within yourself and you want to deepen that connection
𖤓 You want to expand your capacity to feel pleasure as your birthright - not as a reward
This is an embodiment journey back to innocence.
Because your body never forgot - it's waiting for you to remember.
Book your free call to explore, if The Nature of Love Retreat is the right fit for you.
Voices of previous retreat participants
"I've been on a journey for about five years, searching for ways to get to know my "true self." In this retreat, I was able to encounter it again and again, embrace it lovingly, and embody it.
This group and the training gave me the security to feel and hold everything within me: desire, fear, shame, anger, pure joy, sensuality... Now I am fulfilled and completely sensitive; I can reframe many things and rewrite many old stories. Thank you for that!
- Jani
'I highly recommend this transformative embodied approach. Thank you for this deep & profound journey to connect to myself & my natural qualities that are ready to be unleashed free from shame & judgement is deeply life changing & creating openings of super powers from within that are ripe & ready to step up & out into the truth of my unique being to show up in the world with courage.
The cherry on the top was also the beginning of deeper self connection & pleasure …..very juicy!
Jana’s authentic self embodiment is contagious!!…inspiring & encouraging"
I recommend the path of embodiment as it is a layer that feels vital to our process & transformation within ourselves & the collective field of current evolutionary change"
- Kerry
"I came to the retreat with so many trigger points and spent the first days in an exceptional state. But from the second day something shifted — for the first time I was able to stay with myself, not flee from the intensity as I usually do.
It was probably the first time I could enjoy lying on the ground, feeling the vibrations of the music move through my body.
Something that particularly touched me: what I had discovered as self-love 3-4 years ago didn't include the woman in me. After this retreat, it finally does. As a teenager I couldn't accept the changes of my body becoming feminine. Thanks to this weekend, I finally can.
I can now touch and stimulate myself and experience an indescribably beautiful feeling that had never been accessible to me before.
Something inside me has moved into its right place. Slipped into a natural position."
- Ariane
What awaits you
This is not a retreat of endless processing and trying to figure things out with your mind.
It is a living, breathing, embodied experience, because transformation doesn't happen through the mind.
It happens through the body.
What awaits you
𖤓 Embodiment practices & rituals to come home to your body, express and awaken your aliveness
𖤓 Awakening your erotic, primal and sensual body in direct contact with nature
𖤓 Men's work and women's work
𖤓 A feminine and masculine healing ritual to return to your inner wholeness and learn from each other
𖤓 Collective rituals to release shame and celebrate the sacredness of your body
𖤓 Re-writing old stories about your body, pleasure and sexuality
𖤓 Self intimacy rituals to explore new pathways of pleasure through slowing down and deep listening
𖤓 Liberating your authentic self expression
𖤓 Circles of sharing and witnessing
𖤓 Archetypal and Primal Play
𖤓 Intimacy Playground to awaken your childish curiosity and remember your sensual innocence
What you will take with you
This retreat is not an escape from real life, but to live and love in deeper intimacy with life.
You won't leave as a "new person", but as more of yourself.
You may take with you:
𖤓 A felt sense of safety and aliveness inside your body
𖤓 A living experience of intimacy based on presence, authenticity and vulnerability - not pleasing & performance
𖤓 A deeper sense of inner wholeness and self love by healing your relationship with the inner and outer feminine and masculine
𖤓 More confidence in voicing your needs, desires and boundaries -in life, love and the bedroom
𖤓 A deeper connection to your sensual and erotic nature - based on being, not doing
𖤓 More capacity to feel pleasure
𖤓 A deep sense of belonging and being held in community
𖤓 The remembrance of your innocence - and the freedom to be playful, curious and wildly alive
Meet the team
Jana Zappe
Jana is the creatrix and the lead-facilitator of "The Nature of Love".
Her path of holding space started 12 years ago as a yoga teacher.
Over the last 7 years has gone deep into the territories of Embodiment, Somatic Bodywork, Tantra, Temple Arts and Nervous system work.
She is a certified and trauma-informed Somatic Bodyworker &-Coach, Embodiment Facilitator, Tantric Bodyworker and Yoga teacher.
Her own journey led her through shame and deep disconnection from her body, her pleasure and sexuality.
After years of seeking love and answers outside of herself she discovered that the source of power, pleasure and creation is her body and that embodiment has always been the missing piece in her life.
Her mission is to create spaces where people feel safe enough to meet the places inside themselves which have been shamed, silenced and suppressed - and return to their most authentic, alive and innocent self.
Sandro Jonas
Sandro fell in love with movement in his late teens and gave five intense years to the dream of dancing professionally.
Until self-doubt and self-judgment quietly closed the door.
Dance fell away for nearly two decades. It returned unexpectedly, at his first sacred masculine retreat, no longer as performance art but as self-love and a way deeper into himself.
Today, he works with movement and the sacred masculine. He is part of Adam’s Barley mentoring circle, founder of the ZeroOne method and a student of Gabrielle Roth, creator of 5Rhythms.
He is trained in therapeutic dance and in the foundations of Dance and Movement Psychotherapy at the University of Coimbra.
His masculine path has been shaped by teachers, including Rui Estrela and Miguel Sevilhano, lending a grounded presence to the space.
Across the retreat, Sandro holds the sonic ground and the masculine presence, guiding movement and ritual, and laying the live soundscape. He creates a space without judgment or expectation, where you can stop performing, listen inward, and let the movement find you.
Our shared vision
As partners in life and in facilitation, Sandro and Jana weave their complementary energies, strength and vulnerability, structure and softness, into a single living container:
Steady enough to be wild in, tender enough to be honest in.
Their intention is not to change something in you, as you are not something broken to be fixed, but to walk with you back home, to an awake, vibrant body, and to that primordial life force free of guilt, fear, and conditioning.
This is the ground where erotic innocence can be remembered: not as something to perform, but as something that was always already yours.
Jana and Sandro have been weaving their work together since 2024, hosting regular Tantric Date Nights for couples in Portugal.
Our stunning Retreat location:
Biovilla, Arrábida, Portugal
(40 min from Lisbon Airport)
The Place
Biovilla is nestled in the heart of the Arrábida Natural Park - one of the most stunning and unspoiled landscapes in Portugal, just 40 minutes from Lisbon Airport.
Surrounded by lush, vibrant nature, ancient forests and the wild Atlantic coast, it is a place that holds you from the moment you arrive.
The space has a warm, boho feel - built on the values of sustainability, regeneration and community.
A natural pool on the land invites you to slow down and simply be.
The food is vegetarian and vegan - organic, local and nourishing.
You sleep in shared and modern domes of 3.
Private accommodation is also available for an extra fee.
Camping or sleeping in your own van is also welcome.
Some of the most stunning hiking trails in Portugal are right on your doorstep and the most stunning beaches are just 15 minutes away by car.
What previous participants of my retreats say
Your investment
Early Bird Price: 666€ (until 1oth August):
Regular Price: 777€ (from 11th August)
2 Community Spots: 555€
Two spots are available at a reduced investment, if finances are currently a barries for you
If this is you, reach out directly.
Payment:
After you register you secure your spot by paying 300€ deposit.
The remaining amount you can pay until 30 days before the event.
Payment in instalments is possible, but needs to be individually discussed.
What's included in the price?
✓ 3 nights accommodation in shared domes
✓ 3 nourishing organic meals per day + water, coffee & tea
✓ Full retreat program
✓ Use of all facilities including natural pool
Private accommodation with your own bathroom is available on request for an extra fee of 210€.
It's time to remember
Practical Information
When?
1oth - 13th September 2026
We will begin at Thursday the 10th at 2 pm with our opening ceremony.
Dinner is included on the arrival day.
The retreat will close on Sunday the 13th around 2:00 pm.
Breakfast and lunch are included on the departure day.
Where?
In the beautiful location Biovilla in the Arrábida National Park (40 mins from Lisbon Airport)
Arrival & Travel
✈️ Airport Lisbon (LIS)
40 mins drive to the retreat center
From Lisbon, you can:
-
rent a car or carpool
-
share an Uber (ca. 30€)
🚌 Bus Travel
Portugal has a reliable and affordable bus system.
You can travel from to Lisbon Oriente by bus or train.
From there you can take the local bus (4710) to Palmela, which is 10 mins by car from the retreat location.
Bus lines:
Free Get-to-Know Call
Book your free introductory call with me, in which i will answer your questions and we see together whether the retreat can support you and your journey.
Good to know
Food
During our retreat we will be nourished by 3 delicious vegetarian/vegan meals per day. All meals will be mostly organic, local and seasonal, with less gluten and sugar.
Language
The retreat will be held in English.
As we are originally from Germany and Portugal, german and portuguese translation are possible.
We are very experienced in facilitating bilingual spaces.
Registration
You can apply via the registration form.
After registration, you secure your spot by a deposit of 300€. The remaining amount must be paid until 30 days before the event.
(unless we have agreed on a payment plan).
Cancellation policy
If you want to cancel, you must send an e-mail.
Please note that the deposit is non-refundable.
The cancellation fees are:
-
until 15.06.2026: 300€ (deposit)
-
until 10.08.2026: 50% of your investment
-
after 11.08.2026: no refund possible
A refund is not possible if a participant leaves the retreat early or does not fully participate for personal reasons.
Transfer of ticket
It is possible to transfer the booking to another person as long as this is communicated in writing at least 14 days before the start of the retreat and the new participant fulfills all the necessary requirements.
If i need to cancel
I, the organizer, reserve the right to cancel the retreat due to unforeseen circumstances. In this case, the full participation fee will be refunded. I accept no responsibility for any additional costs incurred as a result of the cancellation (e.g. flight or hotel / room costs).
Are you ready to get more intimate with life?
FAQ
Is this a sexual retreat? Will there be sexual interactions?
No. At The Nature of Love there are no sexual interactions between participants.
The main focus of this journey is self intimacy, which means to deepen your own relationship with your body, your pleasure and your authentic self.
We work with the erotic as a life force energy - not as something to do with another person, but as something you are and rediscover within yourself.
The container is held with clear agreements, care and boundaries.
Touch only happens with consent. There will always be enough space and slowness to check in with yourself.
You are always in charge of your own experience and your own body.
On every step along the way you are encouraged to not move one step further than your truth.
Will there be nudity?
Nudity is never required and always a choice.
At the same time it is seen as something natural and not sexual.
You can see it as an "clothing option".
In this retreat, nudity is understood as more than taking off clothes - it can also mean dropping masks, shame and self-protection.
I approach every exercise and every ritual with care and slowness, so that you will always have enough time to check in with your body and your boundaries.
You don’t have to do anything, which is not in alignment with yourself and there will be a lot of space, that you can make conscious choices for yourself, without social pressure.
Can I join with my partner? And can I join, if Imy partner is not coming?
Yes to both.
However, this is not a couples retreat - but joining together can be a beautiful and deepening experience for a relationship. There is also the possibility to explore more intimate rituals together within the container.
If you are in a committed relationship and joining without your partner, you are equally welcome.
We fully respect and honor the agreements and boundaries of your relationship.
Also this retreat is ultimately a journey back to yourself and that is something only you can do for yourself.
Is the retreat trauma-informed?
Yes.
We work with the nervous system - not against it.
Rather than pushing you out of your comfort zone, we offer the conditions where you can feel safe enough to explore your edges from a state of ressource and relaxation.
The ressource is always your body.
We work with slowness, care and compassion, instead of catharsis.
The energy of this container is curiosity and play.
Because when animals feel safe, they play - humans too.
We don't believe in "going into the pain." We believe in moving slowly enough that what wants to open, opens naturally.
Do I need experience to join?
No previous experience in somatic work, embodiment, tantra or sexuality work is needed.
What matters is that the path of personal development and inner work is not completely new to you and that you arrive with a genuine readiness to meet yourself outside of your habitual patterns.
A willingness to go inward, to be honest with yourself and to show up with an open heart and curiosity.
If you feel the calling, that is enough.
Are all genders and sexual orientations welcome?
Yes.
The Nature of Love welcomes people of all genders and all sexual orientations.
This retreat is not built around the binary of man and woman - it is built around the human experience of coming home to yourself.
When we speak about "feminine" and "masculine" energies in the retreat, we are speaking about energies that live in all of us - independently of gender identity.
Nevertheless, please be aware that there will be one day dedicated to men's work and women's work and a healing ritual of the "inner" and "outer" feminine and masculine.
If you do not identify with either gender, you are warmly welcome to choose whichever session calls your curiosity.
You will not be pressed into a box or into stereotypes.
