CREATIVE MONASTERY RETREAT
Dec. 28, 2023 - Jan. 2, 2024
São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
The Emergent Expression(s): Creative Monastery Retreat, is a 5 night in-person immersion in spiritual and creative practice.
I am inviting 12 creative and loving humans to join me for a 5 night in-person retreat for this New Year’s Eve. Together, we will close out 2023 and begin 2024 in deep spiritual and creative practice at the Convento do Sao Francisco, an elegantly renovated 17th century Franciscan monastery in Villa Franca do Campo in the Azores, Portugal.
Creative Monastery is a chance to slow down, inquire within, and give your creative practice the gift of presence and time. We will be immersed in the sacred, combining ample solo time with community spiritual practice, play, and adventures in nature.
You are welcome to bring whatever story, art, or soulful project that is calling for your attention and move it from the “back burner” to the foreground of your awareness. You can also bring a blank page to notice what wants to emerge next.
Imagine morning song, yoga, silence, stillness, local Azorean flavors, fireside connection, creative community from around the world, walks in stunning nature, and prioritizing your soul’s expression.
Like all things emergent, this retreat will be gently guided and co-created. I will do more curating of experiences than facilitating or teaching but will be offering a limited number of private 1:1 coaching sessions at an additional cost.
All humans and spiritual traditions welcome and celebrated here.
The Convento was built by the Order of the Friars Minor, a religious order founded by Christian mystic and bricklayer, Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy in 1209. Its convents are traditionally inside the cities or next to them. Saint Francis is known worldwide as the patron saint of animals and the environment.
Would love to join, and can’t make it work?
Follow our guide to designing your Personal New Year’s Retreat
Daily SchedulE
(will vary slightly)
7:30am Chanting Begins (Renske)
8am Meditation or Yoga Class w/ Rimi
9am Silent Breakfast
10am Creative Practice
12:30pm Main Meal: Lunch & Community
2:30-5pm Nature Walk (or Creative Practice depending on weather)
5pm Creative Practice
6:30 Emergence Practice w/ Bristol
7:30pm Light Dinner & Community
10pm Silence
WHERE WE’LL BE
Convento de São Francisco | Vila Franca, Sao Miguel, Azores
GETTING HERE
Direct flights are available from NYC to Ponta Delgada (JFK - PDL) a few days a week on SATA Airlines. It takes 4.5 hrs. Google which days there are direct flights.
There are multiple daily flights to and from Lisbon. If you are having trouble finding good flights, please let me know and I will help you.
If you are able, perhaps plan to come a day early and stay a few days later in the monastery.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Please expect to be welcomed with love, shown to your room, given a schedule, and left to honor what is best for you. The idea is to feel spacious in both time and Spirit. It will be an unforgettable experience curated with loving care.
You can expect a stunning monastery filled with sacred geometry and silence that overlooks the deep green beauty of the Azores, including a small food forest, simple garden, and pool next to a pineapple plantation.
It will be winter on this subtropical island so please bring layers, rain gear, and comfy socks and slippers. Fireplaces will be ablaze.
There is also a special five course dinner planned for New Year’s Eve with a bit of ceremony, a local Azorean storyteller, and gourmet dishes to match. Bring something snazzy.
MEET YOUR Host
Bristol Baughan is a writer, speaker, and professional leadership coach interested in storytelling and weaving regenerative community. She is on faculty at the Esalen Institute, a former executive producer of Emmy®-winning and Oscar®-nominated films, a TED fellow, Future Architect, and founder of Inner Astronauts. She holds a master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a B.A. in International Studies from American University in Washington, DC. She is currently living in the Azores, Portugal with her mother.
Guest Contributors
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Rimi Chakraborty
MOVEMENT
Rimi teaches yoga and mindfulness across the globe and online, drawing from over 20 years of personal practice. Rimi holds a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management as well as various certifications in Forrest Yoga, Yin Yoga, Energy Healing, Energy Medicine, and Yoga for Trauma.
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Renske Skills
MOVEMENT & SONG
Renske is a songdancer, music, dance, sing, yoga, qigong, meditation, massage, healing, artist. Founded the Chrysalis Center Azores in Ribiera Grande.
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Chef Dalit
CHEF
Dalit has traveled around the world collecting her favorite dishes to share from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and now to the Azores. She has worked as private chef on yachts is now following her passion for cooking to working with the delicious and fresh ingredients found on this island.
HOW TO APPLY & Suggested Financial contributions
Suggested Financial Contributions
We are making every effort to make this accessible based on access to resources.
5 night Retreat includes private room with fireplace and private bathroom, all meals, a special New Year’s Eve dinner, and 2-3 curated excursions.
Ranges between €800 - €1450
Please reach out for further information.
bristol@innerastronauts.com
*Does not include 3% credit card processing fee.
**Partial scholarships are available for BIPOC and local Azorean residents. 
Come prioritize what is trying to come through you at this remarkable time on Earth.
Just hearing your own thoughts above the shrilling of the atrocity organ can be a major challenge... But making up your own stories about the world is a form of self-care and self-care is an important part of resistance.
It's become sort of a cliche to say that you should write the book you wish you could read - but it's really true, and it's even truer during those times when the sky starts to melt.
- Charlie Jane Anders