Caroline Dowsett 20/04/2025 Caroline Dowsett 20/04/2025

Reflections from Stretch + Sketch Spring Retreat—March 2025.

Imagery: Mia Edmond

At the crux of Stretch & Sketch’s ideology is nature, inspiring intuitive flow and cathartic expression through the primal modes of creation, connection, and movement. So, for co-founders, artist Caroline Dowsett and yoga facilitator Emma Thorlby, their springtime retreat was not only a return to the ethereal grounds of Portugal’s Cocoon, but an amalgamation of the mindful practices they’ve shepherded since starting the community in 2023.

Arriving at the 275-acre coastal farm on the trip’s inaugural Friday, ahead of five days amidst its sunken coves, roaming peacocks, and healing seascapes, located at the peripheries of the country’s Alentejo region, the hosts expressed their wishes for the foray. “We want to bring people together to feel a sense of play,” voiced Caroline, adding “we all are creative beings”. With Emma continuing “it’s bringing playfulness into movement, reminding everyone they are a yoga practitioner”. Attendees then began to gather for the welcome circle and stretch, followed by dinner, mark making with charcoal, and intention setting beneath the full moon.

During the first morning, a continued ritual was set, toasting each new day with an element-inspired yoga sequence, starting aptly with ‘earth’. Then, after breakfast came a gentle forage of the landscape, translating virgin materials into prussian blue prints with cyanotype. After lunch, the group worked together on a fabric banner led by the celestial calendar, before a guided, full moon somatic flow ushered in an evening of ease, spontaneous chatter, lake dips, and sauna time.

On Sunday, after another elemental yoga session, the mid-morning art session was permeated with florid impressions in oil pastel, as always, “using nature as the prompt”. Soon an afternoon meal was served and attendees were encouraged to the water’s edge. Followed by a frenetic collage workshop, the second nightly mealtime was succeeded by a soothing yoga nidra, inviting profound relaxation into the trip’s halfway juncture.

Watercolour experiments occurred the following day, post breakfast and a curated ‘fire’ sequence. Then, setting out on a hike across the nearby dunes, charmed, the party each hummed of their experiences at the farm, later returning for further somatic movement. Closing out the penultimate night with pizzas and a bonfire, the coterie began to savour their last moments in the sanctuary as the embers rose and fell.

On the last full day at Cocoon, the group were invited for their daily meditation and yoga, then choosing their own medium in the final mindful making session, which leaned on the skills uncovered during the retreat’s guided art opportunities. The rest of the day allocated free time, prior to the evening’s yin yoga, dinner, and journaling.

Finally, the closing circle formed early the next dawn, where the prevalent sense was a manifestation of joy. Palpably, the retreat was an escape, but also a return: to instinctual effort, to spirit, to experiment, honouring the process above the destination. Parting, Emma shared that “it’s been transformative”. “Emotions are high,” admitted Caroline candidly. “I’m grateful to bring together such inspirational women: [it’s] been really special”.

Join Emma + Caroline on their next retreat in The Lake District 20—23 June, see all details HERE.