Inês Duarte

Inês grew up in Lisbon and came to yoga in her twenties, after a knee injury ended her running for a year. A physiotherapist suggested gentle classes while she recovered. She stayed for the way it made her pay attention, completed her first teacher training in 2013 and has taught group classes and teacher trainings in Portugal ever since. She leads all of SOLARA's yoga weeks on the Costa Vicentina.

Her teaching sits between two things she cares about: steady, flowing vinyasa and the slower mobility work that keeps joints happy over a lifetime. She explains why a pose is built the way it is, gives two or three options for each one and says plainly when something is optional. She would much rather you skip a pose than force it.

On Coastline Flow, a typical day starts at 07:30 with a 90-minute vinyasa class in the covered shala at Monte da Luz, finishing with a long, well-supported rest. After breakfast and a free afternoon, often spent on the Fishermen's Trail or the beach, the evening class is yin or restorative, with blankets, bolsters and the sound of the sea. Mid-week she runs a mobility workshop on hips, shoulders and spines for people who sit at desks. On Slow December the pace drops further: one optional gentle class each morning, co-taught with Amara Osei, and nothing you have to attend.

Coastline Flow is an all-levels week and Slow December is gentler still, so both are open to complete beginners. On both, Inês uses the welcome class on the first evening to learn about any injuries, pregnancies or stiff backs in the room, and she checks in quietly with anyone who needs a different version of a pose. You won't be asked to demonstrate anything, and you can rest whenever you like.

For the rest of the year Inês teaches weekly classes in Lisbon, runs mobility workshops for running clubs and co-leads a 200-hour teacher training each spring.