These Days - 10 Questions with Luna
Yogi, surfer, retreat leader - Luna has built a life around movement, nature and the spaces in between.
Luna during a few spring days spent off-grid.
1. Alright - for anyone who hasn't met you yet, tell us a bit about you.
Half Italian, half Portuguese, and raised by the ocean in Portugal. I’m a movement artist, yoga teacher and founder of Yoga Luna W - a global community blending yoga, art, somatics, sound and nature. I spend my time leading retreats, teaching in places like Bali and India, and creating spaces for people to reconnect with themselves. I have a BA in Law and adore rock music from the 60s & 70s, poetry, surfing and cooking.
2. How did yoga first find its way into your life?
Yoga came into my life through my mum - she started practicing when she was pregnant with me in Italy. After I was born, she’d take me along to classes with all the other newborns and mothers. I came back to it at 14, as I was navigating a season of deep anxiety and panic attacks. It softly revolutionised my life - it healed my mental health, brought colour and aliveness back into things, and gave me somewhere to go when everything felt overwhelming.
3. What yoga pose best describes your personality - and why that one?
If yoga is the Amazon rainforest, the poses (asanas) are like a single leaf on one of its billions of trees - just one small part of something much bigger: a life philosophy.
Regardless, poses can be fun, create mobility, strength, flexibility and balance. My favourite is Vrschikasana - it offers the humbling fusion of balance, strength and flexibility all in one.
4. You recently ran a yoga retreat in Morocco. Give us the honest version: what were the magic moments… and what were the messy ones?
Magic moments were definitely the African sunsets, the nights laughing all together under the stars, exhausted yet happy after a long day of practicing yoga at sunrise, the best Moroccan breakfasts and lots of surfing.
As all great adventures, we had a great share of messy moments too. My favourite: getting stuck with our rental car on sand dunes at night in the middle of nowhere (definitely don't recommend) and having to push it while getting covered in dust.
5. You stayed at our cabin, Trot - what did the quiet do to you once everything slowed down?
It allowed me to remember how much abundance exists in simplicity. It softened me and gave me the reset I needed, practicing the art of paying attention to the beauty of the river and bird life around us.
6. What did a perfect cabin day look like for you? Coffee rituals, fires, movement, doing absolutely nothing…
Wake up before sunrise, prepare a warm mint tea, and watch the sun rise over the river from bed.
Meditate at first light, stretch on the deck with birds singing, journal, and ease into a slow breakfast - brewed coffee, eggs, sourdough bread and butter (yum!) - while reading poetry and art books, with my favourite Ethiopian jazz playing in the background.
7. Was there a small, quiet moment at the cabin that stayed with you after you left?
The first time I saw wild horses on the river island. Time just stopped - they were so graceful!
8. If you could only bring one book, film, or piece of art to Hiide, what would you choose - and why?
I’d bring Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. I’ve read it many times, and it never ceases to fill me with wonder - it’s his memoir as a surfer, chasing untouched waves, tropical islands, and travelling slowly around the world.
9. For someone curious about a Hiide stay - what should they know before coming?
Delete your Instagram app during your stay - it will help you make the most of it and be fully immersed in the beauty of the moment.
10. And finally - how can people keep up with your classes, retreats, and wherever yoga takes you next?
You can stay connected with me through Instagram (@yogaluna.w) or my website (www.yogalunaw.com).
Luna stayed at our riverside cabin, Trot, in Valada, around 1hr from Lisbon.
