New Moon & New Beginnings – A Weekend of Renewal in the Wachau

New Moon & New Beginnings

A weekend of renewal in the Wachau – with yoga, mantra, fire and cacao by the Danube

Saturday 9 – Sunday 10 January 2027 · Matsya Yoga Academy, Rossatz (Wachau, Austria)

New moon in winter – a time of renewal

The first new moon of the year falls on 7 January 2027. In these days the moon is barely visible and the nights are at their darkest. What was visible has withdrawn – and that is exactly where something new begins.

Nature rests in winter, too. Beneath the frozen ground and in the mist over the Danube, it does not look as if much is happening. And yet, in the stillness, everything that will grow in spring is being prepared. The new moon is the image for this: an empty space into which we place an intention like a seed.

A few days after this new moon we gather in Rossatz. The holidays and the bustle of New Year are behind us. Now there is time to truly pause, to close the old year and to set an intention for the new one consciously and in community – in the circle, by the fire and at night by the Danube.

New moon retreat in the Wachau – key facts

• Dates: Saturday 9 January 2027, 4:30 pm – Sunday 10 January 2027, approx. 1 pm
• Theme: new moon in winter – renewal and intention for the new year
• Venue: Matsya Yoga Academy, Rossatz (Wachau, Austria)
• Facilitators: Luiza Oliveira de Melo & Clemens Biedrawa
• For whom: everyone, no yoga experience needed
• Contribution: voluntary donation between €30 and €70
• Overnight stay: possible in the house – €30 per night, with bed, small breakfast and tiled stove
• Please bring: a dish for the shared buffet, warm clothes and a head torch for the night by the Danube, an instrument if you like
• Registration: please register in advance by email to home@yogamatsya.com or via the form below

Schedule

Saturday, 9 January

• 4:30 pm – Arrival, tea, settling into your room
• 5:30–6:30 pm – Welcome circle: finding your intention (Luiza)
• 6:45 pm – Shared dinner (potluck buffet)
• 8:00 pm – Mantra chanting (Clemens)
• 8:45 pm – Fire in the garden: intention ritual, cacao ceremony and making music together
• 10:00 pm – Night walk and art therapy by the Danube (for everyone who wishes)

Sunday, 10 January

• 9:30 am – Tea
• 10:00–11:30 am – Morning practice together (Clemens)
• 11:45 am – Pancake breakfast
• approx. 1:00 pm – Closing and journey home

What awaits you

Arriving

From 4:30 pm on Saturday our doors in Rossatz are open. There is tea, you settle in, the tiled stove keeps us warm, and you get to know the others.

Welcome circle: finding your intention

At 5:30 pm we sit in a circle with Luiza. We arrive, look back on the past year and ask ourselves: What may I leave behind? What wants to grow in the new year? From these questions your intention for the weekend emerges – and for the time beyond. Whatever wants to be said may be said in the circle, but nothing has to be.

Eating together: the potluck buffet

Everyone brings something, and everything goes on one shared table. We share what we have, and it becomes a feast. Vegetarian dishes are especially welcome.

Mantra chanting

After dinner we sing together. Mantras are sound, breath and attention in one. You do not need a singing voice or any prior experience – it is enough to open yourself to the shared sound. If you would like to go deeper into sound and silence, have a look at the YACEP Meditation Workshop.

Fire, cacao and the night by the Danube

The fire: offering your intention

At 8:45 pm we meet by the fire in the garden. Fire transforms – it has always been a place where people come together and let go. We offer our intention to the fire, so that it can take shape and come into being.

Cacao ceremony and music

By the fire we drink ceremonial cacao together and share in the circle what we wish for the coming year. If you have an instrument, bring it along: we sing, play or simply gaze quietly into the flames.

Night walk and art therapy by the Danube

Around 10 pm, everyone who wishes walks down to the Danube with head torches, warmly wrapped up. In the darkness of the new moon, Luiza guides an exercise from art therapy: we give form to what wants to come into being within us. If you prefer to stay by the fire or in the warm house, you are just as welcome.

Sunday: morning practice and pancakes

On Sunday we begin the day the way we want to begin the new year: with a shared yoga practice at 10 am – you can find out more about our practice in Kriyās and Classes. Afterwards there is a generous pancake breakfast before everyone heads home around 1 pm.

Contribution and overnight stay

Participation is a voluntary donation between €30 and €70. Give what feels right for you. It matters to us that no one has to stay away for financial reasons.

If you would rather not travel home after the evening by the Danube, you can stay overnight in our house: a bed, a small breakfast and the warmth of the tiled stove, for €30 per night.

Your facilitators

Luiza Oliveira de Melo

Luiza Oliveira de Melo is a Brazilian-born facilitator, yoga teacher, Cacao medicine woman, psychology student and mother, currently living in Vienna. Raised in Recife, Pernambuco, in the Northeast of Brazil, she grew up immersed in a rich cultural landscape where African, Indigenous and European traditions meet and intertwine. This cultural heritage continues to deeply inform her work, spirituality and understanding of ritual.

Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Transcultural Communication, Luiza also completed her RYT 300H Kundalini and Hatha Yoga teacher training at Matsya Yoga Academy. Over the past years, she has been sharing her yoga practice and has facilitated more than fifty Cacao ceremonies, weaving together ritual, movement, sound, writing and creative expression.

Coming from a family rooted in the arts — the daughter of an art teacher and a writer and actor — creativity has always been an essential part of her life. Her approach to holding space is deeply influenced by therapeutic perspectives, exploring art and writing as pathways to self-expression, emotional awareness and inner exploration. She believes in the power of ritualizing life and transitions, recognizing rituals as meaningful tools for our psychological and emotional processes.

Luiza is deeply connected to Oxum, the Orixá of sweet waters, rivers, beauty and feminine power. Like the waters she represents, Luiza’s approach is fluid, intuitive, gentle and nurturing, creating spaces where softness and strength, creativity and introspection can coexist.

Clemens Biedrawa

Clemens leads Matsya Yoga Academy in Rossatz, a Yoga Alliance registered yoga school for yoga teacher trainings.

Good to know

This weekend is for everyone who wants to begin the new year consciously – in community rather than alone. No yoga experience is needed. The practice is gentle and suitable for every body.

In January the nights by the Danube are cold: please bring warm clothes, sturdy shoes and a head torch.

Ceremonial cacao is stimulating. If you have heart problems, are pregnant or take antidepressants (e.g. MAO inhibitors), please let us know in advance. You are welcome to simply drink tea instead.

Download the flyer

Download the flyer here – to print, put up or send to friends: New moon retreat flyer (A4, PNG)

Registration – write to us!

Places are limited. Please register in advance by email to home@yogamatsya.com or via this form, and let us know whether you would like to stay overnight in the house.