Alo Anima

Mindfulness in Nature
Your child, exactly as they are. Seen, trusted, and given room to grow.

The Invitation

Every child arrives with something. A busy mind, a tender heart, a way of moving through the world that doesn’t always fit the spaces they’re asked to fit into.

At Alo Anima, we don’t try to change that. We give it somewhere to land.

Mindfulness in Nature is a series of individual sessions for children, tweens, and teenagers, held on our living farm on Portugal’s Silver Coast. Each session is built entirely around your child — their interests, their energy, their pace on that particular day.

Practical Details

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    Location: Alo Land, Salir do Porto (Caldas da Rainha)
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    Length: around 60 minutes
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    Individual sessions for children and young people aged 5+
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    Parents: you can join, stay nearby, or return at the end — we’ll decide together what feels right
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    Format: one-to-one, shaped around your child’s needs, interests, and pace
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    Languages: English and Portuguese
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    Weather and space: sessions may happen outdoors, on the terrace, or in our indoor space when we need something cosier, quieter, or more sheltered.
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    Sessions are adapted to each child’s pace, communication style, and sensory needs. Inês’s training includes approaches for children of all abilities, including children with additional needs, trauma, anxiety, ADHD, and autism.

What a session feels like

Sometimes we work with clay. Sometimes we climb trees. Sometimes we follow the geese, or sit beneath a tree and simply listen. Sometimes we discover that squeezing clay and breathing out slowly is the most powerful thing in the world.

We call these superpowers — because that’s what they are.

creating with leaves

Creating with your hands

Tactile, grounding, and deeply calming — clay and other materials invite children to slow down and feel.

Climbing Trees

Physical freedom and quiet confidence, found in the branches.
flower under the morning dew

Simply Listening

Sometimes the most powerful thing is to sit, be still, and notice what's already there.

What to expect

Before you arrive
Before your child’s first session, we’ll connect — you can fill in a short intake form at your own pace, send us a message, or give us a call. Whatever feels easiest. I want to understand your child: what makes them light up, what feels hard, what you’re hoping for. From that conversation I’ll shape an approach and share it with you before we meet.

On the day
When you arrive at our garden at Alo Land, everything will be ready. There’s nothing you need to bring. The session lasts around an hour, and depending on what feels right for your child, you might join us, stay nearby, or take a walk and come back.

Afterwards
We’ll talk briefly — what I noticed, what seemed to land, what your child might enjoy trying at home.
 

The first session is a beginning, not a destination. Most families find a rhythm of fortnightly or monthly sessions that works for their child and their life.

Your child’s safety, comfort, and sense of choice come first. Before the first session, we’ll agree together what feels right — whether that means you join us, stay nearby, or give your child more space.

Sessions move at your child’s pace. Nothing is forced. We use the land, the indoor space, and the terrace in ways that feel safe, appropriate, and supportive on the day.

Who comes to Alo Anima

Children come here for all kinds of reasons. Some are navigating anxiety or big emotions. Some find it hard to be still, or find school exhausting, or carry more than their small bodies quite know what to do with.
Some are simply children whose parents feel they deserve something quieter and more intentional than the world usually offers them.

What they all share:
They are seen here as whole people. Not as problems to solve or behaviours to manage. As children with inner lives worth paying attention to.

 

This is a space for children with rich inner lives who deserve to have them taken seriously. An hour of being genuinely met — by a person, by a place, and by their own growing awareness of what they carry and what they’re capable of.

How we work

Every session draws on three things that I’ve spent years learning and living:

Connected Kids Mindfulness

A child-centred mindfulness approach that helps children and young people notice their inner world with curiosity rather than judgement. The training includes adapted methods for children of all abilities, including children with additional needs, trauma, anxiety, ADHD, and autism.

Montessori Principles

Which trust children to lead their own learning, follow their own interests, and develop at their own pace — without pressure, without performance.

The Land Itself

A farm with a food forest, animals, seasonal rhythms, and the kind of natural materials that invite a child to slow down and pay attention.

The Place

Alo Land is a living farm on Portugal’s Silver Coast — a place of food forests, gentle animals, terraces, indoor corners, and the unhurried rhythm of the seasons. Sessions may happen outside, on the terrace, or indoors, depending on the weather and what your child needs that day.

Why Nature Changes Things

There is something quietly transformative about being outside — away from screens, schedules, and the constant hum of expectation. When a child's hands are in the soil, or their eyes are following a bird, something softens. The mind settles. The body remembers how to breathe.
"Sometimes we discover that squeezing clay and breathing out slowly is the most powerful thing in the world."
Nature doesn't ask children to be different. It meets them exactly as they are — and in that meeting, something shifts.

Ready to Begin?

The first step is a simple message. You can share your child’s age and whatever feels important right now — a question, a concern, or just a sense that this might be helpful. We’ll take it gently from there.

Opens WhatsApp — no pressure to book.

Prefer another way? You can also fill in the intake form or send me an email.

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    Fill in the intake form
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    Send us an email
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    WhatsApp or call: +351 928 128 633 

About Inês Paler

Inês brings a rare combination of formal training and lived experience to every session — grounded, attentive, and deeply child-centred.

Connected Kids Professional

Certified Connected Kids mindfulness teacher, trained in child-centred meditation approaches for children and young people of all abilities — including those with additional needs, trauma, anxiety, ADHD, and autism.

Permaculture Design & Forest Therapy

A Permaculture Design Certificate and hands-on experience with a family land-regeneration project, bringing a deep understanding of nature, ecosystems, and interdependence.

Additional training in Forest Therapy brings the healing power of nature into every session.

AMI Montessori Educator

AMI-trained Montessori educator for ages 6–12, with a deep respect for child-led learning.

Play Therapy

Trained in Play Therapy approaches, supporting children to process and express through play.

A Gentle Note

Alo Anima sessions are supportive, educational, and wellbeing-focused. They are not a replacement for clinical mental health care, diagnosis, or therapy.

They can sit alongside other support a child or teenager may already be receiving — offering a calm, nature-based space to practise awareness, regulation, confidence, and connection.

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