A Family Experience Living-in-community

Published in Juno Magazine recently Dorota Owen a long term leader of Kalikalos Family weeks talks about  holistic holidays and living in community with a family.  

I first heard the term “Holistic Holiday”, from a former Findhorn community member who, in 2008, invited me to join the staff of a Findhorn-inspired summer community project in Greece. Called “Kalikalos”, this community project is based in an old hotel in the picturesque mountain village of Kissos in the Pelion peninsula. 

The cobbled streets and stone houses are home to a population whose ancestors have enjoyed the tranquil  forests for centuries,  living on abundant harvests and the clear, clean water that bursts from the mountainside springs.  In winter time, the snow attracts skiers: in summer time  the many tavernas are a magnet for hikers and visiting Athenians, many of whom have family holiday homes here.

Swimming in a perfect sea, I wondered how it would be to bring my three children, then aged 15, 13 and 7—would they get bored ? Should we invite their friends? In the end, the Kalikalos director suggested that I run the first of our family experience weeks (which are patterned after the Findhorn Foundation family experience weeks) and the children helped. Since then, this week has grown into two and our numbers have doubled year after year.

Now there are two venues and a waiting list!

Why are these family weeks so popular? Obviously the location, warm sunshine and sea are a big draw for British visitors in particular. Living in community is also a factor, as deep friendships are formed in the context of community life which simply would never happen on a package holiday in an anonymous hotel.  Community can be intense sometimes, and over the years, communication processes like Marshall Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication, sociocracy and council circles have been adopted to facilitate conflict and reach harmonious win-win resolutions.

There is some special magic about a community-based holistic holiday which has emerged over the years, an alchemy of healthy, fresh local food, gentle work rhythms and  a profound connection with nature as we eat under the stars and  walk in the shady forests.

This, to me, is truly the meaning of a holistic holiday. I learn about human nature and how to get along with people, as do my children, and I think this has been key to our evolution as a very happy family unit. I eat healthily, swim daily, walk through nature. We always  return to our home town glowing, tanned, fit. Finally, I feel nourished by the good company of friends, supported in the larger world by the knowledge there is a tribe that I am part of, a family of cultural creatives who share my values around planetary sustainability and good living.

For more detail about the Family weeks and our work shop programme visit.

http://www.Kalikalos.com

http://www.kalikalos.com/workshops/family-experience-weeks.shtml

http://www.kalikalos.com/program.shtml#swap3

Family Experience Week II

The family experience fortnight at the Kalikalos Alternative Holiday Centre has almost concluded, and, after a final trip to the beach, the grand finale will, of course, be the Kalikalos cabaret. After our final sharing circle the members of the family experience workshop have made thank-you cards for other members of the community and are busy preparing their acts for the evenings entertainment.

Over the fortnight Dorota has lead the workshop members through many art exercises, including the chance for the participants to create their own puppets and perform a puppet show at the end of the first week at the Anilio campus.



Every day after breakfast the family experience community gathered in the round-house for morning sharing and appreciations, songs, games and other artistic activities. These meetings allowed adults and children alike to bring out their creative sides and to find that they enjoyed the company of every other member of the group.

After our daily beach trips, there were many more opportunities to take part in other workshops and activities. Josie lead a storytelling activity in the yurt, Monica held Yoga sessions and Patch lead a talk concerning renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability in the round-house. And of course, Silke offered a wonderful singing and voice training workshop to the group.



I would like to thank Jock for making this workshop possible and Dorota for being an inspiring workshop leader. I am looking forward to returning to Kalikalos next year to meet everyone from the family fortnight twelve months down the line.


Blog by Sam Hawksford White (16), York, United Kingdom

Family Experience Week I

Here at Pilion, there are two centres, Kalikalos in Kissos village, and it's sister campus, Spiti Ton Kentavron, about 8 minutes drive away, in the forest near the village of Anilio.

All of us kids have been down at the beach today, where the waves were massive. We've returned to the centre, and we're having pizza for dinner tonight!
This time of year, it's the family fortnight at Kalikalos and adults and children alike have come this year, about 30 people in total.

We've been doing a lot of workshops and on Thursday, we're doing a puppet show, which we still need to write the script for(get to work children).

Also tomorrow, is the joining of Kalikalos and the Anilio centres, where all the people from both centres are coming together at the Anilio centre.



Blog by Marlon (Age 14), from London
Some pics provided by Sam (Age 16), from York
Some pixs provided by Jock (Age ? ) from (?)

Expressing the Inexpressible - Nonduality (Advaita) Retreat with Jeff Foster

It's Friday afternoon, and all the retreat guests have gone home (although of course they never left Home, but that's another story ...)

What a lovely week it was. It was a week of laughter and tears, of openness and friendship, of paddling in crystal clear waters, of eating the most delicious and healthy home-made food, of insights and revelations and seeing life unfold right before our very eyes, of meeting each other and realising that we were only ever meeting ourselves.

The retreat was an absolute joy, a gift, a delight.... and yet it was nothing special - it was just THIS - as it is. Totally ordinary, and wonderfully extraordinary.

And as the week went on, and as the questions dissolved, a beautiful presence that was always there (but so often overlooked) became even more palpable. Until in the end, there was only laughter.

I'll always remember the laughter.... that wonderfully spontaneous, contagious, deep laughter.... that cosmic laughter that reminded us (as if any reminder was ever needed!) that all is One, and all is well, and that the Play accepts and loves everything unconditionally, because it IS everything, and nothing is excluded.

Thank you, Jock. Thank you, Kalikalos staff. Thank you, everyone who travelled so far to be here. See you all soon!

With love,


Jeff Foster

P.S. And thanks to the pears, the fish man, and the plastic chairs! ;)