Creative Family Week I led by Dorota Owen (Scotland) Emile van Dantzig (Netherlands) and Rosemary Hawksford (York, England)

Three facilitators, two separate campuses (Kalikalos and Anilio-STK), four 4 year olds and their mothers, and a mixed group of Greek and English speaking teenagers with a shared history and a clearly stated wish to stay as a particular group. How was it ever going to work?


And yet, a miracle occurred last week, and we  have a film to prove it! Lots of smiles, swimming, sand and sea shots in the Kalikalos Family Movie fully produced by the young humans in our group.  (Request permission to see our clips on YouTube.)



Each morning we met up for group activities and made a flexible plan for our week together. We had different art activities, there was pizza night with the return of Dave (from Philadelphia) the moon-walking pizza maker.  I ran the Participatory Video sessions (PV), there was a  beach sleepover party under the light of the moon, midnight swims, forest walks through a gorgeous Mt Pelion ravine to cool waterfalls, plus plenty of circle sessions and discovery games.




We were graced to be able to use both campuses for our first week. Kalikalos Kissos is surrounded by a picturesque village and the village sounds permeate our group work. Anilio STK, 3 km to the north, is set in lush forest and basks in the deafening music of cicadas connecting us with Nature.


Every day we had the sensual experience of swimming in the clear blue Aegean sea and one on a couple of the days jumping big beefy waves! The sunshine worked its magic and as the Week I ends, our group of adults and kids are are now golden-skinned and smiling. In this constant harmony of wind and waves, we observed an equal harmony among our lovely children, with few struggles or quarrels. Our only screams came from a beetle-bitten 4 year old explorer who bravely showed us a drawing of his creature the next day and spoke eloquently about what he would like to have done with it. (I’m afraid it was squashed by his anxious brother.)


We completed our week with a moving Thursday evening fireside sharing which included singing, storytelling and authentic expressions from the heart from both adults and children. Spiros provided cakes from the village!

We look forward, this coming second week, to co-creating a brand new experience by drawing on the needs, expectations and skills of the now experienced children and parents. Their own creative ideas for Week II have been welling up these past few days and we are ready to turn the workshop over to them. With luck, Dorota and I, the official leaders, will be able to sit back and be true focalisers--providing the resources and coordination to allow this group now to run itself!


Dorota Owen, Forres, Scotland & Emile van Dantzig, Bilthoven, Netherlands

Dancing With Life

Coaches Liz Foster and Tracy Seed

Our intention was to lead a transformational personal development week through a blend of mind, heart and body processes and this is exactly what we did with 14 participants from UK, Greece, Spain, Italy and Denmark last week at Kalikalos, a holistic centre situated in the Pelion mountains. 


Through our shadows and NVC (the work of Marshall Rosenberg) we explored and transformed the patterns that prevent us from fully meeting our needs in love and life. In Biodanza sessions we embraced our uniqueness and stepped into the fullness of our personal power.

Leading this week-long programme was a true joy and an honour.  It was an ongoing process, where we were dynamically meeting the needs of the group and at the same time developing our own working relationship together.


At the end of the week we were happy to hear that the participants had enjoyed rest, relaxation, wonderful food, sea, sunshine and mountain air as well as many learnings that came from within themselves and that they will take back to their lives at home.


This is what a few of our participants said when we asked them to answer these two questions:


What has been the main learning for you ?
“The realisation that I rejected love because it felt too painful”
“Presence keeping in a loving and happy state”
“Letting go moving into a new life and things that were /are already in place but that I now have fresh confidence and self possessed energy to stride forward with. I feel healthily detached from negative influences at home”


How has this programme benefitted your overall sense of wellbeing?
“It opened my heart”
“The importance of focussing on the present and being truly present with other people. Feeling alive and connected”
“Spiritually my body and mind worked together. My mind learnt how to let go I was more patent with myself throughout the process”.
“Feeling confident with people more willing to open and identify connections with others. I feel more socially and emotionally intelligent”.
“Improved wellbeing in all areas – socially emotionally physically intellectually, mentally...”


There were many more comments from our participants and video footage too, which we plan to post when we return to UK. If this is a programme that you are thinking that you might like to attend sometime, do please contact us directly mail@tracyseedassociates.co.uk or info@lizfostercoaching.com

The Kalikalos programmes are a great opportunity to combine a holiday with personal development in a idyllic setting with other like-minded people. The centre is located in the mountains of Pelion, 25 miles East of Volos, Greece's sixth largest city. The ancient Greeks believed that the Centaurs roamed the mountain, and miraculous events occurred. It seems that this is still the case!


Tracy Seed, Bromley, Kent, England