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Published: August 11th 2008
WWOOF'ing at the Sunshine House in Evia Island - Greece My dears friends/family,
I believe i will continue writing my blogs in English to reach out some of the special people i have met on my path so far and hopefully inspire others who wish to experience a little bit of all the beautiful flavours & colors of this world....
Last time i wrote, i was working in a hotel in Aegina Island, things didn't really look up for me, after two weeks of working there, i didn't feel i was fulfilling any purpose, i was just making money without being able to experience anything valuable, again, i was starting to feel empty inside, so i quit and went to Athens where i couchsurfed
www.couchsurfing.comwith a very kind friend from Cyprus for 4 days. I was mostly walking around for hours, thinking what to do, where to go, etc. Initially i was going to head to Santorini Island where there's suppose to be lots of jobs for foreigners in random bars & restaurants, then i started to look around during my walks, seeing the massive amount of tourist that come to Greece, the high cost of traveling here,
feeling a bit of this caos inside, suddenly, i felt overwhelmed and really wishing to get out of it all.
This is when i thought about my WWOOF membership
Willing Workers On Organic Farms http://www.wwoof.org/, i read the list of hosts/places in Greece and found this wonderful peaceful place called
the Sunshine house www.thaimassage.gr in Evia Island (1.5 hrs away from Athens) in a small village called Bourtzi. It just felt like the perfect place to find some peace, contribute to the world and doing something meaningful during my travels than just the typical tourist sight-seeing.
Keris from England, Takis Greek and their two babies run this lovely house/retreat center with the help of an amazing cook Charlotte U.S/Kiwi who at the same time coordinates the projects for the WWOOF'ers & of course, Lis from Wales who is a Loving & inspirational yoga teacher. They have a beautiful garden, Yoga Room, Steam Bath, Thai-style house, and little huts to host people when the courses are on.
As soon as i put a step on this house, i felt so much love, peace, beautiful feelings starting to come out little by little. I started to observe more, appreciate
more, feel more, breath more, stopped rushing things & learning how to do everything with love, trying to put my mind into every moment and getting more connected to my feelings.....
I experienced 3 very different & beautiful stages during my stay at "the Sunshine House". The first one was living, working, & sharing during 1 month with my dear friend from India "Varun". We used to have long conversations together, the way he was constantly questioning life, happiness & truth, contributed to contemplate life, to forget about so many trivial things and consider what the purpose of life really is....
We laughed & played together like kids again, during one of our bike rides to the beach, passing olives & figs trees, we defeated the fear to ride a bicycle without hands, at the same time we entertained ourselves looking at a Greek army airplane that was flying very low, just above us, it might seem ridiculous but this was one of the most beautful feelings, full of freedom & innocence. It made me wondered why is it that we as adults constantly forget to play, think & feel like kids, we lose our innocene, our inner
beauty for being always on the run, filling our lives with plenty of stress, being selfish & always looking for material pleasures disregarding the beauty of simple things, laughing, picking flowers, climbing trees, planting, listening to the sounds of nature.....
My friend played the guitar beautifully, we made up funny songs & laughed for hours, cooked delicious food including some indian dishes. We also made some Greek friends at a Taverna close to the house. We used to go there for a beer, just next to the ocean, very peaceful place, not the typical party island, which just suited me great. Keris & Takis took us several times to a couple of beautyful beaches. They are very generous & lovely people. Keris is a very caring mother and Takis is a world of knowledge and teacher of many hollistic subjects including Traditional Thai-Yoga Massage, Chikong, Tai Chi, Ayurvedic/herbal treatments, Nutrition, Yoga, etc. We contributed by working in several projects in the house such as chopping wood for the heating of the new house during winter, we tried to built an irrigation system for the garden, lots of weeding, planting, making the big palm trees in the garden look pretty
by trimming their branches, little painting jobs, cleaning around, watering the garden, building a sandpit for one of the babies, etc...
After one month, my friend Varoon left the Sunshine House to pursue his own journey, he met up with another friend of his and went playing music on the streets, from Greece back to England. At this point, i was still very confused about what i really wanted to do, again, i was invaded by all kinds of feelings and didn't know what was next for me....Now i see it clearly how everything was just there for me, right in front of my eyes but i was still blind & closed in my heart and could not see it.....I found refugee in the library where i got in touch with books again & rediscovered the pleasure of reading....The more i read, the more i was loving it, feeling inspired, giving myself the opportunity to look at things from different perspectives, i dedicated most of my free time to read books about: Yoga, Traditional Thai-Yoga Massage, Spiritual Readings, Astrology, Ayurvedic Medicine, Shiatsu, etc. Little by little I started to understand that it is possible to live an Alternative type
of lifestyle, contributing more to the overall happiness of the world, more healthy, more peaceful, more spiritual and forget about always satisfying the senses, always running from one desire to the other without finding true happiness....Keris, Takis & Lis encouraged me to stay for as long as i wanted, without rushing, allowing myself to take the time to think and look inside for answers....I am not sure if they knew how important this point was for me, but their words of encouragement eased up my days and helped me to see further....
Being all by myself for several weeks was one of the best things that could happened to me, watering the garden during early mornings, seeing things grow & die, comparing them with a series of events in my life...observing, breathing & looking inside all my fears and anxieties....going back to the library with an increadible thirst for knowledge, looking for a deeper meaning....I believe this was the most beautiful part of my stay at the sunshine house because of its importance, and the most difficult one. I faced many fears, got honest with myself, forgot myself, forgot those people i was still holding grudges against after many
years of carrying with these heavy & useless baggage, opened my heart & allowed the love to come in and out....I guess i could never express with words what i was exactly feeling at this moment but i hope i can give a close idea of this self-discovery time.....From this moment on, my heart opened up and started feeling & experiencing in full an alternative lifestyle, just like i allowed myself to live & experience the total opposite, with no regrets, judging or thinking if it was good or bad, better or worse....this new mindset is just so refreshing, it brings so much peace to my life...
The 3rd part of my stay at The Sunshine House started with the Thai-Yoga Massage course on August 1st, by this time, i had already found an answer in my heart, i found myself with a new purpose, a new mindset, more positive, more focused, more full of love & desire to go through life with a deeper meaning....All of a sudden the house was full with people from different countries in Europe: France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Spain, etc. I became very close to the Greek guys which i specially loved hanging
out with, eventhough i didn't understand what they were saying most of the time ;-) this is when i discovered how powerful the beauty of laughing is, i could laugh and enjoy my time with them just the same. I started practicing with the POI and learnt some juggling with Gianis, this was an incredible feeling, such a small thing brought so much happiness & freedom to my life....
The retreat seminar usually runs with this schedule:
-6:30am Meditation
-7am Yoga
-9am breakfast
-10:30am-1pm Thai-Yoga Massage teaching
-1pm-4pm Siesta time
-4pm-7pm Teaching
-7-8pm Steam Bath
-8pm dinner
-9pm chanting & meditation
I was given the opportunity to join the morning Thai-Yoga massage lessons by Takis, which usually started with beautiful chanting. This was incredible experience that just confirmed my desire to learn it & practice it. I lived, shared, helped & learnt from all these great people during 10 days. One of the most special nights i remember, we started drumming in the living room at night right before meditation, then Takis encouraged us to bring the drums inside and a fascinating, uplifting chanting & drumming session started, my heart got exalted, i felt so much positive energy
and love all around, this night i could barely sleep, i could not take the smile off my face, this extraordinary feeling invaded every cell in my body....
The course finished with a fun dancing at bar called Azul (Takis & Keris' friends), very close to the house, in front of the beach. Everyone celebrated, jumped, laughed, hugged, and sent out their love...
On tuesday, i will be back on the road again, full of energy & enthusiasm, i will be going to "Laos"
http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/LAOS-W1.gif spend a month or so then go to Thailand. I will be taking couple of courses in Thai-Yoga Massage in a mountain Tribe Village "Lahu" in Thailand, 80 km from Chiang Mai (North). I am also planning to go for a 10 day Vipassana Meditation retreat
http://www.dhamma.org/ at a monastery just outside Bangkok. I will go first to Laos because i could not get a Thai visa in Greece, for some reason they only give it to Greek residents, but it is all good, i believe there is something i need to see and experience there before going to Thailand to study/practice Thai-Yoga massage & Meditation.
I really wanted to upload pictures
but the internet cafe does not have CD driver. Once in Laos, i will try to find a place to update this journey.
Before i leave for a while, i would really like to share two amazing books that really touched me. Initially, i was going to write about several titles of many interesting books i had the opportunity to read but i believe these books, specially the 1st one by Don Miguel Ruiz resumes pretty much everything...I have decided to open my heart to these simple principles that seem so hard for us to practice and that could make our lives so much happier....
The four agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz http://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424505/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-8887979-5658043?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218474686&sr=1-1
The life you were born to live: A guide to finding your life purpose by Dan Millman http://www.amazon.com/Life-You-Were-Born-Live/dp/091581160X/ref=sr_1_28/002-1593762-9448840?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218474619&sr=1-28
Life is good, full of hope & love is all around,
Andres
"Nature is my God
Learning is my Aim
Traveling is my Dream
Laughing is my Pleasure
Surviving is my Life"
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Laurie
non-member comment
I thinks it's wonderful!
Hello, I think what you are doing is so so wonderful! I can't express my feelings enough for everyone that is helping, co-hosting, befreinding, etc...etc...I am with each & everyone of you, only I am in USA, & won't be able to get a lifelong memorable experience like you are doing! Keep up the great work, & I hope to see my brother John coming soon to you from St. John's Newfoundland CA. Thank you for sharing your excellent writings, & everything else everyone is doing to help work etc... Yia sou! Se agapo!!! Laurie