Yoga vacation in Greece

Environment

We support local environmental groups and have started a ‘snake, tortoise and reptile rescue’ service. Animals such as snakes are safely removed from people’s houses or gardens and if injured, they are helped to return to health and safely relocated.

We are active members of our local community groups - MIAO (animal Welfare) and GAIA (environmental group).

We recycle all our waste and compost all food / garden waste. We have set up a number of wormeries and are helping people to set up their own giving them a starter kit, (wormeries are still unknown here in Greece). We have set up a number of bee hives and planting our garden to be bee and butterfly friendly.

The garden around the Spirit of life is a water-wise garden. It is planted with medicinal and culinary herbs. The garden is cultivated so that it requires little water

Water is solar heated. Our garden is grown on ‘water-wise’ principles so that it mostly survives on winter rains – saving substantial amounts of water. We have actively decided against a swimming pool for the same reason and encourage our guests to walk the 15 minutes down the hill to the sea. There is no air conditioning on our property relying on other methods to keep cool in the summer.

Community

We buy as much as we can from within our immediate area. We support small organic producers - seasonal fruit and vegetables, olive oil, honey, fish caught in the village, locally produced cheese etc.
We support Gaia, a local voluntary organisation that covers mountain rescue, firefighting, helping local families in financial difficulties and caring for older people in some of the more remote villages.
We actively raise money for both Gaia and Miao (animal welfare) by organising talks on food and health and yoga workshops.
The local area relies on the olive harvest but tourism is also very important in supplementing peoples’ income and keeping the area vibrant. 30 years ago, there were few young people living in the villages but the increase of independent and alternative tourism has brought life into once deserted villages.
Our guests are encouraged to eat out in our local village where the small tavernas are locally owned. Our guests and business support local enterprises - local grocery stores, car and bike hire, local therapists etc.
We offer free drop-in meditation classes for locals and also drop in yoga classes.