updated  

Help create a tiny, peaceful and sustainable yoga sanctuary in El Palmar de Vejer, Spain

  • Last activity : 30 Oct 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Details

  • Description

    Description

    Hi travelers,
    I´m Pia yoga instructor, Thai massage therapist, architect and lover of life from Germany, living in Spain, and in the middle of the creation of a beautiful tiny eco yoga sanctuary - land of peace.
    It is a very peaceful piece of land at the Atlantic Ocean in southwest Spain, in El Palmar de Vejer (one of the best surf spots at this coast! :). It is tiny, but has a lot of potential and was brought into being from my personal journey with yoga, nature, community and this beautiful part of Spain.

    Yoga retreats have been the most healing and transformational experiences in my life - in fact, yoga retreats opened my eyes to become the person I am now, living the life of my dream, a life with a purpose! - but I believe that they should NOT be an exclusive luxury. So my vision is to transform this land into an affordable, small but 100% sustainable yoga retreat, inspired by my love of nature, the priciples of permaculture, and of all human beings.
    I believe that with little effort we can live in harmony with nature and in human union.

    I have spent all my savings to buy this small (1000m2) off-grid piece of land hat came with two run-down containers and a big ugly metal porch, and almost 2 years of hard work making the place livable with my own hands. The project has come a long way since its humble beginnings - it had no water or electricity, no toilet or kitchen.
    Now I am happy to say that I can comfortably host friends, family and other guest here :)
    There is a hot shower, a big cozy container with extra beds, a beautiful compost toilet with a view over the neighbour´s cow field, a community fire place, and everything else you need to spend a good time here!

    Since the very beginning, the ONE thing I felt on this tiny land was PEACE. And everyone else who has ever spent some hours or days here, feels the same and doesnt want to leave anymore ;)

    Of course, there is always a lot to do - maintenance, constructions, gardening, applied permaculture, etc.... Since I can host people here, I love to open this space to share with others. To exchange the andalusian culture, the language (I speak spanish fluently), and all my knowledge about permaculture, architecture, simple living and yoga!. Also, I am always curious about exchanging your own experiences with traveling, alternative living, bio construction, cooking, creative ideas for the project, etc.

    As this belongs to my principles of living, of course all food and building materials are bought locally and as organic as possible.

    If you come to stay, you will experience a beautiful balance of helping effectivly (german efficiency, hahaha), living in harmony with nature, giving the body and mind rest through yoga (at the moment I only teach once a week!) or going surfing in your free time, and the pure peace of the land and the ocean with it´s endless beach (and of the company of my 5! cats :)

    Thank you for reading to the end :)
    Some days I don´t read my mails, so please forgive me if it takes 3-7 days until I write back :)

    looking forward to hearing from you anyways
    Pia

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    In your free time you can go surfing, swimming, walking on the beach or explore the area by bike. you can practice your spanish with us as me and my partner usually talk spanish.
    Monday evenings you can come to my communal yoga class

  • Help

    Help

    update: next workawayer needed only from middle of january on. If you know how to lay bricks and tiles, this would be perfect :)

    The upcoming projects for this "winter" (for us here, the winter starts end of september, when the summer-holiday-tourists and the sometimes unbearable heat leave :) are to build a round bench around the central fire place (brick tasks! probably in January/February), and to finally dedicate some real attention to the outside spaces, plant new trees, try to grow the lawn, installing a watering system, etc. Until now I was so busy with creating a place to LIVE (from zero), that I didnt really have time for that.
    I won´t romantizise it (as some maybe come with different expectations): Helping on the outside areas ist getting your hand and pants dirty, digging holes, digging earth.. you don´t need to be a "strong man" for that, we women can perfectly do that, but you should love to dig your hands in the earth :) I LOVE IT!! it´s very grounding and satisfying :))

    The real next "construction" project (building the floor (wooden deck) and the facades (in eco-construction with straw and clay!) to turn my porch into a yoga shala will only start in March/April 2025, as I have to save money for some months now to do so.
    > for the construction of the wooden deck I could need help from middle of march on. If you know how to work with wood, that would be perfect!
    > there will be a special workshop for the eco-building (constructing walls with strawbales and clay) on the 2 weeks of easter, if you´re interested in learning this technique! It is combined with a basic course on permaculture and eco building (small course fee). The course will be for up to 8 people, as the clay construction is quite time intensive.

    So what I can offer from September until middle of March is:
    Max.15 h per week , mainly helping with the garden / outside area, the house (cooking, cleaning the kitchen) and the cats. You would have to buy your own food. but we can share meals, cook together or seperate, needs to be flexible day by day (live with the flow of life ;) as I alsways have many things to do and can´t always commit to a fixed schedule :)
    I work my money-earning-remote job (as an arquitect) 5h every day, so usually I´m in my "office" until 2 or 3pm.
    Work would be in the afternoons (3 afternoons, 3-6 pm in winter) and especially on saturdays (6h) as this is my day off (office) and I can fully focus on the work on the land.

    In the end we always have to go with the flow :) I always make plans (I LOVE making plans, hahaha), but then other things get in the way and suddenly become more important... so be flexible, be independent and love to spend time with yourself and nature. (I dont alsways have the time to be "social", especially in winter I find it´s a time to withdraw and have mor ME time after the sun sets.. So on some days the only time we really spend together is the working time ;)

    All help is only for my private home / future yoga retreat. At the moment I only live here, there are no paying guests, only friends and family and my cats :)

    I need a lot of peace around me, and I´m not a party person. And in general will only have 1 or 2 workawayers here. So if you look for party, community or bein "social", this might not be your place :) I prefer nice talks, exchanges of travel and life stories at meal times and maybe a cup of tea or glass of wine or beer, sitting around the fire place :)

    As I only ask for 2-3h on max. 5 days, you have a lot of free time at this very peacefull place. So it´s perfect for anyone needing a rest from the quick city life, for surfers for sure (winter is surfing time here!), oder for people with remote jobs :)

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Fluent

    This host offers a language exchange
    learn spanisch playfully with us. here we communicate in german, english and spanisch throughout the whole day!

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    I offer a cozy space inside the 12m container. your own room (1 or 2 people), including a working place (desk) if you are a digital nomad. The place here is very peacefull, perfect to disconnect or concentrate.

    5 lovely cats are living here with me (mainly outside, only in winter the will try to sneak in :), so you should not be allergic to cats...

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    El Palmar is a surf town with a unique vibe. You can go surfing, walk on the beach for hours.. Vejer and Conil are the closest towns, the so called andalusian white towns and very lovely to explore. You can go visit the hammam in Vejer in winter.

    NATURE is the one thing you find here. the ocean, a wide, long sand beach, pine tree forests... I have a bike here you can borrow as well to explore the area. There also is a beatiful light house your can walk to along the beach.
    there are surf schools down by the beach if you want to learn surf..

    If you work remotely, this is also a perfect place for you. As I dont need so many hours of help at the moment (and can´t offer meals), you have lots of free time. and there is a stable wifi.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    There are inside and outside working spaces and a stable WIFI (I work online / remote myself 5h a day)

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    if you leave the camper in one place for the time of your stay, than there is no size limit really, but should not be monster trucks :) if you want to move around with it, I prefer if it´s a camper van not longer than 6m

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    only with cats! As I have 5 cats, and they call this space their home and chill out a lot on the porche, unfortunately you can´t bring dogs, because then my cats will hide all the time.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 2-3 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 491899536699

Feedback (3)



Feedback





DIY projects, house maintenance & renovation and taking care of the land in Catalunya, Spain
Welcoming native English speakers to help with the kids and around the house in Alaro, Mallorca, Spain