New Year yoga retreat in Spain

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Flying is a massive co2 producer. We encourage all our guests & staff to use public transport/car sharing where possible. Every booking receives our travel info doc. This is full of ideas and links to local & national public transport services in Spain.For our teaching team we pay for travel when it’s by public transport or car sharing. We do not pay for their travel when they use planes or solo car journeys.

For those guests that come from overseas we advise using the local transport system, which we help them navigate and arrange. If they prefer to hire cars we put them in touch with the other guest with the goal they will car share.

Our accommodation is in cotton glamping tents. The interiors were hand made by using sustainable wood and all have a bespoke 12/24 volt solar power system. The sun shades over the tents are made from recycled car tires. This is our own design and was created with the aim to reduce the use of inline voltage reducers which all our gadgets come with. We provide the connections to enable people to use the system.

The main house is 400 years old and was rebuilt using the original method of stone and mud collected from the river bed, the roof is wild bamboo and clay then the original tiles were replaced.

Our meditation dome & shower/toilet zone is made from recycled rice bags filled with a clay and mud mix known as earthbag building. No machines were used for the construction. The internal materials needed were dug from the river bed on our land. For those interested in earth bag construction we have a video on Youtube.

Our treatment cabin was hand made using sustainable wood sources and also benefits from the 12/24 volt solar systems . There is an ensuite shower and toilet.

The whole site is run with solar power installed over 20 years ago, we were one of the first in the region to be totally off grid.

If a Sunday falls within the retreat dates we invite the guests to walk up to our local village on an old roman road. We all take backpacks and go market shopping

All our meals are Veggie/Vegan. Elliot is our chef with over 40 years experience. Everything is homemade, all the ingredients sourced from local markets.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Our water comes from a natural spring. We belong to a cooperative and share the water with 4 other properties. All maintenance etc is done by the members of the cooperative.

Our hot water system is gravity fed and solar heated. This system has no moving parts so as long as maintenance is done every 2 years will last forever.

As we use NO chemicals all our grey water goes back on to the land for veg growing etc. Our black water goes into a bio system then is reintroduced to the land via a bamboo and reed bed.

Our swimming pool is magnesium and also has a filter system which creates negative ions removing the necessity of massive amounts of pool chemicals. If the pool needs emptying this water can be used to water trees safely, unlike a standard chlorine pool.

We don’t use single plastic and ask all guests not to bring them. We do talks on how we all can avoid single use plastic easily and how all our waste here is dealt with.

Included in all our retreats are talks on sustainable living and how we achieve it. We chat about ideas of how people can transfer these skills in their everyday life in cities.

We encourage guests to explore the local area as we are situated at the base of the Sierra Espuna mts which is a national park of over 17,000 hectares.
The park office has maps and routes and the park rangers wild hospital is awe inspiring. All this is free.The retreat is in a place of rural beauty and until 21 years ago had been forgotten for nearly a hundred years. The ruins on the estate are over 400 years and on the mountain opposite archaeologists have found the remains of the oldests prehistoric town in europe “La Bastida”. A trip can be organised by local guides via the town hall.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

All our accommodations are owned by us and have been built and maintained by locals employed from Totana or Aledo.

We visit Totana market on Wednesdays and Aledo Market on Sundays. Totana is an artesian centre so guests can also enjoy on market day the option to go round and local potteries.

One day each retreat we offer an alternative treatment day, Reiki, Reflexology and Massage, carried out by a fully trained local lady based in Murcia, Ama. She has been collaborating with us for over 10 years. She works in our earthbag dome which we give free of charge.

We work closely with local organic veg producers allowing us to provide the freshest seasonal produce to our guests. These producers are based in our local area known as La huerta which is ideal as we can walk there.


EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

100% of our helpers come from Totana or Aledo. The Spanish minimum wage is €7.82 for contracted work per hour. Our non-skilled helpers are not contracted but we believe the minimum wage is too low at present and we pay all helpers €10 per hour. (this includes collection to/from Totana/Aledo and food)

Yoga teachers 500 hrs trained dependent on retreat experience receive €28 upwards (this includes accommodation all meals). Chefs dependant on experience receive €28 upwards (this includes accommodation all meals)

As LBGTQIA+ owner operators EVERYONE is welcome.