In this event, participants will have time to experience a practical awareness of the journey food takes from farm to fork. With a fun agenda full of activities, such as bread making, preparing local food banquets and looking after animals, the whole family will grow a deep connection with the land. Based at Amaido and its living organic farm, we will be enjoying wholesome homely produced food, as well as time to rest at a very inspiring setting.

Exclusive Walkshops for Groups (2 – 6 participants)

Sebatian Burch shares a sensitive and communicative view of landscapes. Rooted in a personal and intimate relationship with the Earth. He (re)searches landscapes as if they where books, that tell the story of “how and why” places and communities came to be.

I like to think of landscapes as if they were books, not just any book, but the most amazing story my senses can read. In the landscape story, I read the history of the earth, a story that takes me beyond my own conscience as a human being. Each word of the landscape-story is a different species, a living being who expresses its freedom with coherence. All the elements of a landscape have personality and tell a story.

A landscape contains “patterns of form, structure, materials, formation and function” is “pragmatic, poetic, rhetorical, polemical” and can be “spoken, written, read or imagined”, but mostly lived, since landscapes reflects our “soul of the world” through our perceptions and actions on it.

Walkshops

Sensual Farm Walk
During this explorative walkshop we can discover hotel Posada del Valles Organic Farm through your senses.

Fractal Forest Walk
During this ecologically intimate walkshop we can dwell in the relationships between all beings in the forest, a fractal environment were we can gain insights from complex patterns of diversity.

Deep Mountain Walk
During this meditative and expansive walkshop we can explore Thinking like a Mountain, Deep Ecology and Intrinsic Value in Nature

Contemplative Village Walk
During this interpretative walkshops we can explore the social and ecological layers of rural Asturian landscape, by appreciating how they fuse into a unified story of the land.

Sebastian Burch MSc (Hons) Since a young age Sebastian has loved the natural world and this led him to start a degree in Biology at Oviedo University. Disillusioned with mechanistic and reductionist science, he then did a Masters in Holistic Science at Schumacher College. He is now engaged in holistic research concerned with landscape feelings, and is very interested in Transformative Ecology and social ecological transformation.

Celebrating our senses!

Art is the language of meeting, of intimacy, of closely fitted things. Nature, of course, is exactly the same. We can learn to draw up our lives and our art close to the ways Nature draws up the world – Peter London

We tend to rush in our daily lives to get things done; we devote much time to our work, or fall into habits or corseted hobbies. Art can be part of our lives in a subtle way, art of the everyday in our cultures, in our personal way of expression, understanding ourselves to heal some ongoing processes we are not happy with. Slowing down to draw closer to nature without fixed rules or preconceptions, to remember experiences of childhood, memories of familiar tastes, smells, sounds, textures, we can explore our cultural and ecological roots through creativity.

Gill and Lidia will be joining participants in different workshops on arts, creativity and mindful action, walking the asturian landscapes and getting inspired by nature. Open up our senses to other “worlds of perception”, be guided by intuition! We will explore our inner qualities and find healing processes for our lives and the socio-ecological spheres in which we are immersed.

Participants will have time to explore and rediscover their creativity, perceiving the world that surrounds us in a different way, experiencing spontaneity and art without frames. An opportunity to embody art and creative processes in our everyday life, nurtured by the qualities of Asturian nature, its landscape and psyche. A place to feel free and express our emotions in harmony with everything else.

Gill Coombs has over ten years’ experience working with organization and individuals. She also has a private ‘ecological self’ coaching practice and developed workshops about living in harmony with self and others, human and non-human. On this workshop she will be facilitating opportunities to reflect on our experiences and to share our reflections; supporting us on our own personal journey, to explore our inner qualities and our vocation.

Lidia Fanjul holds and MSc in Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Management. She develops creativity workshops, facilitating and sharing creative experiences closer to nature; exploring arts and landscapes through our senses, feelings and understanding of the world. She is interested in traditional cultures, to heal our natural systems and live closer to nature.

Walking, Cooking and Agriculture

In this course participants will live as part of Posada del Valle’s community. Getting involved in the processes and activities that give life to the Organic farm and the kitchen. Learning how to grow and cook our own organic vegetables. A great opportunity to enjoy wholesome vegetarian organic food from its origin in the garden to its beautiful transformation as food.

We will explore in the kitchen and the garden what are the basic principles with which we can make the most of our own organic gardens, participating in workshops on seeds, soil, creative cooking.. As well as, discussing about the role of organic farming in today’s socio-ecological world crisis, as well as how to be part of the solutions from our own home communities.

Along with the garden and kitchen experiences there will be the opportunity to walk the beautiful Asturian Landscapes, inspiring thoughts and feelings about our connection to nature, and encouraging action in our own personal lives.

Posada del Valle’s Community

All the people involved in the running of the hotel and the farm contributes to maintain a complex living network that continuously works towards a self-sustained model. Starting from Nigel in the vegetable garden, Sam, Andrés and Joann cooking delicious and creative meals with what is available at any moment, following Sam’s artisan wool crafts and workshops, Sebastian’s walkshops on sensing and reading landscapes, Lidia’s workshops on creativity, and not forgetting all the people helping in running the hotel the farm and the community supported agriculture.
We are all contributing in creating a sustainable small community attached to the local land and culture, sharing motivations, experiences, knowledge, skills and tools.

Posada del Valle’s Community

15th – 20th October, 2012

The course is based at Posada del Valle, an Eco-Hotel that rest within its organic farm.

A beautiful and inspiring landscape where biodiversity, organic farming and a cosy atmosphere are always nurtured; near the Picos de Europa, in Asturias, North Spain.

...Posada del Valle's Veg Garden

Course Fees

700 Euros – One person in an individual room
1200 Euros – Two people sharing a double room.

The event fees include accommodation (six nights), vegetarian food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

To book a place in this event, get in contact with us through our email:mail@gaiaysofia.com or this phone number: +34 985707005
Mobile:
+34 661629708 (Sebastian)
+34 635344487 (Lidia)

Finding your Role in the Living World

Summary

Knowing that we’re contributing fully to community, society and/or planetary well-being is deeply rewarding. We all have our part to play. Each person’s vocation is unique, and stems from our passions, our innate skills and our values as well as the life experience we’ve acquired.When we’re living our vocation we can feel truly alive and fulfilled; but sometimes knowing our vocation and finding ways to live it can present a challenge in today’s world.

There’ll be a mixture of whole group discussion and small group work, time for individual reflection, creative ways of exploring and the option for a 1:1 with Gill. We’ll spend time in the hotel with its wonderful inspiring views, and wherever the weather permits we’ll ‘ground’ our experience through exploring the farm surrounding the hotel. There will also be at least one bigger walk in the neighbouring mountains.

Gill Coombs has over ten years’ experience working with organisation and individuals, and to her great joy has found her own vocation, which includes supporting others in finding theirs! On this workshop she will be exploring vocational archetypes and looking at how in community, as in all healthy eco-systems, there is potentially a ‘niche’ for everyone.

Sebastian Burch MSc (Hons) Since a young age Sebastian has loved the natural world and this led him to start a degree in Biology at Oviedo University. Disillusioned with mechanistic and reductionist science, he then did a Masters in Holistic Science at Schumacher College. He is now engaged in holistic research concerned with landscape feelings, and is very interested in Transformative Ecology and social ecological transformation.

Exploring practises that reconnect our inner and outer nature.

Exclusive for Groups of 4 to 6 participants

Web page: http://immerse.gaiaysofia.com/

The aim of our courses is to improve the ability to communicate in Spanish during a short intensive time. In a Spanish Context in the hands of keen facilitators with a high level of both languages.

We combine group classes and workshops with individual tutorials. Group activities contribute to the improvement of interpersonal communication skills, while individual sessions focus on the personal improvement of vocabulary and grammar; as well as offer the opportunity to work on each individuals confidence. Individual Tutorial always focus on the needs and specific objectives of each participant.

Our Topic Based Classes take place in a classroom or lounge and are intended to tackle the groups specific focus and objectives. The following are a few of the possible themes of these Topic Based Classes: Vocabulary, Grammar, Topic based conversations, cultural diversity, presentations, pronunciation, comprehension and listening

• Experience our unique residential Language immersion courses for mixed groups or organizations.
• The Facilitators are experienced course organizers and keen bilingual teachers.
• We offer an experiential learning methodology based on intuition and common sense that is effective and enjoyable.
• Our syllabus combine focused classes, following your own priorities, with a set of enriching ecological workshops that promote cooperation and sustainability.

Schedule and Prices