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For the second time a summer camp in Greece was organized by Sofia Foteina from the Himalayan Tradition in Greece.

Nikos, the friendly taxi driver, was waiting for us at the airport in Athens and in less than an hour we arrived at the camp. The location is great, it is a scouting camp in the forest so there is plenty of shade. It can be very warm in Greece and this time it was 36 degrees Celsius. But luckily, we had a comfortable room with air conditioning. And the camp is very close to the seaside, so every now and then there is a bit of wind cooling us. What I like very much is that there are no tourists at the beach there, besides us that is. A nice walk of only 5 minutes in nature will take you to the seaside with a small sandy beach.

The first evening after arrival we met and did a body percussion game to introduce ourselves. Tamara was guiding it. We shared what we like, what we don’t like and got to know each other a bit. Very soon there was a friendly atmosphere with lots of laughing also. We had a conversation about the subject UNITY and what it meant for us personally. We talked about love, sharing, caring, listening to each other, cooking, communicating and working together.

Every morning at 6 am, before first yoga class began, we met at the gate with Laura and a small group to go to the beach doing some simple standing exercises and after that a nice refreshing swim. After that, at 7 am, there was yoga class in an open space under the trees guided by teachers from the Himalayan Tradition. At 8.30 am, we were ready for a marvelous breakfast. The cook did a great job for us, three times a day there was so much tasty and nutritious food.

After breakfast was finished we did some seva, arranged by Anna, for half an hour only, cleaning tables and brooming away all the needles from the pine trees. We were with 36 adult and 16 kids from different countries in Europe. It was so nice to see the kids trying to communicate and speaking English together and soon new friends were made. From 10 am to 1 pm was time for playing on the beach and in the sea. After lunch we had 2 hours of quiet time.

There is a small office where you can buy books of the Tradition and some malas and bags for yoga mats. Sofia and Athina were so kind to help me sell the good luck elephants to support the school for girls in Odisha India. All elephants I brought with me were sold.

Every afternoon the kids were playing and doing arts and crafts with Tamara. The adults were with the kids or attended a workshop for parents. Carmen shared her experiences with healthcare and we talked a lot about lifestyle and Ayurveda in particular. I shared a massage to bring VATA dominance down. This massage I learned from Aafke de Geus who was my Ayurvedic teacher in the yoga academy Amsterdam. People were very pleased with the workshop and did like to know more about Ayurveda and lifestyle. So Carmen suggested to do an Ayurveda workshop for next year.

After 6 pm, it was time for family yoga classes or adult yoga and children yoga separately guided by Marilu, Sofia and Laura. And then again, the cook surprised us with a delicious meal for dinner.

In the evening time there were different activities. We watched a movie about Mahatma Gandhi. One evening there was kirtan singing, the children played on small instruments. And Anna brought her guitar for me to play. Also Anna played a beautiful Greek song and her husband sang so beautifully. So next year Anna will bring 2 guitars to play and sing together. I am looking forward to that. One evening we shared cultural things from our countries Greece, Italy, Hungary and The Netherlands. We sang and danced and we had so much fun together.

Thursday, we made a trip by bus to the beautiful museum and temple of Artemis. The evening before, a friend of Sofia came to tell us all there was to know about the temple side and that made the trip even more nice. On our way back we had some time to spend on a beach, it was crowded with tourists and there was a line to go in. In Greece you have to pay to go to a nice beach. But my husband and I decided not to go stand in line.  Just across the street there was a nice restaurant, where we ordered a good lunch.

The atmosphere among us in the camp and during all activities was so warm and nice, like one big family. We enjoyed our stay very much and definitely we will come back next year. Thanks to the team that made this possible: Sofia, Anna, Athina, Laura, Carmen, Tamara, Marilu, Irini. We had a great time.

Perhaps you join us next year? You are welcome.
Warmly,
Louise Molenkamp