In this short summary of 2018’s spring session I will give you an impression and overview about how a session can happen in Flores de Vida. If you would like to dare the experience too you can apply for the next year or already give it a try this September.
The people
Next to Nat’ there were Jean-Loup and me who supervised the session. Both of us had already participated in sessions and spend several months in Flores de Vida.
Six people registered for this session but only four confirmed and actually arrived. Two came two respectively one day before the official start but unfortunately one of them was so uncomfortable with the weather and food situation and the way of communication that he left after one night and before the event really started.
So for the first week we were six people with French, German, Italian and Polish origins and spoke mainly in English at times in French. In the second week we were joined by another person who fits quickly very well in the group.
The weather
It was unusual cold and wet for this time of the year. We had some rain, cold days and many times clouds but it was getting warmer and warmer during the session. Same for the nights, the first ones were very cold.
The accommodation
The small amount of people allowed to accommodated everybody in a caravan or the yurt. The yurt also served for the gathering when the weather was unpleasant.
The food
We started with different varieties of apples and pumpkins from the harvest last year and oranges from one of Nat’s friends near the seaside. Additionally some dried fruits from the abundance last summer. There were almonds and different kinds of olives too.
In the middle of the first week we made the first excursion to the organic cherry plantation of Nat’s friends Javier where we picked and eat a lot of fruits. In the second week we went there again and repeated this action. And that time the fruits have been much darker and sweeter.
The strawberries were late this year, probably caused by the cold weather the weeks before. But there were more and more to enjoy during the end of the session.
The vegetable garden provided a variety of green leaves, asparaguses, broad beans and we had some fermented vegetables too.
The tasks
There were two main little projects we focused on: the cleaning of all the little trees and the replacement of the wooden structures that supports the wine. We take care for both very flexible and decided more or less day by day how to continue. Sometimes we worked all together at the same time on the same task, sometimes we made small groups.
At the end all trees were cared. We weeded around them and made sure their irrigation is in place. The two big wooden structures were dissembled and replaced by metal ones, the vine plants attached to their new supports.
Additionally we weeded some parts of the upper and lower vegetable garden, planted a lot of tomatoes and completely cleaned the inside of the community yurt.
Because of the nice interaction with Javier the whole group decided to help him one day by weeding for a few hours on his farm.
The other activities
Everyday started with a yoga class. Two times we visited the lake for a swim and relaxing. We had an evening of Korean relaxation, a kind of massage, and a short class of attentive theatre. On a few evenings we sang together and once Nat’ gave us a guitar concert.
Every evening at 19 o’clock we gathered for a sharing circle. We started with listening to the other persons’ review of the day, the thoughts, the feelings and everything else some one wanted to share. We discussed several topics that came up and planed the next day. Already from the first circle it was a very harmonic, joyful and open atmosphere.
We had a lovely opening ceremony and a totally different but also lovely closing ritual. Both suggested and lead by participants but worth to include in future sessions.
My conclusion
There are things that are similar for most of the session. The time for everybody to get used to the group, the food, the weather, the surrounding, the work. The ups and downs. The excitement, the exhaustion.
It was a quite small group this time but this might also have caused that it was very quickly a quite intimate exchange of feelings and thoughts. We succeeded to create a safe and honest space. It was a successful session in terms of the accomplished tasked for the project and in terms of group process and personal development. I enjoyed very much and hope to see these guys again.