Spring Celebration Ritual

Let the dance of the newborn flowers move you to new directions of spiritual awakening!

4 days – 3 nights
with Apostolia Papadamaki

I invite you to join me in a profound celebration of Life and let the joy of new birth enter our hearts! We will move in harmonious ways in the rhythms of nature, surrounded by the wealth of Re-Green community and the prosperity of the blooming cherry trees.
I will playfully share with you the secrets of my own pathway, empowering you to welcome the uplifting forces of spring inside you. For 20 years now I am researching art, life, human nature and spirituality. I create artistic work and lead retreats that combine Dance, Music, Voice, Nature, Yoga and Rituals.
All of these practices have enriched my spiritual path and initiated me to practice consciously the art of true belonging and share the knowledge mindfully, with like-minded beautiful souls.
If this call excites your spirit, join our Spring Celebration Ritual- Happiness Retreat and plant the seeds of joy and passion in your soul!

Apostolia Papadamaki
The Happiness Retreat Founder & Teacher

Inquiries & Prices : info@thehappinessretreat.gr

During our time together
Spring is about New Beginnings! We will practice Yoga in blossoming cherry tree fields, dance with live percussions (Antonis Papadopoulos will be with us) in the waterfalls, celebrate the triumph of light with sunrise meditation, chant for clarity in the fire ritual and plant new seeds physically and metaphorically. Stepping out of our comfort zone in faith for adventures and experiences that make us yearn for the unchartered in our life we will Joyfully hike in pine forests, detox with temazcal steam bath and nourish our body with fresh organic meals from the garden.

Join us if you are longing to:

Tune in with the rhythms of Nature
Connect with the Earth and the Sun
Receive spiritual grounding.
Recognize beauty and take in what supports and sustains us.
Practice gratitude and self-love
Regenerate your body.
Sing thankful songs and dance for all of creation and for life’s journey.

Our practices
YOGA
In our Hatha Yoga practice- a unifying blend of Breath, Asanas, Anatomy & Meditation- we will focus on grounding the base (1st) chakra, deepen our knowledge for our pelvis, liberate the hip joints and enjoy standing strongly in our two feet. We will aim to root like the Trees and free our upper body to connect with the Sun.

IMPULSE DANCE + LIVE PERCUSSIONS
We begin by grounding ourselves, in the safe space of a circle, shaking and pulsing to release tension, increase blood circulation and connect with the cosmic energy of the Earth. As we pulse in different levels, our breath expands into sound and our voice can be liberated. We enter a state of profound ancestral connection and our shaking movements awaken the sacredness of our body and manifest the power of its expression.

SHARING CIRCLE
We will sit in circle as a tribe, holding a safe and sacred space for one another. We will share our intentions for new beginnings and set the foundation for our soul to give us what we need at the present moment in time.

Nutrition
Our vegetarian nutrition will follow the philosophy of self-sufficiency and sustainability, with fresh vegetables and fruits from the garden of Re-green, cultivated with love and care. Simple Greek tastes will offer you pure, therapeutic and delicious meals. An experience to remember on Sunday afternoon- the garden –stone oven – Pizza Party with garnishes of your choice.

Accommodation & prices
Shared room for 4-5 people 340 euro pp
Shared room for 2-3 people 380 euro pp

What is included
• Shared accommodation for 3 nights in a eco luxury stone build guesthouse with coconut bedding
• 3 organic meals per day
• All guidance/teachings from Apostolia
• 3 Yoga classes
• 3 Impulse Dance classes with live music
• A Spring Herbal Plants workshop by Flery (founder of Re-green)
• Temazcal steam bath ritual
• Fire Ritual
• 3 Hiking excursions to Waterfalls, Forrest & Cherry Trees fields

Not included:
• Transportation
• Massage
• Private sessions with Apostolia

For prices (shared accommodation) please contact us at : info@thehappinessretreat.gr

Your teacher /Facilitator
Apostolia Papadamaki is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, a traveler, performer and teacher. An ongoing life learner, Apostolia studied Contemporary Dance, Contact Improvisation, Yoga and Alexander Technique in New York.

A lover of movement, arts and spirituality, she also studied Shamanic practices, Music, Voice, Physical Theater, Ai ki Do, Scuba Diving, Craniosacral Therapy and Rei-Ki collaborating with inspiring artists, musicians, and teachers in many lands.

Endowed with profound spiritual insight and being thankful to life, Apostolia founded The Happiness Retreat to share her knowledge,experience and joy with other beautiful souls.

After 20 years of ongoing studies and research on movement Apostolia, founded Biomatic Anatomy, a holistic method of embodied anatomy, mindful breath & spiritual awareness that expands to Impulse Dance, Floating Body and her Yoga teachings. She believes that everybody is a perfect human being, in any age and can find fulfillment cultivating self- love and mindfulness.

She was the artistic director of Sine qua non dance co until 2001 and then founded Quasi Stellar dance co at 2002. From 2001 -2008 she collaborated with Belgian Director and Visual artist Jan Fabre as a performer and researcher. Her choreographic work and teaching methods have been presented in more than 40 festivals around the world. In 2004, Apostolia choreographed the 12th Paraolympic Games Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium of Athens, with 250 professional dancers and 350 amateurs. In 2015 she choreographed Drops of Breath, the 1st Underwater Dance performance in the world.In 2016 she lounged the Dream Series -experiential performance with the participation of the audience sleeping on stage.

Currently she is choreographing for Theatre, Opera and Films, teaching Impulse Dance & Biomatic Anatomy as well as designing tailor-made corporate and wellness events for foundations and organisations worldwide.

Itinerary

Thursday 12.4.2017
12.00-15.00 Arrivals & Lunch in Regreen
Registrations after lunch (Amber)
16.00 Rest
18.30 Sharing Circle & Impulse Dance with live percussions
20.00 Flery & Christos founders of Regreen presentation
20.30 Dinner
21.30 at the hung out hub, share stories, laughter and chants.

Friday September 13.4. 2018

8.30 Yoga
10.30 Breakfast
11.30 Connecting with the Water- Waterfall Excursion at Perithori village
14.30 Lunch
15.30 Rest
18.30 Impulse Dance with live percussions
20.30 Dinner
21.30 Connecting with Fire, a circle of human hood around the open air fire, to share stories, laughter and chants.

Saturday 14.4. 2018
8.30 Yoga
10.30 Breakfast
11.30 Connecting with the Earth – Hike to the Source, Impulse dance with live percussions outdoors, pick nick (we take lunch with us)
16.30 Rest
19.30 Temazcal Steam bath Ritual
21.00 Dinner
22.00 at the hung out hub, share stories, laughter and chants.

Sunday 15.4.2018
08.00 herbal tea & coffee, light breakfast
08.30 Connecting with the Trees –Hike to the Blossoming cherry trees field, Yoga outdoors
12.00 Plant workshop-The beauty of Spring herbs by Flery
13.30 Pizza party in the garden with home made –hand made Pizza (you can make your own)
16.00 Closing Circle
17.00 Departure from Regreen

All activities are optional- you can skip any activity and rest!

Our Spring Happiness Home
www.re-green.gr
Re-Green is an Eco culture center, surrounded by majestic mountains, rivers and waterfalls where ancient Greek Nymphs still, preside their free spirit over fountains! (read more)
The 250 years old stone built mansion combines tradition and elegance perfectly, offering spacious and pleasurable stay. Accommodation is shared in 5 spacious rooms, renovated and decorated with natural living principles and immense love. Each room is unique with its own flexible bedding arrangements (cocomat mattresses) and private bathrooms.

The Garden
Organic fresh fruits and vegetables, grown with care and mindfulness, will actively nourish our body and elevate our souls in a harmonious co existence with nature.

The Maloca:
Our practice room is an impressive octagon Maloca/shala of a 100sq/metres, built with local, natural materials. A reciprocal beam structure roof covers the walls and windows hosting different natural techniques and is able to be heated by a very efficient wood burning rocket mass heater. Located within Re-Green’s property it overlooks the green forest on the south and the blue Greek sea on the north.

Temazcal
A hand made steam lodge, a”house of heat”. It cleanses the body after exercise, treats many diseases and improves overall health. It’s the place where our guests are offered the opportunity to “sweat it out”! Very similar to Native American sweat lodge, in our temazcal you can sweat the toxins out of the body, but you can also practice spiritual reflection and introspection. Symbolically we enter the womb of Mother Earth, and come out clean and reborn!

Animal Farm
Dogs, cats, ducks, chicken, all the little animals of the farm and Maya the donkey, are coming to you to become your friends!

Natural Swimming Pond
With cool water from the mountain flowing in and letting us cool off under the wattle tree, this healing water has amazing benefits for our body when we float or swim in it. Just like healthy soil, a balanced water system contains all the micro organisms needed to sustain the surrounding ecosystem.

Natural Waterfall
Within 10’ walk from Re-green you are under the shade of huge plane trees and thick bushy vegetation. Krios river forms a beautiful accessible Waterfall with a small natural pool where you can refresh, meditate and heal in the sound of birds and flowing waters.

How to get there

From Athens, Greece
Carpooling (if there are enough participant’s cars form Athens)
We will organize our transfer in the best and more convenient way for everybody, sharing the expenses

Public Transportation
From the Athens Airport take the Airport Express Bus X93 that leaves at
approx. every 20 minutes from the Airport and go to the Kifisos
Intercity Bus Station (1h trip). At Kifisos catch a bus to Akrata which leaves almost every half hour (2hr trip).

Registrations & Bookings
A non-refundable, 30% deposit is required upon booking to reserve your place, by March 15th, 2018. Places are limited.

Contact us if you :
➢ Want to bring with you your child and/or members of your family.
➢ If you are an international traveller and you need assistance on accommodation in Athens