Fairytale Medicine :
Salt, Sensuality & Belly Love
3rd-8th May 2024 - Greece
A fairytale Medicine Retreat. Working creativity with the story of Baubo and her wild belly laughter which broke the spell of depression and grief .
Come and join our annual fairytale medicine retreat and weave a new juicy story for yourself.
“AMAZING! I have never before been part of such an incredibly held space. It was inviting and accepting and supportive of my gentle unfurling. I had such a profound experience, a huge recognition of my soul and of its validity and belonging. The gentle nurturing and nourishment was so subtle that I didn’t notice how soft and open I was becoming, how beautifully connected we were growing and how much I needed this!
The magic of Clare wove its way around and within us. Helping us to recognise treasure in our depths and haul it up to be present in the world.
The days were full of circle time and juicy stories, trips to magical places and a secret beach, turquoise waters, sunshine, creativity, sacred shopping, Greek chips, plenty of free time and so much laughter. I watched the sunrise while swimming in the sea, I saw two dolphins and a cormorant, ate fabulous food and made some forever friends.
This retreat was so life affirming and beautiful. I want to go again, always!”
The pictures are of last years retreat we will be staying in different but equally lovely accommodation.
Further Juicy Information about our Greek Island Retreats
Accommodation
We have exclusive use of a beautiful set of apartments on the island a short few step from the turquoise sea.
There is a choice of different options - shared or single, all apartments come with kitchens and bathrooms and balconies.
The cost varies according to room choice.
What is Included ?
A divine exclusive Tote Bag full of delicious exclusive gifts and goodies
Pre event what’s app and Facebook groups
Access to an on line magic island retreat journey which is optional for you to prepare and also continue the journey after you get home
5 nights accommodation and breakfast welcome hamper
You will need to purchase your own lunches and evening meals except for one celebratory meal.
Travel to the retreat and back is not included. We can help connect people who are also travelling from your area.
Some travel is included for our group activities. There will be in a mini bus for our trips and where possible we will collect you from the ferry and on your return to the ferry at the port on the island.
Some basic art materials will be provided but we will send a list of recommended art products that you might like to bring.
Massages and holistic treatments are extra
What will the timetable be like ?
Trips will be dependent on weather and subject to change.
There will be a juicy mix of optional morning meet ups with sunrise dips and wild swimming, trips out to magical places, sacred shopping opportunities !!!, time for reflection, circle gatherings, poetry, inspiration, creative time,, free time to nap, integrate, process , get a massage or just chill Greek style.
How to get to the magic island ?
Flights to Rhodes then ferry to Halki. We will send further instructions on booking.
Will I be ok coming on my own ?
Most people come on our workshops alone and we set up a what’s app group before the retreat so I you can connect and ask questions or check in if you are lost on the way ! It is often peoples first time travelling on their own and people find it gives them confidence to travel alone more and a way to gain a whole group of new friendships some that can last a lifetime. We are big hearted nurturing souls and if you feel wobbly you will probably be in good company and you will be looked after in safe hands.
Cost
Costs vary according to room choice. We have a few low cost bursary places but these usually go quickly - if you can afford to pay for a more expensive room please do.
We try to keep the costs of our retreats as low as possible and offer flexible payment plans which can spread over the year. We offer sliding scale payments where possible. On this retreat there is a range of costings depending on rooms. If you would like to attend but would like to apply for one of our partial bursary please get in touch and if you want to offer a contribution towards a bursary also let us know. Most of our work has taken place in marginalised communities and has been free at point of access for people in financial need - although this is currently not possible on these retreats - we dream of a day when it can be.
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OUR TIME TOGETHER
This is the true wine of astonishment,
We are not over when we think we are.
Alice Walker
We will weave together a deeply juicy sacred space as we gather in circle to share stories, make new connections and play.
We will gently explore the story of Baubo and her juicy belly laughter sensuality and magic medicine. This is an ancient story of rebirth from traumatic times. It is an invitation to go deep into the story but in a playful magical way with good company. This fairy story exploring is a way of being on a kind of pilgrimage together in new landscapes - as we learn to lay down the stories of our lives next to this mythical adventure we will find doorways and portals into new ways of being and new chapters of wildness and freedom. The story represent redemption, juicy sensuality , sexuality, belly laughter, belonging, resurrection and renewal for us as individuals and on a deeper level for our society and communities. Together we will huddle around the virtual fire and snuggle in to hear our own stories anew and begin to see how this is a story of our lives and our world too.
We will move our gaze beyond the obvious and the symbolism to find our own personal myths and authentic lost stories and remember the songs we need to sing to bring us back to FULL WILD life again in all our instinctive gorgeousness ! We will play in a rich tapestry of methods from Clare work, including ritual, meditation, movement, circle work, wild mark making, shrine making, poetry, creative writing etc to connect to juicy sensuality in a safe way and bring ourselves back to life with colour, words, music and community.
We will weave story, music, poetry, art , laughter and irreverence, creativity, some gentle optional cosy yin yoga and immersion in nature to begin to unwind, unravel and knit back some joy and clarity into our lives.
We will spend our days connecting to the story of our lost sensuality, finding our deep heartbeat again and bathing together in beautiful turquoise seas. There will be free time to rest, relax, swim and do what you need to recalibrate. We also have some brilliant bodyworkers joining us who you can book sessions with in your time off for a small extra fee.
If you’ve worked with Clare before you’ll know her courses and retreats are transformative and magical but we believe the best thing about our work is the friendships and connections that weave us together and last a lifetime.
This Greek retreat is in a very special place where we are working with the local community to create a programme of sustainable events involving local people and their deep wisdom and magic and it feels very special to us. This workshop is welcoming of our trans and non binary community and is not being advertised as a women only space. Many of our workshop are historically women and trans women spaces and so at present this is our main community. We offer partial bursaries to our trans communities. If you are struggling financially please talk to us about payment plans.
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WHAT OUR DAYS LOOK LIKE
“The way we tell our life story
is the way we begin to live our life.”
Maureen Murdock
Subject to change because of tides, spontaneous gorgeousness, weather and juicy energy of group
Please note we advise leaving a day or two either side of the retreat to navigate travel. Occasionally ferries are cancelled and sometimes you can’t always get a ferry to get you to the airport in one day.
Day 1 Evening Opening CircleDay 2 Sunrise Sea Dip/ Poetry/ Yoga - juicy buffet breakfast - Opening Circle and Workshop - free time after lunch - Evening Gathering
Day 3 Sunrise Sea Dip/ Poetry/ Yoga - breakfast - circle and workshop - free time after lunch - Evening Trip
Day 4 Sunrise Sea Dip/ Poetry/ Yoga - breakfast - Circle and Workshop - boat trip - free time- evening gathering
Day 5 Sunrise Sea Dip/ Poetry/ Yoga - breakfast - Circle and Workshop - free time - Evening Celebratory Meal
Day 6 Early Morning Closing Circle
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SAFE SPACE FOR DEEP JUICY WORK AND PLAY
to heal you have to get to the
root of the wound and kiss it
all the way up
Rupi Kaur
Booking onto the retreat does mean you agree to hold our circle guidelines over the 5 days and nights of honouring the energy of the group.
There will also be a no alcohol policy during our working together. This is because we will be diving deep into our inner worlds within a community group and safe space and in our long experience mixing any alcohol into group and personal dynamics it is not only disruptive but also creates an unsafe, unethical space.
So please be sure you are more than happy with this before deciding if this is for you.
While the circle spaces will be held and supported we do ask that you have other support if dealing with trauma and difficult
If you are unsure if this retreat is for you please feel free to contact us and we can help talk it through.
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TRAVEL
“A nomad I will remain for life,
in love with distant and uncharted places.”
Isabelle Eberhardt
Halki is a beautiful quiet gem of an island, located just 6km from Rhodes.
You are responsible for booking your own travel and please note that as a small island sometimes ferries don’t run or don’t coincide with airport flight times so we do recommend that you give yourselves time and maybe some overnight stays on the way.
The easiest way we know from the UK to get to Halki is by travelling to Rhodes then taking a short ferry journey. The ferries timetables aren’t released yet and may not fit your journey perfectly so we recommend at least a night on Rhodes to allow for leeway either side of your journey. We can recommend some hotels.
There are many variations on this especially if you want to combine a visit to Athens or other islands.
There may be others on the retreat who want to do similar and share cabins or hotels and we will connect people in the New Year.
You can also fly to Athens and then get an immediate frequent flight to Rhodes from the same terminal.
Clare also discovered the long slow boat from Athens Piraeus Harbour to Halki (return) It is a lovely romantic way to travel.