Practice meditation and yoga while experiencing the outdoors in Lantero, Spain

Details

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  Description

  Welcome
  
  This is a small community of humans living in an isolated village in the mountains of Asturias, north of Spain. For now, the community is made of Samare, a sweet Sri Lankan man, Natacha, a hiking enthusiast, Ema a french teacher, Malia (Ema´s 3 year old) and Pablo, a yoga and meditation instructor.
  
  Our goal is to build a small community of people visiting and staying for short and long periods of time so that there are always souls sharing the practice, their experience and helping around. We welcome digital nomads, long stay volunteers, short stay ones, friends, family and people of different backgrounds.
  
  In a big project like this there is always help needed. Tasks consist on mostly land management, gardening, rebuilding structures, cleaning, pruning and taking care of the animals.
  
  This are the general rules of our project:
  
  - 🏠 Energy efficiency: Energy use and conservation is very important for us, both as a way of saving money but also to protect the environment. In winter the house is warmed with a wooden stove, which takes time and does not warm the whole house. In summer we will be camping outside, while the main house is rented for some extra income.
  
  - 🏔️ It´s quiet and peaceful: This is not a place to party or use drugs.The general feeling is that we come here to chill and be present. Meaning we usually don´t play loud music, we don´t drink alcohol or make crazy parties. We do talk a lot, philosophise, dance, laugh, play instruments, cook nice meals, do yoga, meditate, swim in the lake and a long healthy etc. :-)
  
  - ❤️ Honesty: We practice radical honesty. The very name of our community comes from the yoga world and means "in honor of the truth". We don´t shy away from difficult conversations and put a lot of emphasis on healthy and honest problem resolution. We are looking for tolerant, non-judgemental and open-minded volunteers and participants. We do our best to practice non-violent communication and respect everybody´s experience. We have proudly hosted a variety of people that have enriched our understanding of the human landscape of experience, and we would like to keep doing so. If honestly, tolerance and respect are not your thing, or you are a dogmatic, judgemental person, this is not the place for you.
  
  - 📱 Communication pre-arrival: The digitalisation of our lives has completely transformed the way we communicate and relate to each other. Most of our communication now is thru screens, via texts and private messages, and this seems to have slowly worsen our sense of respect and responsibility for the things we say/text/post. The problem is that there are consequences to this. On the other side of each of our screens there is usually a person, with his or her own timetable/ worries/ responsibilities etc. Respect this. Send messages you are sure you will be able to answer. Make requests you are serious and genuinely interested in. Answer back in a logical time frame, even if it is to decline a previous request. We try to direct all communications to Whatsapp to facilitate things.
  
  
  As hosts, it is already quite hard organising having 2 or 3 people over, so as you can imagine the lack of seriousness, lack of respect, the last minute change in plans, last minute cancellations and the sudden disappearing just makes everything much more difficult for us and degrades this wonderful experience and community.
  
  Please, do not ghost, communicate often, communicate in time.
  We follow these rules and try to always do so.
  
  This is a QA written by some of the volunteers, to further help you get an idea of the our place:
  
  Q: How physical is the job? 💪🏼
  A: Depends on current projects and energy levels of the group.
  Overall, the work is rather physical and the property is on a hill, surrounded by mountains. You will definitely be sweating and your clothes will get dirty (plan for this). We switch between tasks often and respect energy levels / skills of all volunteers. We´ve hosted crazy working beasts as well as more gentle ones. So far no one has felt they were ever asked too much. Please keep in mind, the work is physical and if you have any health issues / allergies with nature, it is your responsibility to let us know and bring any supplies necessary.
  
  Q: Will there be more volunteers? 🙆🏻‍♀️
  A: Short answer, yes.
  We always try to have at least 2 people here at the same time to make it more engaging and productive, especially when current projects are more demanding. Certainly you won’t feel lonely. Needless to say, it is a safe space where we respect one another and their need for silence or laughter.
  
  Q: What is the minimum stay?
  A: I have a 2 week minimum stay policy.
  The longer the better! 🙏🏽
  
  Q: How do I get to your place?
  A: Make your way to a city called Navia, and Pablo will coordinate your pickup to the village. Even better if you can make it to Boal (a bit more challenging to get to).
  The nearest airport is the only one in Asturias, the Oviedo Airport (OVD). This airport is international. From the airport, you can easily plug in Navia to Google Maps, and it will accurately tell you the fastest way to get to Navia at that time. The common route most take is the bus from the airport (you will see it on the right once you exit the arrivals) to the nearest town stop. From there, you will take another bus all the way to Navia. Keep in mind that there are not that many buses per day (usually 3 at around 11 / 2PM / 6PM), especially out of summer season (July & August) so you may have to wait a bit. Be sure to have some cash on you or take some out at the ATM 🏧 as the buses often require cash. From Navia we could either pick you up later in the evening as we arrange via WhatsApp, OR you can even make life easier for me and make it to Boal (no buses though, you would have to hitchhike or take a taxi). Boal is 25 min away from our place, and we can easily pick you up there.
  
  Q: Any other house rules?
  A: Rule of Silence: The house is a space of silence from 23h to 9h.
  Sleep is something important for us. No flushing toilets (noise travels through the house), mindful of closing doors, no late night calls (whispering is allowed). This is to respect everybody’s rest and general calm feeling of the house. 💤
  
  Q: Is there anything specific I should bring?
  A: Good work clothing. Sunscreen. Towel. Anything else you need. Garden/Work gloves 🧤 (if possible). Good vibes and mindfulness 😎. If we decide to travel around the area on the weekends, a sleeping bag would be a plus, so we can camp on the beach or visit some friends to stay over.
  We’re going to get DIRTY during the day. In the summer months (July / August) we will likely be staying in tents (May be shared). 🏕️ We will provide these unless you’d like to bring your own. Bring clothing and shoes you don’t mind possibly disposing of if they get really dirty. We will also note that we go grocery shopping once a week. If there are specifics you’d like that fall outside of the regular shopping list, you can let us know and we will purchase them. We just request you pay me back in cash for any requested items.
  
  
  Thank you

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Books

  

  Languages

  

  History

  

  Writing

  

  Plant care

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Carpentry

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Culture

  

  Farming

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Beach

  

  Nature

  

  Mountain

  

  Fitness

  

  Water sports

  

  Outdoor activities
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  The idea is welcoming people interested not only in building, gardening, animal caring and farm life in general, but also interested in some kind of yoga practice, meditation or even spiritual practice. This is a secular, non-religious community, and we welcome and respect everyone.
  
  Volunteering is a collaboration. The main goal will always be helping, yes, but also having a good time. It means we have to try our best to make it nice for everyone else, to take things easy and try not to take things personally. In the process, we should try to be grateful. Chances are if you can afford to do some volunteering you have an amazing life.

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  Help

  Maintenance help is the big thing in the country side. Moving materials around, cleaning land, arranging the spaces, helping with animals, things breaking down, and a long etc. Workawayers with experience in construction, animals and gardening are specially welcomed!
  
  The help is very often quite physical. This means you´ll be helping with digging, pulling roots, moving materials, weeding etc Keep it mind, specially if you have never done something similar. This kind of help is also super rewarding, so it s also a good idea to embrace the challenge and enjoy using our bodies everyday instead of sitting at a desk.
  
  The tasks are separated from the business of renting the house in summer and is focused on the garden and surroundings.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Italian: Intermediate
  Japanese: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  It´s always good to practice the languages we know!
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  Accommodation

  During cold months we will be staying inside a nice, confortable house, the main house, during the summer we ll be outside, camping (until we can build a cabin for the volunteers).
  
  Depending on the number of volunteers and time of the year you ll get a room or share another confortable room with other helpers. In summer time we will be camping outside. Breakfast and lunch are done together, dinning together is optional, but recommended!
  
  We provide healthy, normally local vegetarian meals. but we do not provide sugary, highly processed or carnivore meals. You can get them for yourself or share them with other volunteers.
  
  Check out our instagram profile for more info: ask us for the @

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  What else ...

  Unless you have your own method of transportation, this is a quite isolated area. The nearest "big" village is 25 min away (Boal), but there is plenty of things to do around the area, such as hiking trips, swimming in the lake, and the house has some space for yoga or some fitness practice. There are also movie nights and board games.
  
  The rules: the goal is to slowly build a bigger community, but the rules and final decisions will always come to the person in charge. This will be the most skilled person for the task, previous consultation with Pablo or the person that he pointed to. At the end of the day this is our project, for the moment we put all the money and main effort to build it and we keep the right to decide what can and can´t be done. As Pablo knows what it is to be a volunteer, He makes a big effort to be super fair with the people that come here. Volunteers can and will do things their own way, previous consultation with him. The key is communication. Be honest, talk, share, be respectful and empathic.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  Yes, the wifi is very good and there is a long and confortable table in the living room to work on.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There a few spots you can park your van around the house and inside the property.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We will accept dogs but only if the stay outside of the main house. There is space and shelter to lock them at night time.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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