Pssst! Fancy a free holiday? Working as a volunteer on a holistic retreat is not only a credit-crunching break but an enriching one too. Sam Cowan reveals all.
Pssst! Fancy a free holiday? Working as a volunteer on a holistic retreat is not only a credit-crunching break but an enriching one too . Sam Cowan reveals all.
I’ve always been a fan of working holidays as they are a great way to live inexpensively in a foreign land, to have an authentic experience and to meet the locals. I was curious to see whether the holistic working holiday existed – and I was happy to be proven right. Thanks for this discovery must go to a friend, Tom, who mentioned a yoga retreat that his mother and sister had loved. Looking online I found that they had a volunteer programme, so I applied, got accepted and found myself assigned to the bathroom cleaning squad. Between the camaraderie with my fellow volunteers, the delectable meals and the privilege of doing yoga three times a day, I was hooked.
Since then, I have spent eight months living and working at retreat centres in different parts of the world. Despite their different flavours, they all hold the following in common: a reverence for nature, a nurturing environment, a chance to bond with like-minded friends and lots of learning to absorb from leading mind-body-spirit teachers.
The biggest plus of retreat centre life is that you get to eat, breathe and sleep wellbeing and human potential 24/7 for weeks or months on end, until it becomes an integrated part of your life. If you are curious about what life on staff entails, let me take you through atypical day.
Rise and shine
At 6.55am, I spring down from my bunk bed and dash off in pyjamas to join the early morning movementclass. Before I know it, I am belly dancing barefoot on a table top with the Pacific Ocean behind me and sunbeams on my head. A joyful start to a working day.
Breakfast
With a white cereal bowl in hand, I stand in line ladling an assortment of goodies into my bowl – oatmeal, granola, a raw muesli made with soaked nuts and apples, natural yoghurt, raisins and a swirl of cinnamon to finish off my creation. Apart from being wholesome, retreat centre foodis also largely organic with many of the fruits and vegetables being grown on site or sourced from local, sustainable farms.
Setting to work
The work day kicks off with a departmental check-in. We go around in a circle sharing how we are doing. Everything apart from “I’m fine, thank you,” gets said. In 10 minutes there is anger, joy, anxieties, reflections and lots of deep listening. Other departments have different starting rituals. In some we hold hands and hum melodies, in others we sit in silent meditation and in others we begin by sharing appreciation for our team-mates.
Retreat centre jobs run the gamut from cleaning rooms, to farming carrots to washing up 300 people’s lunchtime dishes. My least favourite job involved scrubbing the men’s urinal and removing pubic hairs from the drain.
However menial and routine the task may be, the ethos is that your work is spiritual service and that it is not what you are doing but the attitude that you approach it with that counts.
Lunch
I pull up a chair with my other volunteer buddies – plates full to the brim with salads, soups and main courses. Several of the retreat centres I have worked at publish their own cookbooks, allowing you to go home and recreate your favourite dishes.
As volunteers on short breaks scurry back to work, guests fill the vacant seats and new conversations break forth. By the time our plates are clear, we are sharing life stories and secrets. A lady who is here for the week says that as she lives alone, she loves how every communal meal feels like a dinner party. As I am used to this life, I forget. Sometimes, after an intense work morning, I prefer the solitude of dining under a far off tree with the blue jays, the ocean and the whispers of the breeze for company.
Playtime
A typical working week is 32 hours, which allows plenty of free time to live like a paying guest. As retreat centres are mostly in remote, naturally beautiful settings, I am likely to begin a free afternoon sitting by the pounding ocean, a verdant garden or a glassy lake. Next I may join the guests in an activity such as a nature hike or yoga class; then go and soak and socialise in the open air hot tubs and, in case I am not already blissed out enough, I will receive a massage before dinner. Discounted bodywork sessions for staff are another fabulous perk.
Evening
A visiting speaker is leading a session tonight for staff. Although I am fascinated by the material, my eyelids refuse to stay open.
While some use a torch to get back to their rustic dorms, I prefer to rely on my night vision and my knowledge of the property, feeling both adrenalin and aliveness as I make my way through the blackness towards sleep.
In my opinion, there are only two minuses to retreat centre staff life. One is guest envy (“I want to be doing life-enhancing workshops and not washing windows.”) The second is sleep deprivation caused by snoring roommates. I thank my lucky stars that the three women I am sharing with this month are all peaceful sleepers. The light clicks off, the chatter fades and another rich day passes.
How to find a retreat centre
Want to follow Sam’s lead? Here’s how to get started
1. Search online for retreat centres that are aligned with where you want to be geographically, what your spiritual beliefs are and what wellbeing practices you want to develop.
2. Check out retreatfinder.com for vacancies and work exchange programmes at retreat centres around the world.
3. Four retreat centres with well-established volunteer programmes include Find horn in Scotland; Kripalu in New England, The Omega Institute in New York and the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.
4. Apply well in advance – especially if you have visa requirements to take care of. Retreat centres are unlikely to take on more than 15 volunteers per month and places generally fill up quickly. The centres will ask for a written application – possibly including a personal essay and references. If you are doing a volunteer placement, you are likely to pay a registration fee and, in some cases, also a monthly programme participation fee.
By Sam Cowan
