We are a community of people practicing Ananda Marga meditation and yoga. We run an ashram and retreat center on a 13 hectare organic farm near Vig with a small orchard and garden and two mid-sized polytunnels. We have an organic bakery which delivers vegan and gluten free products to our shops in Copenhagen and Rørvig. The core of our project is providing our guests, retreat participants and volunteers with an experience in yogic lifestyle focusing on spirituality, community and sustainability. Our vision is to be a self-reliant regional hub for culture, education and spirituality.
We are four monks (from Canada, India, Germany and Norway), four long term volunteers (from the Netherlands and Denmark), four bakers and one driver (from Poland, Greece, Romania, Egypt and India). We normally have two to six short term volunteers and a few guests, however, during retreats and Erasmus programs, we may have up to 35 additional participants. As a community we do chanting and meditation together in the mornings and evenings and we provide our guests and volunteers with the opportunity to learn a personal yoga and meditation routine. If you already have your own practice you are welcome to do that.
Currently we are only active in the garden, the orchard and the polytunnels. The rest of the land is registered as “Climate Grass” which we cut once a year. We focus on growing things that are fairly easy to grow and which we also like to eat.
None of us are expert gardeners or working full time in the garden but we have been lucky up till now to get volunteers with some skill who have stayed with us for quite a while. Our ability to teach people really depends on whether or not we have a skilled volunteer who is playing the role of team leader. One of our past volunteers prepared a really good manual which describes our whole growing season in detail with good advice about the what, the how and the when, nevertheless, if you are a raw beginner you will be a bit lost unless we already have another volunteer with enough experience to guide you. So if you don’t have enough experience to work on your own it is best to check with us first to see if another skilled volunteer is present. We do have some really skilled neighbours, however, who are very happy to share their experience and occasionally visit to give workshops.
For someone with a bit of experience and an adventurous, experimental mind-set you will probably enjoy being here. We have seeds, beds, tools and an irrigation system along with one or two other volunteers to work with and we don’t mind if someone makes a few mistakes.
Our working day (after morning meditation and breakfast) begins with a short morning meeting at 08.30. After the morning meeting we work through until a late lunch at 13.30. You can take a short break any time you want during the morning. Afternoons and evenings are free time for the volunteers, though residents may keep working. In the warmer seasons there may be the additional tasks of opening and closing the polytunnel doors for temperature control and turning the irrigation system on and off.
We have three small dormitories, two for women with ten beds each and one for men with 18 beds. They are not luxurious but they are kind of cozy. We also have 12 rooms (a mix of singles and doubles). Short term volunteers normally stay in the dorms but those who stay for longer can have their own room. We also have five caravans which are available to volunteers when things get a bit busy during retreats and Erasmus programs.
We provide a cooked vegetarian lunch seven days a week (we follow the yoga vegetarian diet known as the “Sattvic Diet”) and volunteers help themselves to breakfast and dinner (we provide the ingredients). We have a really nice kitchen, pantry and dining room. We also have a beautiful library, two meditation halls, a music studio, a small gym and a ping pong table.
As we are a community we have diverse hobbies but music is a popular one. Some of us like to cook, some are really into learning languages and some write Haiku. We all like meditation and yoga of course. You can join the winter bathers who go to the sea every morning all year round. The beach is 12 minutes by car and the forests are even closer. We have a popular weekend market in the nearby town of Vig and there are cute harbours and cafes in Nykøbing and Holbæk which are both 20 minutes away by car or half an hour by train. From Vig station to Copenhagen is 1.5 hours by train and one hour by car. Libraries, gyms and swimming pools are also close. Our entire municipality (Odsherred) is registered as a geo-park so there are lots of nice hikes and bike trails.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Wild foraging
Bakery
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
Certified organic
13
Hectares
|
32.1
Acres
