We are a small meditation and retreat center located near Hamburg, Germany. (www.littleparadise.de)
The center is focused on providing an environment to meditate, go inwards, calm down and reconnect with oneself and the Sacred in the inner and outer. It is a place of stillness and peace, and perfectly suited for experienced meditators and other experienced spiritual practitioners who might also like to enjoy the natural surrounding.
You are welcome as a volunteer if you ...
- enjoy deep (inner) silence,
- like to meditate with us, twice daily,
- like to pay attention to detail and precision in your work and most everything you do,
- would like to reduce your digital media intake to what is necessary, during your stay with us,
- are 'experienced' on the spiritual path: You have your own spiritual practice and MUST have been on retreat before,
- would like to use your time here for your personal timeout and spiritual retreat - apart from the hours that you help in the house or garden. What this means for you personally can be very individual: meditation, prayer, contemplation, deep bodywork, relaxation techniques, long walks in nature, dream work, certain kinds of reading, etc.
(Some people depend on music, singing, dancing or intense bodywork as their way of reconnecting. Our place is not suited for these needs, as we love inner stillness so much.)
If any of the above is not the case we cannot host you as a volunteer.
For guests of the house, these "rules for our volunteers" do not apply, in the same way.
We are mainly looking for long-term volunteers.
The minimum duration of stay is four weeks. We consider a two-week trial period best for both sides.
We only plan ahead for the respective next two months. Please, do not contact us earlier than two months prior to your proposed arrival date.
We are two permanent residents (and four cats) and offer three private guestrooms.
We are intense meditators and like to meditate for 3-4 hours, daily (morning and evening meditations).
For some volunteers, the stay with us has been truly transformational. Of course, this is very much dependent upon the individual person coming.
Beginners on the spiritual quest or people unfamiliar with turning inwards will find other places more suitable for them.
We are a small quiet place. We ask volunteers to leave after a few days if they are not making use of the purpose of the house (going inwards in some personal way, as described above).
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Benefits: peaceful garden with pond, large meditation room, library, nature sanctuary for water birds is adjacent to the property. Great view!
Expected help hours:
25 hours/week for free accommodation and organic vegetarian food (self-catering from the kitchen storage). Or:
15 hours/week for free accommodation only. In this case: Please bring your own food or share in the costs.
Working hours start daily at 9.30 a.m.
We are flexible to arrange the hours so that you can have days off for sightseeing and recreation. But we ask you to arrange your free days with us, as we do have days when we depend on helpers' work.
About the work required:
Help is appreciated in the following areas: gardening, cleaning, repair or maintenance work. If you come with experience in online marketing (Instagram, Facebook, SEO etc.), or website editing that might also be helpful.
From May to November, we also have many fruits, vegetables, berries and leaves to harvest (for private use in the house, only). In autumn, preparing apple-pear compote and making apple juice are also regular tasks, as we try to make use of the thousands of apples from the garden.
Some more information about the house:
- Hamburg: 25 min by car / 1h by public transport
- Lubeck / Baltic see: 35 min by car / 95 min by public transport
- next shops: 4 km (bus stop is 50 m away, 10 min ride)
- lakes for swimming: 4 km (bus stop is 50 m, 10 min ride, then 10 min walk)
- accommodation in double- or triple-bed room (mixed gender)
- non-smoking inside
- no pets, please
- reliable high-speed WLAN/WiFi is available around the house and in the garden.
The garden holds a large variety of edible plants. Each year we harvest about 120 sorts of food: (wild) herbs, leaves, berries, fruits, and vegetables.
Arrival time: Check-in time is between 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. on your date of arrival. Later check-ins are not possible.