Looking Forward to my Slice of Heaven by Alison Goldie

Only 10 days before I’m off to Skyros. I’m feeling the familiar flutterings of happy anticipation in my stomach. This will be something like my fourteenth year working there. How hard that is to believe! I always thought I was someone who would not repeat experiences, or read books twice, or go back to the same places for holidays. Being restlessly curious, I thought life was too short. Skyros proved I can be committed. Every year, I am asked again by Yannis if I want to go, and every year, I don’t pause for a moment before saying ‘Yes’. It truly is my second home.

What is it about the island that draws me back? Many words have been written about its charms, and I don’t want to sound like a brochure here. I’ll try to be really personal. I’ll talk about Atsitsa, as this is where I go most often, and is my special place.

Atsitsa – it’s all about freedom. That very first time I entered the ‘Atsitsa –zone’, I felt free as a bird. I wanted to kick off my shoes, and let down my hair, and wear very lightweight, colourful clothes, and actually put on that toe-ring. I wanted to swim a long way out into the crystalline sea, lie on my back under pine trees and DO NOTHING (unheard of, for me), plan my day around doses of thick, proper Greek yogurt, sing my heart out with a bunch of cool people who didn’t care if I hit the notes or not. I looked forward to teaching my courses in a perfect teaching environment: outside, warm but sheltered, two minutes walk from my abode, and with students who would be dropping stress faster than you could say ‘You’re free to be yourself now’. When I first entered Atsitsa, I just knew I was going to be very, very happy there.

Atsitsa is a festival, a garden, a playground, a primordial settlement, an open-air cocktail bar, an under-water world. It’s silly and serious and soulful and challenging and peaceful and satisfying and creative and utterly joyful. It’s about love, friendship, nature, art, exercise, all 5 senses and feeling alive in every pore. It’s just one delicious part of a beautiful island, and it’s just a cab (or moped) ride away from one of the most unspoilt, pretty, cosy, colourful, exquisite little towns in Greece (Skyros town itself). Oh dear, I can really get verbose about it, and I still feel I’m only scraping the surface....

Back in my mid-30’s when I first went, I thought I might find lots of places like Atsitsa in the world –now I know there really aren’t many, perhaps none with its particular blend of delights, and if there are, I may not have the time or money to find them. There’s nothing wrong with going back to this idyllic place time after time. And if you’ve never been, I envy you that first sighting, those little explorations of the environment, the first time your jaw drops with wonder at a revelation (Atsitsa is the place for revelations). See you there in July, I hope. Now, where’s that toe-ring?

Alison Goldie

Alison Goldie is a professional actor, theatre director, broadcaster and facilitator. She has a wealth of experience performing comedy and drama in London, the UK and all over the world. Alison has taught comedy, drama, flirting and creativity to professionals and non-professionals for over 20 years. She has worked as a stand-up comic, TV presenter and corporate trainer. She is currently touring her one-woman autobiographical show, Lady, in Bed, to great acclaim. See www.thedramabusiness.co.uk.

Join Alison this summer in Atsitsa from Sunday 4 to Saturday 17 July (AT6) where she will be running her course in drama, comedy and flirting. To find out more about Alison's course and the other courses on offer in Atsitsa at that time (including yoga, dance, life coaching, mosaics, windsurfing, sailing, music & more) see http://www.skyros.com/atsitsa_program.htm.

News from the Writers' Lab by Jess Mortimer

Just to let you know that I am at Skyros Centre doing Writers' Lab with Jennie Rooney, who wrote the novel Inside the Whale. There are nine of us, from different countries and at different levels of experience. Some members have been published; two are intending to be writers full time and are working to get their first novels planned. Others have written for the commercial press and now want a voice of their own.

I am retired from social services management and seeking to write novels and memoires rather than committee reports. In the first week we have explored aspects of novel writing. We have done different exercises each day. These include writing story lines in which the character’s flaw brought about an occurrence. Mine was Monica who liked being the centre of attention and therefore she volunteer for roles she could not possibly carry out. The catastrophes that ensued meant that she got fired.

On other occasions we wrote about arguments, birth and death. We read our contributions to the group members who gave great suggestions to support the story line or make the argument more authentic. We worked on most occasions out in the Greek sunshine, shaded by bamboo matting, some of us with our electronic notebooks others with pen and paper. In the last week we have continued with exercises and personal projects with tutorial support from Jenny so that each person is nearer to the publication of their novel by the time they leave. This course has completely lived up to the blurb in the Skyros brochure.

Saturday we had a short downpour of rain, probably the last real rain of the season, which soon ran in torrents down the cobble streets and then became a rapid stream in which we sought stepping stones as we jumped in sandals from one cobble to the next. We soon dried out in the sunshine. We had two optional trips this week, including reading poetry at Rupert Brookes grave, talking with a wood carver who aged 11 decided that this was the skill he wanted to learn. He still makes Skyrian Chairs which are low but as we found very comfortable to sit on.

Also optional were sessions of Shiatsu and massage by Susie. I have enjoyed co-listening with my partner who is in Dina’s group, doing Life Choices. My co-listener is seeking a job where she can experience success and hopes to go home with a better idea of her direction in life. I hope to continue seeking my natural writing mode now that I no longer have to write formal reports for work. The group are encouraging me to look at developing novels where there is a sense of humour as they have found some of my written work funny.

We have participated in village life. On Sunday a TV crew came to Skyros village. The villagers turned out in force in costume to dance in the square and others having cooked and baked the delicacies of the area, arranged the goodies on long tables. Most interesting for me were the old ladies dressed in black dresses with black jackets, leaning on their sticks chatting in groups each with their black grey hair put up in a bun behind. Old men with sticks chatting, or sitting drinking Ouzo. One preferred to use a walking frame to negotiate the cobbled streets whilst holding his walking stick for use on the flat. As an Occupational Therapist I can see that this village on a hill has limited access for cars and its cobbled streets and steps up to houses would pose difficulties for wheel chair users.

Last week we had two sessions of Greek Dancing and two of Salsa. This week Hazel is offering optional sessions of singing, drama and dance. We have just completed a ‘whisper to song session’ which started with us lying on our backs breathing and eventually sighing and then signing a note before getting up and singing songs such as ‘swing low sweet chariot’ and ‘when the Saints come Marching in’. Then dividing into 3 groups to take a song each and sing it to the same rhythm as we intermingled.

The vegetarian food provided by the Greek cook is great and the tavernas all have their specialities. If one does not want to go into the village there is a tavern by the sea where the sun sets as one eats so it is helpful to have a friend who has a torch when returning.

I first came to Atsitsa in 1985 and have been on this holiday six times in all - four at the Skyros Centre. The atmosphere is great here and has been every time I have come. I am never disappointed.

Signing off now as I am about to develop a belly dance act for the last evening soiree tomorrow.

Jess Mortimer

PS Athens posed no problems the Acropolis still looked great from the roof of the Titiania hotel lit up at night. The bus to Skyros took us past a group of communists who had red flags and were peacefully eating breakfast at a street side cafe. For anyone who does not not want to go into Athens, there are direct flights from Athens airport to Skyros costing £50 single.

If you'd like to join one of the Writers' Lab holidays this summer, call 01983 865566, email office@skyros.com or book online at www.skyros.com.

Remembering Yannis Koboyannis

We are very sorry to tell you that Yannis Koboyannis, the Skyrian ceramic artist who has been, for many years, a member of the Atsitsa staff, died after a short illness on Wednesday, the 19th of May. Cancer had been diagnosed just two months ago.

Yannis Koboyannis was born in Skyros in 1954 and was a self-taught artist. His work - traditional designs approached with an innovative spirit - had received wide recognition both in Greece and abroad, particularly in the United States where he sold many of his pieces. His workshop was established in Kyra-Panagia, five hundred metres from Atsitsa Bay, in 1992.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t speak any English, Atsitsa participants who joined it loved both his course and the man himself, and in many instances went away with treasured pieces of work they produced under his guidance. Yannis is shown on the right of this photo.

His workshop in Kyra-Panagia, Skyros island and close to Atsitsa, was also used as a cultural centre with exhibitions of old local photos, jewellery, embroidery or local wine. Take a look at this lovely video too, of Yannis' workshop and his works of art. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMMAWmmTanc

In 2006 his workshop became the centre of Athenian Fine Arts students who created a stunning exhibition of marble sculptures locally carved. Yannis leaves behind a daughter and a son aged 33 and 28 and also his mother, who has been managing his shop in the village for many years.

Liz Clayfield wrote too: Yannis Koboyannis has been a part of our lives in Atsitsa for many years, running ceramics courses, hosting parties and welcoming us into his home and garden whenever we visited. He has been a source of inspiration to so many and his work is found all over the world. His death is a sad loss to us here in Atsitsa and the island and I myself will be amongst the many who will miss him.

This Summer by Silke Ziehl

This summer, gather again your spirit of adventure, your passion for life, and do what excites you and delights you. Rekindle your joy of living and reconnect to your deepest hopes and dreams. For we need those hopes and dreams as beacons that guide us on our life's journey, as reminders of where we are heading, and as invitations to life. If we do not hope and dream, our energy will frizzle away.

Skyros, and especially Atsitsa for me, is a wonderful place to be reminded of what is essential in life. The stark beauty of the landscape, the sea and its ever changing everlastingness, the light that renders objects and people luminous – all contribute powerfully to coming back to basics in oneself. To remembering that life is just such a gift, and that to waste it is being so very unkind to ourselves, and to all around us too – for everybody is part of a larger whole, and everybody influences that larger whole.

Every cell in our body has a brain, and communicates with those around, and every cell matters. Similarly, every action we do, every thought we think, every emotion we have, matters, not only to ourselves, but in the larger context. Listening in to ourselves, listening to what we know, very tangibly, in our bones and marrow, in our muscles and tendons, in our heart and gut, in the many brains in our body, will reconnect us to our hopes and dreams.

So, if you want to have a good time, if you want to reconnect to a deeper and more passionate way of living, if you want to "save the world by saving yourself" – join our community in Atsitsa, this summer! In spite of the Ash clouds, in spite of the Greek economic unsettledness, Greece is still a wonderful place to reconnect to the simple and fully lived and deeply satisfying life which so many of us crave for.

Silke Ziehl is a body psychotherapist specialising in training professionals. She is the founder of the Entelia Institute for Creative Bodywork in Munich and London, and a member of the Open Centre, London.

Join Silke this summer in Atsitsa from Sunday 20 June to Saturday 3 July (AT5) where she will be running her course 'Body Magic'. To find out more about Silke's course and the other courses on offer in Atsitsa (including photography, windsurfing, music, yoga, dance, music & more) see http://www.skyros.com/atsitsa_program.htm.

Open Your Heart & Plant Your Dreams Seeds by Cate Mackenzie

Are you suddenly finding people are looking wonderfully beautiful? Are you enjoying the lovely bursts of sunshine and the new freshness of flowers and plants.

This is a natural part of the the season of Spring with new energy and new beauty and a great time to plant seeds of your dreams and think about what you would like to harvest in Autumn.

If you were to go back 365 days to the same time last year you might find a lot of the same experiences and feelings. We have just come out of Winter when we have been naturally hibernating and being more inward, gentle and slow with life.

Now we are in Spring and it is a good time to think about planting seeds which will grow in the Summer and come into fruition in Autumn. So this is a good time to think about what you want in your life and how you would like your life to be like in September and start to plant the seeds.

All projects begin with one idea and develop and grow with the energy we give it. Spring is an energising time, a great time to have fun, to be playful and to birth your ideas of what you want in your life.

Good luck! Top Tips for May:

1. Write down what you would like to create in your life. What home do you want, what career or partnership? Remember Oscar Wilde said that anything written down would come to pass.
2. Take yourself to a park or nature in the sunshine and really take in the image of the flowers and the scenery and take a mental photo that you can remember for Autumn.
3. Smile at lots of people, go on it's so much fun! Also if you are single and you would like to have a partner smile at at least 50 people and be open to being asked out!
4. Think about what you would like to let go of mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically. Clear your cupboards, you'll be amazed what happens when you clear! The universe hates a vacuum so if you let go it allows new room for unexpected magic to come in!
5. Take a risk buy a dress or a hat that makes you stand out and have fun with it!
6. Be spontaneous and let a longed for wish come true. If you had no fear what would you love to do? I love comedy and I am thinking of doing a stand up comedy course!
7. Playfulness! Can you let yourself have fun and play, can you paint or draw or dance or skate just for fun? Or how about feeding the ducks in the Park?
8. Make lots of wishes and be prepared for them to come true!

Cate Mackenzie is Life Coach, Workshop Leader and Artist. She has been working with people since 1993 and teaches all around the UK and in Spain, Greece and Kuwait. She specialises in helping people to open their hearts to their wishes and dreams and paints heart paintings two of which are being sold as posters world wide in IKEA. She has been featured on BBC2, BBC Radio and in magazines Cosmopolitan, Psychologies and Harpers Bazaar.

Cate is running her course 'A Heart-Centred Life' on Skyros island, Greece this summer. Join her from Sunday 29 August to Saturday 11 September at the Atsitsa Bay Centre, by calling 01983 865566, see www.skyros.com or email office@skyros.com.

Cate will also be facilitating a weekend at The Grange by the Sea in the Isle of Wight from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 June. Call Jenni on 01983 867644 if you would like to attend her weekend. Cate will also be at The Grange for a New Year Celebration at the end of the year.

A Denim Workshop for You Girls by Andrea Gates

Selecting the right jeans for your body shape. Welcome to a checklist to use when shopping.


It is important to me to feel comfortable in my skin and to connect with a deeper centredness.... I also know that it is just as important to be comfortable in my own JEANS!!!!!!!! Look at buying jeans the same way as you would buying a new bra because the effects are just as dramatic.



Consider the following before you go.......

1. When will I wear my new Jeans? Work/party/casual and all rounders.
2. Check out any areas on your lower body that you consider to be your less attractive bits – you may have larger thighs like me!
3. What shoes/boots will I wear with them? Take them with you when shopping.
4. What size am I in trousers? Do I already have a pair of jeans that I love and they fit well? Why do I like them so much? Have a look at the waist rise and leg length.
5. What is my budget and what shops internet sites will I use?

Now for the technical bit.........

Your body shape and shape of leg will be key in selecting the most flattering cut for you...

STRAIGHT BODY SHAPE
If you have a boyish frame with lean legs and torso you will look fab in the straight leg style however, pay close attention to the back pockets and ensure they create a peach effect and don’t flatten your bottom like pancake. Look to Audrey Hepburn and Kylie. They do the ¾ length jean with flat pumps and a simple shirt for timeless style - ideal for your shape. Your body shape doesn’t tend to have a defined waist so low /mid rise is best for you... belts look better sitting on your hips. You can wear the crisp engineered denim without too much give in the fabric. Boy cut jeans work well for you.

SEMI STRAIGHT BODY SHAPE
If you are like me and have a semi straight shape with shorter athletic legs and long body you will find low rise do not work. Our body shape is made for mid rise with boot cut leg and a generous amount of room at the top of the leg so the legs don’t look like sausages in skins!! Dark denim is best on these athletic legs and check that the denim has some flexibility in it. Sit down in them and bend over to check they fit well. Check the back pockets flatter your bottom and don’t flatten it or make it look big. Always choose patch back pockets as they break up the area and make the bottom pert and smaller.

If you want to elongate your leg length, like I do, always ensure the jeans come over your shoes and touch the ground. Wedged shoes/sandals are fab with the boot cut jean – thin spiky heals don’t work with athletic legs and boot cut jeans. If you have long slim legs then you can carry off most styles however, do check the rise and ensure it sits just below or on the waist. As a semi straight you can move between the boy cuts and jeans cut for curves. Avoid crisp denim as it only works on the straight body type.

HOUR GLASS FIGURE
If you have an hour glass figure with a defined waist then go for jeans that you can belt at your slim waist. You are blessed with curves so use them! If you have shorter legs ensure the jeans are long enough to touch the floor with your shoes on - your body loves jean material that moves so avoid crisp structured denim as your body wants movement in the fabric. You will have square shape shoulders so check that the bottom of the jean is wide enough to balance out the look. Think Miss Monroe and tuck in your tops to show off your curves.

General tips for all bodyshapes..............
Do check that the jeans are not too tight over your waist/hip area as this creates a muffin top!! I tend to buy jeans a ½ - 1 size larger now that I am in my 50’s. Why? Because tight jeans don’t work on us as we get older! Try it.

I am running some workshops at Atsitsa from 20th June – 3rd July and then again 15th August – 28th August. My workshop is based on having a positive body image no matter what shape/size you are. I have found that being comfortable in my own skin gave me the freedom to think outside the box and develop my own style.

We have plenty of time here to work with you one to one so do bring your jeans and any items of clothing you want help with. It’s lots of fun and you will save you a fortune on buying clothes that you never wear!!! You can email me for any further help on andrea_gates@sky.com.

Love to you all Andrea Gates X

Andrea will be running her courses in Greece this year, firstly from Sunday 20 June to Saturday 3 July in Atsitsa, Skyros island, and then from Sunday 15 to Saturday 28 August. Andrea will also be at the Skyros Centre from Sunday 1 August. So, plenty of opportunity to find out more! See www.skyros.com, mail office@skyros.com or call 01983 865566 to secure your place.

The Skyros Effect by Marianne Richards

Like many people, I am a workaholic. No time for me. I was exhausted, too exhausted even to think about the kind of holiday I would take on my own. Then the new Skyros brochure plopped in the letterbox. I had been in Skyros before, in 2003, where I had a fantastic time whether in Ari Badaines course ‘Take Life at Whatever Risk’, singing with Trixie (Field), learning Greek cookery or just enjoying the new company. Some of the people I met there still remain firm friends.

Now I thought a beach holiday in Thailand was just what was needed. I went for it - that was in January 2007. Koh Chang was fantastic and exactly what the doctor had ordered.

It was there that I heard that Michael (Eales), Ed and Kel (Portman) were just about to do the first Skyros-in-Cambodia holiday. A group of us agreed that if all went well, we'd take it in 2009.


Two years later I was standing at the border at Poipet (on the Cambodia-Thailand border). I don't think I’ll ever forget that day. I knew that this country was going to get me, that my life had changed (again!) forever. But I still had no idea how....

The temples were amazing but I prefer people to monuments and the Cambodians bowled me over. Whenever we left the bus we were surrounded by children so cute they could sell you anything. It doesn't take long to realise that the cuteness is disguising something much less appealing. These kids are horrendously poor and often abused. At best, they have to go out after school and earn for the family to live. At worst they are beaten, abused......

I felt I had no choice. I HAD to do something and throwing money at the kids was not the answer.

The Skyros group were lucky - we had been assigned a brilliant young guide - Narong - who was passionate about his country and wanted so much to share all his knowledge with us. He did the temples as was his job and then he answered questions on the Khmer Rouge, the Killing Fields, politics, life in Cambodia etc etc.

I asked him what I could do to help. His answer was simple: ‘find a poor person and help him’! Well, to cut a long story short, thanks to Narong I am now the very proud Godmother of two Cambodian boys. This was the start. Now I would have to return...

For the first time in years I had acquired a purpose, a sense of direction, something other than work, work, work. Then I came across something that I really wanted to do: voluntary work with these children.

At the time, I was not sure I would have had the courage to go totally blind into this. However, as I write this, I realise that decision involved the coming together of a couple of desires - firstly to go back and meet my boys and also to try volunteering which is something that had always played in the back of my mind. That was to me a perfectly logical, natural and normal thing to do. So in retrospect, there wasn't the slightest element of bravery in my decision. I didn't need courage to do this. The words fish and water spring to mind.

That was it. I booked everything and only then asked for six weeks off work! I had made my mind up and NOTHING was going to stop me now. Before I knew it, it was Christmas Day and I had a flight to catch. And my time in Cambodia flew even faster. I had a ball. I laughed and cried with all my heart on so many occasions.

At the end of my (Cambodia) ‘work’ I had a couple of weeks’ holiday with my Koh Chang roommate, Lorraine. One evening she asked me what I had been most surprised to discover about myself in doing this. I replied I hadn't really been surprised at all. Like all human beings I am multi faceted. So perhaps, in hindsight, the biggest ‘surprise’ was how others had been ‘surprised’ by their glimpse at part of the ‘real’ me!

I answered without hesitation that I was totally at ease in Cambodia, with the kids, the heat, barefoot and constantly covered in dust! I wasn't bothered about de-fleaing my hair and I had my worm tablets to take when I got back to France! I wasn't squeamish about cleaning a manky wound or cuddling a child who may have AIDS (we didn't know who did and didn't). I slept with a cockroach feet away under a champagne bottle... I hadn't once pined for my own bed, a European meal or indeed for anything (though in fairness I can't say we really roughed it - Globalteer does look after its volunteers well and Siem Reap is NOT the end of the world however poor the locals are).

Some of my clothes, although washed, were fairly stained from being on a dirty bench or tuk tuk or from the juice of a deliciously fresh pineapple that was impossible to eat without getting totally covered. But does it matter? Of course it doesn't! The pineapple would not have tasted so good prepared by someone else and eaten with a knife and fork. The cuddle with the child would have been spoiled if I'd wanted to keep flealess! To stay clean on a tuk tuk or bike ride is impossible. You have to peel off the barriers to enjoy, I mean really enjoy, the things in life that count. I learnt that a very long time ago.


So to close, the whole trip was truly amazing. I miss Cambodia, the kids and my boys so much it truly hurts. How can you feel such love after such a relatively short period? I am of course going back (haven't told work yet!). Vachanak, my eldest boy (16) needs to change school and we need to find him somewhere to live as he leaves home for the big town (Siem Reap). There is nowhere for these boys to live - they often sleep on the street. You wouldn't know when you see them washed and in their school uniform, but they do. They deserve better and if I do nothing else with my life I will do all I can to make sure that at least a couple of them get better.

I chose life, whatever the risk. Thanks Ari, Michael (pictured left), Ed and Kel and to all at Skyros for helping me find the courage to be. Yes, I'll leave it like that. The courage to be.

The end

or is it

The beginning....


You can read my whole blog at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/marianner/1/tpod.html

Thank you to Marianne for her wonderfully inspiring story. If you would like to share your own, email text and photos to stories@skyros.com.