How to choose the right holiday for you…

If there's one thing that doesn't go amiss on a Skyros holiday, it's variety. But have you been struggling to choose between the holidays in Greece this season? Not entirely sure which holiday is for you? Use our guide to see which is best…

You have three different types of holidays in Greece:

1) The Writers Lab holidays at The Skyros Centre, are designed for writers, dabblers and thinkers who would like the opportunity to learn from distinguished writers. If you have a novel in process, or if you’ve always wanted to try, then this is the holiday for you.

2) Life Choices holidays at The Skyros Centre, focus on life skills and personal development. Fully supported by the warm, relaxed environment, our top notch tutors and the like-minded participants, you will discuss current strains and pressures of everyday life in a fun and explorative way that will help to remind you what you love and what makes you smile. This holidays are for those in search of awakening lost passions, finding new ideas, new friendships, or even a whole new way forward.

 

3) Holistic Holidays in Atsitsa Bay, are for those who want to live life to the full by experiencing an engaging and vibrant holiday with a wide selection of courses and activities. Courses, such as yoga, sailing, singing, songwriting sketching, music and more, are held outdoors on beautiful stone terraces, between the pine forest and the sea. You are free to do as much or as little as you please, making Atsitsa the ideal place to relax, unwind, get involved and let your inner child run free. 

On all holidays there is always time to walk, explore, swim in the sea and enjoy the tranquility of charming Skyros island. Good food, great company, inspiring courses and a stunning location, it’s a winning combination.

For solo travellers, choose any Skyros holidays. See our solo travellers blog article to find out why Skyros holidays are perfect for solo travellers…

Are you travelling with a family? Children from 5 and over are more than welcome to Atsitsa bay during the month of August.

Relationships...

Our guest writer this week is Ari Badaines, Ph.D. Ari has been a Skyros facilitator since 1982. He runs personal and professional development courses worldwide. His Life Choices course, 'Relationships' will run at the Skyros Centre in Skyros Island, Greece from the 1st to the 11th August 2012. For an idea of what Ari's course will entail, or for an insight to improving your relations, read his latest article here...

We often think of relationships as pertaining to intimate 'coupledom', but in reality, there are all kinds: employer/employee; parent/child; adult child/parent; friends/enemies to name but a few. The basis of the relationship may vary from the intensely emotional to the practical as it can form out of necessity.  However we define it, in all of these relationships the nature of the contact can have a very potent effect on the satisfaction/dissatisfaction level of the individual.

Researchers discovered that if you put an engaged-to-be-married couple in a room and invited them to talk together, there was a simple ratio which could predict with a high degree of accuracy how successful that marriage would be. If, in their conversation, the ratio of positive statements –- appreciations, acknowledgements etc – to negative comments – complaints, put downs, nagging etc – was 5:1, the likelihood of a successful, satisfying relationship was greatly enhanced. If on the other hand, it was 1:5, the relationship would probably not survive, or if it did, it would prove to be highly unsatisfying. When working with couples, or in organisations, I will invite each person to estimate what they think their ratio is, and what they experience the other's ratio is. That in itself is very revealing to each, but far more significant is the shock for most when they actually start attending and tracking it. I then invite people to try to bring the ratio up to 5:1, and within a few days both parties experience a marked improvement in their relationship.

There is nothing magical in this – those who do it discover that they are noticing things that they appreciate and show they do so, and stop focusing on the negative, the disappointments, and what they are NOT getting. Naturally, this way resentments reduce and positive feelings increase. The other person experiences this and the good will between the two increases, and things get better!

What fascinates me and tells me a lot when working with people around their relationships is the time resistance sets in to doing and then maintaining the 'ratio work'. When resentments have encrusted the style of interaction, when the heart is wrapped in a protective shield against hurts and disappointments or when expectations and longings unmet and long buried re-surface, it takes significant time to melt that shield enough so that there is again sufficient good will to restore balance and harmony.

If there is a lack of immediate response, the initiator will give up too soon and the situation will actually be made worse because with a lack of success motivation to continue to work at the relationship is diminished. Then often, unfortunately, resentment is increased. The professional working with the relationship system needs to be able to 'innoculate' against the potential for disappointment and withdrawal!

So, this is a simple and highly effective approach to changing how we communicate with one another that can have a profound effect on relationships, usually in a positive direction, though, as I described above, it can sometimes go in the opposite direction.

A. Badaines, Ph.D.

You can join Ari on a Skyros Holiday this summer. His course 'Relationships' will take place on beautiful Skyros island in Greece from the 1st - 11th August 2012. Book online or contact the office for more details. We are always happy to help. Tel: 01983 86 55 66 e: office@skyros.com www.skyros.com

Special Offer: Loan out your Friends of Skyros Discount

If you love Skyros and find yourself, as many do, wanting to return year and year again; why not share the secret of these inspiring holidays with your closest friends and family? Recommend us and in return your friends will be entitled to your Friends of Skyros discount. That's right, for this season in Greece only, Skyros are giving past holiday participants the power to grant their friends and family the same £75 discount they enjoy themselves. Call your friends and tell them the special news. At the same time you will be supporting Greece and Skyros island, in particular, through one of the toughest times since the war.
 
In order to qualify for your Friends of Skyros discount, your friends and family will need to give your name as a source at the time of booking either online or over the phone. For more information visit the 'recommend a friend' page at http://www.skyros.com/recommendfriend.htm. 

The only problem now, is choosing whom to give it to...

SKYROS, the world leader of course-based holidays is perfect for the discerning traveller; its benefits include new friendships, relationships, interests, a fresh outlook or even a whole new way forward. Yoga, art, writing, life choices, music & more.

For more information about SKYROS' fabulous holidays, visit www.skyros.com. Or call Gemma, Michelle or Laura on 01983 86 55 66. 


 

How to follow your calling and let the 'real you' shine through...

In this blog post, Claire Schrader, life coach and facilitator at the leading holistic holiday company, Skyros Holidays, talks about the call to adventure and how you can follow yours.


So, life has suddenly taken new direction. New opportunities are opening up, stirring up an energy within, and you're daunted by the scale of it because you don't know quite where to start.

Or perhaps the opposite has you overwhelmed. A spirit of adventure calls for you to break out, to live your life in a more inspiring and authentic way, and you feel excitement at that even if you don't know quite where it's coming from or how to deal with it. All you know is that your life right now is not an adventure. It's comfortable, but not what you need.

The calling is there, but how do you follow it when you don't even understand what it is?

A call is one of those tiny moments of massive proportion - meeting someone new, reading a book, watching a movie, waking up in the morning - something so simple, yet somehow your world spins on an axis as you experience the WOW factor, and something deep and powerful stirs within.

It could occur in any area of life: career, relationship, travel, home, health, family. It may be spiritual or materialistic, and you may be daunted by this, terrified maybe? Excited? Inspired? But you will never forget it. Even if you ignore the call, it will come back again and again, a whisper of a reminder. That's what a call is. And from there, you let it lead, allowing it to unfold at it's own pace.

Tips to discovering your calling in life?

1) Close your eyes and take a few breaths. With your out-breath concentrate on letting go and releasing all clutter in your mind. After a few breaths switch to focusing on your in-breath.

2) In your imagination take yourself to place in nature where you feel comfortable and at ease. Take in your surroundings, all the smells and sounds. Allow your mind to wander and see what comes. It could be an image, a symbol, colours, or a feeling, or something more conceptual. Don't worry if what comes makes little sense to you.

3) Focus on that thought, allow it to unfold. Write down what you experience, or any insights, thoughts or reflections that come to you. Let yourself dream a little. You can do this over a series of days and see if a pattern emerges.

So you got this far, but what's next?

Interpreting the results is a tricky thing because what is coming through to you is expressed in the language of the unconscious... but trust yourself give your thoughts space and time to let this unfold in their own time.

Alternatively, you could come to Skyros Island and join my course “The Call to Adventure” which starts 21st July. We’ll be having fun playing and creating together whilst at the same time releasing some of the blocks that may be holding you back from fulfilling your deepest dreams.

Many people who come to my workshops discover their calling or find insight into following what they deeply desire. They receive inspiration for the work they really want to do, or they discover what really brings them alive, or they get powerful insights into an issue that had previously perplexed them.

For more information about the Life Choices courses, or about some of SKYROS' other inspiring holidays, visit www.skyros.com. Alternatively email the SKYROS team on office@skyros.com, or give them a call at 01983 86 56 66

Skyros and the Crisis in Greece

Here Yannis Andricopoulos, co-founder of Skyros, the leading holistic holiday, comments on the current economic crisis in Greece and its effect on Skyros' holidays this summer in Greece. 

Greece is heading towards new elections on the 17th of June, roughly forty days after the last one which produced no government. The new elections are not likely to give the mandate to any single party to form a new government and, like the UK, Greece will end up with a coalition of parties in power. This is quite straightforward.

What is, however, complicated is whether and how this new government would want to re-negotiate partly or totally the bailout agreement reached last February between Greece, on the one hand, and the so-called troika –  the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, on the other. Whatever the outcome, negotiations are likely to take many months before their conclusion.

Many people have been asking us what will happen either before their conclusion or after, particularly if there is no agreement.

To take what many assume is the worst case scenario: negotiations collapse, Greece defaults on its loans and then leaves or is forced to leave the eurozone. The latter can’t, however, be easily assumed as, if Greece decides to stay in the euro, as it certainly will, there’s no way the EU can force her to leave. There’s no legal procedure for it. So, in theory at least, we’re talking about only a possible default which, given first the extreme caution with which all parties need to proceed and, then, the long preparations involved at a time that nobody is really prepared for it, will take months before it’s finalised. 

If you're holidaying with us this summer, what do you need to be careful about during this time? Despite the alarm raised in today’s Daily Mail, we can’t think of anything of importance. Nothing would disturb the airlines schedules or the function of the Greek airports as the unions have decided this year not to interrupt the tourist trade. From then on let us take care of you. This means that even if Greece is hit by a new wave of strikes or even riots, which is very unlikely at least during the summer, you won’t be affected. We’ll take you by private coach to the Metropolitan hotel on the Athens coast, far from any potential trouble spot, and then on to Skyros island where life goes on as it has been for generations. The Skyros ferry, owned by the Skyrians, has never gone on strike.

A Greek default, although likely, is anything but certain as the troika may well choose eventually to make concessions to Greece in order to avert it. If that is to happen, we’re back to ‘normal’ times whatever normal is in our times. If Greece, on the other hand, defaults, the Greeks will celebrate before they try to come to terms with their very, very painful new world.

As mentioned earlier, a Greek default doesn’t imply withdrawal from the eurozone, too. But even if that does happen, you will not be affected. You have paid for an all-inclusive holiday in Atsitsa or an almost all-inclusive one at the Skyros Centre in pounds sterling which means that, whatever currency Greece has at the time, we have the responsibility to meet your requirements. And we’ll meet them. You may, of course, experience some difficulties if cash machines and electronic banking systems ‘freeze up for days’, as The Daily Mail warns its reading public. But this will not affect you if you bring in a couple of hundred euros spending money. If need be, we can offer the facility to provide euros on-site.

Finally, one person asked if there’s any possibility we may have to cancel the holiday. There’s none at all. We’ll not cancel it whatever happens either in Greece or in the world!

So book your Skyros holiday with all confidence. Be sure you’ll have a great time, and, by the way, give the Greeks all the support they need in their most testing times since the war.

Yannis Andricopoulos, Ph.D.

For more information about Skyros' outstanding holidays, see www.skyros.com, email office@skyros.com for your brochure or call +44 (0)1983 865566.

Colourful Capers in Shanklin ...

Writer and journalist, Jo Macaulay visits Skyros offshoot at The Grange by The Sea for a creative course with Theresa Sundt. Read about her experience here ... Theresa will be in Skyros, Greece this summer. 

I felt the need to get a bit of colour into my life so I made my way over to the Grange in Shanklin to join a course on experimenting with the colour of my personality called ‘Playing with Colour’ ... 

Not that I had any idea what the ‘colour of my personality’ was until I got there. Or indeed what it was likely to be. Was it the colours that I like? Was it the colours that suit me? Was it like those make-overs where they tell you whether you’re winter, spring, summer or autumn? It was all a bit up in the air until I got there.

So I was intrigued to find that it was none of the above when I met Theresa Sundt, the course leader. In fact our personality colour is determined by our date of birth it appears. The colours range through the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet and then magenta and gold to make nine different hues that our personalities ‘resonate’ to.


And mine, not surprisingly for a lady of my standing, is gold I was told, which cheered me up no end. It seemed to be the best one to be according to what was revealed. “Gold personalities are humanitarian creatures who wish to save the world; their ambition is to serve others,” according to Teresa’s book ‘The Nine Colour Personalities’. Hmmm, well on a good day I suppose…

The next day we mapped out our colours on a circle and worked out those of our nearest and dearest. Then armed with this new knowledge about our personality colours we were encouraged to make works of art using ‘our’ colours and those of our families, and Teresa produced hanks of felting wool in every colour of the rainbow for us to work into felt pictures.

But gold is a bit of a difficult one, what with it being shiny and, well gold, so I had to be content with an orangey yellow. We also worked with the other colours that made up our personalities and mine were magenta and orange apparently. Not colours that I am readily drawn to, but I was happy to give it a go. And my family had indigo, yellow, green and red too so the result was a bit of an explosion in a paint factory.

Laying out our felt layers, then working them together with soapy water and then placing the result on a canvas was great fun. Then we left them to dry and to add glitter to the next day if we wished. Teresa gave individual colour readings and the atmosphere was fun and relaxing.


The following day it was ‘draw your mandala’ day and the picture I produced resembled a golden and magenta flower. I think you’re supposed to use these for meditation purposes.
After the course finished we were treated to slices of home-made quiche and wedges of yummy rocky road with our tea or coffee. Sat on the decking outside the hotel in the sunshine, looking down over the pretty garden, was the perfect end to the weekend of colourful activities.
 
And now I’m off to save the world ...

The Grange offer weekend creative and holistic courses throughout the year. Join them in May for ‘The Art of Touch' 11th-13th, ‘Walk, Tall, Feel Fabulous.’ 18th to 20th, and ‘Yoga with Awareness’ 25th to 27th. More courses are available in June, September, October, November and December.

Alternatively you can join Theresa Sundt in Skyros this Summer for her course 'The Art of Colour,' which will run from 11th August - 21st August.

For more details contact the Skyros team on +44 (0) 1983 865566 e: office@skyros.com or visit the website: www.skyros.com

Skyros writing competition - we have a winner!

With plenty of impressive short story entries to judge, Skyros Holidays facilitator and writing competition judge, Crysse Morrison, had her work cut out to decide the competition winners for the Skyros writing competition, in coordination with Writing Magazine...

"Many congratulations to everyone who participated, and thank you for giving me so many evocative glimpses of happiness. The final three were tales that caught my imagination for their strong individual writer’s voice, and the overall winner was the one that stayed with me for its vivid characters and for delightfully encapsulating one of those transcendental moments which we realise, even at the time, as the taste of happiness. 

With so many varied and highly personal interpretations of ‘happiness’, the task of picking out winners was really difficult! Quite a few entries featured illness or death, and dealt with possibilities of happiness despite a dark situation. Others looked at romance and relationships to provide the key. As a general tip, I’d recommend writers to find an apt and memorable title for their story rather than using the theme – it’s harder to make your entry stand out from the pile without one. " Crysse Morrison.

The results are in . . .

1st place – Winner of a Skyros holiday
'Happiness is a wardrobe slowly rising in the air' – Peter Wakefield

2nd & 3rd places – Winners of discounted holidays  
'Happiness' – Charlotte Rennox
'Well done for getting here' – Agnes Priddle

Commended
'Big Splash' – DEB Coxon
'The Happiness of Others' – Susannah Steel
'The Last Drop' - Linda Ibbett
'Innocent Energy' – Mark Whitlock
'The Happiness of the Heart' – Kay Seeley
'Happiness' – Jinny Thomas
'Walking Back to Happiness' – Denise Barnes

A huge congratulations to prizewinner Peter Wakefield, who will be joining Skyros at the Writers' Lab holiday with Crysse Morrison this September.

You can read Peter's winning entry here, at the Friends of Skyros website: http://www.friendsofskyros.com



Did you miss out on entering the competition this time? "Like" us on facebook and be first to know when we are running our next competition: www.facebook.com/skyroshols. Alternatively, if you want to know more about our Writers' Lab in Greece, or if you would like to be added to our newsletter for regular updates, why not drop us a line at office@skyros.com, or visit our website, www.skyros.com