Surrounded by thousands of acres of protected biosphere, in the heart of the holy ridge of Montsant Spain, lies Dharmaloca, our beautiful eco-retreat place.
The creators and owners of Dharmaloca are moving out to attend other projects and family needs, and Dharmaloca is available for the right person or couple to make it their home and keep running the project in her or his own way.
Dharmaloca is open to any woman or man with the urge to reconnect with life. A place of beauty, simplicity, and great purity, sustained by the generosity of many hearts.
These images express better than any word Dharmaloca’s journey, it’s beauty, and it’s amazing potential.
Enjoy flying with the wind!
Dharmaloca was created by Open Dharma’s facilitators Gemma Polo and Jaya Ashmore. Currently Gemma is the director.
Dharmaloca is open from April to October but the best time to come is during May, June, September, and October.
If you have already done a retreat with Gemma or with Open Dharma, you are welcome to co-create your own self-retreat. If you do not know us yet, you can also enjoy the intimate group retreats and workshops that we offer at Dharmaloca.
All the structures are made respecting the environment and based on the principles of permaculture. We have an outdoor kitchen and dining room, dry toilet, shower, two covered outdoor spaces for meditation and inspiration, orchard, carpentry workspace, a natural pond and basic infrastructure for activities with horses.
We have 4 individual and 10 shared spaces, as well as the possibility of bringing your own tent or campervan.
Do you want to relax in one of our cozy caravans and enjoy your own mini-space?. Bedding is included.
Do you know the pleasure of sleeping near the earth? We have large cotton tents with comfortable mattresses. You will have to bring your own sleeping bag.
Daily basic contribution towards food and accommodation:
|Length of your stay||Caravan||Set up tent(shared)||Camping||Cottage|
|One week||35 €||30 €||Not available now||40 €|
|Between 1 week and 1 month||30 €||25 €||Not available now||35 €|
|Between 1 month and 3 months||25 €||20 €||Not available now||30 €|
Dharmaloca runs on the basis of generosity
This daily basic contribution towards accommodation and food* pays only for the basic ongoing expenses of Dharmaloca. To further support this place of deep nature and transformation we depend on your generosity. At the end of your stay you will be welcome to make donations to the place, the caretaker, and the facilitators. Thank you!
If you wish to come but money is a challenge for you, please contact us and we can discuss the possibility of offereing an schoolarship to you. This option would allow to lower you contribution to the minimum basic ammount of 20 Euros per day.
*Food: Is vegetarian and as much local and organic as possible.
Each person is asked to participate in daily tasks such as cooking or washing dishes, and to participate in different projects and tasks of the land.
Fully equipped off-grid apartment "Saraswati" for rent at Dharmaloca
Do you want to deepen your spiritual practice, while being in deep nature and a in a supportive environment?
Do you have your own creative project and need solitude, space, and silence to gestate and give birth to it?
Do you simply want time away from business, to reconnect with your own heart?
Are you a couple that want to explore of-grid living according to the principals of permaculture?
Saraswati might be the ideal space for you:
-A living space of 30 m2 plus a loft with a double bed.
-A full bathroom with dry toilet, shower, and washing machine.
-Kitchen with fridge.
-Wood stove for heating the space in winter.
-Renovated solar electricity at regular 220v.
-Possibility of having Internet.
-Access to the communal meditation hall, the inspirational dome, and the natural pond.
-Possibility of growing your own veggie garden.
-Hundreds of acres of a natural preserve for you to walk and enjoy. -Able experience the company of our freely living horses.
What do you need and what we ask for:
-A commitment of minimum of 3 months of renting the space.
-A contribution of 500 Euros per month.
-Ideally you would have your own driving license and 4×4 car (if you do not have one, then you could share the car expenses with the resident caretaker of Dharmaloca).
-Since Dharmaloca is a place where people come for self retreat and small group retreats, your intention and motivation for renting the Saraswati space is crucial to us. If this proposition resonates with you, please get in touch and we can talk further.
Gemma (Dharmaloca’s vision keeper): firstname.lastname@example.org
Dharmaloca can offer you:
Personal retreats are the soul of Dharmaloca and are born from the vision of offering spaces of silence and reconnection with oneself and nature. In this magical place you can come to dive in, take care of yourself, and be renovated. Mostly in solitude but also occasionally with some support form Gemma. The minimum stay is 1 week and the recommended stay is between 2 weeks and 3 months. The accommodation for personal retreats is in the caravans or the provided cotton tents. Cooking your own food and participating in maintenance tasks is essential, as well as integrating your own spiritual practice with connected daily work for at least an hour and a half of you time.
Group retreats and workshops
In Dharmaloca we offer retreats for small groups of maximum 15 people in full contact with nature. The group retreats offered in Dharmaloca combine different themes such as deep rest, connected work, immersions in nature, deep listening, women’s circles, or expansive awareness. They can also focus on more specific explorations such as medicinal plants, beekeeping or connection with horses, among others.
Meditation with horses
When I first dreamed of bringing horses home, people would ask me, “What do you want to do with them? What do you want them for? “And I would respond:” I simply want to open my window and see the horses, they have the power to transport me to the essence.”
Based on my experience of being with horses, I offer the meditation retreats with horses at Dharmaloca, Tarragona, Spain. On these retreats, we learn basic equine ethology and approach the horses according to their body language. We cultivate awareness of our own body movements and mental moods.
We combine direct contact with horses, the practice of connected movement, meditation, and ancestral walking with horses. We also do ground-to-ground exercises of self-knowledge and leadership, letting the horses be our mirror.
We offer the possibility to come and help us take care of Dharmaloca. In this formula the minimum stay is 1 month and we expect a collaboration of about 4 hours a day 6 days a week in exchange for the accommodation. Depending on the time of year you come in, the tasks can vary from taking care of the orchard, mowing the grass, pruning trees, harvesting olives or almonds, helping managing a retreat, maintaining the wooden structures, caring for the hosrses or the cat, etc. It is essential that the place and the tasks nourishes you aswell, and therefore we will always keep in mind your skills and preferences when designing the exchange. Ultimatelly all actions are meant to become doors to meditation and love.
We often have space for one volunteer all year round. If you are interested in coming as volunteer, please contact us to check our availability for dates and space.
If you come as volunteer, your basic contribution will be 15 Euros per day to cover your food.
A magical space of great purity, wild, solitary, remote … where you can see the eagle fly, and walk endlessly among the rocks that have been home to many hermits and hearts with great longing for the divine.
Contact with Dharmaloca
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