Bamboo Sala Construction & Yoga Retreat
Invited: Volunteers!
Utopia? You can support to make it real: participate in a holistic life changing community project ! Learning by Doing: build in bamboo and wood to create our community and ritual hall & enjoy Yoga-Meditation-Mantra-Pranayama-Dancing-Shamanic Rituals
Limited number of places: Maximum 10 participants
We will build a hall/space for shamanic and yogic rituals; for theater, yoga, tantra, singing, dancing, community meetings and workshops – to create a sacred space where we connect with each other, the nature around and with spirit.
The bamboo space will be 121m2, only the floor will be made by laurel wood.
All materials are found on Durga´s Tiger Land, our 42-hectare big community farm.
The process of cutting timber and bamboo was completed on the last black moon, and the material was transported by canoe across the river to the building space.
Bamboo needs a very special way to be worked on, different from wood, and a special treatment. You will learn how to cut and join bamboo, how to preserve it, how to use it in construction even in the holding pillars. You will accompany the whole building process and led by Alexander Soria, a bamboo building expert assisted by Javier Bone, who is a young skilled all-arounder who has knowledge in wood building to permaculture who works with us on the land.
Existing raw building from the former owner:
Inside Durgastigerland is a concrete building of 99m2. The ground floor is incomplete. We aim to build the 121m2 bamboo hall with a separate entrance. The raw building will become a kitchen and eating space for 30 people, with a wide outside terrace including a bathroom with showers.
Community Building Teachings:
We offer a more complete community living experience, as the building group will create a little community, led by one of our members or teachers. So you will have every day morning meditation including mantra chanting, pranayama and other yogic techniques. Twice a week will be a yoga class and communication techniques such as talking stick. You can participate in simple shamanistic rituals.
Lodging:
You will be sleeping in your own tent and bedding in a grassy flat area. As it is the summer season there will be little or no rain or storms. There is one room with 4 bunk beds available as well as 4 big hammocks. You will have access to a toilet and shower at all times in the main building however you can also bathe in the river. Three healthy vegetarian meals a day will be provided. There will be the option of taking one day per week for other activities such as going to the beach, however the building work will continue 7 days a week therefore you also have the option of learning 7 days a week.
Bring along:
A sense of adventure, heart and hand, imagination.
A tent to sleep in, rubber boots, wash kit, hat.
(If you don't have a tent, ask).
We provide:
Covered platform for the tent, food and drink, showers, river, bamboo and wood building experiences; Community building processes with yoga, meditation shamanic techniques.
Cost:
$150 per week
$450 per month
$300 per month min 3 months
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Franklin Zambrano was born and raised in a little beach town called Rocafuerte 40km away from Durga's Tiger Land. He has been in the shrimp business for more than 40 years. He studied architecture at ¨La Universidad Central¨ in the capital of Ecuador, where he learned the basics of building.
He has designed and built his hospitality business, a recreation center right in front of the beach in rocafuerte with his team ( family ) in an ecological way with bamboo and other wood from the area.
Franklin is multidisciplinary man with many interest and hobbies, he loves playing ¨Boley¨ in the evenings and is part of the Ascension school of Isaih, where he was able to discover and develop spiritual practices that help him to expand consciousness in what he calls ¨ascending¨
He has more than 20 years of experience building with bamboo, is very excited about being part of the DTL project and perhaps taking one or two Kaula Tantra Yoga classes.
„Being part of DurgasTigerLand gives me a great opportunity to live in harmony with nature in a tropical climate. Teaching and learning about Sumak Kawsay through permaculture, harmonic bamboo constructions and living in community makes me love this project“.
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22 years old Javier is our neighbor and the team leader of our local workers. He realizes with the team all the works on the farm including planting, building, animal care. He gives us advices about the neighborhood and the new world of a lonely farm in tropical surrounding. He finished college and wants to study forestry.
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Born and raised in Ecuador.
I left Ecuador at age of 18 to study, learn and explore. Worked at various NGOs in NYC and Paris. Backpacked South America and lived in different countries always working with children and nature.
I landed at Durga´s Tiger School in 2021, to reconnect with my roots and find truth in my heart. It changed my life, this place put in words and actions everything that my soul already knew. I completed my 500hrs at Durga´s Tiger School and have been teaching there ever since. I am also part of the main team at the school's headquarters in Tumbaco as Co-Manager.
I am a tantric yoga gardener that beloved in the power of the heart!
My passions involve reconnecting to the essence of it all through rituals, movement and creativity.
You can find me at my house´s garden or creating something with flowers, herbs and food I have harvested from it.
In this project I will be lending a hand on coordination, teaching Yoga and Meditation plus helping in anything else that needed.
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I was born 66 years ago in Switzerland under the sign of Virgo. I grew up in the country, in a small village. After my training as a chef, I traveled the world. During this time I have seen many cuisines, met many different people. After the years in gastronomy I became a theater maker, a professional tango dancer and finally a journalist. At a big theater festival in Vienna I met Iris, the love of my life. We created our life together, did a tantric education, plays and radio plays until we emigrated to Ecuador in 1994 with our son, Wind. In 2005 I founded the organization "Kitchen without Borders" in Switzerland, which opened restaurants in areas of poverty and crisis, creates training places and offers hope a place at the dinner table through food and drink.
While in Ecuador Iris founded a school for yoga, art and shamanism. Durga's Tiger School. I have written two books about the place of hospitality in our society. Now we have decided to use our experience and joy of life in the new project to foster a community where a good life is possible. For this purpose we want to make available the land we have bought in Chontaduro, near the Pacific Ocean. In a place where many things are possible.
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Iris Disse is a german theatre and filmmaker, actress; writer; expert for creative radio work, performing artist and composer of acoustic arts projects. She is the founder of Durga´s Tiger School, an international place based in Ecuador, where students come from USA, Canada and Europe to make a certified Yoga Teacher Training.
Iris studied journalism, philosophy and history of arts and theatre and worked from 1980 to 1994 as an actress for film and theatre and as a theatre director in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Since 1994 she has been based in Latin America and Europe. Her documentaries and movies reflect the social reality of the indigenous people in Latin America and Indonesia. She is a prize-winning sound and video artist and maintains some involvement in these fields.
1991 she became interested in meditation, breathing, singing and dancing as spiritual techniques with the Sufi master Pir Vilayat Inayat Kahn. Every year she participated in monthly retreats in the Alps. Together with her partner David Höner, studied Tantra Yoga with a range of teachers and have been practicing Tantra for the last 20 years. They have been teaching Tantra in different countries since 1996.
Iris presented at the University of Quito (Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar) and Durga’s Tiger School ®. Since 1994 she had worked with indigenous people in Latin America, and has become involved with Shamanistic Energy work.
Since 2000 Iris has developed Durga’s Tiger Teachings. She is the catalyst of “Durga´s Tiger School ® for Tantra, Yoga, Arts and Shamanism“, and is the choreographer of this transforming energy composition.
When Iris is not on the land, other teachers from Durga´s Tiger School will be responsible for the classes.
Preliminary work:
1. Cut existing bamboo in durgastigerland. Done by Javier and team
2. Treat or protect the bamboo against moths with sea salt. Done by Alexander, Javier and Team
3. The floor joists of the second floor will be built with bamboo and Laurel wood also existing in durgastigerland. Trees cut including cut into boards on the mountain side by Javier and team.
Building process:
4. The floor will be made of Laurel wood.
5. For the structure of walls, roof, and doors we will use bamboo.
6. The roof will be built with cana brava, flattened bamboo.
7. The staircase to access the second floor will be made with Moral wood also existing in durgastigerland.
8. For the finishing we will not use petroleum products and we plan to protect the wood and bamboo with oils.
9. The first floor has no paint; windows and doors will also be made of Laurel wood, the walls will be painted with carbonate and pigments.