open sky
community summer retreat to support your
rewilding
what is the open sky?
Join us for a transformative week-long immersion in the magical nature of the Belgian Ardennes! We’re developing an experimental, intergenerational living and learning community where everyone is invited to express their own way of being human. At the heart of our journey are core practices like authentic presence (see lower), collective decision-making (deep democracy, liberating structures), and radical engaged pedagogy. We look forward to connecting with you!
How can we create a community based on values like inclusion, liberty, expression, equality, care, and creativity (instead of dominance, oppression, force, fear, and inequality)? How can we create a space where everybody feels invited and enabled to express their own way of being human? And what does this imply for how we parent and educate our children?
being different together
House of the beloved wants to design and experiment with new ways of living together and creating community. At the core of our retreat is the practice of “being different together”: how can we build community based on being fully ourselves rather than conforming to an imposed norm in order to fit in and be accepted by the group. Being-different-together is a practice of love, defined as “the will to extend oneself to support one’s own and the other’s existential development”. For a detailed explanation, please listen to our podcast:
fully yourself, deeply connected
As our core practice we propose the embodiment of your own way of being human, also referred to as Authentic Presence. It is a relational meditation that invites you to fully reveal and express yourself with radically owned honesty as a practice of self-exploration and self-recognition. For more details, click here.
you are welcome!
Are you interested in (temporarily) living in community? Do you feel drawn to placing personal/spiritual/existential development at the center of your life? Do you long for a community that combines authenticity and connection, honesty and care, silence and roaring like a beast? Please read our intuitions and our monastic rule and see if this resonates with you.
practicals
PLANNING
Begin: TBD. You can join for the whole period, or for a few days.
We’ll start with the daily rhythm of House of the beloved. Throughout the week this can organically change depending on our needs and possibilities.
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06:40 waking up
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07:00 silent sit
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07:30 body practice (yoga, dance, martial arts)
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08:00 breath work (pranayama) & uccara practice
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08:30 morning ceremony & dance
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09:00 BREAKFAST
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09:30 community check-in
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10:00 open
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13:00 meditation
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13:30 LUNCH
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14:00 open
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18:00 music meditation
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18:30 SIMPLE DINNER
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19:00 open
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22:00 evening ceremony
FOOD & DRINKS
Together we will cook vegan, sugar-free food. Groceries will be ordered beforehand, so please let us know when you will be present. There is neither fridge nor freezer (no electricity!), but we can create a construction to cool our food in the river. Bring your own plates, cups, and utensils. If you have a big pot (20L), please let us know.
TRAVELING
The location is close to Ucimont, about 2 hours South of Brussels. We’ll organize car pooling or train pick-up (from station Paliseul). All information and exact coordinates will be given after you register.
SLEEPING
We rented two chalets with some beds, couches, and space to sleep on the floor. Priority is given to elderly and/or families with newborns or soon-to-be-borns. For all others, there is plenty of beautiful spaces to put your tent.
SHOWERS
The river! And there are also -cold!- showers in the Chalets.
CONTRIBUTION
We will all contribute equally to the costs of rent (€1060 in total, for all of us together), food (approximately €15 per day per person), wood for the fire, etc. All contributions can be transferred to this account: IBAN BE54 7370 7190 1897 (House of the beloved vzw)
WHAT TO BRING
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REMEMBER: NO ELECTRICITY! so bring power banks or solar panels if you need
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Sleeping bag, mattress, tent (optional, you can sleep in open air with a star view, highly recommended!), head lamp
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Music instruments
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Candles
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Everything you need for personal hygiene. Please take the most ecological you can find; all the waste goes straight into ground and river
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It can get cold in the evenings, so bring warm clothing, outdoor clothing, and something for the rain.
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swimming gear -!-
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Food to share
we look very much forward to rewilding with you!
