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We are convinced that we, as humans, are part of a complex and interrelated web of life. We are connected to everything and everyone else on this planet. What we do to other beings, we in consequence do to ourselves. Therefore, in our perspective, individual well-being is closely intertwined with flourishing communities and healthy resilient ecosystems.
The regenerative abilities of ourselves, our relationships and the world as a whole go hand in hand.
In current times, humans have become a deeply destructive force on a massive global scale. At the same time, the knowledge and tools for the very much needed transformations are actually already there and in place. The multiple challenges on societal, environmental and economical levels seem to be connected by an underlying crisis of consciousness.
So how can we initiate real positive change? How can we act in life affirming ways and contribute to new ways of relating to the world?
In order to recultivate a sense of responsibility and commitment throughout our species, we consider it fundamentally necessary to collectively return to meaningful relations towards ourselves, other living beings and the natural world in general. This planet, our home, needs conscious choices and actions more than ever. Like this, we believe, humans can truly contribute to sustainable and just systems - and flourish in their own purpose and talents themselves.
With the experiences and networks we have, we want to provide education and solutions to today's most urgent challenges. And together as a community, we bring this to life. We offer the festival retreat happening once a year as well as smaller events and retreats where we combine transformational learning journeys with music, art and joyful celebrations to create thriving communities. In the future we plan to build a more permanent infrastructure for societal transformation, such as online courses and retreat centers.
Pura Vida aims to explore new paths on how we relate to ourselves, to another and to the natural world. Our goal is to make the "better world our hearts know is possible'' experienceable. Change starts with a feeling.
And since the power of this can barely be described with words - maybe you would like to join us and experience it yourself?
Pura Vida Festival Retreat creates a safe space where people come together to build connections and inspire and educate each other. With our holistic workshop program and the carefully curated festival journey, we offer embodied and collaborative transformative learning experiences that not only give people tools to work with in everyday life, but even more will activate their deeper wisdom, creative imagination and purpose and enable and motivate them to proactively find solutions for modern crises.
With our work we make a direct impact to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) identified in the UN's Agenda 2030. In particular, this relates to the goals no. 3 “GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING”, no.4 “QUALITY EDUCATION”, no. 5 “GENDER EQUALITY”, no. 10 “REDUCED INEQUALITIES”, no. 11 “SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES”, no 13. “CLIMATE ACTION” and No.16 “PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS”.
We also work in alignment with the Inner Development Goals (IDG). The IDG-Initiative researched human skills and qualities that are needed to live more purposefully, sustainably, peacefully and productively in order to achieve the SDG`s.
Through our festival journey that starts from “SELF” into “RELATIONSHIPS” into the “WORLD” and the concept of our thematic stages we design learning experiences that tackle various parts of all five main columns of the framework: “BEING”, “THINKING”, “RELATING”, “COLLABORATING” and “ACTING”.
On the first part of our festival journey “SELF” we explore from different angles what it means to be a human being. On our “MIND” stage we learn how to listen to our inner compass, train self-awareness and find out how to become more present through practices like Meditation or Qi Gong. These activities mirror the first IDG pillar “BEING”. We also explore the mind from the neurological perspective and facilitate skills around the second pillar “THINKING”. But being for us means more than just the mind, so we extend the exploration of self towards the body on our “BODY” stage where you can learn all about how to make your body flourish, from ideal nutrition to how to live a healthy life, next to tons of different movement practices. At the “HEART” stage we go into reflective contact with the inner life of our hearts and deeply dive into understanding and working with our emotions.
On the second part of our journey “RELATIONSHIPS” you can explore different topics on human relations from friendships to romantic relationships or family constellations, learn how to live them in authenticity and nurture them through compassion, empathy and kindness. This very much refelcts the 3rd IDG pillar “RELATING”. Our journey even expands into the 4th pillar of “COLLABORATING” by learning effective communication skills like non-violent communication, mindful listening or how to foster genuine dialogue, and to manage conflicts constructively. At the stages “HEART”, “BODY” and “PLAY” we explore how human connection, touch, bodywork and playfulness influence our well-being and are a substantial part of healthy relationships. At the “MIND” stage, people can take part in presentations and discussions, training themselves in critical thinking. The various facilitators we chose are themselves critical thinkers, challenging norms and bringing different perspectives together. Our program mirrors a multifaceted holistic mosaic trying to make sense of the world as an interconnected whole. The IDG-initiative sees this as an essential skill for wise decision-making (second column).
The third part of our festival journey “WORLD” connects us to the world as a whole and makes us rethink current systems. We explore how we can how we can live more sustainable, how to tackle climate change and biodiversity crisis and how to make a real impact in the world. For the program, we partner with organizations like the Impact Hub or the Climate Farmers. Theses themes facilitate skills that are recognized within the IDG pillars of “COLLABORATING” and “ACTING”. The newest addition will be our “SYSTEMS” stage that will be all about re-defining the societal, economic and political systems we live in. Here we work with partners like Reinventing Society or the Economies for the Common Good framework. We facilitate formats that encourage open discourse and enable discussions that include all perspectives while reducing conflicts. We empower participants for consent decision-making and by training utopian thinking and envisioning a better future in workshops we also support optimism and a sense of hope, positive attitude and confidence in the possibility of meaningful change - which is one of the key skills to enable a positive transformation. People leave the festival with a restored hope and faith in humankind, feeling activated, enriched and in the knowing that this is merely the beginning of a journey!
We are a multicultural collective of dreamers and doers, scientists, entrepreneurs and adventurers, change makers and heart-led humans who aim to explore new paths to tackle current social, ecological and economical challenges.
Pura Vida was brought to life by Christian, Ocean and Felicitas, our co-founders, who invested money, a massive amount of time and all their energy to single-handedly make their ideas a reality and build a solid foundation to continue from. Since the first Pura Vida Festival Retreat in 2021 - a successful and rather intimate festival gathering of round about 250 souls aiming for positive change - we have continuously grown into a more than 40 people strong team working in the background throughout the whole year. A lot of us visited the first festivals as guests - and stayed as co-creators inspired to commit to growing the community and spread the Pura Vida vision.
Right now we are on our way to be registered as a non-profit-association. With this, we wish to set up the project in a more long-term and sustainable way in order to have real impact. Our community’s support and enthusiasm are the driving forces behind this step, and we are infinitely grateful to be able to walk this way together!
We envision building a holistic well-being space in Berlin that facilitates transformational healing and learning experiences also throughout the whole year.
In this inner city retreat center we want to offer workshops and practices to cultivate regenerative practices for mind, body, heart and earth, which are rooted in ancient wisdom traditions, and utilize the latest science from a variety of research fields. It will also provide a central hall for ceremonies and celebrations of life, workshop spaces and a vegan cafe to co-create a loving and thriving community. It will provide rooms for individual health treatments and a spa area with a sauna, ice- and sound applications to heal, relax and rejuvenate.
With this, we aim to contribute to a happy, healthy and joyful lifestyle for all living beings in harmony with our ecosystems.
Self care comes first. The care we want to show for others and the world is the same care that we need to show for ourselves.
A Proactive Mindset. We put ourselves in the driver's seat and take ownership and move things forward within our roles in the project.
Start with ourselves first. We invest in our inner development, explore our own individual and collective shadows, and cultivate a mindset of life-long learning.
Leaning into our interbeing. We value and nourish our relationships. We aim to create a safe space for expression of divergent opinions and emotional experiences. We address conflicts as soon as we become aware of them, and approach them with curiosity, care, and a desire to create harmony.
Diversity & inclusion. We operate from an awareness that we are all equals and make a conscious effort to reflect the diversity of our society in our team and experiences.
Co-creation. We know that the whole is greater than its parts and actively invite collaboration in the spirit of co-creation, synergize ideas, and aim to create win-win solutions.
Purpose with real impact. We strive to have real impact and prize quality at every step. Effectiveness is important to us, which is why we value science-based solutions.
Redesigning systems to serve life. We are aware that in order to transform the way we relate to the world, we need to redesign the systems that structure our relationships. We therefore aim to seed solutions for an economy that serves all life on this planet.
Regeneration. We aim to contribute to the regeneration of our planet by providing a platform for regenerative thinking and action. With an awareness of our own impact, we think global and act local.
Celebrating life. We live in challenging times - and yet, it is a marvelous experience to be alive. We celebrate the beauty of life and our existence on this planet through music, dance, ceremonies, art, silent prayer, a smile and any other form this might take.
If you want to support our Mission, we are very greateful for any kind of donation.
Donate here
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