Expressive Arts Retreats Cyclades, Greece
Expressive Arts Retreats Cyclades, Greece
Agia Theodoti, Ios, Cyclades, Greece
Up to 12 in group
August 24 - 31, 2025
Retreat Highlights
- -express yourself through the creative process via visual art
- -communal games and exercises to delve into the mythic imagination
- -encaustic painting and photography
- -cyanotype (sunprints) and printmaking using natural materials
- -intuitive movement and dance
- -dramatic photographic cosplay using Greek myths
- -drama role play using the Greek mythic archetypes
- -nature walks and meditative sketching
- -learn to make your own soap, yogurt, cheese
- -learn folk medicine and folk cures using herbs and plants
- -journaling, writing and poetic expression
- -Greek cooking demonstrations and Mediterranean diet talks
- -eco-therapy using foraged materials for sculpture
- -photography walks and explorations of the island including Neolithic settlement, ancient theater, cheese factory and traditional house, modern art museum, boat tours of secluded beaches
- -storytelling under the Milky Way
- lectures about Greek culture, history, art, and philosophy
About this Retreat
Your Guides
Eirene is trained in expressive arts facilitation by the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She has taught literature and mythology across five countries for over 30 years at such institutes as the University of Maryland, Ramstein; American College of Greece; Institute of NorthAmerican Studies, Barcelona, the City and State University of New York. She is an exhibiting encaustic painter, photographer, and illustrator. Awash with the cerulean blues and whites of the Cyclades, her encaustic practice synthesizes natural elements, communicates emotional timber through varying textures, and moves in the rhythms of the four elements. Her art has appeared across galleries in New York City, Rome, Paris, Moscow, South Africa. She is a member of International Encaustic Artists.
Most importantly, she is from Greece and from Ios, allowing you an insider’s look into its culture and history with access into its secret sites. When you participate in her retreats, you are invited into her ancestral home. She will guide you through trauma-informed, ethically-based, person-centered activities that will increase well-being, health, self-awareness, mindfulness, and connection to others.
Details of this retreat
Have you lost touch with your purpose? Are you burnt-out, exhausted and want to get away from it all? Do you need to connect to your authentic self? Do you want to reawaken your creativity through more than one art form? Are you looking for a transformative experience where you can relax, rejuvenate, and practice self-care? Expressive Arts Retreats Cyclades: an Art & Nature Wellness Retreat in Ios, Cyclades, Greece is the place for you.
RELAX. REJUVENATE. IMMERSE in the NATURE & CULTURE of an ANCIENT CIVILIZATION.
AT EXA Retreats Cyclades you unleash your creativity through ART and Expressive Arts activities that increase mindfulness, insight, authenticity, and connection. You will create using ENCAUSTIC, CYANOTYPE, PHOTOGRAPHY, NATURE-ART SCULPTURE with the guidance of a professional artist. REJUVENATE through the beauty of the sea, sky, and earth. Our retreat uses ECO-THERAPY to ground you in the rhythms of nature to bring out a more beautiful, more healthy you. From swimming in the pristine, mineral-rich waters of Agia Theodoti, dancing the 5 Rhythms in the waves, foraging for herbs to make natural body products, learning and cooking organic Mediterranean dishes, story telling under the Milky Way, saluting the rising sun, meditative nature walks. reconnecting with nature in a secluded village restores mind, body, and soul. EXA Retreats is run by a native that invites you into her ancestral home on the land that goes back in her family roots for centuries. A professor of myth and literature, journalist, poet, artist, expressive arts facilitator who has written about Hellenic culture for decades, she will be your host on this mythic journey. Learn about the traditions, culture, mythology, and spirituality of Hellas through lectures, embodied drama performances, poetry and literature explication, folk herbal remedies, cheese and yogurt making, and visits to the ancient sites across the Cyclades. ExaRetreats Cyclades exists to bring balance, well-being, and connection in a disconnected, frantic world. By unleashing each individual’s creativity through the healing power of nature and the expressive arts, ExaRetreats Cyclades works to recover each person’s authentic self and reconnect to his or her life’s purpose. We work to bring healing, deepen intra- and inter-personal understanding, and the joy of creation and play to promote healthy living.
Combine a beach vacation to a bucket list destination with the power of expressive arts to connect, create, and rejuvenate mind, body and soul. Get in touch with your authentic self, heal, and return to the land. Join our exclusive wellness retreat on the island of Ios Cyclades, Greece, where you enjoy accommodations in a traditional stone house in walking distance of the beach, organic, farm-to-table meals and the services of a native islander with 30 years’ experience as a professor and EXA facilitator and educator.
RELAX. REJUVENATE. IMMERSE in the NATURE & CULTURE of an ANCIENT CIVILIZATION.
AT EXA Retreats Cyclades you unleash your creativity through ART and Expressive Arts activities that increase mindfulness, insight, authenticity, and connection. You will create using ENCAUSTIC, CYANOTYPE, PHOTOGRAPHY, NATURE-ART SCULPTURE with the guidance of a professional artist. REJUVENATE through the beauty of the sea, sky, and earth. Our retreat uses ECO-THERAPY to ground you in the rhythms of nature to bring out a more beautiful, more healthy you. From swimming in the pristine, mineral-rich waters of Agia Theodoti, dancing the 5 Rhythms in the waves, foraging for herbs to make natural body products, learning and cooking organic Mediterranean dishes, story telling under the Milky Way, saluting the rising sun, meditative nature walks. reconnecting with nature in a secluded village restores mind, body, and soul. EXA Retreats is run by a native that invites you into her ancestral home on the land that goes back in her family roots for centuries. A professor of myth and literature, journalist, poet, artist, expressive arts facilitator who has written about Hellenic culture for decades, she will be your host on this mythic journey. Learn about the traditions, culture, mythology, and spirituality of Hellas through lectures, embodied drama performances, poetry and literature explication, folk herbal remedies, cheese and yogurt making, and visits to the ancient sites across the Cyclades. ExaRetreats Cyclades exists to bring balance, well-being, and connection in a disconnected, frantic world. By unleashing each individual’s creativity through the healing power of nature and the expressive arts, ExaRetreats Cyclades works to recover each person’s authentic self and reconnect to his or her life’s purpose. We work to bring healing, deepen intra- and inter-personal understanding, and the joy of creation and play to promote healthy living.
Combine a beach vacation to a bucket list destination with the power of expressive arts to connect, create, and rejuvenate mind, body and soul. Get in touch with your authentic self, heal, and return to the land. Join our exclusive wellness retreat on the island of Ios Cyclades, Greece, where you enjoy accommodations in a traditional stone house in walking distance of the beach, organic, farm-to-table meals and the services of a native islander with 30 years’ experience as a professor and EXA facilitator and educator.
Schedule
Day 1: Opening the Circle
Intention: Centering and Grounding self into the landscape
-welcoming activity
-open buffet lunch, snacks, drinks and oer d'oeuvres
-settling in, get your bearings on the island
-expectations, plans, and schedule overview
-Confidentiality agreement
-survey of interests/needs/wishes
-Ground Rules for the Retreat
-mapping your course
Mystery Cult Oath
Possible Tour of Chora, main town
Visual Art: Sunset Walk and Photo capture to Paleokastro, Byzantine fortress
Farewell to the sun and Closing the Circle ceremony
Dinner on your own
(Night Activity: Gazing at the Milky Way: Story Telling Contest
Constellation Stories at Midnight: Make a myth that will be immortalized in the skies.
DAY 2: Finding Self: Grounding Self in Group
Intention: making connections, deeper in self and others
-open circle ceremony
-introduce yourself by taking on an alter ego
-assorted drama techniques to solidify the group
-music/movement: What You Can’t See
-Dyads/Triads-Get Connected
-Breakfast
-Nature Walking Meditation/Sketching; Foraging beauty
-Visual Art Process: Sagoma Visual Art project: The parts of me I do not see,
I have buried deep.
-journaling and witnessing
Lunch
Poetry Project: Where I’m From using imagery
Close the circle ceremony
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 3: Connecting with your Goddess Power
Intention: using archetypes to explore self
-Open circle ceremony
-morning stretch: Arise to Phoebus
-poetry/song to greet EOS/DAWN
-morning prayer in the chapel
-Breakfast
-Nature Walk forage for natural objects, walking on Gia’s body
-Create a nature sculpture from foraged material
-Journaling: The message of the nature sculpture
-witness/sharing
-Goddess Power: Goddess Tarot Cards
Exploring the Pantheon of Gods/Goddesses
Connect to your goddess: monologue dramatic enactment
-Visual process: photo enactments in costume
Sharing and witnessing
Goddess Tableaux
Close the circle ceremony
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 4: Descending with the Goddess
Dedicated to the Heroine’s Journey and the Elysian Mysteries
Intention: Facing the Darkness/Meeting One’s Shadow
Opening the Circle Ceremony
Nature Walk/Morning Prayer for intention and meditation
Bracing for the Dark
Breakfast
Documentary: The Elysian Mysteries
Journaling: What is your darkness?
Pomegranate blood painting: what is your fatal fruit? Your fatal flaw?
Visual Process: The Black Box: fill the reliquary of your darkness
Lifeline Wisdom Ariadne’s Thread from the box
Catharsis Ritual: Burn the Witch
Sound emanation
Movement: What emerges from the fire
-Sharing the Kykeon dramatic reading of visual meditation of the Ascent of the Goddess
Journal/Sketch: Finding your light. Resurrection
LUNCH
Community Culminating Process: synthesize a bio poem that marks your own heroine’s journey. Enactment using the community, dramatic reading with movement and music
Close the Circle
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 5: My Muse, Myself/ Crafting with Athena
Intention: Exploring different arts and crafts, some ancient some modern
Intention: finding inspiration to create
Open the Circle Ceremony
Morning prayer in the chapel
Nature Walk for intention and meditation
Sketching the landscape
Breakfast
-Cyanotype making with embellishments
-Goddess Bath bomb making /goat milk soap demo
-Encaustic demonstration and lecture on history of encaustic
-exploring encaustic with embedded elements, paper, and photo encaustic
Lunch
The Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Lectures on Greek culture, history, poetry as requested
Possible herbal tea infusion lesson
Visit to a family owned cheese factory
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
UNDER SELENE, the FULL MOON Night Performance (I try to organize this experience with the light of the full moon) (dinner must be ordered before hand)
Culminating Process: Performance Inspired by the Muses
-movement enactment poetry song and story telling creations inspired by the 9 Muses
Each participants puts on a performance under the aegis of the Muse(s) that synthesizes the creative products she has created.
-witnessing and sharing
-Muse tableaux
DAY 6: Mistress of Two Worlds: Finding Balance
Bringing back the boon
Opening the Circle: Witness the Sunrise
Sunrise Swim in the bay including 5 movements dance in the waves of Agia Theodoti
Rock sculptures for balance on the beach
Movement stick dance.
Sharing and witnessing.
BREAKFAST
Nature Walk: Intention What do you want to bring with you from your experience here?
Journaling: What have you learned about yourself and inner self from this week? From each other?
Synthesis: Visual Container: Create an Altar to your inner goddess with the products of your creation on this retreat
Journaling: What is the message that the Goddess is giving me?
Sharing and witnessing of altars Poetic and musical response
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Farewell Dinner: reservations at gourmet restaurant Salt, Mylopotas
Feedback survey
DAY 7: Closing the Circle
Circle gift giving ceremony.
Final Closing of the Circle Ceremony
Chora and Ios Must Do Experiences:
-Pathos Sunset Lounge: have a drink and listen to Pavorotti as the sun dips into the Aegean
-Liostasis: 5-star restaurant and spa
-visit the three chapel at the top of the hill of Panagia Gremiotissa
-visit Skarkos the Bronze Age settlement museum and grounds
-visit the Elytis ancient open air theater
-walk to Homer’s Tomb
-have a traditional coffee at the piazza, the small square
-dance in the many lounges and discos, esp Ios Club for jazz/classical, Bar 69, Slammer Bar, Steps, Sweet Irish Dream (Irish Overseas), Scorpion disco
-explore the hidden beaches with a cruise especially the Old Lady’s Leap
-explore the other beaches Mylopotas, the Gialo, Manganari,
Intention: Centering and Grounding self into the landscape
-welcoming activity
-open buffet lunch, snacks, drinks and oer d'oeuvres
-settling in, get your bearings on the island
-expectations, plans, and schedule overview
-Confidentiality agreement
-survey of interests/needs/wishes
-Ground Rules for the Retreat
-mapping your course
Mystery Cult Oath
Possible Tour of Chora, main town
Visual Art: Sunset Walk and Photo capture to Paleokastro, Byzantine fortress
Farewell to the sun and Closing the Circle ceremony
Dinner on your own
(Night Activity: Gazing at the Milky Way: Story Telling Contest
Constellation Stories at Midnight: Make a myth that will be immortalized in the skies.
DAY 2: Finding Self: Grounding Self in Group
Intention: making connections, deeper in self and others
-open circle ceremony
-introduce yourself by taking on an alter ego
-assorted drama techniques to solidify the group
-music/movement: What You Can’t See
-Dyads/Triads-Get Connected
-Breakfast
-Nature Walking Meditation/Sketching; Foraging beauty
-Visual Art Process: Sagoma Visual Art project: The parts of me I do not see,
I have buried deep.
-journaling and witnessing
Lunch
Poetry Project: Where I’m From using imagery
Close the circle ceremony
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 3: Connecting with your Goddess Power
Intention: using archetypes to explore self
-Open circle ceremony
-morning stretch: Arise to Phoebus
-poetry/song to greet EOS/DAWN
-morning prayer in the chapel
-Breakfast
-Nature Walk forage for natural objects, walking on Gia’s body
-Create a nature sculpture from foraged material
-Journaling: The message of the nature sculpture
-witness/sharing
-Goddess Power: Goddess Tarot Cards
Exploring the Pantheon of Gods/Goddesses
Connect to your goddess: monologue dramatic enactment
-Visual process: photo enactments in costume
Sharing and witnessing
Goddess Tableaux
Close the circle ceremony
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 4: Descending with the Goddess
Dedicated to the Heroine’s Journey and the Elysian Mysteries
Intention: Facing the Darkness/Meeting One’s Shadow
Opening the Circle Ceremony
Nature Walk/Morning Prayer for intention and meditation
Bracing for the Dark
Breakfast
Documentary: The Elysian Mysteries
Journaling: What is your darkness?
Pomegranate blood painting: what is your fatal fruit? Your fatal flaw?
Visual Process: The Black Box: fill the reliquary of your darkness
Lifeline Wisdom Ariadne’s Thread from the box
Catharsis Ritual: Burn the Witch
Sound emanation
Movement: What emerges from the fire
-Sharing the Kykeon dramatic reading of visual meditation of the Ascent of the Goddess
Journal/Sketch: Finding your light. Resurrection
LUNCH
Community Culminating Process: synthesize a bio poem that marks your own heroine’s journey. Enactment using the community, dramatic reading with movement and music
Close the Circle
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Dinner on your own
DAY 5: My Muse, Myself/ Crafting with Athena
Intention: Exploring different arts and crafts, some ancient some modern
Intention: finding inspiration to create
Open the Circle Ceremony
Morning prayer in the chapel
Nature Walk for intention and meditation
Sketching the landscape
Breakfast
-Cyanotype making with embellishments
-Goddess Bath bomb making /goat milk soap demo
-Encaustic demonstration and lecture on history of encaustic
-exploring encaustic with embedded elements, paper, and photo encaustic
Lunch
The Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Lectures on Greek culture, history, poetry as requested
Possible herbal tea infusion lesson
Visit to a family owned cheese factory
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
UNDER SELENE, the FULL MOON Night Performance (I try to organize this experience with the light of the full moon) (dinner must be ordered before hand)
Culminating Process: Performance Inspired by the Muses
-movement enactment poetry song and story telling creations inspired by the 9 Muses
Each participants puts on a performance under the aegis of the Muse(s) that synthesizes the creative products she has created.
-witnessing and sharing
-Muse tableaux
DAY 6: Mistress of Two Worlds: Finding Balance
Bringing back the boon
Opening the Circle: Witness the Sunrise
Sunrise Swim in the bay including 5 movements dance in the waves of Agia Theodoti
Rock sculptures for balance on the beach
Movement stick dance.
Sharing and witnessing.
BREAKFAST
Nature Walk: Intention What do you want to bring with you from your experience here?
Journaling: What have you learned about yourself and inner self from this week? From each other?
Synthesis: Visual Container: Create an Altar to your inner goddess with the products of your creation on this retreat
Journaling: What is the message that the Goddess is giving me?
Sharing and witnessing of altars Poetic and musical response
Rest break for hydrotherapy/hypnotherapy/heliotherapy
Farewell Dinner: reservations at gourmet restaurant Salt, Mylopotas
Feedback survey
DAY 7: Closing the Circle
Circle gift giving ceremony.
Final Closing of the Circle Ceremony
Chora and Ios Must Do Experiences:
-Pathos Sunset Lounge: have a drink and listen to Pavorotti as the sun dips into the Aegean
-Liostasis: 5-star restaurant and spa
-visit the three chapel at the top of the hill of Panagia Gremiotissa
-visit Skarkos the Bronze Age settlement museum and grounds
-visit the Elytis ancient open air theater
-walk to Homer’s Tomb
-have a traditional coffee at the piazza, the small square
-dance in the many lounges and discos, esp Ios Club for jazz/classical, Bar 69, Slammer Bar, Steps, Sweet Irish Dream (Irish Overseas), Scorpion disco
-explore the hidden beaches with a cruise especially the Old Lady’s Leap
-explore the other beaches Mylopotas, the Gialo, Manganari,
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
ExaRetreats Cyclades, Agia Theodoti, Ios, Cyclades, Greece
Directions
To get to Ios, Greece, you can take a ferry from Athens or another island in the Aegean Sea. You can also fly to a nearby island and then take a ferry to Ios.
Ferry options: Athens to Ios - Ferries depart from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina in Athens. The trip can take 3–10 hours, depending on the ferry and weather conditions.
Santorini to Ios: This is a popular crossing during the summer, and the trip takes about 40 minutes.
Ferry options: Athens to Ios - Ferries depart from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina in Athens. The trip can take 3–10 hours, depending on the ferry and weather conditions.
Santorini to Ios: This is a popular crossing during the summer, and the trip takes about 40 minutes.
Accommodation
Our accommodations feature traditional Cycladic stone cottages that overlook the sea, facing east to the sunrise, with ancient hills hugging the bay to provide a return to the basics, minimal approach to nurture your well-being during your retreat. You have two choices to choose for accommodation on our retreat: Stone Cottage The traditional stone cottage with marble flooring and updated appliances including A/C, washing machine, dish washer, and stable satellite Internet. Stone cottage features an ancient circular threshing floor that serves as a stage or arena for our intuitive movement and dance activities. Outdoor sitting areas allow for taking in the breeze and the sun. The stone cottage comfortably fits 4-5 guests in an open, dorm-style arrangement. The shared open space features one double bed (granted first come, first served) and three comfortable twin beds. Shared accommodations enhance the communal experience. Handcrafted Stone Atelier Unleash your creativity in our adjoining atelier, a unique art studio built from handcrafted stone. Let the soothing sounds of the running brook inside inspire your artistic expression. The atelier features sleek modern appliances including a kitchen nook. Its open-concept design expands the feeling of freedom as it has a split-level design. The stone atelier comfortably fits 6 guests: one queen bed and four twin beds. The beds are split across two levels: the queen bed with a sofa bed on one level and four twin beds on the second level.
Program Price
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
Our exclusive wellness retreat on the island of Ios Cyclades, Greece, where you enjoy accommodations in a traditional stone house in walking distance of the beach, organic, farm-to-table meals and the services of a native islander with 30 years’ experience as a professor and EXA facilitator and educator. The threshing floor in front acts as our stage and container where we enact myths. A stone atelier fully stocked with art supplies in a covered verandah is where we engage in art.
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Savor organic and locally sourced delights, including Greek goat yogurt, sweet figs, local cheeses and thyme honey, wood-oven baked bread with local olive oil, salads, fish, pomegranate juice, wine
What's Included
- -8-days/7 nights in traditional stone house or atelier designed in the Cycladic sytle-minimal but charming overlooking a secluded beach on one of the boutique islands of the Cyclades
- -traditional breakfast and lunch meals prepared by a local cook with organic (whenever possible) produce and fruit, farm-to-table (vegan options available) and local wine and thyme honey
- -daily activities including photography, nature meditation, journaling, dance/intuitive movement, yoga/stretching, solar prints, encaustic photography, painting, watercolor, sculpture using natural materials, folk medicine, natural cosmetics, soap making, cheese and yogurt making, dramatic role play using the Greek mythic archetypes,
- excursions to local venues such as museums, other beaches, traditional folk festival, cheese factory, ancient theater, archeological ruins, and to other islands as well
- -facilitation by a certified expressive arts professional, professional artist and teacher/professor
- -transport to and from port to the retreat
What's Not Included
- -airfare from your home to Athens
- -ferry from Athens to Ios, Cyclades
- -dinners
- -transport to main town Chora for evening entertainment
- -entrance tickets to cultural venues (nominal)
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