Travel to the birthplace of mythology to write, rest & rejuvenate.

THIS RETREAT IS SOLD OUT. Email writeandflow@gmail.com to get on the waiting list.
June 16—24, 2023

Escape to heaven on earth to relax, reset, practice Yoga, and write. You’ll leave with a new connection to yourself, your writing, and the world around you.

Join us for a week of writing, yoga, meditation, adventuring, relaxing, learning, and growing in Paros, Greece.



This retreat is hosted by Ali Vingiano, a TV writer (The Morning Show), teacher at Script Anatomy, and a 200-hour certified Yoga teacher.

Ali will be joined by Sasy Chasomeri, a 500h Greek Yoga teacher and co-owner of OKREBLUE Eco Yoga Retreat Center, the sustainable, boutique hotel in Paros where we’ll be staying

Sasy’s sunset beach Yoga class

The theme of this retreat is GETTING CREATIVELY UNSTUCK! This will be a week to reset, and work through the inner blocks that are preventing you from reaching your creative potential.
We’ll be focusing on connecting to ourselves so that we can write from an authentic place. We’ll mix that deep relaxation and introspection with adventure, friendship, and fun! We’re traveling halfway across the world, after all, so expect boat rides along the Mediterranean, sightseeing, and dinner and dancing out in town.
This is a perfect retreat for somebody craving inspiration and adventure, looking to overcome their writer’s block, in search of a creative community, or somebody interested in one-on-one writing and career guidance with a working writer.
It’s also a wonderful retreat for working writers who simply want to escape to a beautiful new setting to write, brainstorm,  get reset.

“How can you sit down to write when you have not stood up to live?

— Henry David Thoreau

It’s time to break from the stresses of living a creative career and practice deep relaxation. That’s exactly what we’re going to do in Greece.

We’ll wake up early to journal on the beach and practice Yoga. We’ll write with a cup of coffee or tea as we feel the breeze from the ocean. And we’ll spend a week surrounded by other adventurous, inspiring writers, connecting to ourselves and creating from an authentic place.

Sasy’s Yoga class in one of Okre Blue’s shalas

Example schedule (on a day with no excursions):

7:30am: Optional silent journaling on the beach
8:30am: Yoga with Sasy
10am: Brunch of fresh, organic Mediterranean Food
11-2pm: Free time to explore town, write, or relax on the beach
3-5pm: Writing workshop
6:30pm: Dinner of fresh, organic Mediterranean Food at Okre Blue or in town
8pm: Varies by night, either free time or optional: Tarot night, group writing night, Q&A with Ali, bonfire on the beach, or an adventure in town

Highlights include: Boat rides on the Mediterranean Sea to neighboring islands Mykonos and Delos, incredible Greek dinners out in town, and hikes to the best views in Paros.

Our writing space

This retreat includes:

  • 8 nights accommodations at Okre Blue Seaside Retreat Center, a stunning, sustainable hotel steps away from the beach

  • Daily Yoga, breathwork, and meditation from Sasy

  • Daily writing workshops based on the group’s interests

  • Private consultations and individualized verbal feedback on your writing from Ali, as desired

  • Trauma-informed introspective workshops and guided journaling on writer’s block, connecting to your voice, and more

  • Organic, vegetarian brunch and dinner each day

  • Boat rides on the Aegean Sea to neighboring islands and beaches

  • Meals and dancing out in town

  • Airport shuttle and/or port shuttle from Paros port or airport

  • New connections with writers from around the world

  • And so much more!

Not included:

  • Airfare to Paros

  • Travel insurance (mandatory)

  • COVID testing (a negative test result is mandatory to attend)

  • Tips & gratuity for hotel, etc.

  • Alcohol

Rooms & Pricing:

Expect a rustic, eco-friendly, beachside retreat center & organic farm. Inspired by the elements, all rooms at Okreblue are open, naturally lit, and purposefully minimal. Most of the rooms face the seaside and are a stone’s throw away from Filizi beach, with unencumbered access to the Aegean Sea. Perfect for a sunrise dip! Or sunset, if you’re a night person like me :) 

ALL ROOMS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AMENITIES:

  • Refrigerator

  • Kettle & Tea Cups

  • Daily Room Service

  • Ceiling Fan

  • Ensuite bathroom

  • Wi-Fi

  • Outdoor Patio

  • Towels & Linen

  • Biodegradable Soap

  • Hair Dryer on Request

Photos are examples of the room levels, they may not be the exact room you are allocated.

Shared room with 3 single beds

$2500/person

Shared room with two single beds

$2700/person

Private room with King bedc

$3100 or $5400/couple

Prices are all-inclusive for accommodations, all meals, Yoga, writing classes & private consultation with a TV writer, and excursions throughout Greece.

To register:

Please email writeandflow@gmail.com to get a link to the registration form, retreat waiver, and agreement.

To secure your space, a nonrefundable $500 deposit is required via Zelle, or via TranserWise/Paypal for travelers coming from outside of the USA. Once the form is complete and the deposit is paid, the spot is yours!

  • Payment plans are available.

  • Full payment is due March 1st, after which point the retreat is nonrefundable.

If you have questions, email writeandflow@gmail.com. Brief phone calls are available to anybody who wants to chat before registering.

Location:

Okre Blue

In perfect balance with nature, Okreblue Eco Yoga Retreat sits on the relatively untouched seaside of Santa Maria on the tranquil peninsular of Paros Island, Greece. The surrounding elements, especially the earth and water, are the soul of Okreblue. The closeness to nature in its rawness and purity creates deeply nourishing conditions for your healing, rejuvenation and self reflection at Okreblue.

Paros
Paros is the best of both worlds: It feels like an authentic Greek island rather than a touristy party hotspot like Mykonos and Santorini, but it’s more lively than some of the sleepy nearby islands, like Milos or Symi. We will be staying 2.5 miles from the town of Naoussa — here’s a video tour of it. We will also visit Antiparos by boat.

Here’s a great Paros travel guide to give you a sense of the island.

If you’d like to visit one of the other islands, I recommend flying into Mykonos when you arrive for the retreat, spending a night or two there, and then taking the 45-minute boat ride to Paros on the 18th. Or, make plans to visit Santorini, Crete or Rhodes. Those are the most popular, touristy islands that have a very different feel than Paros, but are still gorgeous and fun to visit. Schedule one into your vacation before/after the retreat if you can!

How to get to Paros:

By Plane: 
Aegean Air flies from Athens to Paros, Greece. Make sure you book your tickets well in advance. For information, visit: http://en.aegeanair.com/ 

You can also fly Aegean Air from Athens to Mykonos, and then take a 45-minute boat right to Paros. This is a great option if you’d like to see Mykonos during your time in Greece. And you came all the way here! Why not do a little island hopping :)

By Boat from Athens: 
There are two ports in Athens, Greece: Rafina port and Piraeus port. Rafina port is closer to the airport and you can get there either by taxi or bus. By bus will take you about 45 minutes and it costs 3 Euros. Piraeus port is further from the airport than Rafina, and you can get there by bus, metro or taxi. The metro and bus are both very convenient because they will leave you just a few meters from where you get the boat to Paros. Both the bus and the metro take about one hour (the bus a little longer maybe depends on the traffic) to get to Piraeus and cost 10 Euros. 

There are two companies that sail to Paros: BlueStar Ferries, Athens, Greece takes about 4.5 hours and runs twice a day with tickets starting at 33 euros Hellenic Seaways, Athens, Greece takes about 2.75 hours with tickets starting at 45-50 euros.

Shuttles are available for you at either the Paros airport or the boat port, to be scheduled at your time of arrival.

The town of Naoussa, 2.5 miles from our hotel.

About Ali

Ali wrote for the first two seasons of The Morning Show (Apple TV+), served as a producer for The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper (Comedy Central), and stars in the largely improvised feature film The End of Us (SXSW ‘21). She teaches television writing at Script Anatomy, where she has sold out every class she’s taught. In 2020, she got certified to teach Yoga at One Down Dog in LA, and has additional 20h certificates in Trauma Informed Yoga and Yoga Nidra from the Soma Yoga Institute. Ali has traveled to over 30 counties and has practiced meditation, breathwork, and Yoga with world-renowned teachers in Bali, Rishikesh, Dharamsala, and Nosara. When she’s managing to stay still, she lives in LA with her partner and their pitbull.

About Sasy

Sasy is a yoga teacher, a holistic coach, a dog lover, a nature lover and environmentalist, leading a conscious life on Paros Island.

Sasy has been teaching Yoga since 2010 and is a certified and registered yoga teacher E-RYT® 200, RYT® 500, certified NLP Coach, Ayurveda Practitioner and Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Therapist. She is one of the founders and director of Okreblue Retreat Center based on Paros, and has led numerous Spiral Yoga Project teaching workshops, trainings and retreats.

Sasy’s classes emphasize sound body alignment, based on the Alignment Principles of Anusara Yoga. The practice of Anusara Yoga is considered to be ‘heart-oriented’, meaning that it is expressed from the ‘inside out’. Artistically and mindfully, Sasy interweaves a heart theme and meaningful intention, to the physical practice as a way to expand and take your awareness beyond the mat and into everyday life. Each sequence is very carefully designed to meet her students’ needs for continuous growth and healing.

Sasy teaches from the heart and inspires people to live life to its fullest potential, cultivate their inner power, and unfold the strength that is already present to face life’s challenges as opportunities for development and transformation. You can’t help but leave any of her classes amazingly uplifted!

Testimonials from previous retreats:

“This retreat was one of the most amazing adventures of my life! It was well-designed and organized, and I felt extremely safe in Ali’s hands from the moment I signed up on a whim to stepping onto the plane home. The yoga and sound bath meditation interwoven with selected excursions and tailored writing workshops allowed me to navigate the apprehension I was feeling about the next steps of my career and the limitations I was setting on myself, not just in my writing but also in my personal journey. I made lifelong connections with a lovely group of people through sharing our work and collective experience, and by default we created the space to share ourselves. We laughed, we cried, and we became fearless in the process. Feels like a dream I’d want to have again and again! Thank you, Ali for opening your heart to make ours feel fuller.”

— Ariel S., from Los Angeles, attended the Costa Rica 2022 retreat

“Ali made us all feel safe and protected and modeled such a perfect balance of thoughtful planning and roll with the punches malleability to create an ideal flow! She is such a great leader and teacher! Truly couldn’t believe it was her first retreat. She’s the best!”

— Allison, Costa Rica 2022 retreat

“This retreat opened my mind!!! I didn’t know that I was a good writer. The group included me with patience and love. I never felt like a stranger. The feedback was wonderful. I’m eternally grateful for having found this retreat. It showed me that I can change my life. Thank you Ali!!!”

— Mariana, Costa Rica 2022 retreat

"The Write and Flow Retreat was both sublime and door opening. Ali flawlessly created an ambiance that nourished both our souls and our voices as writers. What’s even more wonderful than the live experience is how I have been able to carry the tools forward into my everyday life. On a certain level the retreat made me feel like I had come home to myself.“

— Mindy M., attended the Costa Rica 2022 retreat