Little Paradise

Little Paradise is a small modern monastery, and a meditation and retreat center offering 'best' conditions for people on individual retreat. We only take volunteers wanting to engage in an earnest spiritual retreat while they stay with us.

Guests and volunteers visiting the house have reported the following learnings from the stay with us:
- establishing or intensifying a daily meditation routine,
- experiencing (deep) inner peace and stillness,
- broad learning about a multitude of questions (concerning inner work and spirituality) that might have arisen during their stay with us,
- visions/ideas and motivation to proceed with new projects in their lives.

You are welcome as a volunteer if you:
1. are looking for a retreat time to focus on your spiritual practices - for example meditation, contemplation, praying, deep bodywork, relaxation techniques, long walks in nature, dream work, certain kinds of reading, etc.
If you have other main purposes in your free time - like digital work, sightseeing, etc. - we are not the right place for you.
(Some people depend on music, singing, dancing or intense bodywork as their way of reconnecting. Our place is not suited for these needs, as we love inner stillness so much.)
2. like to meditate with us, twice daily,
3. like to pay attention to detail and precision in your work and most everything you do,
4. would like to reduce your digital media intake to what is necessary, during your stay with us,
5. are 'experienced' on the spiritual path: You have your own spiritual practice and MUST have been on a spiritual retreat before.

You need to have your own practices and topics that you want to work or focus on as otherwise you will be bored quickly. Beginners on the spiritual path were oftentimes not happy here, as we just "live" a deep spiritual focus that have elements of monastic life. We do not offer specific schooling or teaching, but the house provides support for your own efforts in a multitude of ways.

For some volunteers, the stay with us has been truly transformational. Of course, this is very much dependent upon the individual efforts.


Benefits: peaceful garden with pond, large meditation room, library, nature sanctuary for water birds is adjacent to the property. Great view!

Expected help hours:
25 hours/week for free accommodation and organic vegetarian food (self-catering from the kitchen storage).

Working hours start daily at 9.30 a.m.
We are flexible to arrange the hours so that you can have days off for sightseeing and recreation. But we ask you to arrange your free days with us, as we do have days when we depend on helpers' work.

About the work required:
Help is appreciated in the following areas: gardening, cleaning, repair or maintenance work. If you come with experience in online marketing (Instagram, Facebook, SEO etc.) or website editing that might also be helpful.
From May to November, we also have many fruits, vegetables, berries and leaves to harvest (for private use in the house, only). In autumn, preparing apple-pear compote and making apple juice are also regular tasks, as we try to make use of the thousands of apples from the garden.

Some more information about the house:
- Hamburg: 25 min by car / 1 h by public transport
- Lubeck / Baltic see: 35 min by car / 95 min by public transport
- next shops: 4 km (bus stop is 50 m away, 10 min ride)
- lakes for swimming: 4 km (bus stop is 50 m, 10 min ride, then 10 min walk)
- accommodation in double- or triple-bed room (mixed gender)
- reliable high-speed WLAN/WiFi is available around the house and in the garden.

In this center, we aim to combine a detached clarity (and a certain strictness that is necessary for this clarity) with a more female warmth and caring, when hosting our guests and volunteers. We are two permanent residents and offer three private guestrooms (and one for the volunteers). We are not affiliated with any particular spiritual tradition. Guests usually come with a great need for stillness, spiritual practices (like meditation, contemplation, nature walks etc.). And the purpose of this center is really to provide such a space. We are intense meditators and like to meditate for 3-4 hours, daily (morning and evening group meditations). As a volunteer you are expected to want to mainly focus on your own spiritual practices outside of the working hours. If this is your longing, we can be a great place. If you prefer something else, we are not the right place. "Rules" of the house: 1. We only plan ahead for the respective next two months. Please, do not contact us earlier than two months prior to your proposed arrival date. 2. We are mainly looking for long-term volunteers. The minimum duration of stay is four weeks. We consider a two-week trial period best for both sides. 3. If any of the "welcome-requirements" above is not the case, we cannot host you as a volunteer. For guests of the house, these "rules for our volunteers" do not apply, in the same way. So, if you are interested in staying with us but cannot meet the above rules, staying with us as a guest can still be an option. 4. You have to be psychologically and mentally healthy and do not take pharmaceuticals to stay with us. (Meditation can otherwise have unintended, extreme or very little effects.) 5. We cannot host additional pets. We are also not set up to host children. 6. Non-smoking inside. 7. No drugs (or psycho-active plant medicine), please.