REGAIN is located in the hamlet of La Borie Noble in the Hérault, a vast wilderness in the
Haut-Languedoc region: forests, hills, springs, rivers and meadows abound and make this
beautiful place a privileged place to be in contact with the nature and with yourself.

The Association Regain (Law 1901) is a collegiate association without political or religious ties,
which aims to promote the concept and practice of non-violence and spirituality, through craft,
rural and artistic experimentation in respect of the environment. We aim to grow, raise, trade,
and use our own food and forestry products in an ecologically regenerative and regional culture.
Our main goal is to practice fair, participatory, and effective self-governance as well as
encourage diverse cultural practices.

The association is linked in its foundations to the values of the Community of the Ark of Lanza
del Vasto while developing its own personality. It tries to achieve its objectives by organizing
seminars, conferences, cultural events, meditation retreats and youth projects that allow for
inter-spiritual research and awareness of our interconnection with nature.

Today, at Regain, we are eight adults of different nationalities, surrounded by friends and
volunteers. We lead a life enriched by cultural sharing and mutual aid in the various work and
activity sectors: field crops, organic gardening, farm with sheep, chickens, horses, peacocks
and bees, bakery, carpentry, pottery, music, dance, cooking and many others. We encourage
manual work, creative expression, a spirit of service, a sense of gratuity and respect for life in
all its forms. We are vegetarian.

We begin our day with a “circle together”, a time for silent meditation, singing or readings
followed by a small meeting to plan the activities of the day. We continue with a convivial
moment of helping in the kitchen, peeling vegetables for the preparation of the meals, before
heading to our tasks. We meet again at 1pm for a community lunch in a relaxed atmosphere,
and finish all together by washing up!

Our daily activities are about 5 hours from Monday to Friday, to which can be added some small
services, especially on Saturday morning for the bakery and the kitchen. Here are some
examples of daily tasks according to the seasons: sowing, weeding and harvesting in the
garden or the greenhouse, canning, haymaking, harvesting, small maintenance, cleaning,
cooking, wood cutting, baking, etc.

There is also a whole cultural dimension at the heart of our life : traditional songs, dance, music, festivals to celebrate the rhythm of the seasons and above all their preparation together,
theater, crafts and many other things.

Every evening we can join for a time of meditation guided by Tim. Regular retreats of
Vipassana for former students are scheduled all year long. We meet two days a week for
Iyengar-inspired yoga classes with Quentin. Once a week, we meet in a small group to practice
contact dancing with Sophie. On Saturday evenings, Jean Luc proposes a folk dance with
traditional dances of the world.

Our project revolves around a main axis which is openness to others in benevolent
communication, a spiritual search with the intention to blossom in the service of one another, so that community life is a source of life for all in consciousness about the environment. We focus on nurturing, interpersonal understanding and mutual trust, as the foundation for a deeply connected human community.