A minute with Afroditi Vassiliou Earth is Calling team member, Coheali Eco Experience event planner and amateur farmer

Where do you live?
In my caravan surrounded by nature with my dog Aria and three puppies who are looking for their forever homes.

What did you have for breakfast?
Herbal tea from my herbal garden and porridge with carob honey and pecans from the family’s field.

Describe your perfect day
Mmmm, waking up with the first sunshine that enters through my window, talking our morning walk with Aria in the countryside around us, caring for the plants in the field and then after work heading towards the beach to practice some breathwork, yoga and swim.

Best book ever read?
The Operator’s Manual For Planet Earth. It shows and reminds us with inspiring stories full of symbolism how we, as souls, forget to act through love when we are born because of our ego and material life and how we can overcome our ego and remember the love that we are and start acting with it.

Best childhood memory?
Rolling down the hill with my siblings next to our house in the village (where a building now stands) and also playing “mermaids” in the sea again with my siblings (where now a five-star hotel exists)

What is always in your fridge?
I don’t have a fridge 

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
I really enjoy nature sounds, birds singing or the sound of waves or rain depending on the weather. So I usually keep the radio in the car turned off.
When I’m in the mood to dance though, that’s a totally different story.

What’s your spirit animal?
Dolphin since a kid because I feel connected to it and also sometimes I see it in my dreams. The last two years it’s definitely kingfisher, I meet her whenever I go at the beach, river and port. I even met her in a park in Nicosia once and couldn’t believe she was there. She symbolises the connection of earth and water, the transformations through our life, that size doesn’t really matter, the beauty of all seasons and that magic exists.

What are you most proud of?
On a personal level, I am proud of the fact that life gave me the opportunity 2 years ago, to return to the village. The fact that I can grow my own vegetables and herbs with my partner. Also the fact that six years ago I changed life path and from being a lawyer I chose a totally different, healthier lifestyle with a more holistic approach and became a yoga teacher.
I am also proud that we managed with a group of like minded people with common vision and with common base our love for the earth and the environment, to form a platform called Earth is Calling.

What movie scene has really stayed with you? And why
From Pay It Forward, the scene where a kid explains in class how the world would become a better place if all of us do a good action to a stranger and then when we are asked what we would wish in exchange, to say do good to three more people. If each of those 3 help 3 more each, then a pyramid of acts of kindness will be made and world has a chance to become a better place.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
My grandmother who passed away. She had depression and stayed all day home. I would spend a day with her in nature.

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
To ancient Egypt during the period that the pyramids were created. I feel that there was something extremely powerful and mystic that was happening.

What is your greatest fear?
Staying stuck in my head, living in my thoughts, being controlled from my mind and end up losing life and precious moments which could be lived and enjoyed.

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
Grab any opportunity, don’t be shy, don’t care what others would think, dare, risk, gain experiences rather than regrets, travel more, love yourself, close your eyes and meditate, express freely, speak up, always search for alternatives, be open, trust life.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
Any form of discrimination towards others, people or animals.

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Go to the beach, dance barefoot, dive under water and say thank you for all the opportunities and blessings I had the chance to experience in life.