Maia Earth Village - Cob houses

One of the newer additions since I first visited in
2011. They have perfected the process now
in 2013 and are constantly adding new earth
buildings.

What attracted me initially to this community was the fact that they were making the buildings out of cob, or clay, sand and rice straw. It's called Maia Conscious Community in Bacungan, Palawan.

They practice yoga and serve gourmet raw food and give body cleanse and detox seminars in these cob structures. I will go into that later, because to be honest, my personal focus was that I loved the idea of building with mud and rice straw.

The insulating qualities of clay are far superior to the common hollow blocks mostly used around here. Even with all the open windows the temperatures on a rather warm day were very comfortable inside the mud buildings.

I first went there in 2011 when the first building was being created so I have some behind the scenes photos to show the process,which we need to learn soon to put up our own.

(Do keep scrolling if you want to learn more about what you can do or learn at Maia Earth Village.)

This is what the first structure look liked when I first saw it in 2011 The walls are coated in a
lime wash. It was a big open beamed building with no walls except for the first 2 cob rooms.
You can see a full set and close ups of the framing and mud/straw mixture on my Facebookalbum.

This is the finished first building on Dec. 2012 They have since perfected the process and
have added several more buildings. You can see a full set of finished photos on my
Facebook album.

Inside the first building. Even though it was a hot day, it was nice and cool inside.

One of the newer structures in built in 2012. It has showers, and bedrooms and an open
communal area, as well as kitchenette with a sink. Since they don't cook, they don't have a stove.

The front steps and the door to one of the bedrooms

These are the showers . Quite spacious. They inserted clear bottles into the walls to add more light.

One of most recent structures.

You can see a full set of photos showing what the building process is with the mud and showing the bamboo framing etc, on my Facebook album.

Alright, now it's time to give back to them for sharing this stuff. These are reasons YOU might want to visit them. I have to say, I am omniverous, but they served me a breakfast burrito of fruits presented so beautifully plated I didn't want to eat it. When I ate it, I couldn't believe it was so delicious using all raw ingredients. I do wish I had brought my camera. I am a person who enjoys a good prime rib, but now I want to learn how to prepare some raw food the way they do it to supplementa my own diet with. It's so much tastier than just plain old salads.

This is the raw phase of the
last set of finished photos.

About
MAIA Earth VIlage is the first Raw Food Healing Community in ASIA. Our Vision Statement: We are simply one, joyful, spiritual and harmonious community celebrating life with Mother Nature in a garden of love, respect, peace and happiness.

Mission
We are a Conscious Community journeying towards the group’s Birth Vision – a physical and emotional Sacred Simplicity through Inner Dance ascendancy, yoga, meditation, energy awareness, live foods, ecological lifestyles, art, and the propagation of community gardens that can assist the planet’s healing and evolution in a time of global crisis and accelerated awakening process.

Mud over bamboo frame.
Click to enlarge

Biography
The Inner Dance community is spread across parts of Asia, the US and even Europe, and its home is in Palawan in a small hill where Maia Earth Village is situated. Right now, just a few people are living there, living ecological lifestyle and very conscious nutrition, sometimes in solitude and primarily in communal gardening.

Their Purpose:
The 12 Core Values of Maia Conscious Community:
1. That we have the initiative to work together harmoniously in creating a sustainable environment that harvests food, energy, waste and water using self-sustainable means.
2. That we espouse Sacred Simplicity in mind, body and the heart.
3. That we trust and respect another’s spiritual, physical and emotional development.
4. That we invest our time and energy in regular spiritual discipline that is organically integrated into our everyday lives.
5. That we regularly tune into the sacred harmonies and unconditional love of the Earth Mother.
6. That we uphold our personal integrity in our relationships with all beings.
7. That we expand our awareness to evolve into Universal Oneness.
8. That we are constantly creating a space of abundance through communal generosity.
9. That we practice positive communication and openness to new ideas, learning, and feedback to ensure harmonious relationships between every member of the Maia Conscious Community.
10. That we aspire to bring out everyone’s highest potential and are able to articulate our individual birth visions and intentions.
11. That we practice and promote purgation process and respect individual desire to retreat into silence and non-participation for the purpose of meditation and healing process.
12. That we strive to teach each member to grow their own food for the collective with the ultimate goal of individual sufficiency and sustainability.

You can also see them on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/maiaearthvillage/info

Their sister village Bahay Kalipay which also practices and teaches yoga, raw food,  (like you've never seen it, so gourmet) It is a native village inside the city of Puerto Princesa if you don't want as much distance from town, visit their website.

Here are a couple of their other related websites:
http://www.conscious-trance.com

http://www.innerdancejourney.com

You can see a full set of finished buildings on my Facebook Album.

And a full set of the building in progress on another FacebookAlbum.

Clever storage inside an earth bench which doubles as a bed when a mattress or foam is
laid down on it. I love this.