In July 2016, I embarked on an amazing one month adventure into the Peruvian Amazon Region. I had been wanting to do this for several years, ever since my last trip to Peru in 2012. Over the past two years specifically, I had been craving both and adventure and a retreat, somewhere to re-connect with Nature and with myself.
After much research, I found and signed up for a deep immersion retreat which offered physical, emotional and spiritual cleansing and healing in the Amazonian jungle. I flew from Calgary to Houston, to Lima and then to Iquitos, and then met some of the other people that were going on the retreat. Wonderful, interesting people from all over the world. From Iquitos we met the rest of our group and we took a bus, then a boat and then we hiked into the jungle get to our home for the next month.
We became acquainted with our new home and friends and then we met the teachers and healers we would be working with for the next month. From our amazing Shipibo healers we learned about and worked with Amazonia plants and medicines from their cultural tradition and worldview. We were immersed in the dense jungle environment where these plants grow naturally which was the perfect place for this healing learning journey of a lifetime.
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| Maestros blessing plants with mapacho |
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| Shipibo embrodiery textile |
The retreat proved to be a deeply transformative experience which helped bring me back into connection with Nature and myself. As a consequence, this brought back balance and harmony in my life. This transformation could not have happened without some challenges. Consciously engaging with emotional pain and discomfort from my past was not pretty or pleasant, but it was required to move forward. I am so grateful to the Maestros and plants for their grace and guidance in this process. It helped me to recognize and heal some deep emotional traumas from childhood, which have been holding me back for my whole life.
