In about 12 hrs, I will be in Peru co-leading a yoga retreat. Its summer here: hot, steamy, sunny, & lush. In Peru, its the start of winter: high 60’s, mid 30’s at night. It was interesting packing for the opposite season as well as wrapping my head around that fact that this is going to be a killer trip.
Why Peru? I spent 5 weeks there in 2009. I was in total awe the whole time. I could try to sum up all the beauty, but it won’t do justice unless you are standing on peruvian soil taking it all in. In sum, its like you just took a dive into a National Geographic magazine. There is an abundance of the most breathtaking geography, beautiful people, food, fauna, the list goes on… What I appreciate the most about my time in Peru, is that no matter where I went, I noticed the common denominator of simplicity. Simple foods, simple people… everything is so straight forward. Even the beliefs of the people. In general, there is a HUGE love of the land and the history- brutal but so true. No matter who I spoke with, every conversation led back to Pancha Mama, Mother Earth. There is a deep, entrenched respect for the environment. I found that everything led back to acknowledging this. Every experience led to a story. I learned so much about appreciating what I have and also how to make peace with the tangible. Peru definitely left an impression on me. When I was there, I knew I’d be back. And, I knew I wanted to take people to experience this for themselves.
This time I head back, co-leading a yoga retreat. We have a beautiful week planned, but will be practicing some serious non-attachment to the itinerary. I’m sure that there will be moments where the experience we are having trumps an agenda. I am so looking forward to practicing living in each moment. It will go by fast; its only 10 days.
I am also feeling grateful to my fellow yogi-studio-owning-friends who are covering classes while I am gone. Thank you. I’ll be sending you tons of love south of the equator!
I’m enjoying my last french press at home. Spending some QT with my pups. I’m all packed up and set to jet. See you all when I return! peace.
xo
~is
