Flickr Set for this post: Elephant Camp: My Magical Day with Gentle Giants
Hello All!
So remember last weekend when I said I had the best weekend of my life? Well, this weekend gave last weekend a run for its money!
For those of you who don't know me super well, after college, I would love to travel the world learning all types of healing modalities in their country of origin, in the hopes of one day opening my own wellness center. My journey towards beginning that process took shape last week at the Yoga Mala Festiva here in Chiang Mai where I connected to a community of alternative healers who I can learn from for the future. If you read my post from last weekend, you know that I attended two work shops while there and the two men who led those workshops reappeared in my life this weekend.
Just to bring you up to speed, I attended a workshop on hypnosis and one on Qi Gong. The first man, Nick, talked about how we have all been hypnotized by the collective consciousness of the world to ignore our true selves, which keeps us from finding peace. He then performed a group hypnosis to help us all connect to inner peace and peace between all of us. It was beautiful. At the end of this session he spoke about a workshop he was holding on self-hypnosis this past weekend (what would be a week from the Yoga Mala Festival) and I knew from the moment that he mentioned it that I needed to go.
Then, a man named Guy led a Qi Gong session. Qi Gong is a form of energy transfer for those of you who don’t know. In this session, we focused our collective energy on a group of crystals and then used that energy to send love and light out to the world and its inhabitants. It was beautiful and very powerful. I really felt the energy. During the session he spoke about people he was seeing and asked us to send them love and light. After the workshop I wanted to ask him how he was seeing those people to compare it to how I channel the energy of others when I perform card readings, but he disappeared before I could ask him. This is all important to know so that I can explain how it ties into this past weekend.
Anyway, my two friends, Berrett, Liz, and I signed up for Nick's workshop this past Saturday. Although I'm into alternative healing, hypnosis has never really been on my radar in terms of things that I believe in, but he was so inspirational at the YM Festival, that I was at the very least intrigued by what he had to say. Also, I need to start deciding which modalities I myself hope to practice in the future, so exploring as many as I can is a must. On Saturday morning, we met up bright and early and headed out in a song-tao to the Blue Diamond Cafe, an amazing Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant for breakfast. We had delicious wholesome omelets, banana pancakes with cinnamon and brown sugar, fresh squeezed orange juice and more! Then, we found our way to Healing Light, a wellness center here in Chiang Mai which is where the workshop was held. Nick was warm and welcoming and we sat on the floor on meditation pillows in a circle and talked to him a bit about our time here. As people began to file in, I saw some familiar faces from the Yoga Mala festival. Of the thirteen people there, Guy, the Qi Gong master was one of them! I couldn't believe that the two healers I wanted to learn more from and about where right there with me! The others were also interesting. Some of them gave me bad vibes, but others were so open. One woman who was suffering from a broken heart talked to me about it. She was so sweet. She asked if she could hold my hand on our back from our lunch break at the Salad Concept (one of my personal faves here in Chiang Mai which happens to be a block from Healing Light!) and we talked so openly about how she was feeling. By the end of the day, she actually gained some comfort which was stupendous to see. In the workshop, we learned how to put ourselves into a deep trance, find a "happy place" so to speak, and once there, how to use positive statements to reprogram our way of thinking. He explained it as a cycle that begins with an experience (although technically the cycle can begin at any of the stages) that then makes us have a belief about ourselves. Those beliefs create thoughts and images in our mind, which lead to emotions, which lead to behavior, which causes others to have reactions to our behavior which then creates an experience and so it goes. Basically what you imagine is a preview of what you call into your life, therefore, you must think positively to attract positivity (something I've always believed!) It was fascinating and we all really gained something from it. It brought things up for my friends and me that we really needed to process and release.
During some of the short breaks in the workshop I was able to talk to both Guy and Nick about seeing them privately for instruction on different healing modalities. They both took an interest in me and are taking me on as a student. In my time here, I will at the very least begin the process of becoming a certified reiki master and crystal healer!! I am so excited, I cannot even tell you. This is exactly what I came here to do. I am surrounded by people who not only show me that the life I want is possible, but they want to help me make it happen!!! I feel so blessed and I cannot wait to see what I can learn form them. It's time like this where I randomly end up in the right place in the right time that helps me keep my faith in the Universe. We had heard about the Yoga Mala festival so randomly and decided to go on a whim. The only two workshops I took happened to be led by Nick and Guy, and Guy happened to attend Nick's workshop. Synchronicity at work! I feel so blessed. My dreams are beginning to come true! The night was made even better when my friends and I got sushi for dinner and went to the Saturday walking market for some amazing $4 massages!
Just when I thought life couldn't possibly be any better, the Universe proved me wrong. I spent yesterday at an Elephant camp with Liz, Hillary, Claire, Erin, and Allison, 5 girls on my trip who I really love. Elephant camp is another name for a habitat or sanctuary where elephants are either rescued or born on the land and live happy lives protected from poachers and other dangers. Although they are not free, it might actually be better for them.
We were picked up at 7:45 in the morning, so we were all very groggy and pretty unenthused. The fog was quickly lifted though when we arrived. As soon as we stepped out of the van, we were led just a few feet through a rice field to see a mother elephant and her 1.5 month old baby! I couldn't believe my eyes. This was NOTHING like being at the zoo or watching Animal Planet. There were REAL LIVE ELEPHANTS right in front of me! They were just roaming free around the camp. They came right up to us and allowed us to touch them. It was nothing like I expected. Elephants have very sparse, wirey hair that covers their body. Their skin is like dry leather and their trunks are just strange until you get used to them! After meeting the entire group and a touching orientation from the camp owner, we were led in smaller groups to different huts that were surrounded by our elephants. For the sake of price, we each shared an elephant with another girl. I shared an elephant with Liz. Her name was Plau which means "Jewelry" in Thai. She is magnificent. She is a 14 year old who was rescued from the circus a year and a half ago. Although she can do tricks, the elephant camp we went to believes that it is cruel to make elephants do things that other camps support like playing soccer, standing on their hind legs, etc which my friends and I really respect. We started by feeding our elephants. By giving them food, we established a positive relationship with them that would be vital throughout the day. We then learned how to care for our elephants and give them health checks. This included picking up, smelling and searching through their dung for clues about the condition of their teeth, their hydration level, and so on. We also checked to see if they were sweating enough (Elephants sweat out of their cuticles of their toenails) to see if they were getting enough to drink.
We then commanded our elephants to lie on the ground by saying "NON-LAB" which is Thai for "sleep". Once they were on the ground we used banana leaves to brush the dirt off their backs. Elephants only sleep for about 6 hours per night, but their sleep is interrupted because they need to switch sides constantly throughout the night. With all this tossing and turning, the elephants back is covered in dirt by morning, so it was our job to clean it off. Next, we walked our elephants over to the river to bathe them. It was very fun, but also serious. Elephants have particular skin-care needs (Shoutout to my skin care team at YOLO MED SPA back home :] ) and it's important to brush them and wash them a certain way. It was SUPER fun until my friend Claire was mauled by the baby elephant. She was terrified, as we all were, until she realized that it was just trying to play. Even a 1.5 month old elephant weighs hundreds of pounds though and Claire's tiny frame was no match for the over-sized puppy. She went down and was crushed between the river bank and the baby. Just when Claire was rescued, the baby set its sights on Allie and rammed her as well, destroying her camera. As scary as this was, we all understood that the elephant was not angry or malicious, so Claire and Allie bravely went back to their grooming duties. (I love you, girls! I'm so proud!!)
Next, we were taught how to mount, ride, and direct our elephants. All of the commands were in Thai and also included gentle body language and nudges. Elephants are extremely smart (chaa-laat in Thai) but can be very stubborn! We climbed up their trunks and awkwardly climbed our way onto their backs. Their spines are so large and boney that by the end of the day we all had terrible pains in our backsides (totally worth it, though!) We led our elephants on a thrilling ride through rivers and mud, across a highway, and up a mountain into a rainforest until we reached a waterfall. The mud was so slippery at times and the hike so steep both up and down that I sometimes feared for my life! Once there, we had a delicious picnic lunch on rocks in the rainforest in the middle of the river that overlooked the waterfall. We had sticky rice with pork and corn, sticky rice with coconut and banana, passion fruit, dragon fruit, bananas, prickly fruit, fried chicken, pumpkin custard muffins, coconut pancakes and more! I was feeling so full and satisfied in my heart AND my stomach! I found my way onto a rock in the middle of the river right near the falls and laid down to listen to the water. Just as I was settling into a meditation Liz came over and we had a wonderful conversation. (Liz, since I know you're reading this: you are insightful and inspiring. I love you and you add so much to my life. Thanks for being my friend.)
I would say what came next was perhaps the best part of all. We had the opportunity to slide down a bit of the falls into a swimming hole where we SWAM AND PLAYED WITH THE ELEPHANTS!!!! I didn't think that life could get any better until it started to rain!! I WAS PLAYING IN THE RAIN, IN THE RAINFOREST, IN A WATERFALL, WITH ELEPHANTS. MY LIFE IS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends and I honestly could not believe this was real life. We just played and splashed and slid down the waterfall and were truly in paradise. After our treacherous ride back to camp on the elephants, we said our farewells to our new friends (the elephants!) and hopped in the vans to go home. To top off this perfect day, we saw a rainbow on our way.
Take a look!
I would say that life is nothing short of beautiful for me right now. I feel so blessed for all of these wondrous adventures I take part in and the incredible opportunities I am given each day. Not only that, but the doors for a successful future are opening for me. By following my heart and my passion and having faith in myself and the Universe, things are really starting to happen for me. Every minute brings a miracle with it. It is a miracle the way that synchronicity brought me to that workshop this weekend. It's a miracle that elephants are strong enough to carry me up and and down steep, muddy mountains. The mountains are miracles. The rainforest and all its creatures are miracles. My friends are miracles. The healing going on in my personal life is a miracle. Each and every minute I am beginning to notice more and more the handy work of God surrounding me and I feel blessed to be a part of it and a witness to it.
Thanks for reading!
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