WOW.

Today I am sitting here in my room again- after 40 days of being in Colombia.

40 days that I will never forget, and I have yet to completely digest.

It was a vacation, with adventure, love, great food, education, personal and spiritual and professional growth. My main objective was to have a little mini vacation, first time traveling overseas in awhile- and then completely surrender into staying 34 days in the mountains, camping and studying Ayurveda… taking six (6) different workshops.

I have returned with my bank account a lot less- but my knowledge account- very rich.
Yes, I really chose to invest in myself during the past month and some and I am excited about it… and excited to begin sharing some of what I just learned.

Courses I took:
Bliss Therapy Course: Bliss therapy is a therapy which includes three therapies in one. Abhyanga Snehana, Shirodhara and Svedana.
Abhyanga Snehana (oil massage) that works to pacify the nervous system, while stimulating your circulatory systems and massaging different lypmhs to allow accumulated toxins to return to the digestive system where your body can get rid of them. The oil helps to promote relaxation while reducing tension in the body.
I was trained in another routine of working with another personal in the traditional formation of four hands. (Two people giving the therapy together.)
We worked together in groups of three of the week to give and receive therapies.
In the near future, I will be looking to train an assistant to work with me giving these therapies as well as educating them in Ayurveda during my workshops, yoga classes as well working along side with me. Until then, I will offer this therapy solo, only instead of being one hour- it will be 1.5 hours. (I have been offering Abhyanga massage since 2014, but I learned a new routine in Colombia. So I will now be offering two different routines that obviously have similarities, but also have many differences in techniques.)

Shirodhara, is an oleation therapy that promotes relaxation and helps to reduce stress by the continuous pouring of oil over the forehead and ajna chakra (third eye). The therapy last between 30-40 minutes. It works to help pacify Vata and Pitta. Not normally recommended for Kapha imbalances. This I have been offering for the past year, but I wasn´t advertising that much, but really want to begin offering it more as it is such a special therapy- especially for Vata vikrutis.
Svedana, is herbal infused sweat therapy. In which at the end of the therapies, to allow the oil to go deeper into the body for additional support and protection. This therapy, I will be offering once I design a sweat box or tent. Until then, luckily enough- Puerto Escondido is super hot and just being in the apartment without the fan, could serve as a sweat box jaja.
One can have this therapy every day for 7 days or longer and whenever else they feel they want some maintenance, or some bliss in their mind, body and soul.

I also took a basti course which was a lot of fun and I am stoked to begin offering basti therapies. Bastis, I make a dam out of dough around a specific part of the body that has pain or perhaps energy blocks and then fill the dam with warm liquid (ghee, oil or milk) and then continuously circulate the liquid during the session to keep it warm. It is very relaxing on helps pain due to inflammation (by using the appropriate herbs and oils), pain (due to dryness and tension and strain.) One can have a series of bastis every day for a week to help with certain ailments, and then also having one basti session a week for maintenance. (Such as a basti for the eyes- helps people who suffer from eye strain due to long hours of computer work.)
I will be offering are for your eyes (using ghee), heart (using milk and herbs), lower back, knees, abdomen (using medicated oil) and optional other areas that may benefit from a basti therapy.

Then after the basti course, I had my Diagnostic course for my internship starting in July.
There was 30 people in this course (all students from all over Latino America.) So I had an opportunity to read a lot of different pulses, see a lot of different tongues, and master the consultation questions determining the Prakruti and Vikruti of the pacient. (This I have been doing over the past year before giving Abhyanga and Shirodhara therapies, however I learned a lot more about tongue diagnosis and more confident with pulse diagnosis.)

Then after the Diagnostic course I have an Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist Course- which we learned, understood, and practiced receiving and giving yoga classes specialized for Vata, Pitta and Kapha Vikrutis. Over the past couple of years, I have been practicing and mindful of the Doshas- but this course really took it to the next level of practice and understanding. I now feel super confident to create a personalized class for someone with the goal of pacifying any of the doshas, or combination of them. It was really powerful to learn this and to understand on a mental, emotional and energic level the effects of so many elements of a yoga class on the doshas. I don`t believe going to the wrong yoga class causes one harm ... but definitely, there are some Yoga classes that just are not energetically helpful for pacifying certain doshas (energy types) and some classes that are actually super aggravating for certain doshas.So I am excited that I now know how to take care of myself better, but also the the health of my future clients.
I will be offering personalized yoga classes to my clients as part of their healing package during my internship. And perhaps, if I have a group of Pittas, Vatas or Kaphas that would like a class for Pitta, Vata or Kapha a few times a week- I will be offering this.

And I also took a herbal medicine course, in which I made my first medicated oil, ghee, herbal pills following and making formulas, making herbal tinctures, churnas and some other fun things. It was a fun course and enjoyed playing witch with my two classmates who are also going into the same internship as me.

And then Finally I took my Yoga Nidra Therapist course… which was pretty intense, for just doing and giving Yoga Nidra 2-4 times a day.  All of these courses were in Spanish and I was learning how to speak and think in Spanish, but this I needed to speak for 45 minutes… and not just speak, but in a professional manner that allowed people to relax, follow my instructions and receive the benefits of this blessing. The last night was successful and I am very excited to begin offering Yoga Nidra sessions, to my future clients and any groups who may want to experiment and experience the benefits of the state of Yoga Nidra (another state of consciousness, which allows one to relax, destress as well as visualize themselves healthy and happy and allow opportunity for reprogramming and manifestation.) I have had a lot of great experience meditation over the past years, using many different techniques and methods to reach an altered state of consciousness. I think there are many ways to reach Yoga Nidra… and I recently, personally connected with Vipassana… during a 10 day Silent Vipassana retreat… however, Vipassana take some will power to practice daily. Mantras aren`t for everyone… but this technique of laying down, getting comfortable and following instructions for 45 minutes… really is for everyone. The only thing to worry about is – it is easy to fall asleep, but that is why it is good to let someone guide you in person (not just listen to a tape) so they can wake you up during the process, to continue listening to the instructions.  And sometimes one just needs to have a little nap.

So now this month to complete these courses, I need to offer a certain number of each therapies for free to people in my community… so I am going to be very busy this month offering therapies, practicing speaking and thinking in Spanish. (Which is my goal, although I want to continue working with tourists and my english speaking clientele, I really want to focus on Spanish and becoming very confident in the Spanish, especially talking about Ayurveda and Yoga- so that I can help more people.) It is recomended to do Yoga Nidra every day at least once, for 45 minutes. And I am going to do this…

I think it is going to be important for me to continue taking care of myself, mind, body and spirit and continue my daily practices and kriyas- to be my healthiest version of myself- for present self  and future self as well as my clients.

So that is what I was doing over the 40 days, I had a few days off in between each course which I took full advantage of- still waking up at 4:30am, but enjoying going to different natural hot springs, having a natural mud bath, going rock climbing indoors and also in the mountainside of Suesca, dancing, eating vegetarian food, eating sweets and having some coffees haha. I went on a Fruit tour, in one of the biggest markets in Bogota and I enjoyed walking around and site seeing in Bogota- as well as couch surfing and getting to know a beautiful Colombian family and spending Easter Weekend with them and really connecting with the son that is my age. PS: I am a natural rock climber, and I am going to be pursuing this more in Mèxico this year! PPS: I met some amazing women from all over latino america, and some new friends from Mèxico that I hope to do cool things with in the future. PPPS: Sleeping in a tent, and eating provided meals for 35 days has it`s pros and cons, but I was loving it… but also loving my freedom now and will be taking some lessons from their diet plan to put more care into my own diet now… and working towards keeping it Pitta and Vata pacifying.
Yeah the entire experience was magic and obviously, I am still living light- because I am still reflecting it and seeing light in so many people. Which is beautiful.
I also saw a few other things in people, that I recognized as things within myself- that I will take the opportunity to contemplate and work on.