Climbing the Mountain

I look to her as the example of how to stand tall and be strong, trust and let go, and share all my colors and creations with the world.

Wayna Picchu (Young Mountain) in the background of the Machu Picchu ruins

Today would have been my mother’s 75th birthday. It’s still hard to believe it’ll be three years this coming September since she passed away. She deserved to be healthier and happier in her last few years and I often stressed about her health and finances wishing there was more I could do from the opposite side of the country. Nowadays, I honor her by living my life in ways I believe she would’ve wanted to live hers and me to live now. Travel being one of the top five, I’m very grateful for all the adventures I’ve experienced in these nearly 50 years including this memorable trip to Peru’s Sacred Valley last month.

I wrote this at our wonderful retreat center, Willka T’ika, in the town of Urubamba.

I’m here celebrating my birthday as I like to do every couple of years with traveling abroad on a group yoga retreat. Learning about and experiencing different countries’ values, history, cuisine, art, spirituality, and people is the food of my soul. It stretches my physical, emotional, mental, and if I’m lucky, spiritual comfort zones and expands the notion of where “home” is and what it means.

Sitting in one of Willka T’ika’s seven gardens dedicated to the chakras, I soak in the warm sun that gives life to every leaf, petal, wing, and paw in this valley at 9,186ft elevation. I’ve just made a coca leaf offering to our Earth Mother, Pachamama, thanking her for her beauty, her love, her power, and her wisdom.

Chakra garden at Willka T’ika retreat center

The sky is electric blue, unlike any I’ve ever seen, and what clouds there are hover big and billowy above the Andean Mountain tops surrounding and protecting us like an impenetrable fortress. These powerful mountains have provided strength and sustenance to their people long before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers from which the Incans fled to 16,000ft elevation. I know my own lineage’s history of colonizing distant lands in the name of Catholicism and stripping language, land, and history of the indigenous people in its wake. It’s a crime that with progress and innovation we breed out indigenous cultures’ ancient traditions and wisdom. These truly majestic mountains are Pachamama’s embrace of the Quechua people that escaped to the highlands and to this day continue to farm, produce textiles, and honor the Earth to keep their ancestors’ rich history and culture alive.

Quechua women at Saqsaywaman ruins

A Westerner might choose to see a lot of “poverty” here which we can judge and feel pity for, however, I’ve never felt richer in body, mind, and soul being in this sacred place. The question “how can I be twice as happy and make half as much money” lands heavy in my bones as I sit reflecting among a wild array of flowers and plants. Endless varieties of fuchsia and the lilies, gladiolas, petunias, and trumpet flowers offering sweet nectar to giant bees and hummingbirds whose buzzing adds to the music of other colorful birds I can’t begin to name. Fragrant lemon tree blossoms, rosemary, mint, thyme, sage, and eucalyptus tickle my nose as I observe dancing pairs of white and yellow butterflies and green and blue dragonflies. Every living creature and creation here coexists in balance, harmony, and abundant beauty.

A one thousand+-year-old Lucuma tree sits at the umbilicus of this property which Carol Cumes first purchased for pennies thirty years ago. It stands stories tall and knotted with fissured bark scarred by fungus but still bears tons of the persimmon-like fruit used to make, among many treats, a delicious ice cream. Carol told us the story of how she came to buy this land in the mid-90s and later met the Quechua people in the highlands on a 4-day trek up to 13,000ft high mountain villages. Since then, she helped open and supports several schools for the highland children who make the 2-3hr hike each way to learn reading, writing, math, and Spanish. One of their last elder ritual specialists, Don Benito, makes the 3 day trek down to Willka T’ika once a month to offer sacred blessings, despacho ceremonies, and coca leaf readings for staff and guests. With his small stature, pouch of stimulating coca leaves, wide smile, and colorful dress he is a shy, but joyful man. His prayers lift my heart and spirit with the strength of these mountains.

The Lucuma tree, Don Benito, and Quechua schoolgirl

Rather than from noise, billboards, high rises, and traffic exhaust your senses are overwhelmed by the wide openness of land and sky through which the invisible energy of being has freedom to move and breathe life into all it touches. People here still live by the ancient principle of reciprocity … as we all should. The Earth giveth to us and we must give thanks, protection, and love back to her. The sun, soil, mountains, lakes, rivers, wind, and fire provide for all and the wisdom of the wheel of life keeps turning. In return for these gifts which the Earth gives freely, the people offer prayers of deep gratitude to Pachamama before any farming they do, any textile they weave, any food they eat, any journey they begin, and any foot touches the ground in the morning. The greater the distance from living by this principle, the greater the people will suffer. I am left wondering how can I maintain this balance?

Don Benito and Ricardo prepare a despacho honoring the mountains, lakes, and rivers

Among many things, this trip has taught me that strength and will are often a choice of mindset and therefore affect our perceived reality. The journey to this retreat center wasn’t without some suffering and included acclimatizing to 11,000ft elevation on no sleep, with intestinal malaise, and a head cold. But there was no way I was going to miss climbing Wayna Picchu, the iconic mountain photographed in the background of the ruins at Machu Picchu, even with a 5am wake up call. What little training I did for steepness was nothing compared to the “Stairs of Death” on this 1.2mi ascent with a 1000ft elevation gain. With half the group ahead of me and the other half below me, I felt I was hiking alone and was grateful I could pause, catch my breath, marvel at the views, and continue when ready. At the top it’s more powerful, humbling, and breathtaking than anything you can imagine … truly ineffable. Climbing the mountain makes my “If I can do this, I can do anything” list. My only wish is that I’d had more time up there to thank the mountain for showing me my patience and strength.

Looking up the steep ascent, atop Wayna Picchu, and looking down the steep descent

I encourage you not to have FOMO when you’re making not only a financial, but a huge spiritual investment on such a trip. There’s nothing worse than spending money on a retreat to fly thousands of miles away and feeling guilty about skipping a yoga class or tearing yourself away early to bed. We must give ourselves permission to pass on group gatherings so that we can conserve and protect our energy and be rested and present for what’s most important … relating to and connecting with this land. Spending time on extra sleep, solitude in nature, and being well prepared is worth its weight in gold if it allows us to engage more fully with activities and others the next day. If it weren’t for the love of practicing my Spanish and asking questions of our tour guides and staff, I’d even have taken a vow of silence to go deeper.

We also must let go of the reins, especially those of us who are used to juggling all the things and not letting a strand of hair fall out of place. I trusted that whatever the day’s meals would be, they’d be delicious ,and whatever the day’s activities would be, they’d be memorable, and whatever miscommunication or hiccups, they’d be resolved. I didn’t have to lift a finger to orchestrate, correct, or please anything or anyone. This lesson in receiving, letting go, and surrendering is a constant work in progress for many of us. I trusted the process, other people, and Spirit to guide and protect us wherever we went no matter what ... anything less and you’re just not present. The Luna’s horseback riding I signed up for turned into seven of us trusting guides who weren’t fluent in English, horses who weren’t used to beginners, and trails with all sorts of surprises that could’ve sent any one of us onto our backs. The fact we all made it back safely with giant grins on our faces was cause for celebration!

At Luna’s Horses after an adventurous ride through the countryside of Urubamba

This trip also reaffirmed that since the passing of my mother, I must work to fill the holes in our relationship by building a new relationship with our Earth Mother, Pachamama, from which all things are birthed and will return to in death. As I enter my second adulthood leaving behind the years when I might have become a mother, I instead open myself to Pachamama and let her get to know me as vulnerably as a three year old looking for support, guidance, protection, and love. I look to her as the example of how to stand tall and be strong, soften and let go, and share all my colors and creations with the world. I trust the rebirth of Spring will give way to the abundance of Summer and become the decay of Fall that welcomes the death of Winter so that earth may rest and renew.

All we need to do is listen to her, witness her cycles and seasons, and observe and respect our scaled, furred, and feathered brothers and sisters all around us. She taught bird how to do “bird”, tree how to do “tree”, and river how to do “river” and she expects nothing in return but for them to be the best bird, tree, and river they possibly can be. Condor flies with the wind as high as mountaintops, remains connected to higher vision and spirituality, and embodies non-dualism. Puma stealthily walks the earth, is a powerful hunter and fierce protector, and embodies divine masculine. Serpent moves with fluidity like water, acts with wisdom, renews life through the shedding of old ways, and embodies the divine feminine. They all are our teachers for how to live in reciprocity with the land and each other. We only need look to them as examples for how to be as whole a human as we can be. I recommend learning more about the depth of Andean spiritual wisdom, including the many faceted meanings of the 12 pointed Incan cross, or Chakana, which serves as a guide for well-being, communal living, and harmony between man and all his relations.

Standing atop the ruins at Machu Picchu

I am deeply grateful to the Sacred Valley and its people for their ability to humble the human spirit and I will return to learn more about their beauty, love, power, and wisdom. My curiosity is piqued about a 4-day/3-night journey into the 16,000ft highlands to stay with and learn from the Quechua people. Thankfully, our amazing tour guide, Silverio, runs such a tour with his company Banderitas. When I really consider the “strenuous” disclaimer on their website I start feeling butterflies in my stomach which is usually when it’s something I should pursue and even recruit others to join me. The way I see it, venturing into wild places with the marriage of excitement and fear stretching my comfort zone is part of becoming a whole adult human. It challenges who we think we are, what we’re capable of, and further affirms our purpose on this planet. Any takers?