How we learnt Yin and Yang in Peru

Well, Father Time waits for no one. As we glance at our rear view mirror, we have some treasures from Peru we have to share. We are very inspired to share tales of our adventurous experiences in these mystic lands.

We can honestly say that when speaking with unique people, going to a spiritual medicine retreat and hiking the mountainsides, we have found one common ground; that is, in life nothing is forever, everything is in constant change and to embrace your future as an ever moving roller coaster. You’ll have times of enjoyment and times of sheer terror, times of pleasure and times of agonizing pain, times of sunshine and times of pouring rain. That’s what we really got to soak in on this visit to Peru! You will have good days and then you will have bad days but you need one side as much as the other to understand and appreciate both. It’s a yin and yang game, baby.

One version of the definition of yin and yang is “two principles, one negative, dark, and feminine (yin) and one positive, bright, and masculine (yang) whose interaction influences the destinies of creatures and things.”  And during our spiritual retreat we had our first sip of yin and yang.  We would have amazing connections with people and enlightening visions during the spiritual ceremonies, and the very next night be completely shocked at how the energies shifted and how awful, painful and full of suffering the experience made us feel.  How could the same medical treatment take you from a positive, euphoric, illuminating encounter to one that was quite the opposite?

It was an eye-opening, experiential learning for us to really understand and very personally and privately feel.  But the maestros at the Etnikas centre helped us through this rollercoaster of emotions, already knowing that this is how life really is, full of ups, downs and complete turnarounds.

Another example of our yin and yang experience was our partially unenjoyable 72km Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. The second day we neared the top of the Salkantay Mountain at 4630 meters gasping for air, walking at an incline for the last 3 hours and soaked by the cold, relentless rain along our trek. But in this moment of misery you have in front of you the opportunity for a building block of your character. To be aware that this is not forever and everything shall always pass, to be grateful for the fact that you are safe, guided and had the freedom to choose this trek, and to look at your comrades who are struggling alongside you, part of your team.

You can in that moment of understanding the yin and yang have your perception shifted. You can alter your reality!! This was something that only by being aware and going threw the experience that we could really take away a valuable lesson. That this to shall pass and when the sun comes out to touch our skin and the scenery reveals itself from the cloudy curtains, we have a real appreciation to spend time loving those moments.

Never hold on too tight to any perception because it was never yours to have in the first place. It’s just a present moment in time that you are enjoying or rejecting, craving or averting. These yin and yang moments of our reality engage the attention of our body mind. It takes on every cell of our body when we cling to the experience and can
pull us too far in either or direction.

Understand that feeling the ups or downs are what makes us human, it’s a privilege to have this time in space. It can be more of an easy ride if we adopt philosophy’s of the mind into our worlds. To get something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. That’s the essence of growing into the person you want to be. We are humbly grateful for having the chance to learn a bit more about ourselves during our time in Peru and to hopefully open a door of curiosity for you to experientially learn as well.

Stay tuned for more gorgeous pictures of our time in the Peruvian Andes and Machu Picchu.