Janajpacha

The birds sing in unison and full of joy as the sun approaches the horizon. In the distance, a drum beats dull, dumdum dumdum, like a pulsating heart. We walk slowly and still somewhat sleepy through the wet grass, duck under the low-hanging branches of the trees, and finally reach a small round adobe hut, which is dreamily located in the twilight. The door is ajar, and the drumming becomes more penetrating. We put on ponchos and enter carefully. The room is illuminated by a candle, and some figures sit around it, looking pensive, maybe just a little tired, into the fire. We walk through the room counterclockwise, so that the energy flows in the right direction on this side of the globe, as we were told. Then we sit on cushions, make ourselves comfortable, listen to the heartbeat, which reminds us that everything in this world is alive. It is six o'clock in the morning, we are still wrapped in the sleepiness of the night, awaiting a new day in Janajpacha.

Janajpacha means "higher reality". It is a shamanic ashram on the outskirts of Cochabamba, where we spent ten days and enjoyed life. The several-hectare property is a green oasis that is so different from the noise, exhaust fumes, and sparsely planted green spaces of the city. Here lives a small community of people from all over the world, who live here to "learn to live," as they say. The place was founded by Chamalú, an Andean shaman from Cochabamba. In his early years, he traveled to many wise people of various cultures and learned from them. In this way, he was able to bring together the very different knowledge, internalize it, live it, discover commonalities, and write exciting books about it. It is a lot about living together again with nature, Pachamama, our Mother Earth, seeing her current suffering, and opposing something to it. To find one's own power and energy, from which we are often cut off in today's world, for example, through desires for consumption. Here, spirituality is woven into everyday life in a completely natural way. Different meditations, always very individually conducted by various members of the community, are as much a part of it as very delicious vegetarian food from their own organic garden. In the kitchen, there are rules about what to consider when cooking. In addition to hygiene regulations, there are also things like "be conscious at every step" or "be happy," and I think you can actually taste that.

We spent such a soothing time there that still resonates. Not only the good food and the nature, but also the rhythm of this place, the open and happy-balanced people, contributed their part to making us feel very comfortable. We read a lot, including a book by Chamalú, which gave us a lot to discuss. Every day, we did an extensive yoga program because there is news: at the end of our journey, in March, we will do a one-month yoga teacher training program in Medellín, Colombia! And our body and mind naturally want to be prepared for that. Coincidentally, there are two yoga teachers living in Janajpacha, who gave us private yoga lessons. On another day, a masseuse who usually gives relaxation and Reyki massages on cruise ships, among other things, gave us an insight into her work. And so, we learned from her and spent three hours properly kneading each other. Towards the end, we changed our status from guests to volunteers. At the beginning, we still felt the need to recover from the dance workshops, but at some point, we wanted to be a real part of the community and give something back to the place and the people who welcomed us so warmly. So, Paul blessed the community by helping out in the garden and revealing a few tips and tricks on how to uproot the tall agave plants more easily. Meanwhile, I corrected a German translation of one of Chamalú's books, which was really very bumpy, while in the background, the cheering calls of the agave uprooting team startled the birds.

You can already tell that we are doing wonderfully! We were able to recharge our nature, peace, and strength before heading back to the cities: firstly, we spent two days in La Paz and currently, we are once again in Cusco because our flight to Bogota, Colombia, leaves from here on February 5th.

Hasta pronto!