Mountains In the Sacred Valley of Peru
I have always been a spiritual seeker.
I have always looked for deeper meaning, deeper connections with friends, a deeper experience of myself, and a deeper experience of Source, Spirit, Universal Energy, whatever you want to call it.
- I lived and worked at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health for 5 years, when it was a spiritual community.
- I meditated (still do, but not as regularly)
- I did and do yoga
- I pray out of gratitude and for solace.
- I am connected to a Jewish community that has meetings called Spirit Links and the women have retreats to sing and find deeper connections to themselves and spirit.
- I stop in nature and consciously seek the feeling of being connected to the energy that makes all things go.
I seek out ways to experience what is sacred.
But I had a big “A-HA” moment in Peru. Now, this may not be a big a-ha for you. This may just be your world outlook, but for me it was big.
I was standing amidst the Andes mountains in the Sacred Valley in Peru after visiting a temple that was built into the side of the mountain, and I realized that I didn’t have to seek. Spirit/Sacred/Connection (whatever you call it) was/is simply there. I didn’t have to go looking for it. It just exists. I realized that I don’t have to try so hard! What I was seeking was all around me and part of me, all the time. No searching required.
As I was basking in this new revelation of just being in Spirit, in fact: just being Spirit, I asked my guide: “Why is this Valley called the Sacred Valley?” I imagined she would tell me some special story about a deity visiting the valley, but no, she answered plainly….”because the land is so fertile.”
The Sacred Valley in Peru
Of course! How deeply correct! It’s called the Sacred Valley because the soil can provide nourishment for all who live there. That is what is truly sacred.
- That which nourishes us, is Sacred,
- Our Land is Sacred
- Our Food is Sacred,
- Our Body is Sacred.
How does this translate to daily life?
- Remember that you are sacred, you don’t have to do a thing to make that happen.
- Eat food that has been grown in fertile, sacred soil = organic.
- Treat your body like the sacred temple that it is – with kindness and respect.
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Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, LMT is the Smokin’ Hot Mom Mentor and Family Wellness Expert. She’s the founder of SmokinHotMom.com and HealthyYummyKids.com. She helps busy moms look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
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Just wanted to thank you for my first email from your blog that I subscribed to.
And also that I’ve come across that same thought — that I don’t have to try so hard, darn it, it’s all right there–just o-p-e-n myself to it. I do believe that is the hard part for me – the opening up is not so easy.
But just thought I’d let you know that I appreciate your realness and easy way of connecting and highlighting ways to balance in a language that speaks to us all.
Hi Mary,
Thanks so much for your words. It’s so true, opening up is the trick. Here is one way that helps me open. Come into an expanded awareness or open focus. What I mean by that is allow your senses to become more tuned in, listen to the sounds all around you, imagine your peripheral vision widening and notice all that is touching your body, your clothes, the air, the floor etc. When I expand my awareness in this way, I experience my connection to all that is.
Nina,
You continue to inspire and surprise me with your capacity to feel, see and respond to all that is around you…..and then share your
insights with us so that we too can be enriched in our own worlds. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation.