After a few weeks in San Marcos La Laguna in Guatemala on the Lake Atitlan, where I enjoyed the most amazing swims of my life, the density of this very atypical small city started to make me feel like my nervous system was a wreck.

I needed space.

I went for a tea ceremony in a tea temple to start slowing down and finding my way back to my own sense of peace. There, the tea master pronounced the exact words I needed to hear: “it is your time, you’re here to receive”. After giving so much for so many months, I even felt uncomfortable hearing that but I knew it was the way.

This tea ceremony felt like an epic inner experience and we enjoyed a very long meditation while sharing tea. After that, I went back down and sat on the Shala to write. I had brought my computer and felt the need to write the whole conversation that went through my heart, body and mind while sitting there in silence. As soon as I was done, I started to walk back down again and met Paulina, the manager of Arco Isis Sanctuary who invited me to have lunch with the team.

I sat there with them and was amazed by the wholeness of Paulina’s energy. She started to talk to me about Guatemalan cacao and given how beautifully her aura was vibrating, I thought to myself: “I want some of what she’s taking!!”.

(Re)Creating space within yourself

Given the fact that I had been introduced to this place by David, a common friend on Instagram and that I had already randomly met their chef Alejandro in a restaurant next to my hotel, this flow of easy connections was enough for me to decide that I should try to go to live there for two weeks.

Arco Isis Sanctuary is a retreat center built upon a very steep mountain on top of Lake Atitlan, where only a mountain goat or a complete idealist lost in translation would go, especially at this time of the year when the site is quite empty as it is green – rainy – season.

But guess what? I love the rain so much that when it stops raining, I miss it!

Watch videos & pictures of Arco Isis Sanctuary on my Instagram

Get ready to climb!

So, a few days later, I prepared myself to climb again, generously leaving a lung on the pathway—maybe a reminiscence of some old smokes and as soon as I arrived, I was introduced to my hut (or small wooden house). Call it what you like, but I think “hut” perfectly describes the dream you have when you feel you’ve had too much of everything for too long.

In search of a Deep Reconnection to Nature

I was in search of finding a deep reconnection to nature as my usual practices to connect with nature had been a bit left behind since I had left my volcanic land in the center of France where I had my sacred spots. After a year of traveling and awakening, navigating through strong spiritual and emotional disturbances, it was time for me to have a break and reestablish some peace in my heart.

Arco Isis Sanctuary was the perfect place for that as I found a lot of space, some simplicity and a complete freedom to give my body and soul exactly what I needed. I was also given the luxury of having long hours of solitude mixed with nice deep conversations with a couple from Germany I really enjoyed sharing the space with.

Reconnection to Nature & Healing

As you seek to reconnect to nature and heal to rebuild a more empowered version of yourself, you must be active through various practices such as:

• Earthing which most basic form consists in walking barefoot but it can also be lying in the grass to let as many parts of your skin as possible in contact with the soil – so you can benefit from the earth strength, vitamins and magnetism to rebalance your body and mind and feel grounded again ;
• Fasting – in our modern world, we all eat waayyy too much and fasting enables us to regain some freedom about how and what we should eat ;
• Breathwork – if I’ve discovered something new here, it’s breathwork! It has given me the craziest and strongest internal experience I’ve ever had and there is no way you can understand how this can make you feel before you experience it – I was more than surprised so if you’re in search of healthy but intense sensations, I recommend this 100%!
• Listening to the birds every day made me so happy here – I enjoyed connecting their sounds to some human emotions and it was a lot of fun – birds are the best and first musicians on earth (with no ego thank you) – and it is an underestimated but powerful way to bring you back into a deep awareness of the present moment ;
• Watching squirrels run in trees with avocados twice bigger than them (how do they do that?!!) ;
• Bonding with pets filled my heart here – I played my little role in showing a wild kitten how to receive love from humans, taking her from being unapproachable to curling up in my arms like a baby, I also helped rebalance a cat grand-mother / grand daughter relationship, removed the ticks from the dogs heads so I can definitely tell that Arco Isis Sanctuary would never be the same without their adorable loving presence!

Happy to arrive – Happy to go!

You know you’re that traveling is in your DNA when you’re always happy to arrive somewhere, get fully involved in your experience and then you feel the call to wholeheartedly move forward to the next adventure. So here I am – after two weeks at this retreat center – happy – grounded – refreshed – and sooooo ready for my next adventure!

But before I leave you, here’s this beautiful video we’ve made for you so you can meet the founder of Arco Isis Sanctuary and get a glimpse into the epic spiritual and entrepreneurial journey he’s been through to offer this place to the world. Congratulations and well done again!!

Retreat Center Arco Isis Sanctuary : website – instagram

Follow Matthew Gordon Eklund aka Matthew Medicine – on Instagram to learn about Quality Teas & Ceremonies at Mountain Sanctuary Tea

Contact Linea Sagasser for Breathwork sessions : website – instagram

My next letter will be about a gorgeous Boutique Hotel in a small coastal city called “El Paredon” so stay tuned!!

With Love & Adventures,

Emi