In July 2018 Daniel Stone will be leading a breathtaking journey through Bolivia, which includes a trek from Pelechugo to Charazani as well as ceremonies and workshops with indigenous Aymara and Kayawalla curanderos. In this interview he shares with us some of the details of this transformative journey, the unique level of respect Bolivia has for Pachamama – written into its constitution – and his own special relationship with the country.
Bolivia Trek: Learning to Breath Amid Stunning Landscapes
SEJ: This Bolivia trek will take participants through truly “breathtaking” landscapes, from the Island of the Sun to the Bolivian Andes – is there anywhere in particular that you are most looking forward to walking through?
Daniel Stone: It is all stunningly beautiful. Of all the 30 or so countries I have visited, Bolivia is still my favourite. You feel like you are between worlds most of the time because it is so high, and the veils between worlds is very thin. On the island of the sun, it feels like it is floating and we are being taken on a long journey into the roots of our existence. We are so much closer to the stars, and so it feels like the stars are communicating directly with the rocks. I love watching the birds also, the falcons in particular. I remember on one of the walks, a huge falcon arose right in front of me, and I was amazed by simply how big it was. Looking at how it simply floats in the air is one of the majesties of this great planet. Around Copacabana, the hills have little secrets, little nooks and crannies that hide herb gardens full of medicine. I remember in particular the scent. The aromas really bring in another level of sensitivity walking in the hills, and I like to take the leaves and bring them to my nose so that I can smell this land. It lifts you. It feels so healthy. The higher mountains are really indescribable. I don’t know what words to use, and all the words I attempt to use here won’t do justice to the sheer beauty of those lands. Walking in May, the mists arise and disperse, and so worlds appear and disappear. There can be a glimpse, and then everything is revealed. Everything I experience up there seems to be a metaphor of the Great Spirit, like I am being taught something with every movement of the breeze.
The Power of the Breath
SEJ: Can you speak a little about the different kinds of breath that you will be exploring on this journey, and how they contribute to participants becoming a channel of change.
Daniel: Firstly we have to learn to breathe differently because of the altitude. You have to focus on the breath more simply to be able to do something simple. This is a very good meditation. Then learning how to control the breath, and coordinate the breath with the movements of the body, gives us the possibility to gain energy. The coordination of breath and physical body quietens the mind, and therefore also the emotions. In this context, we are more able to communicate with our own spirit, or essence. We can see deeper into who we really are. Everything comes back to the essential principle – breath. The essence. Focusing so much on something we take for granted all the time brings us back to our first principle. Why we are here. Why do we breathe?
Bolivia’s Deep Respect for Traditional Cultures
SEJ: Bolivia has recently enshrined respect for both indigenous cultures and Pachamama into its constitution. What does this mean for participants travelling to Bolivia – how will we experience this level of respect for traditional cultures and the planet on this journey?
In Bolivia there is also a ministry for mother earth. The work of the ministry is to make sure the earth is cared for and not damaged by human activity. It recognises that the earth is a living breathing being and we are in relation with this being all the time. The Armaya and Kallawaya cultures reflect this respect. They treat their animals well, they farm without pesticides, and they make offerings on a daily basis. This means that the human beings in Bolivia are constantly in dialogue with the earth. This opens doorways for us. It means that the earth is already in dialogue with us and it is easier to hear the earth if we learn to open our ears. There is also a very important connection with the sun where we are going. The island of the sun at solstice is the best time of year to go as it is the most important ceremony of the whole year. We can see all the traditional dress and dances, and celebrate what is called “the new light”. The sun also, for the Bolivians, is a conscious being and their dances are forms in which they communicate with the sun. Again, if we open our ears, we can learn to “hear” the sun in a new way, and open to a new dynamic, intimate and meaningful relation with our solar system.
Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia
SEJ: On this Bolivia trek journey participants will be working with Silvia Paz Soliz Ochoa, a native Aymara Bolivian, as well as other Aymara indigenous curanderos and the indigenous peoples of the mountains, the Kallawaya. What can participants expect from these teachings and encounters, and how will they be able to carry this wisdom home with them as they transition back to their everyday lives?
Mostly what the ceremonies and teachings give is new ways to listen to Pachamama and the sun and moon. The act of showing honour and respect to the earth creates a different dynamic in the relation between the human being and the planet on which the human lives. It develops a dialogue. This is going to be new, even to people who are already on spiritual paths, because the quality of the relation changes with these ceremonies and it is like getting to know someone we thought we knew in a different way. Most of all, the curanderos teach us how to listen. Then with this ability to hear, the earth then gives us information. Certain secrets are revealed. We get to understand why we are a human being and why we are here, on this particular planet. From this place, it becomes a lot clearer what our mission and purpose is in this body of ours on this planet of ours. That mission and purpose maybe simply be to learn how to breathe consciously here and now in the human body on the planet Earth!!!
SEJ: Is there anything else about this journey that you’d like to share with us?
To be honest, when I went to Bolivia this last time, it was a personal vision quest. I have been to Bolivia many times, but this last one was particularly important because I had not been for so long, and I had a lot of questions that were building up over the years. Every day I walked in the mountains, I learnt so much, and I was so blown away by the simplicity and yet profundity of the teachings, I just started to wonder – what would it be like teaching this to a group? I have run a lot of groups over twenty years, and taken people to different countries, mostly to Mexico where I now live, but here was something new and what was particularly attractive was the simplicity. These teachings through the breath apply to everyone, right across the board – healers, business people, artists, professionals, even politicians (particularly politicians!!)! It is a universal language, and through this language of the breath I was taught directly principles that I had been over-complicating. In the breath is everything. It is so simple, and inside this simplicity is all the complexity of the universe.
Join Us On This Bolivia Trek
Interested in joining Daniel Stone for your own vision quest? Read more about our journey, The Art of Breathing with Daniel Stone.
