The Art of Breathing.

Andean Vision and the magic of being conscious.

Aug 22-Sep 10th.
10 day and 18 day options.

Our intent is to show that through the simplicity of breathing and walking, the human can be a channel of change - a self-healer, planetary healer, a healer of consciousness. The human body and the planetary body find fluid movement so that both can dance.

The high altitude of the Andes presents an immediate problem – how to breathe? You can’t simply arrive and move around how you did before. You would end up panting, tired and frustrated. Even if on the first day you want to walk down a small road and walk up again, you have to learn to breathe differently, and to do this you have to think differently.

How to breathe? What energy is being taken in and what energy is going out with each breath? If we want to walk around the lake, up the hill, then we need energy. We learn how to enhance the energy that we take in with our breath through a simple opening of thought, utilising the energies that are around us, above us and below us.

We explore different forms of breathing – the masculine breath, the feminine breath; breath of the earth and breath of the sun, breath of the lake and of the mountain. Breath of the universe. We do this in a spectacular landscape of mountains and the highest navigable lake in the world.

We will ask for the help of the indigenous culture, learning how to access the breath of the earth and of the sky through their traditional ways. Particularly on the island of the Sun, we open to learn how to receive the mystical texture of ‘time’, and through managing the ‘breath of time’ open up possibilities in our personal and planetary futures that would not have been perceived before.

There are two parts of this journey. The first part is a ten day journey to La paz, Tiwanaku, lago titikaka and the island of the sun. This is suitable for people with generally good health. The walks are paced gradually to acclimatise to the altitude. The second part, we are based at an indigenous lodge in the high Andes. The walks are a little more energetic, but by the time we reach here, you would be well acclimatized.

Itinerary. First part.

Arrival is 21st August. Accommodation for this night is included at Hotel Diamante Azul

Day one 22 August

Day one 22 August is in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Our first walk is down the road, and then up the road. On the first day, this in itself is an event. How do you breathe when you are out of breath? We become babies again. We re-learn how to breathe. The baby does not think, and this is what we have to remember. Breathing without thinking.

We enter today into the Aymara culture. Our guide is Silvia Paz, an expert in Aymara traditions and practises. Silvia will give us a seminar in which the bases of Inca culture are explained so that when it comes to the ceremonies you will understand them. She will explain the Apptaphi banquet, the illias power objects, Akulli coca leaf ceremony, the table offerings to pachamama and the acachllas, permissions of the sacred mountains. We then partake in our first aymara ceremony, which is the Apptaphi, the traditional banquet, a ceremony of giving and receiving.

Accomodation at Diamante Azul hotel.

Day two 23 Aug.

Meditation. The word meditation here is used to describe breathing consciously. The work is to listen to the breath and be aware that we are breathing whilst we are breathing. This simple act in itself will open our minds so that we are more able to receive.

We visit Tiwanaku. This is the most important sacred site around the great lake Titikaka. In its simplest form, it is the place where the human ‘received the Gods’. Its sacred geometry and energetic alignments are still in place and we can experience here our relation with our own inner creative forces. Silvia will guide us through the traditional context of the site and with her indigenous curanderos we will make our first ‘mesa’ – offerings to Pachamama. We travel in the evening to Copacabama.

Accomodation at Diamante Azul Hotel

Day three 24th Aug.

Copacabama. Lago Titikaka. Lake Titicaka is the highest navigable lake in the world. For the Inca cultures it is sacred for giving life, on all levels. It gives water and food, and on another level the mythical landscape reminds them of their connection with their Gods. Whatever your inner beliefs are, a sense of other worldliness is palpable in this land.

In our first walk around the lake, we open to the coordination of breath and movement. The lake is an opening, and we open to the feminine breath - the breath of receptivity. We look and feel our sensitivity to pace and rhythm and how these reflect our thought patterns and feeling patterns. Deep listening. We can hear the old tapes that dominate the mind and the heart and our inner journey is to the place where we are able to create an opening for all these repeating energies to find their real homes……………

Accomodation at Ecolodge del lago.

Day four 25th Aug.

In the Inca ceremony with indigenous curanderos we make our personal offerings to the land and receive personal information through the Akulli coca leaf ceremony. We also make our own personal Illias to focus our attention on our real path on this planet. All these ceremonies are like forms of entrance into a deeper understanding of how you breathe the earth…………and how the earth breathes you.

We walk up and around the sacred hills and rocks. We open to the masculine breath – breath of projection. Having liberated the energies held in our hearts and minds, we open to the new birth, the projection of new thought forms into our future. We visit some of the sacred sites where ceremonies are still held on a daily basis, and witness the daily ceremonies, including their blessings for their vehicles - the contemporary Aymara culture in action, alive and vibrant.

Accomodaton at Ecolodge del lago.

Day five 26th Aug.

Island of the sun. This island in the lake is where the sun was born for the Inkas. It is a stunning natural temple and it feels like one is living between worlds. There are no vehicles on this island!!!

On our first day here we go to the centre of the island to witness the gradual movement of the sun as it opens the different energies on the island and in our own human bodies.

Accommodation at Palla Khasa.

Day six 27th Aug.

Our crystalline intelligence. In this meditation on the island of the sun we open up the breath to the deeper crystal clarity which connects the human being to the planetary being. Through deepening our conscious breathing we open to the breath in the earth and the breath in the sun. This deep breathing opens our conscious connection with other levels of our intelligence. We are able to listen to and channel the Earth wisdom through our own breathing human bodies.

Accomodation at Phalla Khasa.

Day seven. 28th Aug.

We visit the island which is the sacred energetic centre of the lake. Don Roberto from Phalla Lodge will make a traditional ceremony of the island, which is an interdimensional portal. Many different energies have been witnessed here. It is part of a triangular opening into the underwater cities in the lake which have been physically discovered through satellite photography, as well as energetically witnessed by traditional curanderos on the island. The locals take interplanetary and intergalactic communication as just part of the facts of life, and this is due to the fact that they experience these energies on a regular basis. We also visit the labyrinth. This is the traditional ancient indigenous school where the male curanderos were attuned to the regular tools of their trade – time travel, lucid dreaming, clairvoyance, utilising their double, telepathy, seeing spirits, developing their sixth sense.

Accommodation at Phalla Khasa

Day eight 29th Aug.

Island of the moon. This is the place of the traditional schools of the female curanderos. This beautiful little island has a completely different energy to the island of the sun. We open to experience this change of energy from the masculine to the feminine, and we visit the ancient temples where the curandero’s were trained, learning about the particular tools of the trade for the female curanderos, which apart from the list above, would include the magic of weaving, offerings, sacred childbirth, and the development of intuitive depth.

Breathing in Oneness. We take this day to deepen into this new sense of reality where time opens possibilities and impossibilities. Giving ourselves permission to fly, even for short moments free of our conditioning, we glimpse a deeper connexion with what you may call God, Great spirit, Dharmakaya, Godess, the divine, Unity Consciousness or any other words that express your sense of your highest intelligence.

Accomodation at Phalla Khasa.

Day nine 30th Aug.

We take a boat journey to return to the mainland and visit the village of Santiago. Here the group divides in order to stay in the houses of the Aymara, being received in the traditional way, eating the traditional food, deepening in the knowledge of their traditions and seeing from the inside the way that the Aymaras live here and now.

Accommodation in indigenous houses.

Day Ten 31st Aug.

For those completing after the first section, you return to La Paz and on this day also we make a bridge between the experiences we have had in Bolivia and our daily lives. What is useful? What can be taken home? Was this just a holiday or did real change take place? How does the movement affect the life that you lead?

Those who are doing the second part journey to Pelechugo.

Second Part. Akamani. Sacred mountain of the Kallawaya.

Our intent in this second part of the retreat is to remember the uninterrupted conscious breath. The majestic mountain Akamani is like a conduit of times where your soul connects with your ancestors in the sky. This dialogue between earth and sky makes transparent the soul journey through the body, and there is a possibility to experience the full breath of your soul movement through times and through spaces. We will explore the different portals around Akamani, listen to the rocks that speak the language of ancestors, and see the energies that accompany us in our soul journey.

We work also with the high spring waters. Each stream has its flavour and its energy. Water is the medium through which the new thought forms arrive. We meditate with the waters and listen to their clear messages as they pass through our bodies. Drinking seeds of change. Rich in minerals and rich in wisdom!

The high mountains are undisturbed uncluttered portals. You can hear the earth being breathed through the mountains. We will be trekking over the most stunning scenery in the Andes. The word – breath-taking – is perfect. Our breath is taken. Offered. Given. We are initiated into another level of who we really are.

We will be staying at an indigenous lodges in the Kallawaya village of Callisaya and Curva. We will open up to the teachings of the kallawaya through ceremonies and witnessing their life style and art. From there we will be walking out into this magical landscape and will dream with the worlds within the worlds that we find.

Sep 1st.

Turquise waters. These magical waters have extraordinary healing properties. From the melting snow, the waters through the rocks and minerals transform into colours that are constantly painting worlds before our eyes. Trek 4 hours with Percy. Accommodation Callisaya Lodge.

Sep 2nd.

Valley of crystals. Like beings that visit us from parallel worlds, these incredible stones around the mountain spring waters, speak to us of our connection with other civilisations. Trek 5 hours with Daniel. Accommodation Callisaya Lodge.

Sep 3rd.

Lost lagoon. This mysterious trek takes us to a strange lagoon that feels like visiting another planet, a portal where many nature spirits can be perceived. Trek 6 hours with Percy. Accommodation Callisaya Lodge.

Sep 4th.

Akamani. This trek is to the high pass of the most sacred mountain of the kallawaya. This is a walking vision quest to the great mountain spirit Akamani. The kallawaya’s call this mountain simply – padre (father). In this trek you receive gradual profound lessons on how to listen to this great ancestral wisdom. Trek 8 hours with Percy and Daniel. Accommodation Callisaya Lodge.

Sep 5th.

Mystery day. Accommodation Callisaya Lodge.

Sep 6th.

Curva. This is the capital village of the kallawaya. We go here to visit the hospital which is a fusion of western and kallawaya madicine and then in the evening we receive ceremonial blessings in an ancient Kallawaya ritual. Trek 3 hours with Daniel. Accommodation Curva Lodge.

Sep 7th.

Walk to Charazani hot springs. Trek 6 hours with Percy. Accommodation Charizani hotel.

Sep 7th.

Return to La Paz. Accommodation Hotel Diamante Azul.

US $2890. First ten days all-inclusive except flights.
US $4590. Full journey all inclusive except flights.

To book, and for more information, please reply to this email.

Thank you.

Daniel Stone.

Centre of the Conscious Dream.