AWB World Healing Exchange Program

Baja, Mexico (Sea of Cortez) Kayaking Trip:  

A deep pilgrimage​ ​into the heart of the wild five elements and ancient nature practices of the sages

• Explore an amazing marine park dense with wildlife and beauty; and visit the local fishing villages where we will offer clinics to the community
• Learn practices of the ancient Taoist sages, creating deep and powerful connection to nature, for your self and your practice
• Experience the profound raw nature of this incredible region, as we learn more about the 5 elements of Chinese Medicine, while embracing them all around us
• Learn about plants of Baja from an herbalist who has lived among them, and understands the spirit and physical level of plant medicine
• Commune with the gray whales who come very close to humans, where we will continue our ancient sage practices (with the whales)
• Spend deep time with others in your profession; and learn the way of council which you can use for all your relationships in life
• Rejuvenate yourself and your practice

“Baja with AWB refreshed and vitally recharged me, opening a deep connection with the land, the water, the vegetation and animals of the Sea of Cortez. The special surroundings supported our learning and integration of all that we shared. ”

 

– Aria Walker, LAc

The focus of this trip is on connecting deeply with the natural world. We know that a healing power far greater than any of us runs through nature, and through us.  We’ll use our days on the water to bring attention to our experience of the elements (water, wood, fire, earth, metal). The elements of nature offer us a profound experience and understanding of both balance and imbalance—what they look like, how they feel in the body and in the group/community – and what it means to live in harmony.  

Jessica will be teaching Taoist “Ancient Movement of the Sages” and practices of deep listening, that she has been studying and practicing for 30 years. These rare practices of the movement of the sages, learning from nature, teach us how to deeply commune with nature, ourselves and others. These are perfect practices for “healing the healer” and deepening our connections to our work. All of these practices offer us insight into ourselves, our community, our patients and life itself.  Our educational program will also include qigong and The Way of Council in which we will practice deep listening skills and learn the basics of this powerful Council work.  Council helps each of us grow in our individual lives as well as teaches us a tool that we can use to help clients and close ones feel safe enough to deeply open to their own life experiences. Expressing ourselves at this level can be life-changing, say past participants. 

 Our schedule includes meeting local healer, Maya Serena, including an afternoon of plant-based conversation with Maya, a transplanted New Mexican herbalist and body worker, who continues her traditional healing practice and outreach from her base in Loreto. Maya has extensive knowledge of local medicinal plants. She will lead us on a medicinal plant walk in the arroyo adjoining her remote palapa on the Playa Quemado, where we will camp on the first day of our kayak trip. 

Known as a “green herbalist” Maya Serena encounters, interacts with, collects, and makes a variety of natural plant remedies with the local Baja desert medicinals.  Her bodywork and plant medicine work is geared to the individual needs of her clients, with a focus on reviving interest and experience in recognizing local natural medicine plants for a variety of common everyday imbalances.

 Our excellent sea kayak wilderness guides are from Sea Kayak Baja Mexico, with whom we have been working for many years. Our “campus” for the week will be the stunningly wild and beautiful islands of Baja California. A World Heritage site, UNESCO claims that the Islands of the Gulf of California are the richest and most varied of any island-sea property on the Heritage list. We’ll paddle by kayak to two islands (Carmen and Danzante) within the Loreto National Marine Park and have layover days on both. Our pace will be relaxed, providing both “classroom” time and ample time for personal exploration and reflection, walking the beach, snorkeling, star gazing and just being in this amazing environment.  You will be revitalized, refreshed and transformed by your time in this enchanted place.

We will be offering a day trip to see whales in the Pacific Lagoons. This will include taxi ride to the lagoon, a 2 hour ride in a panga (small motor boat), and return trip to Loreto. Lunch on this day will be included as well.

It’s likely that we’ll see whales at least at a distance from the kayaks as part of the trip. These could be blues, fins, humpbacks, or a number of other whales (1/3 of all the world’s whale species can be found in the Gulf). 

During our time in Loreto we will conduct acupuncture clinics for the community at a government health office that has hosted us in the past, and invites the whole community to join in the clinic. We will also travel to a local fishing village called Ligui/Ensenada Blanca where we will treat villagers who have been negatively impacted by a luxury time-share hotel that has been built in the area. Maya Serena has been working in this village and will take us there and explain the conditions. We will also do treatments with each other, out in nature, using this methodology and honing our skills. 

We will have some time to explore the beautiful quaint town of Loreto. This town is a gem to wander, with plazas filled with cafes, great shopping for Mexican products including beautiful silver jewelry, beautiful historic buildings, fabulous food, and a boardwalk along the water. We will stay on the beach at Hotel Oasis in Loreto. 

This trip is for people who enjoy groups and who are comfortable participating in group process which can be a deeply rewarding and enlightening experience. We will have the opportunity to practice and learn the basics of the powerful way of council, a practice of deep listening skills. Council helps each of us grow in our individual lives as well as teaches us a tool that we can use to help clients and close ones feel safe enough to open deeply to their own life experiences. Expressing ourselves at this level can be life-changing.

Comfort with camping, being in the raw wilderness and traveling on water, and dealing with conditions that require moderate physical challenge is also required. The trip participants will be putting up their own tents, assisting with boat gear and with some kitchen support and cleaning up (after meals) activities. All of this becomes part of the natural pattern of our days, and becomes part of the journey itself.

For a first-hand account of this trip, read Jessica Bolding’s Acupuncture Today article, A Resting of the Soul, about her experience with our 2018 World Healing Exchange trip to Baja.

Watch our video below about WHE Baja: