Many
people who have already been here at the place where I live and work, regularly
and independently of each other have said that they think I live in Paradise. To
be honest that feels like a super compliment about that what I call ‘being home'.
Mainly for
me it is the experience of the high energy level I experience here, the
connection with nature (flora and fauna) and culture. The, for me, much
stronger relationship with what is LIVING life all about than I had ever before.
All available for free. It’s just a matter of opening your senses to accept.
The
Pavana Chiang Mai Resort, where I live and work, calls itself; 'The one-stop
destination for healthy living'. A holistic approach.
After
all, being healthy does not only have to do with your physical body. Your mind,
emotional balance, spiritual connection and deepening and insight into you’re
your approach to your energy givers and drainers are also part of it. All of
great importance to feel intensely 'healthy' and therefore also to be able to really
call yourself ‘healthy’.
In the
approach of the physical body, the resort also works together with an external
organization that mainly focuses on the body fitness. People of literally all
types / come-off and sizes who are here for a week or sometimes more. Intensively
busy with their body. And with the temperatures we have here and in relation to
the intense and heavy program is not always only having fun I can tell you. A
program especially full of intensive physical activities. No stopping or
standing still. Running, cycling, swimming, training. When I often see the
bitter faces of many participants, I sometimes wonder if they do not experience
it as a temporary physical torment for the 'good cause' instead of the possible
introduction of the invitation to a long life healthier and more enjoyable lifestyle.
But if people really give it a place, make it a routine in their lives
afterwards? I just and only wonder.
And actually
this does not make any difference with doing a detoxification program here. Giving
your body only a one time gigantic shock by heavy cleansing cannot really be
healthy in my eyes. You need to change your lifestyle. The intention is to see
it as a start to do that.
Recently
when I walked to the Sala, my open classroom here on the hill, I met a man from
that fitness program. Outwardly he looked stressed, completely caught in his mind,
headphones on his head (more and more people I see walking around with it).
I tried
to speak to him. Of course he did not hear me. I could hear the hard fitness/workout
music on his ears from a distance. Totally in a kind of 'trans'. He finally saw
my approach to connect with him and took the trouble to take his earphones from
his ears and to hang them around his neck for a short while. In the for me now
even more noise created by the device, I told him that he missed the free
available fantastic bird and animal sounds in this paradise as a gift to
remember the start of a brand new day. If looks could kill…
When I
returned home I saw that I had not turned that morning the ‘page of the day’ of
my book "Wisdom from the Far East 365 Days" yet. So I did. And it
showed me this:
"The
wind blows and lies down. The birds are whistling. A dewdrop of a leaf falls in
the deep valley of the mountain. Even more peaceful is the mountain. "
A smile
on my face arose. Accidently?
I am
thankful and grateful to hear those birds every day, almost every day I witness
the always different sunrise. Indeed I hear those dewdrops fall, my dog and
myself breathing, the sound of my footsteps on the walking path and his dribble
and especially ... all those fantastic morning sounds that the animals make at
the crack of the day. That fantastic energy of the living environment. The
smell of the forest, of the farmlands under the dew, or the rice paddies. The
chanting of monks in the distance. The man who early brings his cows to his
land and, hopping behind the animals, his little daughter in her school uniform
supporting them. She is already ready for the school bus, but still helps to
bring the cows to the land together with her dad. No mobile phone in her hand.
Yes ...
indeed ... a paradise.
And does
that all only have to do with here? I do not think so and I think certainly it plays
a role. It’s more inviting but, not to everybody like the headphone man. Much
more, however, I think it has to do with the lifestyle and your own choice to
be able and allow yourself to connect with that what already is there. With
that what is free available. With the silence. And do not get me wrong. Silence
is not the absence of something. It is not. It is the invitation to be aware of
the availability of everything that is already waiting, is already there, for
you. For me a different connection than walking with music on my ears in this
beautiful nature.
Always
and forever the need for distraction. And if you ask people, they just do it to
relax ... For me a run away from yourself. Fear of going and coming home to
yourself.
So for me
no headphones in that fantastic nature. Nice to hang them on the willows.
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight
Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow in life, love, family, business, career and work. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or organization.”
