My Week at Tao Garden

In September I took a Tantra & Tao Course at Tao Garden, located in Doi Saket, near Chiang Mai in Thailand. My teachers were Colin and Marina who are highly experienced with the practices of Tantra & Tao.

Tao Garden is a glorious place, very beautiful and peaceful. There are a lot of Chinese ceramics spread across the colourful gardens and several huts for the varied workshops and courses that the place offers. It also has a swimming pool (where I swam until infinity completely delighted), an extremely well equipped gym and a clinic where several treatments and massages can be enjoyed by the visitors. The restaurant serves three delicious meals a day in a buffet style that are a delight for all the senses and for the soul due to their high quality, both in ingredients and in the love that is put into the way each meal is carefully prepared.

Marina is an inspiring lady! I’ve learned a lot with her. She is the mother of 11 (yes: eleven!!) children! And she has delivered more than 1000 babies, usually in nature or in people’s homes and always in the water, welcoming them into this world in the most peaceful and gentle way! Colin is a known Taoist. He is a very nice gentleman, love flows through him and that is truly inspiring! It was very enriching to work with them during that week at Tao Garden and I am very grateful for all the things that I have learned. They taught me to appreciate the beauty of the elements and connect with them, for we are a reflection of nature and everything that surrounds us, we have within. 

I was especially amazed with the incredible knowledge about birth that they delivered to me and the wonderful techniques, practices, traditions and rituals of Tantra & Tao that they share based on their own life experience. The bibliography available was also quite impressive. And note: they are a perfect example that this life style actually works, because both of them radiate youth and vitality!

The days begun early in the morning with Qigong, then we had the Course throughout the day which amongst other things included Meditation, visiting the most breathtaking places in the nearby surroundings, understanding the cycle of life, the role of Yin Yang within each human being, our relationship with each other, especially in the union of opposites represented by male and female, Pranayamas (breathing techniques) and several exercises in water or nature for deeper connection with our inner self and better understanding and acceptance of the process of birth, almost in a re-connection with the hidden parts of our souls. To end the day, we always had a very relaxed 6 Healing Sounds Session to support our organs and thank them and ourselves for that wonderful day we had the opportunity to embrace, as we got in the perfect state of mind to fall into a gentle, relaxing and rejuvenating sleep.

I’ve also met wonderful people during my Tao Garden visit. I became particularly friend with a Vietnamese girl who is also in her own inner journey. I’ve also met another Portuguese on this magical place. Susana was doing a Qigong course and I found out that she has this incredible blog A Hora das Mães and that we have a lot of common interests. And in a flash of synchronicity I met Lucidor and Isolda, a couple filled with mysticism and love. I know we didn’t run into each other by chance, we’re in touch, I’m sure I’ll see them again and they ended up becoming my spiritual guides. Lucidor is a renown poet and writer who by his mere presence has inspired me to continue my writing path. Isolda is like a sweet beautiful universal mother with her infinite smile that seems to contain all the tenderness in the world and a delicate voice perfect for lullabies. I am truly blessed that I have come across these two souls who are the founders of Nacion Pachamama and who developed the 21 Days Practice for connecting with Mother Earth and re-establishing the natural cycle within ourselves.

Overall, this was one of the best experiences I had during the year, because it allowed me to learn a lot on a variety of subjects that I was eager to discover and understand, ultimately allowing me to embrace them and incorporate them into my life for my own health and wellness. It also made it clear to me how Tantra & Tao, Yoga & Qigong, Hinduism/Buddhism/Shamanism/Taoism are so closely related and at their core root reflect the same basic principles and philosophy when it comes to vitality and health.

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