Summer Camp

In some ways this place reminds me of summer camp; you’re thrown together with random people from all over the country, you take a variety of classes, have designated mealtimes, and you don’t give a shit what you look like because everyone else is roughing it too. On the other hand, I never had a colonic at summer camp. Too far? Well around here it’s dinner conversation so I just couldn’t help myself ☺

Today was an incredible day. This morning after the exercise class we all got together in the multi-purpose room for testimonials. Because I’m silent, I haven’t taken the initiative to approach many people and find out their stories, so it was amazing to hear them for the first time today. Most of them brought tears to my eyes. This place transforms people’s lives on so many levels and I’m seeing it happen right in front of me. People with terminal or debilitating illnesses (we call them health opportunities to keep it in the positive) leave here completely cured and pain-free. It’s just astonishing. After testimonials we ate breakfast and then had our hands-on wheatgrass class. I now have three biodegradeable to-go boxes on my dresser each filled with soil and seeds (one with wheatgrass, one buckwheat and the other with sunflower seeds to sprout) and I should be able to snack on my sprouts and juice my very own wheatgrass in 8 days.

The best part of the day came right after that – I had a massage/energy healing session with the head of the massage department (you have to pay extra for massages but, man is it worth it). I wrote her a note telling her of my throat tension and the health opportunity on my vocal chords and asked if we could focus on that area. The session lasted an hour-and-a-half and I left feeling like a different person. During these last 16 days of silence, the mere thought of speaking or singing has brought immediate tension to my throat and larynx. You know that feeling when you’re holding back tears, the lump in your throat? That’s what I feel without the tears attached and I am just having so much difficulty letting it go. A couple hours after the massage I noticed that I didn’t have that tension anymore. I thought about singing and for the first time I could picture myself doing it effortlessly. I tested it throughout the day and was thrilled to find that this new pattern of relaxation was sticking. I will most certainly go back to her for more of that magic before I leave.

As a first-timer I was assigned a mentor for the first week. They don’t hold your hand (unless you want them to) but they are available if you have questions. I got the best mentor EVER. She’s a beautifully glowing rotund woman from Russia and just seeing her fills me with happiness. She’s 70 but doesn’t look a day over 50 and she exudes joy and merriment with every ounce of her being. She told me to poultice my throat for an hour every day (the act of putting wheatgrass pulp on your body) because it is very healing (they’ve seen tumors the size of tennis balls disappear within weeks from poulticing every day) and even though I haven’t said a word or sung a note she is my biggest fan, bragging about me as if I were her own daughter. It’s very healing to have someone like that rooting for you.

At the end of the first full day I felt like I’d been here for a week. In all honesty, I was a little skeptical about lasting an entire three weeks (have I mentioned how intense it is?) Now that week one is at its end I am deeply grateful that I have two more to go. I can’t imagine having to go home tomorrow. I feel like there’s so much more to do and learn and heal and discover. And I get a chance to do so. YAY!

Today was also a sad day, only in that I had to say goodbye. Although I haven't been a social butterfly, I have made connections with a few amazing people who are leaving tomorrow. But come Sunday there will be a whole new group, and who knows what kind of interesting, inspiring people will be arriving! That's the beauty of this place - the possibilities are endless and the unknown is tantalizing.