Spiritual chiro in Peru 2025

Today I reach the final day before heading home. I'll be spending time with my lovey new friends (finally getting those vegan banana pancakes I've been promising myself all week for breakfast) and exchanging gifts, reflections and a meal with the whole group. Peru hasn't been what I expected, and at times it has stretched the limits of my patience and flexibility. Plans made - from hotels, buses, trips and even people who are expected to be present to support us change at a moments notice. Hotels that the organisers paid for months in advance have claimed to have lost deposits, forgotten agreements and let spaces go to other people. So much of this trip has been about acceptance and the ever-used word "surrender". This wasn't just when the changing political landscape meant we could no longer visit Matchu Piccu, but something we encountered every day in our trip. I struggled to connect to ancient sites and rituals in tourist areas, and it wasn't until I co...

Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is my last official day in Cusco! By far the highlight of the last few days has been getting to know and work with, an amazing married Shaman couple from the Northern Peruvian jungle. Having Maria with us as a female shaman, was a gift and an honour. There are very few female shaman in Peru and when I asked our trip leader Peggy why this is, she said in her experience, women don't tend to have any power here, they don't hold the same type of energy as the men. It's interesting because while the culture honours the Pachamama (Mother Earth) for all life, in society, women take a back seat. Indeed Peggy herself gave a shopkeeper a taste of her own power when he offered great discounts and incentives to Stephen as our male group leader, but not to her! It's not a conscious thing with the people here, but the imbalance between men and women is woven into society. Jason and Maria Diaz just personify love and joy. Without speaking a word of En...

It's been a busy couple of days here in Peru, and I'm trying to get all this trip has to offer in terms of learning and self reflection before it's over in just a few days. I have spent most of the last 6 days in Urubamba, not a typical tourist destination. It's been wonderful to walk along the streets and not get approached to buy things as we are constantly in Cusco. I love going out to eat and being the only Westerner there, drawing curious glances. My favourite spot is a group of benches round a fountain (of an ear of corn, very Peruvian). I can sit for an hour, surrounded by palm trees, watching people pass by the fountain and dip their hands into the water and wash their faces, or some happy dogs running around after each other (sometimes into the fountain the person just washed their face in)! There is always something going on: a market, live music, a protest or a dance show. This place is never quiet! The driving is terrifying as the cross road system has cars ...

I can't believe I'm already 2 weeks into my trip, with only 1 to go! Thinking back to the first couple of days feels like forever ago, and yet it's like it's gone too fast already. Being in such a different culture and time zone, has made it feel like stepping into an alternate timeline of life, like I've taken a break from my usual environment and routine into a completely different space. Many people who travel to Peru talk about the "energy" here, especially around sacred sites, but I'm not sure I've had the experience everyone else does. For me, I find it hard to connect with a place (and by that I mean get quiet, and tune into what I'm sensing in the environment). We all do this naturally, from picking up on the busyness and chaos when you walk through central Edinburgh during the fringe, or you sense a disagreement between colleagues at work. You know when you enter a room after an argument. You also know if a new home "feels good...

Hello! I've skipped a day on the blog because we had quite a lot going on, trying to navigate the upheaval in the local area. Thousands of tourists trapped in and around Machu Picchu. Thankfully, we found an emergency hotel and could make alternative plans. As a group we support the local protests who's only power really, is preventing people like us (well-off western tourists) from reaching the site in order to negotiate a better and fairer life for themselves. I now understand from our leaders that the site has changed a lot since they were last here in 2018, much more commercialised and busy. Personally then, I am grateful to skip the hype and the crowds for a more unique experience. And thankfully, that's exactly what we got last night. We have moved out of the rather limited emergency hotel to a stunning location for the next 6 days. We have been able to meet as a group, to share, meditate and land in this space. Stephen, one of our leaders, took us through a soul retr...

So things are getting interesting here in Peru... you might be aware that Machu Picchu is currently unreachable due to protests which puts a spanner in our plans as we were due to go today! I actually have no idea what the plans are instead as our guides scramble to see what our options are. Funnily enough, I feel ok. It reminds me of California in 2013 when everything big was also closed - Alcatraz, the Grand Canyon etc. Richard and I saw none of it but we still had an incredible trip. Yesterday was a bit of a game changer for me. In the tiny town of Ollantaytambo we arrived unable to check into our hotel, just a tiny market and a 3 hour wait for company before we were being given a tour of the local sacred site. High above the town however, 4 of us spotted something interesting and a path to get up there. So instead of sitting around or doing more shopping, we decided to explore. We couldn't all make it up the high rough terrain, but I made it to the top and was able to look down...

It's interesting how polarising the idea of eating guinea pig can be, even within our group of 35. For me it was embracing part of Peruvian culture.  Last night I ticked off one of my Peruvian goals which was to try it. Shared between 5 of us at a lovely restaurant it felt like the best way to do it (rather than from a street stall which is also very common here). I wanted to try it for a couple of reason: first, because it's a celebratory dish here, and as visitors if we visited someone's home, this is the dish they would make to welcome us. The true honour I am told, is to suck out the eyeballs but thankfully this wasn't on the menu for ours yesterday. Secondly, because if I am prepared to eat other animals, it seems incongruent that I wouldn't be prepared to try this. Yes guinea pigs are lovely pets, and so are many other animals that we routinely eat in the UK (like my chickens). I wanted to challenge my western attitude to meat eating, and although it wasn'...

Another day, another adventure in this beautiful country! I have just spent the weekend at Pisac in the sacred valley. We had a gorgeous hotel, surrounded by the mountains which is always my happy place. Yesterday we went to a waterfall for a water healing ceremony. It was a reminder again that ceremony can happen anywhere, it's your intention which is important. The shaman talked about opening our souls to become cleansed by the water, allowing our problems to be washed away and filled with healing and light. The reality for me however, was sitting on uncomfortable rocks for an hour while 35 people queued to be prayed over and splashed with water (careful not to swallow) in a ceremony lasting just over 1min! Although the intention from our shaman was pure, I found it hard to drop in. Some people did find this powerful and healing, however for me it felt a little hollow. The experience was good, but there was no real time or context to think about the meaning, or absorb the experie...

Well yesterday was a long one, leaving Cusco at 9am and not arriving our hotel in Pisac until almost 9pm! It was magical though... I am swiftly learning that just like in Morocco last year (when every plan was "inshallah" God willing), things happen on a Peruvian schedule which also means there is a high chance of the plans changing completely! We drove to another ancient Incan agricultural site at Moray in the sacred valley. We were expecting a music healing from a Master Shaman but had been told the night before he was hundreds of miles away and difficult to reach. When he turned up unexpectedly at midday, everyone was delighted! We walked down to the Incan site (full of tourists, like an Incan stone henge) and found a beautiful stone circle just off to the side. I was tickled to hear Ardriel pray to the gods that everyone else would stay away and leave us alone! And so we enjoyed another beautiful ceremony with singing, meditation, prayer with our K'intu (the 3 coca le...

Today was a lovely one, because we spent it at a retreat centre connecting as a group. With 35 people, there is a lot of people to meet, but there is a great feeling of becoming a tribe, which is powerful. I am struggling to connect on a deep level with some of the Andean ceremonies and traditions because they are not of my own. It feels like I am one space removed, so doing sharing, affirmations and mediations in group today, helped to ground me. Something I can connect with very easily,  is the Peruvian's relationship with animals, especially their dogs.  In Andean culture, dogs are considered their oldest brother and you will see wild dogs and semi-wild ones everywhere. Through the street and sacred spaces are healthy looking, friendly dogs who roam freely. It turns out, that most of the dogs are actually owned, but rather than keeping them inside, owners allow them to run freely in the city, much like a cat. I have seen them snoozing at a beautiful vantage point, stre...

The way of things in Peru is often described as "hurry up, and wait". This sums up their attitude to getting things done: set off with purpose and then be prepared to stop and take your time. Today we visited the sacred site of Tipon, where the Incas created an amazing water system which is still working 600 years later. (Queue photos to impress my engineer husband, who constantly has issues with the plumbing at his work)! We were invited to bathe in the water, connecting with Yakumama "water mother" the bringer of life, before taking a long climb even higher into the mountains. Our guide encouraged us not to rush. To really slow down, enjoy the journey and feel the energy of the sacred place. I'm not sure I felt a specific energy myself, but all of Peru feels welcoming and beautiful so it was a welcome reminder to walk mindfully and observe our surroundings rather than head down, puffing my way to the top! Waiting to greet us were two Quero shamans who lead us...

It's only day 3 of my official trip and I feel like there is so much I could share. I guess you don't read this to be lectured about Peruvian cultures so let me give you the highlights of the last 2 days for me (honestly there is so much I could mention so I'll go with what feels right). I had my individual coca leaf reading yesterday and I'm still processing it. Adriel gets into a ceremony and then he throws the leaves and reads them. It was like nothing I've experienced before. Honestly, it wasn't what I expected (if I expected anything) because he shared a lot of information and insights about other people in my life. I thought it was more a reading about me! It was amazing how accurate many of his details were, he asked me questions and then gave advice from his spiritual guides. It doesn't feel right to share any more in depth here, but he affirmed that my move to the countryside and the work I do is the right path for me, so that's good to hear! Ev...

The group retreat began officially this morning, and we took a guided tour of Cusco. We began in the central square which was surrounded by Incan palaces 600 years ago before the Spanish came in and took over their culture. Indeed, for a long time the ancient Peruvian culture was pushed aside and those with Spanish blood were considered more worthy. Today, the opposite is true. Our guide Juan Carlos proudly shared his native Incan culture, which today meant marvelling at the feats of Incan engineering. Communities built perfect walls over generations, without tools - only those made of stone (they had no iron and brass was too soft). Scholars have been stumped at how they accomplished it, but what they did have was community. The people worked together, with music, corn beer, coco leaves (many properties of this to be shared another time but think hyper-focus), laughter and fun. In his words "they had focus, fun and a task they knew they would achieve together". Imagine these...

Have you ever been to a place, or even watched a tv show and ended up feeling disappointed because they didn't meet your expectations? Even when they were good, just not "as good" as you expected? (This is true for me of Barcelona, and Breaking Bad respectively). So I really didn't want to take it on board when everybody said how much they loved Cusco and how great it is. My first trip into the city was good, but unremarkable. On Sunday morning however, I woke up to a huge parade which went on from 8am and lasted all day. It seemed like the whole of Cusco was taking part, every age, man and woman dancing and dressed up in the streets. I still have no idea what the occasion was, but the vibe and sense of community was awesome. It's a friendly and very quirky place. I have found the most beautiful cafe to drink Cacao which also has a pitch black room with sound healing you can enjoy after. The shop keepers and stall holders are smiley, and not pushy. The amount of l...