Recently I just went on a short holiday trip to Chiang Mai with my husband’s family. Even though it was only for 3 days 2 nights, and it had nothing to do with wellness or retreat, to me it was so refreshing to be able to step away from my daily life routine, my home and workplace.
We stayed in Moncham mountain in Chiang Mai for one night. The mountain air was crisp and cool. The moon and stars hanging in the night sky seemed to be in a much closer reach. I could see only a few clusters of night lights around the mountain and down the valley, and the hustle bustle of Chiang Mai city was so far away.
My phone’s mobile data network wasn’t working properly though there was wifi provided by the homestay we were at. I didn’t feel like connecting to the internet though. It seemed such a waste of time and the scenery.
Plus it was such a journey just to come up to the mountain. We got lost from the misdirection of Google map and our car ended up stuck in some small muddy road. We had to call the homestay and they brought their pickup truck to tow us back up to the steep mountain roads. We were lucky that our car still made it to the end of the trip.
Up in the mountain, we sat around together in our bungalow and enjoyed the barbeque dinner while chilling by the view and the cooling temperature. My son was having fun playing with his cousin and soon collapsed to sleep at 7.30pm. As for me, I fell asleep at 8pm. I was dead tired.
Next morning I woke up before 7am, and got my phone out to snap some photos of the rising sun. The golden soft sunlight was spreading across the mountain range and the valleys like a thin blanket. I breathed in deeply again. This would be a perfect time to meditate before everyone got up.
Of course just when I had this thought, my son woke up and I couldn’t go for meditation just yet. We strolled around and snapped some photos together with my sister-in-law, and got ready for breakfast. Soon all the family members were awake and my son joined his cousin to play. That was when I could sneak back to my own bungalow and sat down for a quick healing and meditation practice.
The magical morning stillness from early morning shifted as more people woke up. There were more noise and actions going around the homestay as people were having breakfast, checking out and departing.
There was something from this mountain stay that deeply touched me. I hadn’t gone on for a holiday for 8 months, and the last time we went on holiday, we just stayed in Chiang Mai city. This trip was supposed to be the last trip before baby no. 2 would arrive.
The night when we returned home to Chiang Rai, even though I was beyond exhausted, I really wanted to do a facial scrub, body scrub and a face mask. Since I was pregnant, these were the things I barely had energy to do. I had a feeling that I really wanted to cleanse my skin. And I felt like this was an outer reflection of somehow, my energy had been cleansed and purified by being in the mountains.
My dreams from that night when we were staying at the mountain were like a HD movie. The colors were sharper and the images were crystal clear, even though I couldn’t remember much details now.
I also had an insightful dream the night when we returned to Chiang Rai. The colors were not as high-definition, but in my dream, one of my teachers came and was guiding me through a dream therapy session (dream in a dream)!
The morning after, I felt guided to go on a shamanic journey, and I met an important spirit guide who would help me with learning more about dreams.
Perhaps it was from the crazy car journey we had going up the mountain (I felt like we could die any minute and I was eternal grateful that we were all safe and protected). Perhaps it was just stepping out from the physical space of where I worked and lived daily. Coming back to Chiang Rai, I knew I had a lot of work ahead to complete as well. I was already worried and feeling stressed out before I went on the trip.
But I could feel there was an energy shift within me since I returned home. A reminder for me of what is truly important. A reminder that I have all the time in the world to do what my heart and soul want to do. A reminder that I am always protected and guided by the Universe.
I’m not sure if I will have the energy to go up and stay at the mountain one more time before baby no. 2 comes. And I sincerely hope that in the future I can incorporate one night stay at a mountain as part of a retreat program.
Meanwhile, I just want to say thank you to the beautiful purifying energy of mountain mama!
PS: Check out my 7 practical traveling tips for planning your next stay at the mountains of Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai here
