Magic of the Mayan Cenote – Zen Nomad Cenote Adventure with Rachel, Sonja den Elzen and Blaise Misiek

Last winter I spent the time living in Tulum, Mexico. I lived on the beach, in a tent snuggled in the mangroves next to the jungle. I would wake up somewhere between 5 and 5:30 in the morning to sit on the beach and watch the sunrise. Watching the sunrise, having your eyes filled with the first warm light of the day, seeing it spread its incredible live art across the sky made an incredible difference in how the day would unfold and my general sense of well being throughout it. I had come down to Mexico to have the space to develop my yoga teaching practice and to connect with life in general. I met an incredible community of people who also lived on the beach, moved through their lives with intention, which also included amazing experiences, music under the stars, Temazcals (sweat lodges) with medicine people, singing, dancing, healing ceremonies, cacao ceremonies, Mayan calendar time, community kitchens of sharing whole and healthy delicious food, and everyday honoring of the nature around us. A few hundred feet back from where I camped, there was a cenote, this is a small body of slightly salty water that are surface connections to subterranean water bodies, connecting the sea from the mangroves below and resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. The one behind us where we often swam in the peaceful waters of was also home to a crocodile. My friend(a photographer) Blaise Misiek, his wife, Amie, and their adorable daughter, Aria had come down to Tulum to visit for a week, and true to the magic of Tulum were drawn to extent their stay and since Blaise had his underwater camera equipment we took the opportunity to play and what we left with was magic. I met lots of amazing people in Tulum, and a few who I know will be lifelong friends, Rachel, a fantastic artist from New York via London, was one of them, and when we decided to do an underwater photo shoot of the zen nomad collection, we knew she would be great. A celestial wanderer with a practice of yoga and meditation that threaded through her artistic talents, as well as being a seasonal local who could understand the magic of the cenotes, it would be a beautiful impromptu adventure.