There is no shortage of incredibly stunning temples in Thailand. Chiang Mai University happens to be close to an incredible one in the mountains called Wat Pha Lat. By close, I mean close to the hiking trail. It is about a 30-50 minute hike if I remember correctly. (30 if you are pretty much booking it) and could be longer if you need to stop a lot.
But the serenity and peace and view is worth it!
This is an activity that my teacher actually took us for one day of class, because our class was Holistic Health and Wellness in Asia-he tells us to meet at "BaseCamp" which is a coffee shop down the main road from the University, and close to the trail. Many of the study abroad students send out a message in the GroupMe app to meet at BaseCamp. However, to keep my self, my body, and mental health sane I THANKFULLY packed oatmeal packets with me and made that for myself in the dorm each morning. I didn't know how hard it would be to find food I was used to that made me feel nourished, but it was hard.
So I had brought protein powder, PB Fit, and oatmeal packets. Then I would get bananas from 7-11 even though I hated doing that because they INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED EACH BANANA! Anyway. Moving on.
My teacher is French. His name is Pierre, and he has a wife and two kids. They have been living in Krabi for years. They moved here so they could live the natural, outdoorsy lifestyle. He brings his daughter Luna on the hike, who is like 6 years old, and both she and Pierre do the hike barefoot!
We had a reading about grounding.There are actual scientifically proven benefits of touching the ground. When you connect to the earth, the body immediately starts to reverse inflammation!! It calms the body and allows the body to heal. It has helped for balancing hormones, depression, anxiety, etc. Grounding is being barefoot on the ground- apparently just 10-15 minutes of barefoot on the grass will reduce your stress. I totally know it's true...I just don't have hobbit tough feet yet so I wore my tennis shoes on the hike.
When you get to the top of Wat Pha Lat...it is absolutely amazing!!Because we went for class my teacher had a meditation with a monk organized for us...it was so cool! He guided us through something called Dynamic Meditation- which is a way of meditating with moving arms to specific positions over and over again. This keeps the mind so focused on doing the arms in the right order (think of the Macarena haha). Then we did a walking meditation where with each step you say to yourself "I am here. In the now. In this moment. I have arrived" Or something close to that. It is all about AWARENESS!
It is extremely hot in Thailand, if I have failed to mention that to you.
The first week of class was really the only time we had readings "homework". At the end of this week, we are getting on a plane to fly to the South of Thailand and stay in a hotel in Krabi!
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