All aboard the Mayan Cosmic Express
Standing on the top of Pikes Peak I felt small.
OK, smaller than usual.
Humbled by the view at 14,110 feet, I was just a speck. But aren’t we all.
The Mayan Cosmic Express had delivered a group of yogis and a Mexican shaman to the summit. That’s what the organizers at Marmalade at Smokebrush had renamed our train car on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway.
It’s one of those unique experiences I was lucky to find but are happening more and more as studios fire up their creativity.
Miguel Angel Vergara is lecturing and holding ceremonies across the U.S. right now and Marmalade hosted him for a weekend of learning about what some consider a Mayan prophecy that the world will end this Dec. 21. The Mexico-based Vergara is the former director of the Chichen Itza archeological site and helps keep Mayan wisdom applicable.
Sonja Bjelland travels the world looking for great yoga and even better food. After 10 years writing about America’s underbelly for daily newspapers, her stories now focus on international travel and wellness tourism in both popular and remote corners of the globe. These finds from India to Colorado are often highlighted on her website: YogaRetreatsandTravel.com. She has been published in Sailing magazine and the Los Angeles Times. When she is not behind a camera lens or laptop she can be found on a rock face or her yoga mat.