It’s Saturday.
The sun begins to sink into the jungle, filtering softly through the ceibas and guayacanes. The air turns warmer, golden. I’ve just come out of a static dance session; my body feels tired, still vibrating.
As I walk slowly, a girl approaches me with a soft smile. She invites me to a cacao ceremony that’s about to begin.
For a moment I hesitate, my body feels slightly drained, but there’s something in her presence, in the way she speaks, that makes me say yes.
And then I step into the circle.
Time softens. It becomes more present.
The smoke of copal resin incense begins to rise, wrapping the space in a deep, earthy, almost ancestral scent. I breathe in, and something within me starts to settle.
The guide begins to speak.
Her voice is calm, steady. It’s not only heard, it’s felt. Her words set the rhythm, opening the space, inviting us to arrive gently into the moment.
I hold the cup in my hands.
The cacao feels warm, alive. When I taste it, it isn’t sweet, it’s rich, slightly bitter, deep. A flavor that lingers, that doesn’t try to please, but to open.
And then something shifts.
I feel the warmth of the fire reaching my body, while the sound of birds and the ocean begins to surround everything, as if nature itself were part of the ceremony.
The cacao begins to open something.
Not all at once, but slowly. It expands like a quiet warmth moving through my chest, making me more aware of what’s happening around me… and within me.
I look at the others, and they no longer feel like strangers.
There’s a different kind of closeness, a silent recognition. Hearts beating in the same rhythm, breaths finding a shared pulse.
Community becomes something tangible.
Not an idea, but a living experience. As if, for a moment, we stop being separate individuals and become part of the same field, the same shared energy.
Here, surrounded by jungle and sea, everything deepens.
The wind, the fire, the sounds… and the presence of every person.
And within that space, something aligns.
I feel open, held, connected.
As if, for a moment, everything is exactly where it should be.
And I am too.
When I leave, I move differently.
Lighter, more present, more connected to myself and to others.
This time at IKAL Tulum has transformed the way I relate to myself, to my body, and to those around me.Something opened here… and I can feel it staying with me, even as I walk away.
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