Just hanging out at Patara Elephant Farm for the day is such an event. April is the hottest month in Thailand; insanely hot at around 100 degrees. We are sharing a few pictures of the elephants to show their joy of living honorably as the great animals they are, not being asked to perform, just to be elephants.
The joy is obvious, the babies we encounter each time are so playful, the mothers so totally happy and content. This can only happen when they are in good health. For the life of an elephant to be able to reproduce naturally means they experience hormone changes naturally, which also means they are happier. I have learned that artificial insemination in captivity can totally confuse them as they do not understand what is going on. And then the baby arrives after 19-25 months, and some new mothers do not do well in captivity as they have not learned from aunties and extended families who would model for them if they were living as they should in their natural environment.
So at Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai Thailand we observe the lives of the elephants to be fulfilling. It does take them time to adjust to living peacefully. There is a story about one elephant who was used for elephant riding and when she was acquired by the farm, she had an abscess on her back from the chairs that are often used. If the elephant is not properly groomed before strapping on that chair, the skin can be irritated by dirt, a pebble, any debris between their skin and the chair. That elephant in particular spent 3 years in the elephant hospital to heal her sore. You can clearly see it today, a reminder of her pain in the past, an indent in her skin. Now today she lives happily, no more threat of sores.
They take such great care for elephants at Patara Elephant Farm. Focusing on returning them to good health through daily checks of ears, feet, and all the markings from sleeping; you can see the markings of dirt on different spots on the huge body and this tells the story of how they slept. An elephant sleeps only 45 minutes at a time, gets up and then shifts to the other side. The sleep cycle is only for 4-6 hours. Much has to do with the immense weight and how they have to keep shifting. Not easy to roll over 4 tons! Every day, the skin is taken care of; brushing along the grain pattern, which changes constantly. They use a bunch of leaves to "brush off" the dirt and parasites, they check the teeth, examine the dung. Yes, they are "poop inspectors". Very important as it tells us about hydration, digestion, teeth and elephants are, in fact, a "poop factory," food in and out in about 1.5 to 2 hours. Fun fact: elephants sweat in only one spot on the body, right above the toenails. So that is also part of the daily check list. And I also learned that elephants got through 6 sets of teeth in a lifetime. Their life expectancy is like us, 85 years. Once that last set wears out they will go off into the forest and die. But not today's elephants, it is rare that they are able to live naturally like that.
I spent much of yesterday observing, and then teaching the owners of Patara Elephant Farm about their new singing bowls. Giving sessions to them again has been a big help and we have managed to find great spaces to do this. They are quiet and thoughtful as they are thinking ahead for all the possibilities to help the elephants with these great tools. The idea of using it at end of life, during blood drawings (which I witnessed yesterday causes a lot of stress for the elephants), if they need to have an I.V. inserted which does happen, or if they are sick, and other wonderful ideas are still forming on how to use the bowls. They are the ones who know the elephants best, they care for them 365 days a year.
Tomorrow I will return to Patara and work with an elephant who they rescued from a circus. She is a loner as she does not know any other way of life. She is very good friends with Do Do who is a male, and right now he is in Musk, which means he has a big hormone surge, you can see it flowing out between his eyes and ears, so he is isolated for the time being. They describe the condition as being with a drunk, unpredictable and they can be very aggressive. She loves him, and you can see she is frustrated without him around. Last week she was quite responsive when I was playing the bowls for them so it will be very interesting tomorrow!
First Day of the Bowls for Elephants project in Chiang Mai Thailand at Patara Elephant Farm was spectacular. Met with the owner Pat and chose to do a session with him so he could understand Vibrational Sound Therapy with the set of bowls we brought to him. Pat arranged for this session to take place at his local Thai Massage place so we could make use of the massage table and have a room to do the session. It was perfect.
The area is in the mountains about a 45 minute drive from Chiang Mai, and such a beautiful setting for the elephants. Following the session Pat was game to try a few bowls with the elephants from the driveway into Patara. Quite interesting watching the few elephants who were just hanging out and grazing in the late afternoon. The matriarch was very attentive as was one other elephant, the others we observed were very relaxed and Pat explained they take direction from the matriarch. Her ears were flapping and tail moving which he told us was a sign of being relaxed. She did keep her attention on us as the bowls were singing. Very aware of all around her. At one point one of the elephants came right up close and personal, obviously very curious about the "new" sound coming from the singing bowl. Elephants are huge, and right there all 4 tons of her and that curiosity was quite an experience. We were between her and a parked car. Pat told us she was his first elephant that he acquired 14 years ago.
Earlier in the day when Nancy and I arrived at Patara Elephant Camp Pat greeted us and took us to meet two of the new babies, Tara and Palin both 6 months of age and born at Patara. That walk was magical meeting these two and their mothers. One of the moments that I will always remember was Palin using her trunk to examine my river shoes. The velcro strap she just pulled and opened the shoe like no big deal at all. Another great moment was watching Nancy walking on this huge tree root, like a balance beam and Palin just got up on it and followed along with amazing grace. That was so cute!
Pat had a group visit in the afternoon and gave a great talk about elephant conservation in Thailand. Thai New Year just was a week ago and he had us all walk under the elephant to leave the "bad" behind and it was a new beginning, I felt a transition as I made it through! And he gave us a little inspirational chat relating our lives to how elephants live. I am grateful to have spent this time yesterday listening to him, I learned so much about elephants and how life has specifically impacted the Thai Elephant.
You can watch one of the day's highlights, Nancy Ruby doing her daily 21 Day Salute to the World her yoga video this day was with the elephants. Pure magic. Her students and fans tune in daily for her session. You can also enjoy Nancy on yogamotion.com
Just a week away till my departure for Chiang Mai, Thailand and the amazing "Bowls for Elephants" project we have been planning for a year now with Patara Elephant Farm. This journey includes my practice with Singing Bowls, Vibrational Sound Therapy, and the developed understanding of an elephant's sensitivity to sound and vibrations — a fascinating theory I have become beyond passionate to explore.
About Singing Bowls and Vibrational Sound Therapy I offer a therapy at my store,Dari Rasa Trunk Show in Bozeman, Montana, called Vibrational Sound Therapy, which include reading a person'schakras(learn more about themhere) with a pendulum as a baseline for what chakras need any attention. I then use Singing Bowls to create balance, include Tibetan Singing Bowls, Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls, Alchemy Bowls that are Gemstone and/or Precious Metals — and the 18 bowls in my studio each have their own unique personality. Each bowl has its own musical note; ranging from A to G, each note corresponds to a specific chakra. Historically created in Asia, concentrating in Nepal, China and Japan, these bowls are played using a padded mallet or other tool. Strike or rub the mallet on these bowls to create a friction that creates a vibrational harmony and continuous "singing" sound. The science of healing with Singing Bowls is fascinating, and the therapy is known to be 97% effective.
How "Bowls for Elephants" Began
The project, "Bowls for Elephants" is an honor that I take very seriously. I was in Thailand in February of 2012 and a paying customer at the Patara Elephant Farm. At the farm, one pays a healthy fee to be what they call an "Elephant Owner for the Day." You work with the mahout — a Hindu word for a person who rides an elephant — and one particular elephant from the herd for the day. We learned about their care, including feed, foot care, parasites, examining dung, bathing in the river, and were given Thai words that the elephants respond to. Fascinating! The day also included talks on the current situation in Thailand regarding elephant conservation, which was illuminating. I could not help but fall in love with the majestic elephants. The day also included a trek riding elephants bareback, which I sadly could not participate in because I was still healing from surgeries and complications with my achilles tendon. I found myself embarrassed and crying because of many emotions surrounding not being able to go, which was, ultimately, my choice.
As my elephant, Mae Wan Dee, the mahout, myself and Ben, a manager at Patara, walked the path returning to the farm, the mahout stopped us — he and Ben were talking about something that was of importance. Ben told me to look at the majestic Mae Wan Dee, see her eyes, hear her stomach rumbling and hear what she was saying to me without words. I saw deep compassion in those soft eyes, and I felt such a deep love without any judgement, which allowed my own heart to feel compassion for myself. The emotions I had felt of embarrassment and shame around not being able to go on the trek melted away. I accepted the love of this one amazing and kind elephant and saw things through a different lens.
Once back at the farm, we spent time with Mae Wan Dee, feeding her and just watching her while having amazing conversations with our guides. True to form, I had travelled with energy stones and crystals in my pocket which I shared with Ben. Ben was fascinated by the stones, and I ended up gifting him my favorite Phantom Crystal — a variety of quartz — that I had with me. I taught him that the Phantom Crystal in particular is about Universal Awareness, which was the perfect gift for him and his work. We discussed what we both do in our work, and I shared with him what I do with Vibrational Sound Therapy. That conversation was the invitation to return to try the therapy with the elephants.
Bowls for Elephants: An Idea Comes to Fruition
So Ben and I have stayed in touch, planned for months, and I am ready to return to Chiang Mai to do this work. At Dari Rasa Trunk Show, we raised money for 3 months through the sale of Singing Bowls (items that were donated to sell for the project) and simple donations to our Bowls for Elephants fund. At our first fundraising event on November 15 (which was a stunning night, if I may say so — and the catered Thai food was a big hit), I spoke about our intention, and discounted all the singing bowls in the store for 3 hours.
We sold 20 bowls and many items in the store and created a lot of excitement around the project. People were incredibly generous. The purpose for raising the money was to purchase a set of bowls for Patara Elephant Farm and have the gift of the bowls come from Bozeman, Montana. Those bowls are now in Chiang Mai waiting for the work that is about to begin.
The day they shipped out was like sending a child off to college for me, I cried, I was so thrilled. Silver Sky Imports, the company who put together the set, did such a beautiful job of creating specific bowls for us, including a special trip to Colorado to find the best Lepidolite for a specific bowl that works to clear depression.
My sincere gratitude to Silver Sky Imports for their love of what they do and the intention to create the best set of bowls for this journey.
