We’ve just returned from another beautiful and intense journey in the Peruvian Amazon jungle and we’re so excited to get the ball rolling on Shine & Humm.

During our time in the jungle we began to wonder if it was important to share these experiences in a more public way. We’re both pretty private and struggle between the excitement of wanting to tell everyone about what we’ve experienced and being too revealing. We do find, however, that people are curious. And so, maybe there is a benefit to sharing what we feel have been transformative experiences.

AMAZON JUNGLE SUNSETS | THE DAILY CATCH | JUNGLE STROLL

Over the last 8 years that we’ve been together and traversing the globe, we have met so many interesting people on such inspiring journeys that ours often seems mundane in comparison. We’re fortunate to constantly be surrounded by people moving along the same road less-traveled. In fact, to us, it seems like a pretty well-worn path.

The travel we do is so much more than just seeing sights. For us, it’s about immersing ourselves in community and culture. It’s about receiving the energy of a particular place – its land and its people. It’s about delving deeper into consciousness and understanding, allowing for increased space and clarity. It is so difficult to put such immense experiences into a tiny little nutshell without diluting their significance. But through these experiences, and in combination with our regular yoga, martial arts and meditation practices, and spending time in nature, we are constantly shifting, clearing, healing and learning more about ourselves in ways that are so deep and so profound.

MAESTRO DIOGENES GARCIA OF THE SANTUARIO DE LA DIETA SHIPIBO | LA MEDICINA

This particular trip to the jungle was a short and sweet month. But as always, we are so grateful to the medicine, our maestros, and our extended medicine family in whom we find mutual understanding, support and love.

SIDENOTE FROM MARIANNE

To all you skeptics and cynics, I completely understand where you’re coming from. I lived in that space for most of my life. But I have to say, I’m glad that I let that part of me go (well, most of it anyway) in favour of open eyes, curiosity and sheer wonder. Believing in magic makes life so much more interesting! But that’s a story for another time.

As we build the blog and the Shine & Humm space, we hope to share more of the experiences that have helped shape our life, as unconventional as it seems to some. Though for many, ours is not unconventional enough. We feel often that we straddle between 2 worlds. In one place, we are reasonable and logical, quickly moving through a life focused on the external, the familiar, the tangible. In this world, we operate on a literal and linear plane. But there’s another, more esoteric place where intuition rules. It’s a mystical and magical place that encourages internal reflection, creativity, and spontaneity. Both are equally as real and as important for us to explore.

5 STAR JUNGLE ACCOMMODATION | BREAKFAST TIME

And so in our life, we try to find ways to express ourselves in both spheres, living our lives as honestly and as real as possible. At times, it’s felt like we’ve had to separate these 2 facets of ourselves to avoid controversy or divisiveness. But times are changing and one of the things that we hope Shine & Humm becomes is a space where we can share not only our projects but our processes.

So this is what Shine & Humm is. This is who we are. And this is who we hope you see when you visit!

If this post was your cup of tea:
Have a read of Marianne’s suggestions for daily resolutions here.
Our reflections on 2017 and outlook for 2018 is here.