Living with Rescued Elephants

The Main Event

The 2017 Elephant Blessing Retreat was based around 5 days spent at Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (BLES). Founded by Katherine Connor, BLES  strives to give rescued elephants a life that is as close to a ‘normal’ life in the wild as possible. Some residents are just too traumatized to interact with people, so they don’t. Some forgot how to forage on their own, so they learn. Each elephant has a mahout who takes care of and watches over him or her. This lets the elephants wander the extensive BLES property without anyone worrying about any accidents or trouble brewing anywhere.

The Healing is in the Being

During our time at BLES, we matched our day to the daily routine of the elephants. They are large animals who mostly move fairly slowly, so we did, too. We slowed down. We dropped our agendas. We experienced the present moment. We connected with the elephants in so many many ways – and most of them were from afar because they were busy being themselves and they weren’t there to entertain us or make sure we had a good time or anything. It was glorious!

What’s It Like?

The video below will give you a little taste of a day in the life at BLES.

Now It’s Your Turn

I never thought I would experience life through an elephant’s eyes but the experience definitely helped me to slow down and take things more in stride – because that’s what the elephants do!

Do you dream about spending a day with an animal? What kind of animal? I’d love to hear about it! Please leave a note in the comments below and share your dream!