Growing minds, expanding hearts – Hiking Mount Olympus
I felt myself grow to be as large as the mountain, grow in size. I felt my heart expand….
This past weekend, CYA organized a trip to hike up to the Skolio summit of Mount Olympus. After a long bus ride, students were eager to stretch out their legs and start the 4 hour hike up to the refuge, where they stayed the night. The next day, they began their final ascent up and reached the summit! Students experienced a breathtaking landscape and topiary change from that of Athens, and even saw their first snowfall!
Here is an extract from CYAer Nikki Anderson’s personal diary:
“Suddenly something pulled me to stand out at the very edge of the summit. I raised my hands in prayer to my chest, closed my eyes, tilted my head up slightly, took a deep breath in and as I slowly breathed out lowered my hands to the sides of my body and for 30 seconds stood in mountain pose at the edge of a mountain.With eyes closed, I felt myself grow to be as large as the mountain, grow in size. I felt my heart expand….And then I heard ‘Opa!’ and I was pulled out of my meditation, suddenly so small at the edge of this summit. Fully aware of how small I was in comparison to the mountain I was standing on. And it wasn’t scary at all it was thrilling and fulfilling.”
In a blog post about Olympus, Nikki explains: ” It was highhandedly the most spiritually healing experience of my life, I had never felt so grounded and purely happy and content with where I was mentally, emotionally, and physically.
I always believed that we are ever changing as people, even in the slightest bit each day, month, and year. We grow in different ways, we learn about ourselves and the world around us at different speeds and we take our opportunities and we give some at different times in our lives. I’m ready to give and receive as much as I can while I’m here. Because not only will Greece leave an impact on me at the end of my 3 1/2 months but I will leave an impact here as well.
And that is my ultimate Opportunity”
