The Playa Cósmica Project has two main goals:

• To develop an innovative, educative, visionary and efficient sustainable model of alternative, inclusive, holistic medicine and research centre, as well as a balanced, communitarian way of living through the 6 pillars of sustainable living: infrastructure (via bio-construction), organic food and water, clean, renewable energy, holistic health and open-minded/open-hearted, efficient education.

This project will be implemented through varied sustainable, educative, tangible and accessible (including financially speaking) tools in order to individualize people’s “awakening”, growing and healing process on the deepest physical, emotional, energetical and karmic level.

• To protect the “Laguna de Chacahua National Park” from over-exploitation and over-commercialization by buying a broad quantity of land around the infrastructure of the project and by leaving it untouched, so that it will maintain the existence of the rich local fauna and flora of the area (considering that most of the National Park has been put on sale and sold by some of the locals, but we will get back to that later).

Who am I and what do I do?

My name is Nicolas Genna and I was born in France on 29/05/1979. Yet, I feel like a true citizen of the world after having travelled, lived and worked in 49 different countries for the last 20 years (and for the last 9 years in a row).

I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Physical Education (encompassing professional coaching, group management, sport psychology, and nutrition and health) at the Sports and Sciences University of Nice, France (2000-2004). In addition to my career in Physical Education, I substantially taught English as a second language until 2016 in Mexico (at least in a formal, “official” structure), for I had become a certified teacher of the University of Cambridge’s international CELTA program in Amsterdam, in 2011. Furthermore, I have extensively studied and taught in the fields of sustainable development, astrology and astronomy, yoga, Reiki, Chinese medicine, holistic massage and physiotherapy throughout the years. Not only have I worked as a high-school teacher or University Professor in many of these fields in France, The Netherlands, India, Nepal, Japan, Mexico, Ecuador and Peru, but I also have a substantial amount of more “random” professional experience, such as a photographer, a restaurant and bar manager, and even as a professional fisherman and farm manager.

In fact, as I explain substantially in my first book (“Teacher on the Road – The Five Phases of Death”, published in 2020), while most people choose (or are forced to choose) a “career”, supposedly for most of their life, I have always been inexorably drawn towards a multi-disciplinary approach of existence, in an attempt to put all the pieces of the giant cosmic puzzle together so to speak, and to truly understand the meaning of both the human and spiritual experience in an inclusive fashion.

I now want to share the story of this life-changing journey with my fellow human beings and cosmic souls, as a natural extension of the Journey itself, which has always been about sharing as authentically as possible and inspiring one another. Indeed, during this quest of mine, I was inspired by many wonderful people to continue to move forward and look beyond, as much as my incredible adventures surely inspired many in return, not necessarily to do what I have done or to take on my beliefs, but rather to perceive the world and the universe in a different, multi-angle way.

My book represents the result of my passion (and my genuine dedication to it) for sharing with outstanding human beings around the globe, through a lifetime of teaching (in many different disciplines), nearly 9 years without going back to France, and more than 2,000 hours of writing (just for this book alone). More specifically, this book tells the story of the first section of my moneyless quest around the world overland, when I went from France to Nepal (September 2012 – June 2014). Eventually, 8 years later, this journey has taken me all the way to the bottom tip of South America, and is still ongoing today somehow.

At the time, after I had worked in the education industry for more than 10 years (although I was “only” 33 years old), I spontaneously decided to leave my old routine behind (my job as a professional basketball coach and an English teacher, a four-year relationship and most of my material possessions) and indulge in a new adventure that would change my existence far beyond what I could ever predict or expect (geographically, culturally, socially, emotionally and spiritually). My idea was to travel around the entire globe, exclusively overland and overseas, without using any money at all (except when it came to the inevitable border crossings and visas).

I chose to name this project “Teacher on the Road”, not only because I personally had been teaching most of my “adult” life until I started hitting the road towards some unknown Eastern horizons, but also and especially because I believe that we are all teachers, guides and Masters to one another on the Path of Life. After all, the things we learn from and share with each other in this lifetime are endless (and limitless), especially while travelling, and we do not need an “official” label to do so (or to do anything, for that matter).

There were many factors, of course, that led me to this rather unconventional and ambitious endeavour, and I want to take the time to tell you a very short version of the story because it is inevitably connected with the Playa Cosmica Project in Chacahua, Mexico, which I am now in the process of eventually manifesting. Overall, I wanted to radically change my life and prove to myself (and others in the process, as a “mirror”) that everything is possible as long as our intention is pure. So, I closed my bank account, set aside my last 400 Euros for the border crossings along the way, and set off with nothing more than very few essential possessions on my back, a direction in mind and an indescribable longing in my heart for something “else”.

Little did I know that, by going so far out of my comfort zone and down the rabbit hole, magic and synchronicity would quickly fill the elemental space that familiarity and predictability had once occupied in my life. It was merely the beginning of my very own quest for ultimate Freedom; a voyage during which I would go through a myriad of different cycles (which, as I explain in the book and refer to in its title, I have found to be inherent to Life, and more precisely, to its inherently inescapable process of Personal Liberation), exploring deeper layers of consciousness and all facets of human interconnectedness on the less-travelled paths of Spirit and Science. It might sound intricate or eccentric, but really, this is what we all (have come here to) do on this physical plane, whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of the linear time (or lifetimes) it takes us to finally realize it.

This book is based on my travel diaries, which have been my most trusted companions through this adventure, and as such, it shares all the epic adventures and encounters (and many photos I took, as well as maps showing my route) that shaped the first two years of this journey, in which I went from France to Nepal, overland and without money. I also discuss varied, thought-provoking contemporary issues and controversial topics to illustrate the inner process that I went through at the time, exploring a considerable number of social, scientific, psychological, philosophical and metaphysical concepts, which have both engendered, and ensued from, the physical manifestation of this life-changing experience.

It is important to acknowledge that my quest around the world overland turned out to be much longer than I ever anticipated, as I ever-increasingly embraced the Road towards new horizons (both literally and figuratively), and it took me all the way from Western Europe to Japan (from September 2012 to July 2015), and then from Alaska to the bottom tip of South America (from July 2015 to August 2020). Meanwhile, I spent years studying and experiencing a multitude of sustainable ways of living and co-existing concepts in many communities in order to make them coherent and effective to the wholeness of both our human and spiritual experiences.

This is actually how I first arrived in Mexico (late November 2015) and Chacahua (mid December 2015). And I immediately fell in love with both, whether it comes to the beauty and rawness of the land as well as its connection with Mother Nature and the surrounding, omnipresent elements:

• Fire: There is so much sun for it is a semi-arid climate, and it is very accessible to make a bonfire at night as fire would be the only “missing” element at night (if we do not consider the light of the stars, of course).
• Air: the stars and the cosmos at hand.
• Earth: leaving barefoot in the sand at all times.
• Water: the presence of the powerful Pacific Ocean and the influence of the cycles of the moon.

Although I had already living in many countries and outstanding places at the time, I instantly connected with the permanent surrounding magic of Chacahua and felt like Home here ever since (despite the fact that I had already long learnt that home can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time and that “Home” resides inside us at all times).

Yet, I was still on my way around the world overland when I first came to Chacahua and, even if I already thought of and investigated the possibilities of buying a piece of land and starting a sustainable-community project here in early 2017, I also felt that neither Chacahua nor myself were actually ready for that adventure yet.

As a result, in March 2018, I eventually set off for a new section of my long voyage all the way from Mexico to the very South of Chile and the bottom tip of South America.

I drove nearly 30,000 kilometres with two different vehicles over the course of the following two and a half years to get all the way to Punta Arenas (Southern Chile, Magellan Strait, Land of Fire) on March 18th 2020.

At that point, the development of the Covid-19 pandemic finally played its life-changing role and, even though I was meant to stay for only a couple of days in Punta Arenas before heading back North through Argentina and Brazil, Argentina closed its borders at that very moment and I eventually got completely stuck at the end of the world for five long months. Of course, that “unwanted” situation (and yet that I had somehow manifested to learn a lesson) induced a very intense personal process, but as everything to me -including the most intense challenges- is just another positive experience that is set to us in order to learn a necessary, meaningful lesson. Indeed, my unexpected stay in Punta Arenas allowed me to use my (lot of) spare time to finish my first book and start organizing my first music & holistic workshop conscious festival in Chacahua, in December 2020 -we will surely get back to that in more details later.

Completely losing my freedom and connection with nature for so many months, in the harsh cold of the sub-Antarctic winter, also led me to making the decision to come back to my beloved Mexico and Chacahua (and “Home”) much earlier than what I had thought in the first place, in August 2020. As an allegory of Santiago of the Alchimist (Paolo Cuelho), my journey through central and South America was totally correlated with the idea of discovering and exploring prospective places to get started with my amazing project, but my heart could not be any more convinced that this place was actually Chacahua all along. And, this time, I finally feel totally ready to get started with the Playa Cósmica Project on a broader scale.

However, it has not been something easy to fully embrace and accept in the first place, for after having carefully observed, lived and felt the pace of the infrastructural and touristy evolution of Chacahua for the last 6 years, I suddenly and bitterly realized that the exploitation and commercialization of the place has been inexorably more obvious and intense in the last few months than in the last few years, all this in an exponential tempo.

Then, as I also realized that not only more and more projects had freshly mushroomed on the little island, but also many new lands were now on sale or sold in the National Park, which means that its inevitable decline and possible extinction has become a real issue to me and many others. For example, it just took a few years for towns like Mazunte, Zipolite or Tulum to develop to such an extent as we know them now (especially when it comes to Tulum) after they started getting more known and being abusively exploited on the real estate level (and on all possible levels actually).

Consequently, as I underwent my very own introspective process about the matter, I asked myself whether I actually wanted to be part of this massacre or not, in case I would myself implement my project within the boundaries of the National Park. Yet, I have long learnt how the world works, so I also know that other exclusively money-oriented, ill-intentioned people will probably build fancy resorts within the boundaries of the National Park at some point, which would be much worse for the local wildlife and vegetation. Therefore, I now believe that manifesting the Playa Cosmica Project in Chacahua is actually the “right” thing to do (at least to me) in order to protect the land. Through my own process, I used to be reluctant to this huge responsibility and I have had to accept that this is what I have to and want to do.

The Playa Cósmica Project:

Originally, the project was named after the “Playa Cosmica Solstice Festival”. It is a free, conscious event I organized in Chacahua for the first time from December 21st to 23rd 2020, and which was a massive accomplishment in itself considering the tremendous impact that Covid-19 has had on this type of events since the pandemic broke out.

The festival consists of a mix of holistic workshops during the day and live music at night until sunrise. Since I intend to make this gathering happen at least once a year during the December solstice, it seems very coherent and meaningful to also name the project this way since the festival will be fully part of it far beyond the waves of sound and healing it generates in the meantime. Chacahua is a very magical, cosmic beach and indeed, the idea is to teach trainees a myriad of concrete healing and personal-development tools and techniques through varied courses and retreats, so that the attendees can then practise their new skills and share them during the festival for free.

Furthermore, the intention of the Playa Cósmica Project is not only to contribute to the protection of the National Park by buying some land so that people cannot destroy the pristine nature (as it is already taking place) and build fancy resorts on them (as already debated before), but also to eventually relocate the turtle protection centre. In fact, the recent relatively industrial constructions next to the “tortuguero” (turtle center) as well as the overall evolution of Chacahua in the last few months have made me realized that, sadly, this area of the island may be actually swallowed by abusive structural and architectural exploitation in a not-so-distant future, so relocating the turtle protection centre to a further location (as well as the actual location of the Playa Cosmica Project) could be a very effective way to ensure its survival and maintenance in the years to come regardless of how Chacahua evolves in the meantime.

Therefore, the Playa Cosmica Solstice Festival (as part of bigger picture of the Playa Cósmica Project) is an efficient, powerful tool to promote the protection of the National Park and local wildlife and I definitely need a little financial support to make all the rest of the magic happen.

Furthermore, throughout the year, according to moon cycles and astrological events, courses and retreats will be available on site. The idea is to make them as affordable and inclusive as possible so that they will be accessible to everyone (free for locals).

Since many people are eager to learn sustainable living and a holistic approach of medicine (and healing) but they do not know how/what to do, the concept of the Playa Cósmica Project is to teach them how to develop a multitude of interconnected skills that can assist them in reconnecting with their essence, unconditional love and happiness and then share these essential human feelings with others in order to shift the energy frequency of the whole collective consciousness, hence the entire current societal paradigm. The content of the classes/workshops will assist people in learning about how to handle and balance their energies and emotions (as part of the inherent body-mind-spirit balance) so that they can finally integrate that we cannot heal others if we are not ready to be honest with ourselves and heal ourselves in the first place. That we cannot love others if we are not able to love ourselves in the first place and so on and forth. Only then can we understand the meaningfulness of the human experience as a soul and that, despite having a very unique Ride and different paths/missions/functions on this physical plane, we all have the very same potential and choice to manifest abundance in our existence. I have never said it is something easy to do, but it is definitely worth a try.

At last, I would like to put a little more emphasis on the communitarian aspect of the Playa Cósmica Project, especially when it comes to the subtle balance of the social interactions and energy exchange through it. The essence of the human experience is all about meeting people and exchanging energies with after all.

Throughout my many travels and sustainable-community experiences all over the world, I have noticed that there is often an imbalance between what I consider as the three pillars of how we interact with others and with our direct environment; the intimate interconnection between how we relate to:

• The self
• Our fellow community members
• Nature

As I use the word “community”, I refer to any types of communities somehow, whether they are sustainable or not, and regardless of the number of its members -the minimum being 2 people, which can makes us wonder and debate about the notion of friendship or “couple” (what I like to call “intimate relationship”, although again, any type of relationship contains love -which can manifest itself in a multitude of fashions, and any type of relationship can possess its very own form of intimacy).

Through the rat race of the city life (which I personally also experienced and chose to leave behind at some stage), we tend to be surrounded by a lot of distractions and social pressure which, in turns, tends to disconnect us from nature, hence from our very essence. Maintaining the balance between these three pillars is what supports us in becoming unconditionally happy and satisfied with our existence as well as in love with ourselves therefore with others:

• Taking some personal time for ourselves is what makes us process and integrate all our life experiences, lessons and emotions
• Taking some collective time to exchange ideas with like-minded people makes us grow, heal and feel human
• Taking some time to connect with Mother Nature and the cosmos (whether individually or collectively) changes our perception of the world and teaches us our real place on Earth and in the universe, so that it may facilitate the process of understanding why our soul has decided to come back to this physical plane in this very physical body for this very experience in the here and now.

The Playa Cósmica Project has three principal research and practice directions:

• Holistic therapy and Psylotherapy (as part of the Mushroom Research Center):

I have been studying and practising diverse techniques of physiotherapy (in my quest of re-attuning with the ultimate balance between the East and the West) for the last 20 years. Meanwhile, I have slowly but surely connected with some sacred/psychedelic substances that came to me at some point, although they all came along relatively “late” (at least in terms of physical age), so that I never really felt the need or flow to experience their recreational side like many people do. Yet, it makes sense as I have always felt and believed that these plants and mushrooms have so much more to offer to the world than being used just for “fun”.

Very long story cut short, throughout years of practice, I started understanding how to finally combine all the healing tools I had learnt and experienced along the way to develop my very own holistic therapies, which I actually started sharing in Chacahua, in 2016, along with the reconnection with two of the most powerful, accurate and special tools I can share with others, namely astronomy and astrology, whether it has taken place through courses or some other birth chart readings.

As I came back to Chacahua from the Chilean Patagonia, in August 2020, I eventually started a new cycle as a holistic therapist. Again, my practice is a combination of many tools (in order to maximize and individualize the process for each and every one of us, including myself), and although I can always give a specific physiotherapy treatment or relaxing massage to someone, the concept of the treatments I usually give to my patients consists of three therapies in one in order to make it as holistic and effective as possible:

• Foot reflexology (as part of the Chinese Medicine skills I share and through a fusion of Reiki and reflexology) to work on the organs level, which tend to accumulate lots of subconscious emotions (the best examples of this are the stomach and digestive system when it comes to anxiety). Also, foot reflexology is already a full therapy in itself, during which tremendous exchanges of energy can be felt by both the patient and practitioner, and it opens the energy meridians and prepares the patient’s body to receive the following part of the treatment.

• Back therapy and realignment, which has very little to do with a conventional massage for the simple reason that the intention is not only physical (or physiological), but also and especially energetical and emotional. Indeed, healing the three bodies (physical, energetical and emotional) is what allows the therapy to become holistic and to heal people in the deepest and most subconscious (at times even unconscious, generational or karmic) psychosomatic way, as I believe everything is psychosomatic and we do manifest everything that takes place in our lives, including physical injuries and wounds…and physical death. This part of the treatment consists of realigning the spine without any proper osteopathic manipulation, and instead of doing so through Chinese acupuncture points and specific techniques of deep tissue massage on the Bladder Meridian all the way from the hip bone (sacred Yin) to the crown (Cosmic Yang), as well as by working on both the feminine (Yin-left) and masculine (Yang-right) parts of the body to unlock emotional tensions and blockages. Indeed, learning how to “read” someone’s back like I did through my own experience gives us a substantial amount of indications about old traumas and blockages that still linger in the physical body (often coming from childhood and/or adolescence), and bringing them back to the surface is what allows me to facilitate their process and integration for the patient.

• Reiki, biomagnetism and the channelling of electro-magnetic energies in the end of the therapy, at the very moment when the physical, energetical and emotional bodies are completely relaxed, attunes and at peace, so that the exchange of energies is more profound and efficient than ever.

By the beginning of 2021, I finally felt ready to start giving therapies on psilocybin mushroom micro-dosing, which I had already experienced in some other forms before. After a very promising first experience during which I was on about 0.8 grams of psilocybin mushroom (as a quick reminder, despite the inherent relativity of the concept, a full mushroom journey is usually 3 to 5 grams of dried mushrooms and micro-dosing them usually consists of taking 0.1 to 0.2 grams one day on – one day off (or two days on – one day off) for a period of time that ranges from two to three weeks.

During that experience, I could induce sacred-geometry visions in my patient’s head, which is what he told me during my traditional feedback time just after the session (according to the notes I take in the meantime, so that I do not disturb the process). Consequently, I started getting very interested in using psilocybin mushroom micro-dosing with some specific patients with a deep emotional or karmic charge, or even those who came to me with rare diseases. For example, I have this 30-ish year-old female English patient who was diagnosed with Crohn disease at 7 years old. Since again, I believe that everything we manifest in our physical body is psychosomatic (which we can prove through Quantum Physics), I do not think that the emotional charge we carry at such young age belongs exclusively in this incarnation and somehow has to come from generational or even karmic patterns. As a result, the psilocybin mushroom micro-dosing with this patient has allowed me to bring some profound emotions back to the “surface” and heal her on a much deeper level than what it would have been with a more conventional therapy, like it has been the case with many other patients ever since.

Ultimately, one of the goals of the Playa Cósmica Project is to study the human brain and define some scientific patterns with a carefully-selected (or consciously-manifested) team of competent, open-minded, passionate people in order to develop telepathy (cognitive knowledge-Yang) and empathy (emotions-Yin) with the patients/trainees/attendees. This may seem a little “crazy” and far-fetched, but it is not really so when we eventually understand that we all are a little crazy in our very own way and that the real issue would be not to be aware of that. Also, these concepts are not so far-fetched when we understand the foundations of Quantum Physics and that it is scientifically proven that we can completely change the wiring of our neurons (and, in fact, as we can “rewire” them) and therefore the way we deal both cognitively and emotionally with life.

Moreover, my theory is that many people want to “change the world” but we keep on using human words that are heavily charged with millennia of cognitive and emotional nonsense, so we could totally change the way we communicate with our fellow beings through telepathy (which I believe is completely real whenever we connect with others on a more profound level, and I am pretty sure that everyone that will read these lines all the way to that point has already had that amazing feeling), and feeling and listening to our intuition instead of over-thinking “problems” that only exist in our mind. Consequently, this would limit the use of human words and the “negative” routine/energy that is inherently ingrained in them. Only then can we change ourselves and hence the world by setting our most honest, authentic intention into the human collective (and therefore elevate its energy frequency).

***

This is an extract of my book: “Teacher on the Road – The Five Phases of Death” (2020)

“As I started becoming more and more interested in what the true power of our misunderstood brain could be, I realised that its volume has not evolved for the last 230,000 years, and since the appearance of Homo Neanderthalensis (over a 2 million-year timespan, the volume of the brain went from 600 cm3 with Homo Habilis, to 1680 cm3 with Homo Neanderthalensis, which is its actual current size). I also figured out that, “coincidentally”, psilocybin (psychoactive) mushrooms began being used in sacred rituals all over the world approximately 230,000 years ago (cave-paintings and other visionary art date back to about 40,000 years ago, but this is not incompatible with the idea that whoever made them built on an already existing legacy of even more ancient and probably less outwardly-“expressive” rituals).

Fungi are also intriguing because the connections between their cells are very similar to the axonal and synaptic connections between the neurons of the human brain. In 1998, a bunch of scientists discovered that fungi split from animals about 1.538 billion years ago, whereas plants split from animals about 1.547 billion years ago. This means fungi split from animals about 9 million years after plants did, which entails that fungi are actually more closely related to animals (and therefore to humans) than plants are. Also, it has been scientifically proven that the mycelium (the underground “root” system of mushrooms) connects all trees and plants together, through a gigantic network of trillions of smart cells, that can be compared to the workings of the human brain.

We also know that every single fungus has a specific function: some, like Turkey Tail, are 8 times more efficient than chemotherapy for curing cancer, and others, like psilocybin mushrooms and Lion’s Mane, facilitate the neuron-genesis process (in other words, the rebirth and growth of neurons in the brain, which could help cure diseases or psychological conditions such as Alzheimer, schizophrenia, psychosis, addictions or depression) – and this all in a natural, chemical-free way-. So it is not actually so far-fetched to think that their consumption could have had a huge impact on the evolution of humanity.

As Terrence McKenna and Graham Hancock also suggested in their respective researches, I believe not only that psychedelic mushrooms are very likely to have induced the very first form of religion and spirituality in our evolution, hundreds of thousands of years ago, but it is also very plausible that the human brain tripled in size (from Homo Habilis to Homo Neanderthalensis) because of these hundreds of thousands of years of regular consumption of psilocybin mushrooms. It is even possible that the human brain has stopped growing ever since, because mushroom consumption has been quite misunderstood and repressed throughout our more recent history. And yet, even though this is a very acceptable theory regarding human evolution (especially in a Darwinian perspective), it remains merely a theory -the “Stoned Ape Theory”, as Terrence McKenna named it-, like there are many others out there, and it is up to each and every one of us to do our own critical, independent research about this topic.

For my part, not only do I find this theory very plausible, but I also believe that ancient civilisations had become very advanced with regards to both Science and Spirit, all over the world, because of their regular intake of psychoactive substances, and that the crisis of consciousness we are experiencing today is somehow connected with the permanent repression that sacred, ancestral plants have been subjected to in the last decades. Indeed, all medicinal, healing substances such as mushrooms (psilocybin), Peyote (mescaline), San Pedro (mescaline), Ayahuasca (DMT), marijuana (THC-CBD), or even LSD (which is a semi-synthetic substance, that nonetheless originated in nature -actually from another mushroom, the rye ergot fungus- and has been scientifically proven to have many healing effects, if taken with respect and awareness), have been incessantly labelled as “dangerous, useless hard drugs” (such as cocaine or heroin), and, consequently, the true potential they may have to explore and understand the meaning and purpose of our existence on this physical plane has been utterly dismissed.

Of course, this is all theory, and I felt like I needed to experiment with it for myself. I ingested some mushrooms for the first time in Amsterdam, in 2003, and it did not end up being an outstanding experience. However, I tried them again after I came back from Australia, in 2008, with my friend Carole, and later in Amsterdam (again) as I lived there, and these times, it was the most insightful, meaningful experience ever, during which I was so lucid and clear-minded that I truly felt like my comprehension of consciousness was able to reach a whole new depth. I could process so much information all at once that I could finally grasp the intrinsic beauty of our connection with nature and the entire cosmos timelessly.

This knowledge and wisdom are always there, but they are usually not accessible to us because we are so distracted and mind-oriented all the time. These sacred substances may actually contain many existential answers that we all seek sooner or later, and may allow us to accept their consequences too, especially when it comes to interconnectedness, destiny, synchronicity, or even to unconditional love, faith, and the immortality of the soul. After all, even when it comes to Prince Siddharta; who can say if he did not, in fact, find and ingest a few psilocybin mushrooms around while he was meditating under his famous Bodhi tree for 40 consecutive days, which facilitated and enhanced his “enlightenment” process (after which he would become known as the Buddha)?”

I have always been fascinated by all types of mushrooms since I was a young child even if it is only much later, in 2015, that I profoundly reconnected with them. Since then, I have studied, picked and experienced them quite substantially, like many other fields.

After I stayed in a mushroom community and research centre in Guatemala, in 2017, it could not be any clearer that one of my purposes would be to implement my very own mushroom research centre somewhere, someday. And I believe that Chacahua is the perfect place for that since it is such a powerful, ceremonial energy vortex. The idea is to use psilocybin and other non-psychedelic medicinal mushrooms in a micro-dosing as well as full-journey perspective in order to study their effects onto the human body and brain, as well as onto energies and emotions, and hence to reconnect with the ultimate balance between the body, mind and Spirit.

• The Astronomy Observation Center:

This is another extract of my book: “Teacher on the Road – The Five Phases of Death” (2020)

“I do not believe in a specific God, but I actually do believe in the Universe as a whole, as everything and everyone comes from the same substance. We are Its atomic and chemical extensions, and are made out of recycled star matter, and so is everything around us. Subsequently, we are inexorably connected with Its energetic pulse in this physical “dimensity” (a “portmanteau word” that I like using in order to communicate the meaningful marriage between “dimension” and “immensity”).

Therefore, listening to our heart and intuitions in order to make choices allows us to get closer to some form of spirituality, or at least to whatever suits each and every one of us on our respective paths, both on an individual and collective level. As to all the things that are not up to us to control; I believe that our purpose in life is to embrace the Unknown of our own Path, so our heartbeats can tune and lean into the rhythm and flow of Its eternal, ethereal cosmic energies.

At age 11, as I entered middle-school, I had the opportunity to start studying Astronomy. Our ancestors -knowledgeable, wise and advanced in the subject as they were- often considered it to be the Mother of all Sciences. It was such a beautiful synchronicity to end up in the only middle-school in France (named “Paul Valery”, in Nice) that actually possessed a planetarium in its yard, with an Astronomy club and classes available on site for those pupils who chose to include the subject in their curriculum, along with the more common ones such as Mathematics, Literature, Physical Education or languages.

As a consequence, by age 13, some of my geeky buddies and I were already able to give lectures and planetarium sessions for adults, with the accompanying stories from Greek mythology about the starry Southern night sky. During my eighth grade, when pupils had to pick a place (association, shop, company or institution) to do a compulsory apprenticeship as part of the grade’s syllabus, I proudly became the first pupil ever to do my two-week training at the renowned Observatory of Nice (the oldest in Europe, built by Eiffel in the 1880s).

After I had brilliantly completed my training there, it seemed only logical to become an astrophysicist and make a career for myself in this field. On the one hand, my ego seemed to be very satisfied with this idea, but on the other, my heart was telling me that I also had some other important passions to embrace in this life, instead of rigorously completing an Astronomy PhD for ten years, just to then lock myself in a lab or be stuck in front of a computer all day long for the following decades. I realised that becoming an astrophysicist would actually take me light years away from what I loved in Astronomy itself; since the latter is just a tiny fraction of what we can See of the complex cosmos that lies both outside and inside of everyone.

Instead of becoming a professional in this nonetheless fascinating subject, I just wanted to remain a passionate star gazer and wanderer of consciousness, so I swiftly gave up on the idea, which most probably was the first massive disappointing blow I induced to my parents’ expectations. Meanwhile, it has not prevented me from feeling at Home and at peace, whenever I am gazing at my celestial Sisters. I have never really been able to explain why exactly I started studying Astronomy or Astrology so young (I bought my first Astrology book at age 14), aside from the beautiful synchronicity that has made my knowledge the intriguing melting-pot it is now.

Exploring these fascinating, ancestral subjects has been a great eye- (and heart-) opener to the world that surrounds me, and I later understood that all details of our existence are intimately connected with one another, even the tiniest things we do every day, or the persons we meet for the briefest moments – which is what the magic of travelling is all about. After all, this is how I have come all the way to the point of writing these lines right now. And yet, publishing a book for others has never been a purpose in itself; I would already be delighted to have the possibility to read what I have written in 10 or 20 years from now, in order to see how I have evolved and grown in the meantime, or else how efficient I have been at learning the lessons I have come here to learn.

Furthermore, I have always been utterly captivated by the idea that, although ancient civilisations did not supposedly communicate with one another (at least according to mainstream history, for they were supposedly scattered all over the world, in different points of space and time), they all still discovered the same very advanced astronomical knowledge. In the last hundred years, with “modern” science, our civilisation has just merely confirmed what they had already explored and assimilated millennia ago.

How were they able to achieve such a mastery of advanced knowledge and wisdom, when they were supposed to be modest hunters and berry pickers?

I will avoid getting too much into the details of how relevant (or irrelevant) the commonly-accepted version of history as we know it truly is, for now. But to shortly answer my own question, I reckon that the knowledge of Astronomy, in particular, that these (supposedly) “primitive” people had, stemmed from their deep connection to Mother Earth and the Universe as a whole, which was not yet tainted by the multitude of environmental distractions that afflict us all so much nowadays.

As I worked as a general educator at Ségurane Middle-School, in Nice, in 2008 and 2009, I set up an Astronomy club with the assistance and support of a dear friend of mine, Carole, whose spiritual evolution seemed to parallel my own. We were both educators when we met, in 2008, and she soon became a Mathematics teacher, while I became an English teacher.

Yet, we had (and still have) Astronomy and Astrophysics as common passions, and it was essential for us to share these as well as pass on the message of the stars to our pupils. This experience then became an amazing achievement, which allowed both of us to delve even deeper into the understanding of our intimate connection with the Universe through the concepts of infinite space and time. Indeed, the reach of “infinite” is usually too unfathomable and intangible for our brains to perceive, since in our society, it was never trained to integrate such mind-bugging scales. This is why I started digging down the rabbit hole in the first place, both outside and inside, so that I may find some answers I had long been looking for.”

I have long realized that astronomy and astrology are two of the most amazing skills I can share with others, and this one of the reasons why I want to teach these growing tools with my fellow human beings. Another reason is that they are two very powerful, meaningful fields that can change one’s perception of the world ad the universe. Since we are the Universe both inside and outside, this process has to go in a mutual, balanced way both outwardly and inwardly, which means that understanding astronomy and astrology assist us in understanding ourselves, hence others.

• The Diving Research Centre:

As a Dive Master and a passionate individual about the seas and oceans of the world, and throughout my considerable free-diving and scuba-diving experience since 2003, I have always believed that the concept of diving goes way beyond the number of metres we explore beneath the surface of the water. Paradoxically enough, I have never been willing to work in the scuba-diving industry because I have always believed that there is so much more to diving and taking a bunch of tourists down into the Big Blue and ruining its bottom for the sake of money.

First of all, since we humans are made of about 70% of water, diving reconnects us simply with what we are. Also, in astrology, the water element (and water signs; Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces) connects us with our deepest emotions, esoterism and all our spiritual and metaphysical ideals, therefore with our sensibility, vulnerability and feminine divine that we all possess in equal amount in the first place on the energy level.

Also, diving initiates and familiarizes us with the discovery of a new material world, which assists us in facing our fears when it comes to accepting the “unknown” and things we cannot control and want to let go of in our lives. Also, the different perception of gravity and being completely surrounded with water takes us back to where everything started (at least without going back all the way to the stardust stage), which is our mother’s womb. As a result, diving is a wonderful way to indulge a nurturing and peaceful feeling to deal with our most profound traumas and emotions in order to process them, integrate them, therefore to heal them.

Playa Cósmica Retreats

Goal: To give a broad spectrum of concrete, complementary, useful “tools” and skills to the trainees in order to thrive in both their human and spiritual experience, at an affordable price.

• Why?

Most courses and retreats are usually very specific, and offer services that are very intense throughout a very short period of time. This retreat explores many topics and teaches the trainees how to interconnect them in order to understand the bigger picture of the big Cosmic Puzzle we live in, and to give them more time for setting their intention and integration and for coherent, practical application into their daily life.

Not only is this retreat a profound introspection of the world inside and outside to assimilate it better, but it is also a wonderful insight to maintain and balance the attendees’ energetical space ever after. Consequently, they can (re)connect with their original essence, potential and equilibrium between the body, the mind and the spirit. This process is conveyed through the permanent motion and emotional process of the moon cycles, and through their intimate energetical connection with the elemental equilibrium inside and outside of us.

• How long?

Technically, retreats as I perceive them can be very short (at least for a couple of days, like I did a few times when I was living in Ecuador and Peru) or much longer depending on what is their emotional and energetical intention and purpose.

Nevertheless, I am going to remain focused on the 30-day retreat I would like to manifest through the Playa Cósmica Project.

Thirty days are an entire moon cycle (the moon orbit around the Earth is 27.25 days – sideral period – but the full phasing cycle is about 29.5 days – sinodic period-, since the sun is also moving in the sky according to the Earth’s orbit around it). Or from one new moon to the following one.

In astrology, we are influenced by many cosmic aspects at the same time, and they start long before we were born in this life and they keep going long after we depart from it. Yet, the celestial body that rules our life on a daily basis is the moon, because it represents the fluctuation of our emotional body, the core of our unique personality. The moon remains for approximately 2.3 days in each and every of the 12 signs of the Zodiac and their element (fire, earth, air or water) during each and every of its cycles around the Earth. Therefore, the practice and activities during the retreat follow the signs of the zodiac, hence their respective elements and their specific attributes.

It is important to note that the moon not only influences the way we feel and behave, but it also incarnates the feminine divine within us. Although it particularly impacts women on the physiological level (through the menstruation cycle), it is also fundamental to understand that this process is not just all about the physical gender. Yes, men experience emotional menstruation as well, because the moon impacts the 70-ish% of water that compose our physical body as much as it does with the tidal cycles of the oceans.

Since water is the element that most incarnate our emotions and feelings, the influence of the Queen of the Night has overall very little to do regarding whether we are a woman or a man (again, aside from the massive physiological aspect of it, of course, for it is absolutely no coincidence that the moon revolution around the Earth and a regular menstruation cycle both last for 28 days).

Overall, we all do have a feminine and a masculine side as part of our primordial Yin (feminine)-Yang (masculine) balance, and understanding how it works (and how intensely we’re connected with astrological events at all times) is a fantastic tool to understand the subtleties of how we connect with this physical plane throughout our human experience.

• What?

The different ‘tools’ that are included in the course are divided into 4 modules according to their nature, as each of them is inherently related to one of the 4 elements of Greek astrology (like for any other activity or emotion in our daily reality, as well as our very own essence or ‘personality’). As such, each day of the course will revolve around one or multiple activities from the module related to the elemental moon transit of that specific day.

Note: It doesn’t mean that if the moon element of the day is earth, the courses will involve more earth (or more grounding). Indeed, since the intent of the retreat is all about reconnecting with a form of personal and collective (or inner and outer) balance, an ‘earth’ day is actually perfect to work with one of the other 3 elements.

Then, it is all about the experiment of the process, for the outcome may be very different for each and every of the participants, including for the teachers.

[Trainee’s predominant chart’s element (out of 11 aspects) -A- + his/her chart’s moon element -B-] + [specific day’s predominant element (out of 10 aspects) -C- + its moon element -D-] = Elemental tool of the day

For instance: [Fire -A- + Earth -B- ] + [Fire -C- + Air -D- ] = [(+) (Yang) + (-) (Yin)] + [(+) (Yang) + (+) (Yang)] = 0 Yin + (2+) Yang = (2+)Yang = elemental tools/activities of the day in Earth or Water (in Yin) in order to counter-balance and channel efficiently this person’s energy and astrological influence of a specific day (or period of time/cycle)

Of course, since each trainee’s chart is personal, the sun, moon and planetary transits will all differ from one another, and the course curriculum can only be based on the predominant element of the day (or of the course) and its moon element (2nd half of the equation).

Nonetheless, we still believe this will provide the participants with useful insight into the ruling of the sun, moon, planets and of the elements upon their personal and collective energies. It will also teach the trainees how to make the most of the overall astrological influence on a daily basis, especially as it is paired with sufficient, concrete knowledge and practice regarding many other compatible, complementary skills, taught by experienced and qualified teachers.

• How?

200-hour retreat (theory + practical activities)

5 days/week theory + practice (about 8 hours)

1 day/week exclusively practice (about 8 hours) + feedback + sharing circle + staff meeting

1 day/week completely off (+ silent day + optional fasting) + fun activities (photo-plancton + surf, …)

• Content specifics (this is an example and may be subjected to some adjustments at some stage):

1) Module 1 (WATER): 50 hours

36 hours morning yoga (6 classes/week X 1.5 hours) (9 hours for each element’s specific flow -fire, earth, air, water-) for all levels

6 hours yoga anatomy/physiology

2 hours yoga intention (goals of Asanas on energy level & channeling)

4 hours emotional development

2 hours conscious nutrition

2) Module 2 (AIR): 50 hours

36 hours Greek astrology theory + practice (how to read/interpret an astral chart + planetary transits)

4 hours Mayan & Chinese astrology theory + practice

10 hours astronomy + Greek mythology stories + find your way across the sky

3) Module 3 (EARTH): 50 hours

40 hours holistic medicine/Chinese medicine, therapeutic massage & acupressure theory + practice (+ energy meridians)

4 hours aromatherapy (theory + practice)

2 hours medicinal mushrooms & psychedelic mushrooms + micro-dosing + ceremony

2 hours tincture making (theory + practice)

2 hours cacao ceremony theory (+ ceremony/ecstatic dance practice for full moon)

4) Module 4 (FIRE): 50 hours

20 hours reiki level I & II (breathing + chakras + meditation + pendulum) & practice

20 hours holistic physiotherapy (+protection/cleansing/crystals/music/mushrooms therapy)

4 hours tantra (+ “shadow work” + emotional honesty practice)

2 hours meditation/breathing work theory (practice part of yoga classes)

2 hours sound therapy (practice part of yoga/holistic therapy)

2 hours quantum physics + law of manifestation debate

Extras: – 1 cacao ceremony/Ecstatic dance every week (upon moon phases/other astrological events)

Certificates in Chinese medicine, astrology, reiki, yoga, aromatherapy

***

Overall, the goal of this campaign is to collect 150,000 US dollars, which is the total amount of money I have calculated and budgeted for the price of land, construction and development of the Playa Cósmica Holistic Centre.

Let me tell you a bit more about how it works and how you can contribute to the Playa Cósmica Project. There are 2 ways through which you can donate by choosing one of the perks of the campaign:

Not only can you make a financial contribution of your choice, but you can also “donate” 2,000 dollars as you actually book your place for one of my one-month holistic retreats at the future Playa Cósmica – Holistic Centre in Chacahua, which you will have actually contributed to build by booking your place in advance!

As I would like to start building the place in October or November 2021, the first retreat is planned to happen in September 2022. Then, there will be 3 other retreats planned each time through the solstices or equinoxes (November through December 2022, February through March 2023 and May through June 2023). The idea would be to collect 64,000 USD with the retreats given that there are 8 participants maximum in total per retreat and that each place is worth a 2,000-USD “donation” for the construction and development of the Playa Cósmica Holistic Centre. Be aware that this price is all inclusive (room, food, courses and ceremonies), as the idea of these retreats is to make them meaningful, insightful, efficient and financially accessible all at once.

Thank you so much for reading me and somehow sharing my life experience with me through these lines, and I really say that from the very depths of my heart and soul. If you have made it all the way until this point, you may actually be very interested in the Playa Cósmica Project, and you may even want to contribute to its success (although we all know that “success” is a very relative concept indeed).

In order to be completely honest and transparent regarding how your money is going to be used and exchanged (in terms of services and energies, as I do believe in karma), be reassured that your donation will be exclusively used for the Playa Cósmica Project. I do also believe in our tremendous power of manifestation as soon as our intention is honest and authentic, and I am utterly convinced that this project will somehow get started at some stage within the next few months. Because it has already started as you read these few lines after all, and I believe in its totally innovative, visionary and even revolutionary aspects and concepts, as well as I believe that it could be set as an example of how humanity can co-exist and thrive in an efficient and sustainable way in a not-so-distant future. This project may be part of the next step in the evolution of humanity and we may become part of this exciting paradigm shift all together.

Thank you so much again for your support, trust and love.

Best,

Nicolas Genna

Teacher on the Road

Instagram: teacherontheroad_

Youtube: Nicolas Genna – Teacher on the Road

www.teacherontheroad.com