My Trip to Oaxaca
- Luke Scaros
- Dec 1
- 3 min read
Autumn has passed in a flash, and somehow it’s already December. Before the season closed, I had the privilege of traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico to attend the Eurotas Conference for Transpersonal Psychology. For those unfamiliar, Transpersonal Psychology is a branch of humanistic psychology that integrates indigenous medicines and traditions to support not only personal growth but the health of the global community.
A Home at the Macuil Institute
The conference took place at the Macuil Institute, founded by Sven Doehner and María Islas. Their mission is to “create an experiential and transformative education that integrates transpersonal psychology and expressive arts with ancient Mexican sciences.” It’s exactly the kind of place where learning is not limited to lecture halls but shaped by ceremony, relationship, and shared experience.
From day one, the community invited us into their ceremonies—not as tourists, but as participants entering with humility, curiosity, and love. I have rarely been so fully welcomed anywhere. I made it my personal goal to honor their openness and immerse myself in as many ceremonies as I could.
Language Barriers, Open Hearts
I studied Spanish for two semesters back in 2012–2013, but I stopped when it became clear that rolling my “r”s was a physical impossibility. If I’d had to rely on my language skills alone, I would not have been approached with a ten-foot pole. The fact that I was embraced so genuinely had nothing to do with my abilities and everything to do with the warmth of the community.
Their kindness is something I’ll remember for a very long time.
A Lesson From Playback Theater
One of the most transformative experiences of the week was a workshop led by Dominique Tardiff of La Cabra Salvaje Theater in Mexico City. With a master’s degree in acting, I thought I understood Playback Theater—the Western style where audience stories inspire spontaneous performances. But the Latin American approach was different. Instead of focusing on literal interpretation, it emphasized the emotional truth of the storyteller.
Our group of ten included two Spanish speakers, six Italian speakers, and two English speakers. When it was my turn to perform, the story was told entirely in Italian. All notions of “correct interpretation” fell away. The only way forward was through emotion.
To my surprise, it became one of my favorite performances of the last decade.
“Never From the Head, All From the Heart”
Back home, the East Side Institute often speaks of the dialectic of “knowing and not knowing.” With my broken Spanish, I finally understood it. I reframed it as “nunca de la tete, todos de corazone”—never from the head, all from the heart.
As someone without a psychology degree and hailing from the exotic (and deeply ordinary) lands of Connecticut, this mindset guided me through a week of listening to experts in psychology, healing, and indigenous medicine. I could have presented, as several teachers, peers, and students of mine did, but choosing not to allowed me to experience a
deep, heart-to-heart connection.
In America—or at least in the colonized land of America—we place so much value on what we know. Yes, I know random facts like Shakespeare’s birthday and that the mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell. But I also know the power of listening. Of connecting with strangers. Of communicating in ways that have nothing to do with intellect.
That was the focus of my week in Oaxaca, and it changed my life.
What Comes Next
Naturally, the next step is to continue exploring the global community. I want to understand how the Q’ero people of Peru developed a chakra system so similar to the Ayurvedic traditions of South Asia. I want to know why the four directions of the medicine wheel appear in Peru, Mexico, and across North America. I want to honor the ways our nomadic ancestors created shared practices that transcend borders and doctrines.
Above all, I want to deepen my relationship with indigenous healing traditions. I recognize the devastation colonization, imperialism, and nationalism have inflicted—not only on these communities but on humanity’s connection to nature. In our Promethean arrogance, we have uprooted ourselves from our home and punished anyone who dares remind us to return.
I’m committed to spending my life learning from indigenous communities around the world, integrating whatever wisdom they choose to share, and contributing to a global community built on relationship, reciprocity, and connection—individually and collectively.
If you would like to learn more, visit these websites:
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