Living la Pura Vida in Costa Rica

5 days in Costa Rica is exactly what the doctor ordered. 

I needed some time alone, away, where my only focus was on "figuring out my life". I say this a lot and it's a tall order to figure out your whole life in a short chunk of concentrated time. But nonetheless, I get to moments where I am so all over the place that I need to pull back. To spend some quality time away from all of the busyness that I am so good at filling my time with, and focus on getting back to my core. 

This year I wanted to limit my travel to somewhere that had Dallas as a hub so that I could attend a friend's wedding as well. Luckily, Costa Rica was on my never been to, but want to go list and it was only $50 dollars more than a flight to Dallas alone. When I finally committed to going, I did a quick google search of yoga retreats and selected the first one that came up: a rural family-owned Costa Rican Eco-Resort and Wellness centre with 10 rooms. It sounded exactly like what I needed. The owner, Bob, answered my call and made me feel welcomed and taken care of. I booked it without looking any further.

According to Bob, there was also a workshop happening during the week I would be there using Danielle Laporte's book The Desire Map as a guide. I decided to use the book as my retreat guide as well, as I liked the idea of designing your life around how you want to feel as opposed to what you want to have. 

Yoga Family

When I arrived I was ready to quickly settle in and get to the work of journalling and meditating and figuring it all out. But alas there were about 7 other people at the resort the same week I was there who were also travelling pretty much on their own. Meals were shared, and bonding happened quickly. I wasn't going to give up the chance to connect and spend time with these awesome peeps, so I was thrust into a schedule that was a little busier than I had planned, but equally good for the soul.

Retreat Schedule

A day in the life at Ama Tierra is pretty much my dream life realized. The daily schedule at the resort was:

7:30 a.m. Morning yoga overlooking the most exquisite vista. The yoga was different every day and started with very centring thoughts which were needed as we were there the week of the U.S. election. Regardless of what side you were rooting for, it was a stressful night and day after. 

9:00 a.m. Breakfast would follow and everything was fresh and local: eggs, beans, rice, fresh juice, fruit, and toast. 

The rest of the day, outside of a light lunch, was free for taking a dip in the infinity pool, hiking to the town, hiking the paths on the property which included a waterfall, lime trees and lots of wildlife, and sitting in the yoga studio on plush pillows or in a hammock reading or journaling, with maybe a candle or some music in the background. Or partaking in any one of the therapies available including nutritional counselling, massage, energy therapy, a visit with a shaman, etc. 

6:00 p.m. Evening meditation would precede dinner and it was also different every day. The sun would set as we meditated together over candlelight. I don't know the names of the different types of meditation we did, but the experience was surreal. 

Dinner was long and lingering. The wine was poured, conversations were fluid, and the stars popped into focus above. Some nights a fog would descend or a flash of lightning would cut the dark sky. Bedtime was early in preparation for an early start the next day.

What did I tell you? Dream life.

How can you turn down a waterfall?

As I said, there were some awesome other guests there and we all connected quickly and easily. In my experience, you hold on to these moments of connection in life, so I chose to do some group activities on the other two days. 

One was to a nearby waterfall. It was off-season so it felt a little bit like we'd stumbled upon an abandoned place. Signs for Ceviche written on the sides of dilapidated cookhouses. Farm animals running loose around broken fences. And a long, treacherous (we had been told it was an easy hike, so weren't wearing appropriate footwear) hike to the waterfall where we swam in the cold, clean water and felt the pounding force of the water massage our shoulders. 

The other day's trip involved a trip to a national park that had both rain and dry forest. It was beautiful as rainforests generally are: soaring trees, interesting wildlife, a plethora of plants and the stories to go with them. Three major highlights were the ant parades that you would see throughout the entire forest. Ants that spend their lives scoping out the perfect plant to carry back to the Queen, travelling massive distances with leaves twice their size on their backs. It was fascinating. The ever-interesting termite nests: massive black, what look like tree tumours, made up of their own excretions. And of course the Macaws.

What was also pretty cool about this park was that it was wheelchair accessible, unlike most of the other parks in South America. The day finished with an afternoon trip to the beach to get some burritos, do some shopping and take a quick dip in the ocean. 

Reiki 2.0 

I'm not one to partake regularly in energy therapy. While not against it in any way, I've just never really felt it work for me. The first time I tried Reiki in Thailand, I wanted to punch the guy just to get his hands away from me. I seriously had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom mid-session to have a mini panic attack. Of course, this was later described as me really needing to "work things out."

Despite this experience, I thought I'd try one new thing while at Ama Tierra, Energy Therapy. It was essentially a counselling session. We started by talking about what was going on in my life, and instead of the therapist just talking back, she took me through exercises, meditations and a little bit of "energy work" to get through it. Then she talked a bit about my chakras and energy, what was working well and what was blocked, and then told me some thoughts she had (or feelings she felt) about the things I was struggling with. It was, for me at this time and place, the best therapy money could buy.

The law of attraction is real

Along with the good, there is also the funny story. For me this time it was the abundance of bugs that were drawn to me. Everywhere I go in life, I see all the bugs. So much so that I am convinced that the fact that I think of them so much actually attracts them to me. As a result of this, a family of termites thought my pad was cool and did everything in their power to get inside. That is just one example, but let's just say I'm not sure I could live long-term in the jungle unless I could construct an impenetrable bug fortress and hire someone specifically to keep the bugs away from me. 

Alone Together

On the last day of the trip, our instructor was sick, so we decided to go ahead with our yoga practice without her. A couple of the group members led us in Yoga and then one led us in meditation. At one point we all just practised yoga on our own at the same time. I am quoting one of the others who stated that there was a real feeling of being Alone Together during that time. I think that is the perfect statement to sum up the moment we shared, and something we should definitely strive for in this life. Being able to each have our own personal and spiritual experiences in life, all the while being connected to others going through the same process. 

In the end, there is never enough time. Four days and 5 nights was super short but better than nothing. Until the next time, I'm going to try and keep living the Pura Vida as much as possible back home in Canada.