Alana Roach is committed to getting the very most out of the spiritual experience she is having in this human lifetime. She has chosen to share her discoveries on the yoga mat with her students and the TNE Community is thrilled for her upcoming retreat, Explorations of Self, in Santa Teresa, January 2015. Here is what Alana has to say about what it means to “be something more…”
What does it mean for you to “be something more” as part of your yoga practice, teaching, and your intentions for your retreat?
What does “being something more” mean to me in my practice? I find that at the end of the day my personal practice is to just “be.” It is not being anything more or less, it is simply “be-ing.” Once I am in a place where I can sit and simply accept that moment for what it is, that is when I effortlessly become what it is that I was all along, infinite love. How can you become something that you already are?
I try to bring this “Be-ing-ness” into my teaching. I remind the student that they are perfect in this moment and to really sink into that. I believe that my purpose as a teacher is to guide you back to You. We can spend so much time running from this to that trying to accomplish some goal or task and when we get there often times we ask, what’s next, and so it goes on until one day we are left feeling let down, lost, empty. It’s because what we are seeking was never really lost, it was within us, always was and always will be. There is no need to want to be anything more than what you innately are, a perfect extension of the Universal Spirit and that is unbreakable.
At Explorations of Self: A Costa Rica Yoga Experience, I set the group intention of remembering. The practice of remembering that you are infinite love and infinite peace is like riding a bicycle. The more you tune into the frequency of Self (With a capital S to represent the Higher Self/Divine Self) the more you can recall. It will come through in the physical practice of yoga, the seated meditation, the chanting and singing, the laughter, the tears, the ocean and rainforest, the stillness. This week long retreat will re-unite you with You and it will be… well, just come and find out for yourself. As the Buddha once said, “When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
Who has been your greatest influence and why?
My greatest influences have been those who teach this truth with every fiber of their being. Names like Seane Corn. She followed her bliss and has since introduced and inspired others to their own form of bliss. I relate to Seane’s journey. She came from a dark past and yoga sort of swept her off of her feet and she never looked back, and so it was with me. She lives her life by being of service with her God given talents. I believe that we are given talents that we enjoy for a reason. Seane has shown me that no matter what anyone says to you about what they think you should be doing with your life, in the end it is your journey. She was one of the first people I looked to and said, “If she can do it, so can I.” I started following my bliss immediately and I continue to in every moment, with every breath that I take.
If there was a yoga pose or mediation practice that described you – what would it be and why?
Isha Kriya meditation. The repeated mantra in the beginning is, “I am not the body, I am not even the mind.” In that way I suppose it’s “Not me.” Ha ha.
Other than yoga, meditation, nutrition – what are some of your passions?
I love creation. Writing, dancing, singing, playing instruments, nature, just to name a few. I’ve been getting swept up in writing especially for the last few years. It’s a way for me to communicate my heart to others in a way that is unique to the way that my mind forms sentences. I blog (www.explorationsofself.com) and journal often, and I am in the beginning stages of writing my first book.
What is on your “Costa Rica Bucket List?”
Honestly, to learn how to surf and be decent enough at it to carve in the Pacific.
Join Alana in Costa Rica this January 17-25 2015 to explore the truth of who you have been all along and maybe catch some waves with her as well. View our entire 2015 Retreat Calendar here.
Trish Carty is a part of the 2015 True Nature Yoga & Wellness Faculty. Her retreat, 
Who has been your greatest influence and why?
If there was a yoga pose or mediation practice that described you – what would it be and why?
What is on your “Costa Rica bucket list?”
Last week on yoga retreat with Missy Balsam Yoga, we had an amazing group come together at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge. For our service “karma” yoga project, we reached out to a local tico family — a mother and daughter — to give their house new life with a fresh coat of paint.
Here is a letter written to us by our TNE Village Representative, Lindsay Padilla, that she sent after the end of a very rewarding day:
We noticed there was a really big hole in Ligia’s bedroom wall. It was there because their home had been robbed by a group of people. 
We had a cooking class, we practiced how to prepare coffee (real Costa Rican style). After that, I invited them to come and see my house and garden.
Being Something More
June is upon us, and that means that we’re just days from the launch of our next yoga retreat journey, 
A bit off the beaten path, this peaceful yoga retreat will be nested in Luna Nueva’s jungle paradise. meditative walks on the property’s lush rainforest trails. Daily yoga sessions will be inspired by Missy’s teaching style of empowerment, inspiration, and joy, encouraging students of all levels to keep growing and evolving, discovering the happiness that is already inside of all of us.
2. Wait a while before turning on your computers
The True Nature Community extends beyond the retreats we host in Costa Rica. Our family or sangha reaches right into the heart of the teachers we connect with and supporting them at home, in their local studios and the students and communities they serve on a daily basis.
She is bringing together a group of bright beings to teach along with her during this retreat. True Nature co-founder 
Karina Mirsky is a certified ParaYoga teacher and the director of Sangha Yoga in Kalamazoo, MI. She holds a master’s degree in East/West Psychology and is an adjunct professor of Yoga Studies at Antioch University Midwest. Karina draws on her experience as a performance artist, massage therapist, and cancer survivor to convey yoga as a therapeutic science and catalyst for personal transformation. In the March 2008 issue of Yoga Journal, she was featured as one of 21 teachers under the age of 40 shaping the future of yoga in America. Karina hosts teacher trainings and conducts private practice at Sangha Yoga, leads seminars in the USA and Canada, and holds annual retreats in Costa Rica.
5:30am – Good Morning!! Be prepared to rise with the sun in Costa Rica. And if the sun doesn’t lure you out of bed, then the sounds of the jungle or the neighbors roosters just might!
7:00-9:00am – Morning session with your retreat leader. You can feel every hair on your body standing up with pure joy as you tuck your yoga mat under your arm and walk to the yoga deck to do what you came here to do. Practice yoga in the exquisite and breathtaking settings that Costa Rica has to offer. We guarantee this is nothing less than a magical feeling!
1:00pm – LUNCH – Fresh squeezed fruit juices, brightly colored greens and lots of opportunities to try out Costa Rican typical dishes like rice and beans.
6:oopm – DINNER – Enjoy the community and bonding by sitting around a table and enjoying a meal together.
We often get caught up in thinking that mindfulness, love and compassion will reveal themselves to us in a climatic and dramatic way. We begin to “expect” something like this and with those expectations, we can miss the message that the present moment is sending us. And that is, that this very moment is enough.
So, what about the moments when you are sitting in traffic? Or, when you are arguing with your partner? Or when you walk into the laundry room and the clothes are stacked up to the ceiling and you wish you could just close the door and make them disappear? What about the moments when you feel overwhelmed with all there is to do and you wish you could manifest more hours in the day to get everything done? Well, those moments are just as real and just as important as the ones when you find yourself immersed in the delight and laughter of your children. We must be able to find presence in those uncomfortable moments as well. But, it takes time. It takes patience and most of all, it takes practice.
