A Costa Rica Yoga Retreat, What’s Not To Love?

The sky ripped and roared. Lightening illuminated the sky and thunder shook the oceans. I was coming in on a ferry boat into a foreign land in the dark by myself. I have traveled solo quite a bit and I was no stranger to thunder storms. So I took in the rain and pondered what was awaiting me at my final destination. After all, I was in Costa Rica, a place of paradise, covering something I care tremendously for, yoga retreats.

In Cost Rica there is one Spanish lesson you need, Pura Vida. Hi= Pura Vida. How are you= Pura Vida. I am doing well= Pura Vida. The locals, or “ticos” joke about this, but really there is a lot of truth to this phrase that literally breaks down to Pure Life, and is virtually used as much as possible. That is the mentality of this gorgeous country; pure life. Barely the size of West Virginia, Costa Rica has so much to offer from culture to landscapes. The hospitality is unreal and the abundance of love and greenery is just as mind blowing. I couldn’t wait to join the Shakti Yoga retreat!

I was excited to dive in and as I arrived to the lush tropical retreat center on the ocean, I had butterflies of what to expect. Every yoga retreat is different and beautiful in their own special and unique way. I was joining in the last leg of this trip. It was the Shakti Power Yoga retreat. I walked in at the end of dinner and immediately felt at home. Warm beaming smiles, radiating hearts, and glowing yogis greeted me. I knew I arrived.

Long story short, the Shakti Yoga sisters, Lauren and Kelly, know how to lead a robust and fantastic retreat. They have been part of the True Nature family for sometime and their global adventures have evolved to an art. The community they bring with them from Nashville and the yogis from around the nation that join their retreats all reflect what Lauren and Kelly are all about, love.

They truly love what they do and it shines. The community they build during retreat is strong with acceptance, dedication, and a playful spirit. It was such a pleasure and honor to get to know these lovely ladies and explore what retreat means on the shores of Costa Rica.

To accurately account and share the entire retreat would need more than one blog space dedicated. Alas, this is one blog post, so I will do my best to share my top 3 things I love about going on retreat with the Shakti sisters and True Nature.

1. Karma Yoga Project: The heart and soul of True Nature is the act of giving back, or Karma Yoga. Sure you can travel and participate in eco tourism. But, it is another thing to dive in heads first, roll up those sleeves and immerse yourself into the culture. Paying particular attention to seeing what work needs to be done and then physically fulfilling that work on a micro level is such a lovely way to give back to the communities your visiting. Most True Nature yoga retreats include an aspect of this. For the Shakti Yoga retreat we participated in a school that serves elementary school children. We cleaned up yards, prepped gardens, taught yoga, played, laughed and learned.

2. Family: Family is more than just blood. It is the people you connect and share with. Every one of these beautiful ladies on retreat were so sweet, accommodating, and genuine. Deep and beautiful friendships were forged. Also, there was literal family on this trip; multiple groups of sisters and moms!!! Daily practicing, group meals, excursions, and service projects made relationships strong and vibrant. Being surrounded by this energy is an amazing boost of connection that I greatly appreciated. Lauren and Kelly did an amazing job fostering these relationships and allowed a space for new friendships to blossom, and past relationships to strengthen.

3. Adventure. You can not have a Costa Rica experience without adventure. Whether your four wheeling through dense jungles with howler monkeys guiding your way, trudging through rivers to experience a powerful waterfall, or being covered with saltwater from surfing in rolling waves right outside your room’ a Pura Vida experience is at your finger tips. During retreat, excursions are abundant and supported by local and knowledgeable guides. Not only will you know you will be safe and the outing will go smooth, but you will push your limits and experience something totally new. I am a strong believer that adventure wakes something up in all of us. One of my favorite experiences with the Shakti yoga group was four wheeling through rainforests to the close by town of Montezuma, a quaint rootsy coastal town. Delicious food, local goods, waves crashing, and speed on four wheels allowed a memorable experience.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this week is for yourself offering a chance for one to reconnect, serve, practice, and adventure on. The best way to experience it, is first hand. We would love to have you! The Shakti sisters are hosting a True Nature Italy retreat this fall with only a couple spots available! Be sure to check it out here and hope to see you global!

A Global Service Project Paints Hope for the Future

A note from Costa Rica

Lindsay is a village leader in Costa Rica who partners with True Nature Education on multiple Karma Yoga projects. She was kind enough to share how one recent global service project from a TNE retreat genuinely touched the lives of those in need. The physical support was simply metaphor for the emotional support that was given. We are so grateful at True Nature to be involved in these programs and would love to help you plan your next global service project! Enjoy the heart felt words of Lindsay!

It is sad to miss someone.

When a loved person dies, the empty space is there, you can see it, you can feel it. Our neighbor, decided to come and start a new life so far from the place where she spent half of her life. Her sad eyes seemed opposite to her beautiful and sincere smile, her deep wish to help the ones around her, made all of us to see her as one more family member.

Every time when we needed a hand (or two), she was there. As everyone here knows, I am honored to look for the community projects in the área, so every time TNE comes to visit us, they spend hours helping us to improve our village, bringing their brave spirit of cooperation and joy.

As soon as I had to look for a good one project from our list, I thought of this lady and her home.She was so excited to know about it. Not everyday you have a group of volunteers painting your house, so she decided to show her gratitude, doing something that really touched our heart…

She told us about her young son, he had an accident, it was a motorcycle crash and he passed away. So we discovered the reason of her sad mirage. Three days before the group came to start their project, there was a young man living in her home, his name is Jose and he is 24 years old, same age as the son she lost in that accident. Same name, too.

Jose was a homeless boy that because of the drugs addiction could not continue with his dream of becoming a tour guide. He came to the rehab center from the village (where my father volunteers as a motivator ) and his life changed. He became a new person and my neighbor and her husband decided to open the doors of their home for bringing him a new opportunity.

This young man has been working so hard to this family, he is thankful for the miracle of having a new family, a family that trust in his change. We all deserve a new chance to make the things right.

It is a kind of chain of good actions. You never know how far your blessings will go.I would like to thank my dearest friend Joshua and his family for bringing too much joy to our village. I would like to thank you for choosing to travel with a purpose.

While I write it, Jose is trying to find the way to go back to school. Their new parents are so proud of him, same like us, all of us.

Miracles may have different sizes, colors and names. This miracle was signed with love and painted with some rollers and paintbrushes during a rainy morning.