Costa Rica Retreats
February. The winter has gone on too long. Summer seems a thousand days away. The body is heavy with winter’s weight, and it longs to stretch and move in a warm and friendly place. To let fall the coat and kick off the boots, and run through the surf on an endless beach.
Yoga in the jungle. Freefall writing to tap into the magic of words. Endless days on the beach. Dance meditation before dinner. New and old friends to chat and laugh with. Delicious meals made from local produce. The music of cicadas. Salt-water pool. Costa Rica, the Rich Coast.
A dear friend has been urging me for a few years to take a group on retreat to Cabinas Alma, near Dominical, in Costa Rica. When she went there on a yoga retreat, it was a “the rest is history” sort of story. She fell in love with the land and the sea there, made fast friends with Sabina, the owner of the estate, and bought herself a piece of paradise close by.
Since 1998, Esana and I have hosted retreats that feature Kripalu Yoga, moving meditations, and awareness exercises. In the past few years, we have offered them twice a year, usually for a weekend. The idea of taking a group far from home at first was daunting, but when I offered the suggestion to Esana, her instant, yes! made the possibility a reality.
We took our first group of seventeen to this oasis on the Pacific coast last February. To say that it was a wonderful experience would be an understatement. We had a perfect mix of couples, singles and even a mother and son. The grounds are lush, filled with nourishing and healing plants and trees – from cashew and starfruit, to pineapples, guanabana, avocado, mango, banana, papaya, a full herb garden, flowering trees and flowering bushes, toucans in the trees, cicadas layering the air with their hypnotic sound. The warmth of the place wraps you in its arms and inspires your muscles to let go into deep relaxation. The yoga palapa sits across a small arched bridge from the dining room. It’s an open-air space tucked into the jungle. Here, we also danced, overhead fans blazing away the heat from our bodies.
And then there is the beach. What was so stunning about this beach is the space – it stretches wide and magnificent as far as the eye can see, in both directions. Bordered by palm and shrubbery for picnics and refuge from the sun, it is a vast playground of unblemished sand and sea. Some participants spent hours combing the beach for sand dollars, shells, and bits of treasure. Others, like me, jumped and played in the waves, until the sun set.
And then there is the food. Almost exclusively organic, the food is simply prepared, local, delicious and satisfying. Fresh fish and a wonderful array of vegetables and grains. Every meal a delight as well as an opportunity to meet and chat with participants in a gorgeous setting.
And then there is the pool. Just up a stone step path and through an archway waits a perfect blue salt-water pool, surrounded by a wooden and tile deck. There we lounge or swim or hang out, arms slung over the edge as our legs slowly slide back and forth through the silky water, chatting and laughing , or with our heads back, drinking in the fragrance of the flowering trees.
In the morning, before breakfast, we practice a gentle, flowing yoga, our senses ignited amidst the sounds of roosters and cicadas, huge brilliant blue butterflies drifting by. We learned this trip, about when to dance and when to sit, so that for our next trip, we have put each meditation in a place that suits the pace of the place. After breakfast, we have the honour of having my own writing teacher, Sue Lynn Reynolds, facilitating an hour or so of “freefall” writing practice. This is an opportunity to let your pens do the writing, to get out of the critic’s way, and let magic happen. During the day, we can go to the beach, take a trip to Dominical, hire a horse, go to the nearby eco-reserve and take a zipline excursion through the jungle. You can even spend the day on horseback, taking a trip to a magnificent waterfall. Before dinner, I offer a moving meditation, an exploration of rhythm as we tap into the wellspring of the body’s expression. After dinner, a quiet meditation and optional reading from the day’s writing. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Participants are free to pick and choose which activities they wish to join. No pressure. No hurry. No worries.
This year, we are offering the retreat for two weeks, February 8 to 22, 2011. Coming for one of the weeks is also possible, but we offer two, because many said they would have liked to take a day or two to explore the surrounding area, to range further afield. In our costs, we have included flight, accommodation, meals, facilitation and taxes.
