Slice of Life

New house in Playa Pelada - I've never been so excited to have a washing machine and a full kitchen!

This is where I attempt to read my Spanish version of Harry Potter, but I usually fall asleep after two sentences.

My room! Not sure why I have three beds - I might pay for rent by turning it into a mini hostel.

Our neighborhood lane.

Sometimes I hitchhike, sometimes I carpool, and sometimes I ride Betsy.

Our house is about a 30 minute bike ride from town, and I always pass this deserted hotel on my way.

Shortcut pathway through the beach, but it only saves time at low tide. Yes, I speak from experience.

Playa Guiones

Surf Competition was in town today. I didn't enter because I wanted to give the locals a chance :) Ok, that's a lie - yesterday a random guy on the beach watched me ride a wave in and he asked me if it was my first time. I wanted to karate chop his neck and yell, "ACTUALLY, I've been working on it for 2 months thank you very much!" But I just smiled and nodded.

Entry into the Harmony Hotel, the path on the right leads to the Healing Centre.

Treatment rooms for the Healing Centre where I work as a Pranassage Practitioner.

This is where I teach yoga at the Nosara Yoga Institute - Treetops Studio.

During class you can see and hear the howler monkeys all around, and there's usually an iguana clambering around on the roof.

Such a beautiful place to practice!

Inner Quest graduation night! This is Roger - amazing person, and an amazing voice (we sang together for part of the ceremony).

One of my favorite people ever! Dominique - such a beautiful spirit from New York. For the graduation ceremony, the students present each other with their certificates and Dom drew my name.

Let Your Yoga Dance

I just finished a two week certification called, "Let Your Yoga Dance!" I had such a great time with everyone in my class, the teachers were amazing, and I can't wait to bring this blend of yoga and dance back to the state of Washington...

Me and Emily, a fellow yoga dancer from New York City.

Yoga Dance Final: co-leading an hour long yoga dance class.

Yoga Dance Graduation Ceremony around a beautiful garden fountain.

The originator of Let Your Yoga Dance, Megha, who led our classes and is a powerhouse of love and energy.

One of my favorite people in the class, Kathleen. Even though she is 70, she kept me young with her zest for life.

Another favorite, Karuna - she was my co-leader for the dance final.

Chariots of Fire

*Credit to my personal photographer, Maggie, for this photo :)

This last week I started running on the beach at sunset, and while my feet played tag with the incoming waves the opening scene for the movie Chariots of Fire came into my head - a group of British athletes are training for the Olympics by running through shallow ocean water to the melody of the well-known soundtrack. The main character, Eric Liddell, says at one point in the movie that when he runs he can "feel God's pleasure." I tried to picture myself in a similar movie scene and it just made me laugh...I'm not a very graceful runner, and I think that most of the time I probably have a pained expression on my face that says something along the lines of, "Am I done yet?" (one of the main things that keeps me moving up a long hill or through deep sand is a conversation in my head about how I will reward myself when I finish five miles, "Chocolate croissant? Or white chocolate brownie? Probably a cappuccino, and actually the croissants are small. Perhaps I should just have both.")

Although I will probably never relate to a deep love for running, when I stretch myself into yoga poses I feel grounded, graceful, and grateful for the strength that I have been given...and I feel His pleasure.

"No even se."

Maggie and I have been working on our Spanish speaking skills, but sometimes English phrases are a little hard to translate over directly. For instance, the common response of "I don't even know." We weren't sure of the word for "even" in this case, so "no se" (I don't know) has morphed into the Spanglish phrase, "No even se." Our neighbors and friends have even incorporated into their conversations, so it might be official soon - Maggie is kind of a trendsetter that way...

The day before yesterday, my teacher read this quote at the beginning of meditation for us to think about:
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not look now for the answers. They cannot be given to you now because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present, you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.” –R.M. Rilke

Week three of intensive yoga has been long. On the physical level, my body has protested louder and louder with each two hour morning practice at 6AM, and it’s been emotionally draining as well. Everything is slower here. And everything that creates the illusion of defining who I am is far away in Seattle – friends, family, church, home. I feel stripped and nakedly aware that I haven’t discovered yet an intention and dream for my life, let alone my yoga practice. Is there such a thing as quarter-life crisis? Who am I really? Who do I want to be? I’m not exactly sure what it means to “live the questions,” but for now I’m just trying to sit in the same room with all of them, ignoring the knocks on my door from anxiety and self-judgment.

An Apology

The word ‘apology’ has more than one meaning. Most people interpret it to be the phrase used to admit that they were in the wrong, but the Greek root for the word can also mean ‘to give a defense.’ In the last year I’ve found myself apologizing (in the first sense) in a lot of Christian circles whenever I mention that I practice yoga – their words and glances are usually along the lines of, “Have fun being a pagan…” or “I hope you know that you are damaging the state of your soul.” Maybe it’s time that I gave a different sort of apology...

When I was a little ragamuffin running around with wild hair, I used to be fascinated with the thermostat in our house. I would drag a dining room chair over to the wall, clamber up, and then begin to adjust the heat toward a more tropical setting. However, my dad usually intercepted me before I could complete the operation, and we would always have the same exchange each time as he set me back on the ground: I would pout, “But I’m cold!” and he would smile, “Then put on a sweatshirt.” I didn’t want a sweatshirt – I wanted instant heat, “Why do I have to?” and he would respond, “Because it builds character.” My little foot stomp of rebellion was usually the last word, but it waited until just after he had left the room.

For me, practicing yoga is like putting on a sweatshirt – stepping onto the mat brings both external and internal benefits. True, it finds its roots in Eastern religion, but everyone’s practice is unique. Just because one teacher elevates the self and the time when we lived as turtles doesn’t mean that every studio has that foundation as well. Yoga is an opportunity to stretch and strengthen your body, as well as develop relaxation, gratitude, and focus. Far from hindering my spiritual state, it complements the other areas in my life that cultivate my faith of Christianity. The first pose that we learned here was Mountain Pose: weight in the feet, standing straight, shoulders down, and arms outstretched overhead. Simple, yet this pose is a foundation for all of the rest of the positions that we have learned, and I also see it as a metaphor for where I am in life right now. I feel my feet firmly grounded in belief, but my arms are stretched up high with palms open to receive new grace, new possibilities each day that I haven’t even thought of yet.

Mi mama tica

While I’m in class working on vinyasa flow every day during the best hours of sun, Maggie is either on the beach or poolside working on a tan that currently rivals the shade of the locals. We celebrated with ice cream this week after we sat with “the cool kids” at sunset – one scoop of coconut and one of Mayan chocolate (almost representative of the difference in our skin tone when we stand next to each other). As we walked home from the beach, we realized that it takes us almost twice as long as it used to because we make so many stops to say hello to new friends along the way. We love feeling like a part of the community.
Last night at the end of practice we closed our eyes for a few minutes to bring our focus to something in our lives that we were grateful for, and as several small fragments of happenings on this trip came to my mind I realized how much gratitude I have for my roommate, Maggie. Her catchphrases like “Que pasa, calabaza?” (What’s up pumpkin?) and nicknames (our server at Café de Paris, Manuel, is now ‘Mannie’) that she distributes wherever we go always make people laugh and remember us. She has a voice of reason that helps me look before I leap and one of comedic commentary that can diffuse any situation, and she helps me wake up in the small hours of the morning when I’m about to sleep through my alarm and miss class. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a multi-faceted wingman…but I’m glad that I do.

How much is a picture worth?

Pura Vida!