Karen's space

What does THAT mean?  Know that no matter how the outside circumstances are in your life, you can find a place of abundance and peace within your own soul by quieting the mind & connecting with the divine.

Here are links to Samasati and Orquideas Inn

On March 14th Angus & I left for Costa Rica from Minnesota.  I to lead a yoga & meditation retreat to 5 people, he to enjoy the daily yoga and retreat and to support me in relaxing and giving reiki to the group for an evening session.  The destination: Samasati near Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast.  There is limited phone and itnernet access, so I wrote my blog by hand and am adding it after our return.

 

March 14th

10:10 pm - our journey begins.  Angus and I are flying on Northwest Airlines to Costa Rica, well, no, we're flying for 1 hr & 15 min. to Chicago, then we wait for 3 hrs to board a TACA jet airbus to Guatemala to wait to fly to San Jose to arrive at 9:20 am tomorrow morning.  We'll actually be flying 5-1/2 hrs and arrive 11 hrs after leaving.  That's economy class.  Then we'll take a van to Samasati to arrive March 15th approximately 3 pm.  Ahh adventure...a bit of the unknown...a question.

 

March 15th

 

Still traveling (6:30 am) - we are in Guatemala.  Note to self:  plan to fly non-stop and stay in a comfy hotel.  Better yet, fly first class, hmm could fly that by buying 60 less latte's...

9:20 am We arrive in SJO (san jose international airport) - take a taxi to Hampton Inn and meet our group - Kim, Matt and Mary are waiting for us to arrive, and we wait for the van.  And wait...Finally at 11:10  I call Samasati to ask when our van is coming.  I thought it was coming around 10:30 or 11:00.  They forgot to book the van.  Groan, they send a van after noon.  Matt & Kim (who is 5 months pregnant) have been traveling since 2:30 pm on Saturday.  We arrive at Samasati around 6 pm.  They immediately take great care of us.  Serve us dinner, after dinner we all walk to the meditation hall, a hexagon shaped building screened in with a high ceiling, all wood, surrounded by a garden and the rainforest.  We do some yoga to ground our energy into this place and everyone is immediately transformed into peace and stillness.  We all go to our comfortable bungalows to rest early in the evening.

 

March 16th - Sunrise was around 5 am.  We woke up easily, got out of bed to walk to the meditation hall & mediated from 6 am to 7:30 am.  So peaceful here.  The rest of the day: yoga 7:30-9:15, breakfast at 9:30 am, rest some more, lunch, rest some more, yoga, dinner, rest some more.  We have begun our rest & healing.

 

March 17th - Time is flying.  We're at the beach.  It is like I want to stop time and that makes it go faster.  However, I am satisfied, at peace, no place I want to go.  Thinking though, there is a student with many questions, note to self: next time bring an assistant to answer all those questions.  The mind is busy, some minds slow down fast here, some continue to race for a few days.  My mind, is soaking it all in, being present.  There are so many stories from others, stories of the past, the gold is in the now.  The stories will always be there.  Just be here now.

 

I should have kept a journal of the meals but here is what we had Tuesday night:  Choyote soup (squash soup), Rice, Sushi (vegetarian), Stewed/Baked Vegetables, Salted soy w/red peppers & onion, green/mixed salad, Vanilla Flan for dessert. 

Every lunch & dinner we have the green/mixed salad with different vegetables with it.  Grated beets, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, sliced tomatoes.  All vegetables are grown organic, most locally grown.  I put olive oil on mine, there is also balsamic vinegar and the most amazing pesto you can put on whatever you want to at every single meal!  Breakfasts every morning there is fresh sliced local fruits (papaya, mango, pineapple, melon, banana); fresh made fruit juice or smoothie with blended fruits, homemade yogurt & granola, cereal, eggs, toast (fresh baked whole wheat bread), costa rican coffee or tea, reverse osmosis filtered water.

 

Tuesday night: Clare Flannery, our 6th person arrived!  We waited for her at dinner, after she ate, we walked to the meditation hall and Angus & I did a reiki treatment on everyone.  It felt like a nurturing session for all.

 

March 18th: I woke up with a muscle spasm in my left shoulder.  Pain on movement.  Fortunately the morning class was to be short as Matt, Kim & Mary were leaving for the Chocolate tour at 9 am.  It is easy to wake up at 5:30 am here.  When the sun comes up & looks at you eye to eye...Our bed faces east, the rising sun and is a couple of miles above the ocean, yes we have a view of that as I write this.  I'll attach a photo later.

 

Oh the shoulder--weeks of non-stop teaching, coaching, taking care of others, and a business.  Somehow the vacations need to be more frequent and I will create a real day of rest at home.  Another cause of the shoulder spasm is I got hit by a wave in the ocean on Tuesday that knocked me a bit hard that my neck was whipped around a bit, then I carried a heavy beach bag for a couple of miles walk.  All good ways to create a healing crises.  Then slowing down enough to let a year and a half of intense work catch up with me.  Today I take a 2 hr. nap in the morning.

 

March 19th - Finally we heard the howlers this morning! : ) - one of my favorite things about Samasati is waking up to the sound of howler monkeys!  If you didn't know what it was you would think it was a velociraptor (that's what one samasati guest said it sounded like!).  It's funny how attached I am to that sound and this is the first time I heard them on this trip.  The profound peace of this place has put me into a healing mode.  I wake up with the sunrise, meditate, then practice yoga while teaching, then eat an amazing breakfast!  Today was fresh pineapple, papaya, canteloupe, then rice with black beans & today a little granola with yogurt.  Everything is made from scratch and that costa rican coffee with boxed leche...

 

I appreciate my partner, Angus, more while I am here.  He is always a quiet presence to be with all day. 

 

We took a tour of the lots Samasati has for sale.  Every lot overlooks a few of the ocean.  I can imagine running my world retreat business from this place.  Spending much of winter in a green, warm, moist place rather than one that dries and ages me.  Here I can sit and just stare at greenery for hours and listen to the birds, bug noises, frogs and lizards too.  The little lizards all over here eat bugs, moths and chirp & click like birds.

 

March 19th Evening

 

I taught a class tonight that was a real yoga class (connecting mind/body/spirit).  I guided students through an asana practice with constant reminders of "being with" thoughts, emotions, body sensations.  By the end of the class, it felt like everyone was deeply connected to their inner peace and stillness.  I felt it in the space.  This place works on me and through me too.

 

March 20..Beach day....beautiful Punta Uva

 

March 21st...Packed, ready for the long journey home.  We'll travel by bus to San Jose' today.  I am sad to leave Samasati.  It is hard to describe this place that feels like home.  It is a visual feast of beauty, a feast for the senses.  This is a place of abundance.  Just being here transforms every thought and the physical body.  I arrived feeling energetic and within two days relaxed so much that a couple of naps a day was the way it was meant to be.  In between rest, a feeling of strength, being alert, at peace, and presence - as if a master was taking residence in my being to be in such a beautiful place.

 

March 22..Sunday

 

What a great way to end a trip.  We paid an extra $15 for a 3 pm checkout at our hotel.  The Orquedeas Inn.  We sat by the pool, strolled the nature trails.  We love this hotel.  They have hotel rooms, a dome house with 3 beds (for a small group), but #14 right on the pool looks pretty cool.  We stayed in a room with Kim & Matt who had to leave at 3 am to get to the airport.  The room cost $96 + tax for the four of us.  The hotel Orquideas Inn has employees that speak english well, (rare in Costa Rica), it is a short 15 min taxi ride to the airport from there.  They have their own drivers and very nice taxis, another rarity.  On the hotel grounds, they have two birds, a toucan and a macaw in large cages, gardens and fountains all over the property and it feels safe (another plus for being in San Jose).

 

We are sitting by the pool, it has a fountain - 3 fish with the water pouring out of their mouths that face the sky.  A short walk from the pool takes you to an outdoor shower and a dip in the hot tub.  We are facing the Marilyn Monroe bar - she was a yogi too-there are photos of her plastered everywhere in the bar, even the ceiling...my favorite photo is of here doing a perfect tripod headstand on a beach.  She did the pose beautifully. 

 

We played chess in the bar, had some quacamole & coffee.  The bartender told us a ghost story about an airline pilot who died at the hotel.  His name was Richard Briggs.  His ashes are in the bar and the bartender and others have seen the ghost wandering around the bar or sitting at the bar, or walking to the pool (from the bar). 

 

We take a taxi to the airport, pay our tax to leave ($26 per person), wait for our flight, shopping in the gift shop and not buying the overpriced stuff, except for buying an overpriced latte' while watching a music video of the "fabulouso Cadillacs".  We board at 5:40 pm, waiting, fly out, arrive home 10 am the next morning.  It is over now.

 

March 24--we have been home over 24 hrs now.  I have shed my tears, am getting back to work.  The retreat is a great dream, a vacation that I grieve is over.  I miss my friends Matt & Kim, my new friends Clare and Mary, and feel blessed to be home with my cat Toby and my amazing partner, Angus.  He was so inspired by the retreat, he is going to plan one just for me.  I am very blessed. 

 

 

What to do when the world seems to be caving in on all directions?  Recognize THAT was a story!  Recognize what is right in front of you right now.  Get out of the head.  Today I am letting go of "I don't make enough of a difference in the world".  I am creating the possibility of being "supported, happy & free".  Now.  I love my life!

Now

Another morning of winter, waking up, not wanting to move....what is it?  The body is my tool, not me, so I command it to get out of bed, go make coffee (for a little extra inspiration!) and sit for awhile to meditate.  Meditating getting in touch with that higher self, I realize that my mind and body are the tools, my spirit is guiding me and if I spend some time connecting with that, I can move.

Extreme Self-Care, I heard this term this week.  Wow, this is what going to Costa Rica is about.  I am taking a group (there are open spots left!) to do yoga at Samasati Retreat center near Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica.  For myself, I love to do yoga, meditate, have time for naps, eat really fresh healthy vegetarian food, have a visual feast of nature in front of my eyes and hear amazing sounds of nature permeate my senses!  This is how it is in Costa Rica on our retreats.  Extreme self-care.  Join us.  See www.yogaprairie.com/Retreats.htm

Meditate

How do I get inspired when it is so cold, gray and no end in (short) sight?  One thing is to realize I am uninspired, admit it, then be willing to let it go.  That is the first step I took this morning.  Next step, begin my asana practice with movement, ujjayi breathing, then sit quietly and observe.  Has the "being uninspired" left yet?  It seems to be leaving now.  It is something of my own creation, somehow it settles in my body and has me think it is not something I have generated.  I am not giving up until I am inspired today.  Some days I can get there the moment I wake up.  Other days, it takes until about 6 pm in the evening when I give up "trying" to be something other than what I am being at that moment, then, like magic, I am generating the way of being I said I was that morning. 

 

This is an exercise I do daily.  My early morning is dedicated to meditation and my own yoga practice, I create a space for myself to "be" for the day, give up whatever is in the way of being that, and continue on with my day in service to my purpose in life.  Providing the yoga classes, the presence, what ever is asked of me in the moment.

I am back!  New & fun things are happening here!  New classes on Mondays:  5 pm Core strength (Mat pilates taught by Karen!) and 7:20 pm Rocket 1 or 2 Vinyasa power yoga (by Karen), Julie is teaching Qi Gong at 6 pm on Mondays.

 

Also new is 5 pm core strength Tuesdays, 10:30 am vinyasa on Saturdays, and Tuesdays is Power Yoga by Adele Golden at 7:15 pm.

 

More strength, more breathing!  Come & experience yoga! 

 

Costa Rica Yoga Retreat is March 16-22nd.  Please sign up by January 31st online at www.yogaprairie.com