Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey
bars. You have to let go at some point
in order to move forward.”
C.S. Lewis
Meeting my Yoga comrades at the San Jose airport, we were shuttled to a smaller airstrip across the city. Then ushered to a very tiny plane one of us had to be copilot, I drew the
lucky straw! A short flight brought us to tiny Tambor
airport and we were then taken by van to our home for the week in Santa Teresa. Casa
Marbella.
Oh, my, the long dusty trip was worth it! After getting settled, we met on the
beautiful yoga deck for our first, of many, yoga classes for the week. Our
yoga instructors, Caprice Abowitt and Ikaika Regidor of Sacred Sounds Yoga
were wonderful. Sunset cocktails,
followed by a delicious dinner made with amazingly fresh ingredients by ever smiling
and giggling Lohanna and her cohort Jesus, a late-night soak in the infinity
pool…this is just what the doctor ordered!
Most mornings we woke to do a yoga class, greeted by our
resident Iguana, sometimes our monkey! followed by one of Lohanna’s and Jesus’ gorgeous breakfasts. Then a few hours to
play. One day Lohanna treated us to a
cooking class, empanadas, awesome! The
walk up and down the hill to the “bustling” town of Santa
Teresa and the beach validates any of the ice creams or other treats we
enjoyed. Playing in the surf was like
being a kid again. Early morning walk
with an almost deserted beach. Oh, the
ocean anywhere, this the Pacific, creates such gorgeous healing. Don’t you think?!
Each late afternoon had us loving more yoga; sometimes
playfully in the pool, once at sunset on the beach with a healing
meditation. From that perfect
Valentine’s Day experience, we took a very long walk to a weekly Beach
Party. With the light of a bonfire, all
ages 
Nina planned some fun excursion for us as well. One very early morning had us meeting Andy and
his champion wife Edyth of Freedom Riders
for a paddle board lesson. A few hours
of playing, practicing, and getting it! was a great and fun workout. Being the Mom of this group, as I am almost
everywhere these days, my new friends were quite impressed. (Regrettably, I can’t seem to get ahold of
the pictures to prove that I did it!)
Another day had us being vanned to Montezuma, another dusty
beach town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica for zipling! This being one of my big bucket list items, I
was like a child again filled with excitement.
That started to dissipate with the safety lecture, given by a guide who
clearly spoke only enough English to give the safety talk. (Memories of all those white water rafting
safety talks over 20 years. No matter
how many times I went, listened to a dear friend give that lecture, my heart
always pumped with an overload of adrenaline.
So I could do this!!). Well, let’s
just say, I can laugh about it. It’s a great
story to be told in person over wine.
But, the experience brought up and out many old triggers, including
feelings of humiliation and anger. The
swim at the waterfalls was awesome.
A great Costa Rican lunch in the little beach hamlet of
Montezuma As we got up to meander around town for a
bit, there was a ruckus in the trees.
Monkeys! Lots of monkeys came to
play and entertain us. Yes, I believe
there was hand-clapping, perhaps even some jumping up and down on my part. I was so excited. When Nina handed me a banana to feed one of
the monkey and it smiled into my eyes as it greedily grabbed it; I thought I’d
explode. Humiliation dissolved and
forgotten (almost)..
The special people I met; the experiences and meals we shared; talking for hours at our dining room table; the sunsets, the yoga, the
beach. Oh, so grateful, as it was truly
a much needed respite. Namaste.
