not your typical wellness retreat
PREFACE
I sat and wrote this just hours after the retreat crew left for their journey back to the San Jose airport. It was just the therapy I needed in my state of missing them!
But…since that day it’s been a bit of bumpy road literally and metaphorically speaking, and I’ve just now settled into Tamarindo and have working wifi so here she is.
Enjoy!
HEAR ME OUT
More often than not great things have come from the simplest purest desires and intentions. Hear me out.
Although it’s ironic that the telephone was invented by a man who’s passion was for helping the deaf, the establishment of Alexander Graham Bell’s company and first patent is what won him the approval of his wife’s family when he fell in love with a woman whose social status at the time surpassed his own.
All you need is love?! And a smart phone?
Let’s take beer. It was originally brewed in homes as a bi-product of bread making and it’s production at the time was commanded by women who were the house keepers. Interestingly enough, a short time later in Babylon (and by short I mean 1000 years, and still 4000 years ago) it was the practice for the father of the bride to gift mead beer (a honey beer) to the groom for an entire month after the wedding, coining this time the honeymonth.
As the lunar calendar was followed the name evolved into honeymoon, which is now a widely known and practiced tradition across the world.
If you find yourself taking a honeymoon in the future it might be prudent to order some honey brown and raise your glass to Babylon!
FROM VISION TO REALITY
Now how did a group of Americans and two Canadian sisters end up in a remote part of the Nicoya peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica? Simple really. My sister was looking for her dream vacation; a vacation that included all the things she loved to do. She shared this story with us on opening day, and as the story goes – she couldn’t quite find what she was looking for so she eventually decided why not create it herself! And create she did.
The result of her creation has in just two years, brought joy and growth to so many well deserving souls. The stories behind traditions and inventions, and what has brought people to where they are today never cease to fascinate me. It has dawned on me more and more recently how often I can exist in situations, or exist beside people, without really knowing their stories. It’s surprising how long we can go interacting with those we might even consider close without really scraping the surface – a surface that may even be a mask – in order to stay in a comfortable place. But sharing in other peoples stories and motivations deepens our connection with them, and I experienced this first hand day after day on the retreat and I pledge to practice more of being present and genuinely curious in all of my interactions.
I am uberly proud of my younger sister for hosting her third uberly successful retreat with her company the GoodRootsMvmt.
Her vision was basically to be surrounded by nature, be healthy by staying active and eating good food, adventuring the country and being immersed in local culture in any way possible. To date the locations have been tropical but there are whispers of taking the Mvmt to the snow…can’t deny those good roots!
together again
We did all of the above and more. I mean life changing, soul filling, rejuvenating more. But I’ll let the testimonials resonate with you and won’t attempt to speak further for anyone but myself.
I met up with the retreat crew coming from a month and a half in Mexico where I had started getting to bed later and later each night as I was spending hours working on my website in order to make the release date I was determined to meet! So, I was slightly worried about transitioning to the 7am start times of the days that lay ahead.
I don’t know if it was the energy of the people around me or mostly my own excitement to start each day by seeing some of my favourite faces, but it wasn’t hard to pop out of bed with my roomies when our three alarms went off at 6:30 everyday. Knowing that fresh coffee, fruit and the jungle awaited didn’t hurt.
PUPPY LOVE
Our mornings started with unique meditations in a large teepeed open air shala in the woods behind the resort, followed by a sweaty flowy workout class in our aerial hammocks. Wait just kidding; our mornings started much earlier to the sound of roosters, dogs, mysterious articles of nature crashing on our tin roofs, and the infamous Costa Rican howler monkeys. Pretty much a jungle symphony; albeit sometimes eery and agitating sounding to the still dream drenched ears. Sometimes you went back to sleep, sometimes you didn’t – puravida!
Post sweat class our lovely Marley had more coffee, fresh juice and breakfast ready and waiting for us as we overtook the small outdoor dining area. So began the excited chatter sharing the mornings experiences and talking about the days plans ahead – likely overwhelming the handful of other guests who probably thought a yoga resort would be quiet…ha!
Charged up for the day, we took on everything from waterfall hikes, swimming and cliff diving, to snorkelling tours with fresh lunch and coconuts on nearby islands, to sunset stand up paddle boarding, to mornings spent crashing around on surf boards on some of the best surfs in the world, to browsing local towns and shops to find the cutest tanks and best local coffee, to pool side lounging, journaling and never-ending laughs and chats.
Oh, and cannot forget allllll the puppy love! From resident cuties to local pups who followed us home, there was never a shortage of love to go around from this group of animal lovers.
We unwound from these fun-filled sun-filled days with afternoon or evening (candlelit) restorative aerial yoga, more amazing fresh meals, naps, reading, writing, pooltime, bon fires, and the most fantastic star gazing I’ve ever experienced. As we sat out on the rocks over looking the pacific ocean the sky seemed larger to me than it ever had before.
We pointed out constellations, galaxies and shooting stars – just as excited for the next star as we were the first. I went to bed with an accomplished content sense of exhaustion.
THE FEELING's GONE
As we took moments as a group to reflect and share, something that was consistently repeated throughout the week was an awareness and appreciation for the energy within the group. The positivity that seemed to flow effortlessly from our pores which were as open as ever from the constant sweating and natural detox going on…I can’t imagine wet season!
I felt the same effortless positivity myself. I bounced into morning meditation excited to see everyone and hang out with my best friend and sister and be witness to the powerful leadership and inspiration she offered up to us, as well as her genuine desire to see each of us continue to discover and relax into the comfort of our true selves.
Until suddenly I didn’t feel it.
Feelings on the opposite spectrum of positive had shown up completely unannounced one day. Now besides being in a semi-permanent state of – I don’t know what’s coming next in life – which brings it’s own kind of worries and stresses at times, I’m in a good place. I feel happy and free to the point that it sometimes overwhelms me at the most inopportune times leaving happy tears of gratitude flowing down my cheeks.
So I was shocked to say the least that in this beautiful amazing place with family and friends around me, doing healthy positive things, that I could be feeling this way.
But it happened. So I dealt with it.
I think the positive place I’m in now emotionally and physically makes it easier to identify triggers when things like this do happen. It hasn’t always been that easy though; at times it felt like I was so buried in unhealthy thoughts and feelings, that the addition of one more unhappy feeling just blended in with the rest and it became even harder to bear, make sense of, or fix.
SOUL ON FIRE
I’ve now been on two of the three GoodRootsMvmt retreats and consciously or not I find myself comparing this experience to that experience, and one of the most moving pieces of both retreats was the finale evening fire circle.
They have organically evolved and I’m sure will continue to do so. I’m surprised we actually followed through with the fire seeing as it was still close to 30 degrees at night! For my American friends that’s about 83. But it felt right; fire is magical.
So my always determined fire starter brother in law whipped one up for us. I’m proud of all the brave souls who so eloquently share and participate in the fire circles, and I’m proud of myself for being able to share something this year. At my first retreat I silently let go of tears and threw my paper into the fire, While I knew I was in a safe and supported place it wasn’t yet right for me to verbalize it into the universe, and that’s ok. Writing things down is powerful on it’s own, as was watching the flames take on some of the pain and burden I had been carrying with me. But what’s so amazing to me is that each time the strength of the group allowed to me to take a step forward.
must be magic
It’s not as though all of us attended these retreats for a specific reason or healing purpose, but the magic just seems to happen all on it’s own. I believe that the beauty of nature has an effect on us that we can’t quite explain, nor do we need to. We just need to show up.
Once the group had left I had another few hours at the resort before moving on to my new accommodation closer to the town of Santa Teresa. As I walked the same pathways of Indigo Yoga resort and stood by the same pool I had for the last 7 days, the surroundings seemed to really come into focus. I was seeing things in a different way.
The abundance of hibiscus and birds of paradise flowers, the palm trees, the jungle and the sound of the water flowing down into the pool. I have learned that the quiet and being alone increases our awareness and appreciation for all things. I quickly wiped my cheeks and sent my love to everyone I’d spent the week with and to whom I already missed.
I continued on with my day with bright eyes and a smile, looking forward whole heartedly to the next three weeks of Costa Rican adventure.
I will close with a call to action for the ones I love today and the ones I will love tomorrow by quoting one of the many delightful sayings seen posted around the small surf towns in Costa Rica:
Let’s go somewhere
Where the Stars
Kiss the ocean
the GoodRootsMvmt
Looking for an adventure but also a deeply challenging, nourishing, FUN, and life-changing experience?
Look no further!
Click on the link below for more details on the Mvmt, the Founder & Owner Kerri Flanigan, and dates for upcoming retreats.
Are you ready to join the GoodRootsMvmt?
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Miss you!
Miss you too!! Thank you for your support darling xox
Pride is considered both in the Christian faith as well as other traditions, to be a negative. But feeling proud of someone else, is acceptable in my mind.
As the mother of both Kerri and Lina, I feel proud ( in a most positive sense ) of them in so many ways. Feeling proud of both Kerri and Lina for having the tenacity and fortitude to follow their dreams and making them come to fruition. To continue to follow their separate visions in spite of difficulties encountered along the way.
I look forward to reading your blogs , Lina. You have a way with words and of expressing yourself that brings your thoughts and observations to life. I love the humour you inject to lighten the telling.
In this latest blog, the historical information relating to your telling , creates interest as well.
I look forward to the next instalment.
As always , your Mama
Oh mom..pass the tissues!! Thank you for reading and thank you for your words means the world! We get so much of our courage and adventurous spirit from you =) xox