Dance has always been a part of my life.  Growing up I so very desperately wanted to be a ballerina, I positively adored ballet and everything that had to do with it.  In my mind I was Angelina Ballerina-the clumsy girl who grows up to become a world-class dancer.  I would dream of one day dancing at the Kennedy Center (my family was living in D.C. then).  Later on it was a drill sergeant of a ballet teacher that turned me off.  There really is something to be said of a woman telling 10 year olds that their butt is too big… it really is sad how something as beautiful as ballet can have such a negative impact on young girls.  Luckily I got out of it without an eating disorder, even at 10 the rebel in me was very sure that I was not the one with the problem, she was.  So I quit, but still loved to dance. 
Being a rather shy person, however during my teen years, my dancing stayed confined to my bedroom and my cd player. 
It wasn’t until many years later after practicing yoga that I have rekindled my passion for dance.  It is through the lessons I have learned on my yoga mat, specifically "being present" that have allowed me once again to feel into my own dance.  Through yoga I am learning to accept my body and learn how to move in it in a way that can honor my true essence.  This is what I have learned these past months experiencing the YogaPlay classes.  Yes, I am probably still the clumsy girl, and so help me I was born with out a sense of rhythm and so what? The truth is that I love twirling around!!!I It is the ultimate freedom, to let your body guide you through movement.  Take your own journey, follow your own path, and above all dance like no one is watching!

Laura

One of my favorite places to practice yoga in Costa Rica is Bamboo YogaPlay, in Dominical. Dominical is a sleepy surf town on the Pacific Coast, where the luscious jungle meets the ocean. Developed by Brendan Jaffer and Sofiah Jaffer Thom, Bamboo is a new ‘sanctuary for living artfully’ nestled just off the dusty road, in tropical paradise. This eco-friendly yoga studio is built above shipping container construction living units. With gorgeous bamboo floors and bamboo walls on 3 sides, the open-air studio overlooks the Baru river and jungle foliage as well as the nearby ocean. Practicing on eco-friendly yoga mats with a full view of the jungle feels so good! After class, feel free to lounge on the Balinese sofa, get a massage or acupuncture treatment, shower in the private outdoor shower (also made from Bamboo), or shop in the air-conditioned Bambootique, for organic and –yes, you guessed it: Bamboo fiber—yoga clothes and street ware, hand-crafted tribal jewelry, locally made healing salves, and Buddhist adornments. A truly holistic experience of wellness, with a loving touch of high-end artistry and full immersion in the natural beauty of Costa Rica, makes Bamboo Yoga Play my favorite place to take a savasana and come restore my batteries while I am in Costa Rica.  For more info. On Bamboo Yoga Play, please visit: www.bambooyogaplay.com.

Debra Rubin, MA, CMT, RYT

Founder of SattyaBody Healing Arts & Dance, empowering women’s health through Holistic Health Counseling, Yoga, & Tribal Fusion Belly Dance,
is based in San Francisco, CA.

www.sattyabody.com

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Love and Music is in the air in Dominical for sure.  Two weeks ago Sofiah and Brendan got married. It was a magical ceremony filled with a lot of love and light.  There is always something special when we witness two people making the commitment to honor and cherish each other for the rest of their lives and Sofiah and Brendan’s wedding was certainly exceptional.  What contributed to the uniqueness of the event was all the wonderful artists that participated in the celebration of the coming together of these two souls.  Dominical was fortunate to host wonderful musicians such as Rena Jones, Lady Rizo, Govinda, and Beats Antique that flew down for the wedding.  Each of these spectacular performers added their own magical contribution to the evening’s festivities.

Keeping in theme with Love and Music, Bamboo YogaPlay is hosting Serpent’s Kiss for the second time.  Serpent’s Kiss is a Valentine’s Day event offering you a Tantric celebration indulging in beauty, ice cream from Ruby’s, wine, music, performing arts and dancing.  We have Incus coming back this year as well. Drawing on influences from Middle Eastern, Native American, African and Eastern European musical traditions, Incus is redefining the American Tribal music movement. The combination of keyboards, accordion, violin, and cello with male and female vocals creates a beautifully haunting soundscape, replete with mesmerizing rhythms capable of inducing trance-like states.  Aside from Incus, we have Sofiah Thom aka Bamboodancer dancing her entrancing Firefan Templedance, Amity Mead performing a Fire Dance, Kali Das an amazing Tribal Belly Dancer, and Katie Quarrier performing her Aerial Silks.

We invite you to come, bring a loved one and join us for this one of a kind Valentines’ Day.  Serpent’s Kiss will be held at Bamboo YogaPlay in Dominical, Sunday February 14th at 8:00 p.m., cover charge $15.

If you have the chance I invite you to check out the performance art troupe, Tripsichore.

They are very inspiring and on the forefront with the fusion of yoga and dance.

“Tripsichore began in 1979 as a company devoted to creating full length dance narratives. We explored a variety of stylistic forms including punk ballet, conventional modern dance and strict neo-classical technique. We used masks, performed with rock bands and did pop videos.

"While yoga was always a part of our training, it wasn’t until 1992 that we realised the expressive potential and choreographic viability of yoga postures. Once we began to devise works using yoga asanas, their extraordinary artistic logic became evident. Surprisingly, it would seem that there has been no orthodox tradition for using yoga technique to create dances in the 5000 year history of the discipline. The postures intrinsically possess a sumptuous beauty and fluidity. They are the ideal vehicle to express the themes of harmony, balance, spirituality, ecstasy, bliss and mysticism because they are exactly about these subjects in and of themselves. We are now many years into this experiment and each day brings new discoveries..”

Surfing and Yoga, the ultimate combination for a holiday filled with adventure, discovery and fun!  Here at Bamboo Yoga Play we offer custom packages to compliment travelers surfing and adventure itinerary’s. 

Stella just showed up the other day wanting to practice yoga with us.  She has surfing every day with a local surf camp and was not able to join our daily yoga classes.  So, I created a special package just for her.  Stella was open to trying an Expressive Healing Arts session, something she had never even heard of!  So, we booked her one Expressive Healing Arts, one Private Yoga and one Thai massage.  I named the package after her!  The Stella Package!

We had our Expressive Healing Arts session yesterday, it is always such a pleasure to witness my new clients allowing themselves to drop into a place of authenticity in their movement.  I played music and guided her into different ways of moving through her body.  Stella has been praciticing yoga for a couple of years and this defintely came through her movements. 

Yoga and free movement is such a great way to open up and strectch those tight shoulders from surfing.  Stella is really enjoying the surfing, its so much fun to get out into the Ocean and practice a new kind of yoga on a surf board!

You can see in this surfing picture how much balance is the key to surfing, balance and core strength……at Bamboo Yoga Play we bring a lot of attention to our core and balance in all the movements we practice!  Yoga can improve your surfing!  Learn how to ride the waves of your own breath as you ride the waves of the Ocean!

We have some great surf instructors here in Dominical, together we can create the ultimate surfing and yoga package for any beginner or more experienced person.

Click here to see our Adventure tour retreats we have created for you!

Written by Sofiah Thom, founder of Bamboo YogaPlay.