Bamboo YogaPlay is excited to announce that we will be partnering with Costa Rica Surf Camp to provide the ultimate surf and yoga experience in beautiful Playa Dominical, Costa Rica!!

Costa Rica Surf Camp and Bamboo YogaPlay will be offering affordable vacation packages. These packages include surf lessons, yoga, massage, accommodation, transportation, and additional tours. Whether you are planning a tropical vacation getaway or just visiting Dominical for a few days, we can work with you to create a surf and yoga package that fits your needs and desires.

Combining yoga with surfing yields many benefits such as increased flexibility, strength and endurance.  More specifically yoga can help improve your surfing strength, paddling power, balance, and help you get to your feet faster.  Yoga will leave you feeling calm and focused. With increased energy from yoga you will be able to catch more waves!

Costa Rica Surf Camp is owned and run by Alejandro Cerdas.  Alejandro grew up in the mountains of Costa Rica. He first came to Dominical to learn to surf when he was just 13 years old.  He has been surfing ever since.  Alejandro started his surf school with the goal of sharing his love of the ocean, surfing, nature, and Costa Rica culture on a personal level with others.  You can find out more information on his site: www.crsurfschool.com

Please send us an email and let us know when you would like to come, for how long, and any other activities you may be interested in.

I am a total book worm. I love to read.  Some of my earliest memories are of reading and going to book stores.  I love book stores.  I remember the first time I walked into a Barnes and Noble I remember thinking, this is my idea of heaven: endless books and the lingering smell of coffee coming from the Starbucks in the corner. I have been living in the jungle for some time now.  And yes, it is paradise, weekends are spent surfing, hiking, playing in the river.  I get to practice yoga in an amazing studio with an incredible view of this costarican paradise, but if there is something that I miss from living in "civilization" is going to bookstores.   And yet I’ve manged to maintain my book habit.  There’s this thing I do, whenever there is a book I want to read, I dedicate to it a couple of minutes everyday, thinking about the book, sending it out there that I want to read it and eventually it makes it’s way to me.  Book exchanges are, in my opinion, one of the best things ever. Sure enough whenever I want to read something eventually, I’ll find it at a book exchange.

That’s why I was so interested when I heard there was a Mudra, Mantra, and Manifestation Workshop with Sherry Ryan at Bamboo YogaPlay.  I realized this is what I’ve been doing with books, it’s the same principle.  I’m looking forward to learning more about this concept that if there is something in life we want, we can learn how to manifest it learning to use Mudras and Mantras.  The whole idea behind it is quite fascinating to me. 

In the mean time if anyone has a copy of Dan Brown’s the Lost Symbol that wants to exchange at the Bamboutique’s book exchange that would make my day!

Laura

 I am a huge Cesar Millan fan.  I have been watching the Dog Whisperer pretty much since it came out.  At first the show’s draw was for obvious reasons, I am a dog lover and have a crazy bull terrier that on occasion gets the best of me.  So I started watching Cesar’s show hoping that I too would learn to be "calm and assertive" with my pooch.  The more I watch the show and get to see the people that Cesar visits the more convinced I become that this show, despite it’s name is not about dogs it’s about us humans.  If you have ever watched the show, you’ll know what I mean.  Yes, on the surface it looks like the ones with the problems are the canines but if you pay attention you realize in reality the human is the one with the issues.  What a truly fascinating dynamic.  According to Cesar it is our energy that influences the way the dog behaves.  So if we are suffering from anxiety we get a neurotic dog. 

So this leads me to wonder, if our energy affects the way our dog behaves, what about those around us?  They must feel it too.  I believe because dogs live more in the now they are more influenced by our energy than people. However we should pay attention to what it is that we are sending out there. 

I have been practicing yoga on and off for about ten years now and am far from getting "it" yet.  Having said that, I do feel there is a shift in the way I interact with others.  I try to be more aware about the way I am feeling when interacting with others and am constantly trying to achieve that "calm energy" that Cesar is always talking about. 

Of course I fail more times that I care to count, but I do try.  Often times during my practice I try to envision my dog’s energy.  This is my intention, to become more like him.  And no, it does not mean that I want to be pampered all day long and chase after sticks and roll around in the sand.  It means that I would love it if I could take everything in stride like he does, not hold grudges, and more importantly to live in the moment.  If you want to learn more about Cesar, you should go to his website www.cesarsway.com and if what I’ve said has sparked an interest in your own practice you should come to one of our yoga classes!

Laura

 

Yesterday I read an article in the New York times about Charles Darwin, one of the greatest minds of our time, in my opinion.  The article mentioned that Darwin suffered  from depression, and he utilized his work to escape from it.  “Work is the only thing which makes life endurable to me,” Darwin wrote and later remarked that it was his “sole enjoyment in life.”  This has stuck with me all day, and has me thinking: well, what am I grateful for in my life? 

Many things.  I am grateful that I live in Dominical, and not some traffic-smog-crazed city.  I am grateful for my little social support group that love and understand me just the way I am.  I am grateful for my darling handsome husband.  I am grateful for my dog, my crazy spirited bull terrier that reminds me every day to live in the moment and not take myself so seriously.  I am grateful for working in Bamboo YogaPlay.  I wouldn’t go as far as say that is is my sole enjoyment in life, but I do love my job.  I get to meet new interesting people everyday.  I am the small talk queen. 

One of the things I love most of my job is the yoga class during work hours policy that we have.  To have the opportunity to deepen your practice in this gorgeous bamboo studio with many different yet equally gifted teachers is amazing.  A truly wonderful job perk!

So my question is, what are you grateful for?  Have you found that thing, or things, in life that bring you enjoyment?  I sincerely hope you have, and if you’re looking maybe you’ll find your answers in one of our yoga classes.  Look for me, I’m the one with the grateful smile on my face.

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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