The last few days of the retreat we had no internet access so I could not keep up with my reports. We had a great time at the retreat- I got lots of rest, learned a lot and taught some great classes. All in all a good week.
On Friday night I made my way across San Jose to get ready for the Immersion at Yoga Lamat. We started today and it was really fantastic. The group is so sincere and so loving and so open. I think I want to move to Costa Rica! We spent the day laying the foundation for the week- going over concepts such as Open to Grace, Grace, Setting the Foundation, Inner Body Bright, the meaning of the chant, the Main Elements of Anusara Yoga and so on. I wrote up a schedule for the whole day on the white board and for the most part we managed to keep to it. We even had 30 minutes for pranayama, chanting and meditation. Wow.
One thing that is just fantastic is to teach an Immersion to a group of people who are already so well trained in Anusara Yoga. Juan Pablo, the studio owner is a great student and a great teacher and his students reflect so well on his efforts. They listen well, ask great questions, and have so many of the fundamentals in place that the teaching is a real pleasure.
I am both inspired and also tired from the day. I found teaching to a group of people who do not speak English as their first language to be very interesting. In general, I really liked it because I was much more careful with my words and with the way I used them and yet it required a heightened amount of attention. I do think, however, that it made my teaching more effective. Maybe from now on I am going to pretend my students do not speak English! I definitely spoke slower knowing I was being translated.
Years ago, one of my friends took a long trip to Costa Rica. She came back and said to me, "You just cannot imagine how different a culture is that is based around joy." Well, that statement keeps coming back to me as I am here. There is a sense of joy and enjoyment here that is not at all typical of life in the good ole' USA. (Don't get me wrong, I really do like our country) I find the whole vibe here to be so uplifting and so nourishing. I am feeling pretty lucky I get to be working here for two weeks.
All right then, time to go to bed. I am pretty darn tired.
5 comments:
Hola Christina!... Thank you for a wonderful first day of Immersion. It is very interesting to receive your perspective of Yoga. There are mirrors and surprises in everyone, everywhere, anytime :-)
¡Qué chévere! Yeah, that's one of the things that makes me want to travel more, especially South of Texas in general. Fortunately, BJ recently wrote me and said I could assist her anytime in S. America. Looks like I'm gonna have to do it! Enjoy your time in Costa Rica!
I just returned from working in Costa Rica too. So awesome there.
costa rica is yoga country!
I hope it will be a long running show, that’ll be shown in many different countries!
yoga
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