Hey, you. I promise that reading this post will be the start of something really interesting and reflective. I can promise you that it’ll be refreshing, and about something completely different from what you will be doing during your first week of March.
This is the first post of many to come while I am in Costa Rica, completely off the grid for seven days. I’ll be in a jungle (sleeping in a jungle yurt, listening to howling monkeys and swatting away big ol’ mosquitoes) that is home to one of the best yoga retreats in the world, voted in the Tascen book “Great Yoga Retreats”. I will have no communication with anyone else in the world, except with my fellow yogis, our yoga and pilates teachers, our chef, and a few staff members at the yoga retreat centre.
My flight today (Saturday, February 27th) will take me to San Jose, Costa Rica. From there, I’m taking a bus to the Osa Peninsula, home to this jungle I’m eager to immerse in. I’ve always loved being outdoors and doing anything active, but I’m honestly a little bit afraid of what I might come across (creepy, crawly, nasty things?!) during this retreat. I’ve packed lots of bug spray, sunscreen, and triple A batteries (for my headlamp).
I’ve been practicing moksha yoga for over two years, at a wonderful studio called Moksha Yoga Downtown (577 Wellington Street West). I was practicing one night, and serendipitously decided that I had to go to this yoga retreat, organized by one of the studio’s owners. I put the deposit down that evening.
Being a dedicated yogi is a part of my identity, and I’m excited to be going on a yoga retreat for the first time in my life. Due to the fact that I want to start working full-time immediately after graduation this April, I don’t want to take time off to travel or explore before committing to a full-time, long-term type of career. I absolutely love to travel (I’ve been to 15 different countries so far) but it will not be a priority right after graduation unless I get a job offer in another country.
Therefore, this yoga retreat is actually my last opportunity to go away for a length of time before graduation. I’ve chosen to share my experiences and thoughts through RU Student Life because I know I’m going to learn, think, and feel a lot. I just hope it’ll be interesting enough for you to keep up with it, and also learn, think, and feel from it. Every word that will be posted online here will be transferred from my physical journal.
Every single day, I’m dedicating time to write (when I’m not in a vinyasa class, or a pilates sesh, or learning to surf) and when the yoga retreat is over, I’ll be typing it out to share publicly. On the last day of the yoga retreat, I’m heading back to San Jose for a couple of days before returning to Toronto. I’ll keep it interesting in San Jose too.
I hope you’re excited to follow my stories. I have no idea what it’ll look like, and I’m a bit nervous that I have committed to sharing my reflective thoughts with strangers on the web. Nonetheless, if I can inspire (or at least, entertain) anyone through what I learn and experience during my time in Costa Rica, that’s cool enough for me.
Come back for the next post. Isn’t it cool that I’ll be thinking of you and you’ll be thinking of me as I write (in my journal) and you read (through your screen)?
xx
Rachel
