5.1.14

week one final trades day

our awesome week one retreat group! xx

1.13.14

13 months 13th

taught a sunrise yoga class on the beach this morning.  wish you were there.

1.8.14

2014 rana class orientation

every time i attend an orientation i get so excited for the coming four months.  it is a wonderful thing to witness people taking a huge leap and changing their lives.  three cheers for bravery.  if you ever want to make a change, learn more about yourself or have an amazing adventure, come to the costa rica school of massage therapy. 

1.5.14

get the horns

devin is visiting from snowy nyc.  obviously we took him straight to the rodeo. 

12.8.13

pool day

"... a year ago i left the states; flying out o f san francisco and traveling to costa rica.  when i think of that period of time, those first couple weeks in pavones, it feels like a period of awakening.  after the isolation, tedium, drama of the hill; the community and cold of impending winter in town, the car shuffle as i drove to arizona and flew back the next day - i finally emerged in the warm, lush tropics.  everything was sunshine and freshness and bigtime adventure.  i had no idea at that time just how much that trip would change my life.  
it was a transitional period with no expectations or solid plans.  i'd unknowingly left one life but hadn't yet met the next.  i hadn't found where i was meant to go.  all i had was a house with a view, my yoga mat, my new friends, a quad that sometimes worked, and a property full of fruit trees.  i had the ocean, the jungle, adventure, fireflies, tucans, sunrise, anticipation and wonder.   i awoke there, from my hills cacoon, into pura vida.  i will always think of that time so fondly, full of flowers and colors and life..."

12.6.13

chibelo in barigona

costa rica

Inbox

Marin McCallen	Dec 7 (2 days ago)
to John

yesterday after teaching yoga and going to spanish school for my friday exam day, russ and chibelo, a local tico rasta dude, picked me up and we went off adventuring.  first we went to barigona, "the mel gibson beach" as russ calls it.  it is a few playas up the coast, REALLY hard to get to.  i was amazed and quite concerned at some of the treacherous points we rallied up.  but it was so pretty and magical.  it was worth it.  chibelo kept having us stop so he could forage various trees.

we now have a pile of limes and limon dulces on our counter : )

after barigona we went to a little roadside soda and hungout (i.e. drinking pilsen and telling snake stories) for a few hours.  i'm starting to really understand spanish!  que bueno! then we went on another less treacherous drive to another beautiful nearly vacant playa full of agates and polished quartz.

on the way home the car overheated and we had to scavenge water from some locales.  we got as far as the river, where we stopped and filled the radiator with jungle river water while in the darkness the lightning bugs put on a spectacular show.

it is very green here right now and the drive was so beautiful,  i was noticing lots of orchids in trees.  it made me think of you and wish you were here.
love you.

11.30.13

radical health challenge:
between thanksgiving and christmas go on a mini-cleanse; for two or three days eat only fruits, veggies and fresh squeezed juices.  no alcohol, no refined anything, and (if possible!) no caffeine.  be sure to drink plenty of water, and by plenty i mean a gallon, or close to it, each day.  have a water drinking contest with yourself!  this season is for sure a time of indulgence but anything is possible for a couple days - so go for it.  namaste bitches, xx

p.s. am i the only film nerd who noticed how much the edges of this photo look like film?

10.23.13

terrible day day

some people let a bad day ruin a good sunset.  but not you.

10.22.13

esperar

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."

 

~ W W

10.14.13

back to school dayrosa, geidi prime, grimes

9.12.13

pura vida

we were walking along when this fisherman came in to drop off some netting.  russ asked him if he'd caught anything.

"yes!  a huge one!  the biggest...... it's just in the ocean right now."

9.11.13

paraiso

5.15.13

pura vida

2.1.13

our badass busdriver

this is renee.... he's the man.