What Leadership for Life does in Costa Rica

What Leadership for Life does in Costa Rica

Leadership for Life vacations in Costa Rica each summer (their winter, actually) to provide time and space for renewal – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  Leadership for Life explores each aspect of holistic health individually and then assists our clients in tying them together in practical ways so that we might continue to practice holistic living in everyday life.   We find it is always much easier to live well and to feel healthier and more alive when on vacation or retreat, away from the every day stresses of life.  The real trick is to keep it going when you return! 

We begin by looking at physical health, asking each client:  Where am I now?  Where do I want to be?  And what do I need to provide my body to get there?  Pretty straight forward.  And, not surprisingly, vast amounts of research, including studies in traditional Western medicine at Harvard Medical School and the findings from holistic practitioners at the University of California at Berkeley, generally agree on three major aspects that contribute to maintenance of health and physical well being.  There will be no surprises here, except perhaps how obvious this has been from our childhood.

Balanced nutrition, moderate exercise, and adequate rest are the foundations of lifelong health and a sound strategy for staving off the major illnesses that cause most morbidity in our contemporary populations (i.e. cancer and heart disease).

I told you.  No surprises.  And, unfortunately, no loopholes.   But that may not be such a bad thing.  Each of these aspects of physical wellness provides a wide variety of ways to reach our goal of physical health.

While we learn more about each of these topics, we actually put into practice the concepts during our time in Costa Rica.  The client chooses which aspects of nutrition (for example:  more fish and fruit in the diet); exercise (surfing, yoga, biking, hiking, or just regular walks on the beach); and rest (perhaps getting a full night’s sleep, or taking afternoon siestas) that they wish to focus upon during their stay in Costa Rica.  And the hope is that you will take, at least some, of these healthy habits back with you.  Naturally, you can (and probably should) translate this into what will work for you in your everyday life.  Only you can do that.  However, trying out new healthy habits, in a time and space that affords experimentation with what works for you, may go a long way to choosing practices that you’ll keep when you return.

My hope is that these reflections will find some resonance within you and that they may be useful in your own search for better health and deeper fulfillment.

2nd Postcard from Costa Rica - Life is good, or as the locals say, PURA VIDA!

2^nd postcard from Costa Rica

We awoke this morning to sunshine pouring onto our third floor balcony.  One of the most enjoyed features in the aptly named Sunrise Condominiums are the balconies  which offer a gorgeous view of the ocean and are big enough to double as small yoga studios.

So, with sunshine on our faces, we did our sun salutations (a popular series of yoga poses) literally greeting the sun as it rose over the hills to the East.  After we stretched, it was time to head West, i.e. across the street to the warm and welcoming surf, which was nearly empty (by surfer standards) since most of Tamarindo was out late partying Friday night.

Knowing that we would have a great surf day ahead and that high tide wouldn’t reach us until later in the morning, we fueled up the evening before with a delightfully tasty, balanced, and locally provided meal of carne asada, sweet potato, and salad.  We buy our food fresh each day, courtesy of our local market and cook our meals in a stellar, fully equipped kitchen.  Even an amateur chef like me can quickly put together a delicious, healthy, and inexpensive meal, which is handy when you want a break from eating out at all the wonderful local restaurants – lol!

The surf this morning did not disappoint; even the newcomers were riding waves in the early hours.  The surf here is perfect for beginners and more advanced surfers alike, with a slow-spilling, beach break along about a half mile of coastline.  The water is a comfortable 80 degrees, not so warm that it fails to be refreshing and warm enough that you can stay in all day, or until you run out of fuel.

One of the many conveniences of living across from some of the best and most consistent surf in the world, is that you can return two or there times a day, breaking for snacks, or a full blown typical Costa Rica lunch of fresh fish, salad, beans and rice.  You could hardly ask for tastier and healthier meals for an active body.  Stomachs grumbling, we did take a little break from the surf and enjoyed a delicious lunch at one of our favorite restaurants run by a friendly family and offering fresh fish caught by locals. 

Afterwards, we stopped by the Coastal Spanish Institute where I studied Spanish last summer and surfed with their instructors.  I did my best to impress my former professors with all that I had retained from their instruction last summer.  While I am still a bit rusty speaking Spanish, the teachers at the school were gracious, patient, and proud to witness any progress that there students had made.  This is a wonderful school with beautiful accommodations and, as I said earlier, some very kind and talented teachers.

Tonight we will probably taste a little of the night life in Tamarindo at the Monkey Bar, which offers wonderful both poolside service (You can actually swim to the bar at this club if you want to cool off!) and quality Saturday night specials.  But not too late, because another day of surfing, yoga, and sunshine awaits…J

Costa Rica 2011 - Back in Paradise!

Back in Paradise!

The shuttle ride into town had an eerie familiarity except this time I was the seasoned traveler giving tips on touring Costa Rica and the hot spots in Tamarindo.  My excited traveling companions from Louisiana took in every exotic site along the way and savored their first Imperial beer, pleasantly surprised how good it tasted.  Something about a full day of travel and a warm summer night (although this is Costa Rica’s “winter”) can make any cold beer taste heavenly!

I practiced my rusty Spanglish on our patient and very friendly shuttle driver whom seemed quite willing to have me fumble around for the right words in Spanish, as broken and halting as it is.  We settled on Gary speaking Spanish and I would respond in English – a win/win!  Like many Ticos, Gary works a few jobs to support his family and, naturally, one of those is as a surf instructor.  There may be more surf instructors (per capita) in Tamarindo than lawyers in Washington D.C.  And they all are too eager to take on a new client.

This morning, after 12 hours of blissfully rejuvenating sleep, I enjoyed Costa Rican café on my third floor balcony where a surf report is not only unnecessary but far less accurate than an eye-witness of the conditions – height of the waves, direction of the surf, and quality of the on shore breeze.  Living across the street from some of the best surfing in Costa Rica (this is the surf spot featured in Endless Summer 2) is one of the better decisions in my life!

I strolled around town reconnecting with old amigos and happy to see some of the same faces and places as last summer, including my favorite smoothie place where I ordered my usual – a large mango smoothy – just fresh mangoes and crush iced blended into a perfect breakfastJ  Even the trip to the Super Mercado offered some of the same fare and friendly faces that I greeted almost daily last summer, picking up fresh fruit, veggies, and fresh fish.

Of course, some things have changed.  Sharky’s, where they catered to Gringos with beer pong and karaoke, was leveled in favor of a much studier structure for an undisclosed business.  Truth be told, I liked Sharky’s for the company of other American while watching the NBA and NHL playoffs last summer, and most of the World Cup.  In fact, I recall watching the NHL finals with some diehard Chicago Black Hawk fans, dedicated enough to wear Black Hawks (full weight, regulation) hockey jerseys throughout the game in spite of 80 degree weather in a crowded bar without air conditioning!  They were rewarded with a Stanley Cup victory and I was edified to see how sportmanslike they were to the Flyers fans in the audience who suffered through another defeat. 

Likewise, Godfather’s Pizza suffered a similar fate to Sharky’s perhaps catering too much to the seasonal gringo influx with nontraditional fare that seemed only to attract Americans homesick for a taste of the States.  In its place now is a more traditional pasteliceria, a tantalizing pastery shop I will no doubt frequent after a long day of surfingJ