So I had the awesome experience to visit Costa Rica recently. The country is beautiful and heaven for someone like me who loves hot humid weather. I was in the more remote part of the country, the Osa Peninsula, and was at a yoga retreat center called Blue Osa. I’ll write about the food and design of the place another time. To say they were amazing and awesome feels like it’s just not enough. But the most important lesson I took away from my 5 heavenly days was the message from the animal Kingdom. Everywhere I turned I saw animals. There were the rainbow macaws in the am eating in the trees above our beachfront chairs, squawking and teasing each other. The howler monkeys scrambled around hooting and hollering, the iguanas chased each other around and around a tree.
And then there were the kittens. Our yoga studio was on a second level open to the garden and with an ocean view. Three little kittens ran and tumbled on our mats all around us as we did yoga in the mornings and evening. They played with each other and with us. So we all know the reason why cat videos are so popular. Yes, they are adorable, but there is something else. Deep inside they triggered that feeling and desire for me to play, to feel free and happy and have no purpose except to interact with others in a way that feels light and fun.
So what if it was that simple? What if wellness were a four letter word? Play. What if your entire wellness prescription was to get outside and play with others? Every day? What do you think?
Be well…it’s a state of mind.
Alice Dommert
prasada whole being
alice@prasadawholebeing.com