Why are we here in Costa Ballena, Costa Rica? There are a variety of answers but they all sift down to us individually caring about what we see as the quality of our lives and our family's lives. We appreciate the clean environment, the always fresh food, time in nature and a little more freedom. This is self-care, we are choosing a lifestyle that supports our wellbeing.

Self-care has been a media subject lately as celebrities stretch the limit of self-care into self-indulgence. But why is the concept of self-care important? Because if we don’t take care of ourselves we can not take care of others.

Self-care is anything you do consciously to help maintain your physical, mental or emotional health. Things like exercise, time spent on a hobby, and using relaxation techniques to manage stress and anxiety, hiking to clear the mind and physically work our bodies are all good examples of self-care strategies. Self-care will help you feel healthy, relaxed and ready for whatever life throws at y...

It amazes me how little people think about their bodies, their habits, what they eat and how it all functions together. I have been blessed to have lived the childhood I did and to have come of age in a time of developing awareness to our environment, our food, to active lifestyles and healthy habits, into an era of consciousness.  

I lived a healthy life always, with a loving family, strong community values, spiritual beliefs in something greater and I was encouraged to pursue things that interested me.  And yet at a certain age, I got sick and did not know how to handle it. It was stress from my lifestyle, just too much living, doing, a marriage that was not a partnership, and all the busyness.

But it was figured out and I simplified my lifestyle by choice to do less.  And I studied how to help others find well-being.  It is in all of us, often we just need to slow down to see where those bumps are, or life can cause us to come to a screeching halt where we are forced to slow down...

“Follow your bliss … If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” 

— Joseph Campbell

The beginning of everything is a need or a desire, and the seed that sets fulfilling that need or desire is an intention. Having an intention is the first step in the conscious manifestation of a thing you want to happen. In the classic literature of India, a book called The Upanishads states:

“You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.”

Are you engaged and living fully each day or just going through the motion...

Your stay in Uvita 

 Uvita is the center of The Ballena Coast and the home to Ballena National Park. Playa Colonia, the closest beach (only 500 meters away) to Bienestar is a national park. It is a long shallow beach in a big bay, where you can see all of the Osa peninsula and Isla de Cano, which is 16 miles out to sea. It is still an undeveloped area with no buildings within 200 meters for the beach. Most days there are only a handful of people visiting the beach. Uvita is very relaxed and has an easygoing vibe.

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How to get here

Fly to San Jose, (SJO) the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in the town of Alajuela, 11 miles NW of and about 30 minutes from San Jose in the Central Valley. It takes 3.5 hours to drive to Uvita.  We will help make all arrangements for your arrival and stay in Uvita. (car, bus, shuttle). The Yoga Teacher Trainings provide you with shuttle service to and from this airport.

Money

Almost every business will take U.S. dollars in Cost Rica. Make s...

Along the southern pacific coastline of Costa Rica there is a thirty mile long stretch of mountains covered in lush tropic jungle that rises from the sea, called Costa Ballena. 

In the heart of this area is the village of Uvita, home of Ballena Marino National Park. The Ballena (whale) refers to both the parks unique geological anomaly, sand and rock feature shaped like the tail of a whale and the fact that twice a year migrating whales stop and make this bay their home for a few months. 

Costa Ballena has only had a paved access since 2010 keeping it remote and rural. The Tico and International population that have made this area home have a deep love and respect for nature.  Most of the entertainment in the area is simple, outdoor activities, live music, great food, farmers markets, and yoga. There is little development in the way of shopping, movie theatres, or public institutions.

Uvita is a good place to live a holistic, healthy lifestyle, with abundant fresh, produce, unique tr...

If there is one thing most of us have in common it is the desire for a long and healthy life. We want to live life fully, right up until the end. But how can we ensure this last? Is it left up to luck, good genes, hearty DNA or is it lifestyle?

It turns out that scientists say that 25% of our life span is based on genetics and 75% is our individual lifestyle choices. Lifestyle breaks down to things we can control and take action on in our everyday life. Healthy habits, having deep friendships, and creating a clean environment are conscious choices that contribute to longevity. It so happens that as they searched the world for places where people lived the longest they found one of them in Costa Rica!

‘The Blue Zones’ by Dan Bueter is considered an anti-aging book, however it is more profound and truly can be used as a guideline for a long and healthy life. The book lists nine powerful cross cultural distillations of the best practices from the four international locations chosen for thei...

Costa Rica is full of delightful scents, blossoms on trees and flowers, leaves and grasses, barks and roots fragrance the air. As you drive down a road or take a walk in the jungle scent subtly plays a large part of the experience. Our olfactory system (nose and brain) works largely on the unconscious and plays a role in our sense of taste, digestion, memory, emotions and sex drive.

Heightening our awareness aromas have been used by man since ancient times both for pleasure and as medicine. Today we call it aromatherapy, highly concentrated volatile oils extracted from plants are know as Essential Oils. They has been used by health professionals in Europe since the 1930’s and in the past 30 years extensive clinical research has been done around the curing the causes of disease and to restore vitality to the body with these oils.

Many plants known for their scents grow in Costa Rica, some are wild, some primarily for food and spices, and some to enhance the landscape with color and scent....

Costa Rica is home to pristine jungles, oceans and skies. Learn more from Bienestar Yoga teacher Lura Shopteau on keeping them that way.

Learn how to stress less and become more centered while living in Costa Rica. Bienestar Yoga's Lura Shopteau provides key information on lowering your stress.