July 4

Arrived to Nosara thru a torrential rain and bumpy (old school bus) ride with young Costa Rican girls asking me all sorts of questions in Spanish, that I could barely decipher with the sound and quick pace.
Found the check in and started to meet the other participants beginning to arrive, nervously and disheveled by the heat and route to get here.
Dropped a couple off at their place which was sort of posh and beautiful.  Then we got to my very modest casita.  I'm sharing with a girl from England named Bailey.  She's 26, married, somewhat shy, very talkative and very sweet. The house was so quiet compared to the open air hostel, and it almost feels strange not to hear the howlers.  I had a restless sleep and woke at 6 am, for the 8 am class.  The a muddy path to the Institute is so lush and a bit slippery in flip-flops.  

Yes, that was Sunday.  This is Thursday-July 4th.  Freedom abounds here!  And I'm so exhausted, energized, challenged, and happy simultaneously, if you can believe that's possible.  Lots of emotions coming up to breathe thru.  Many hours of asana, ocean time, jungle walks, spirituality exploration, chanting, sweating, breathing, meditating.  So incredibly alive and raw.  I feel wide awake and present, which is an amazing feeling.  Today we practiced teaching Chair (Uttkanasana) and Half Moon (Arda Chandrasana).  We are paired off and take turns being student and teacher, learning the assists along the way in the afternoon.  Our personal practice begins at 6 am and is either a vigorous 2 hour vinyasa flow or a Therapeutics Series, both developed by Don and Amba.  They trained, worked, and directed at Kripalu, but developed Nosara yoga as their own.  Brilliant teachers and people.  Very real, bringing in humor and even cursing occasionally.  They are 59 and 67 years old I believe and are so inspiring about how to live wholly and actively.  And how to love fully and at the same, to let go.  They said that they've decided they will live to 100 and 108 so that they can pass on together.  Very touching moment when they shared that. 

And then there are thirty-seven of us ages ranging from 18-80 (a woman from Cambridge, England who was a mathematics professor and whose daughter is a yoga teacher!) I'm humbled, inspired, and overwhelmed with how much capacity and love I feel for the surroundings, for all of you, for myself.  
The blog has gone by the wayside as a result.  But I am holding you all in my heart as I journey forward.  Hard to believe I feel this much on just Day 5 of this training.  22 days to go, where might it take me?!  Atha Yoga Nushasanam (Now the Inquiry of Yoga begins).

So hum  (I am that)  Hum Sa (You are that).

Namaste,
Su Risa