Yogis of Costa Rica - Pura Vida
By Savitha Nanjangud
"It felt like Mother Nature was telling me 'You came to Costa Rica to receive my blessing but you also left a seed.' We don't have to move to Costa Rica to experience Pura Vida. Pura Vida is a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of being. A commitment to authenticity, connection, simplicity, and contentment. It's truly the beginning of a yogic way of life. I immediately felt healed and uplifted. "
We recently visited a Vegan eco-resort in Costa Rica called Waterfall Villas or Cascadas Farallas in Dominical, Costa Rica. They have everything a yoga practitioner wants — yoga, Ayurvedic vegan food, exciting adventurous activities and a genuine waterfall on their property along with a commitment to environmental preservation! Sounded like the perfect combination for our active kids, yoga mom, and stressed hi-tech dad.
After we settled down that night, we had a bright day waiting for us. We went out after breakfast. There was a small cool stream flowing into the lagoon where another group of happy little kids enjoying pristine nature under the casual supervision of their mom. It made our hearts feel light and buoyant to see them. This must be what the local Ticos (as Costa Ricans call themselves) called Pura Vida, the Pure Life. It’s difficult to translate Pura Vida into an English equivalent and even more difficult to explain the meaning. It’s the most popular expression in Costa Rica that sums up the whole philosophy of their life with meaning ranging from ‘full of life’, ‘this is real living’, ‘awesome living’, to even ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. This simple phrase is used multiple times a day by everyone in the country and is quickly adopted by the tourists also. It’s a catch-all phrase with an unclear origin but has been the unofficial motto of the country for the past 50+ years. It denotes the laid-back, accepting, stress-free and contentedly happy life that the typical Costa Rican strives to live.
Later that morning, we headed out to experience the rainforest canopy by zip-lining over it. It began with us getting fitted for our gear and then being led on a hike through the forest and up into higher elevations. The guides explained the various species of trees and animals that inhabit the rainforest. He showed us, through a telescope, a sloth resting on the branch of a tree. Easily spotted by a trained guide but almost invisible to city slickers like us. One of the guides, Christian, explained how the forest had originally been cleared for farms and cattle pastures. In the 1980s the government had decided to reverse the trend of deforestation by allowing the forests to regrow. In less than 30 years the forest had completely reclaimed all its former land. And Christian sounded quite proud of his country for this remarkable achievement.
On Tuesday morning I took my yoga mat and walked down the garden path to the platform located near the lower level of the waterfalls to practice. The morning air was cool and moist thanks to the waterfalls nearby and the sun played hide and seek between the trees. I laid out my mat to face the sun and set it parallel to the flow of water so I could feel the energy flowing through me as I practiced. It felt a little strange at first since I was unaccustomed to practicing in the open air. And it was new unfamiliar surroundings. But the absolute solitude and beauty of the place overcame my anxiety and soon I became immersed in the practice. The sound of my breath mingled with the sounds of the flowing water, the birds, and the rustling leaves all becoming one. With great inspiration, I moved through breath-body practices, Suryanamaskars, twists, back bends, and inversions. Shavasana was deeply relaxing.
Later at breakfast, we talked about the beauty of the forest, the meaning of Pura Vida, and how different life in Costa Rica was from our lives back in the US. Didn’t we make life more complicated than it needed to be? But how do we stop destroying the planet and come closer to nature as the Costa Ricans have done? We also talked about how simple and lovely life was back in the 60s and 70s. But then looking for material comforts and success without realizing there was a price to pay. Was it worth it we wondered? What do we actually need to keep us healthy, happy, and connected to each other and to Mother Nature? Not much, it turns out. I sensed our collective angst and regret that we took so much from the earth that we didn't need.
I do not for one moment mean to imply here that Costa Ricans have poor personal hygiene or lack a sense of cleanliness. On the contrary, one of the first things we observed in Costa Rica was how clean the whole country was. Both the city and the countryside. There was no trash lying around, nobody defecating in the streets, decent toilets at each restaurant or gas station. Even the unpaved muddy roads were free of litter. And yet there was a balance. A charming easygoing attitude towards life. They lived Pura Vida. Neither the zip-lining guides nor the kayaking guides skimped on safety measures and precautions though. The equipment was in good condition, well maintained and safety was always a priority while harnessing us to the zip line and yet we never felt like we were heavily regulated or constrained by it. The guides were curious about us and asked questions but never for a moment did we feel like they wished to be somewhere else nor that they were grubbing for tips. None of the knickknack vendors in the little towns or at the beaches were aggressively pushing their wares. They all seemed to know that they had a beautiful country and were happy to share it with us. They were Pura Vida. We asked our guide Daniel why the government wouldn't renovate the building and develop the beachfront. He actually preferred that they didn't do any development and left it natural and pure. We were amazed that this young man was so in tune with nature and so content with his life that he could see through the shallowness of what we (city folk) immediately assumed to be desirable signs of 'progress'. He believed in Pura Vida.
Costa Rica has a population of only 5 million and about a third live in the capital city of San Jose. We saw a lot of rural areas on the drive from San Jose to Dominical but never saw signs of poverty or 'daridrata'. It is a fairly equitable democratic society with 97% having access to electricity and clean water and free primary education for all children. According to an orthodontist I met on the plane ride back home, they have a good primary health care system that is accessible even to remote rural areas. There is a rather bitter origin to Costa Rica's social success. The occupying Spanish managed to wipe out the entire indigenous population with the country ending up with a uniform population of Spanish descendants. This has helped promote socialist policies since there is no 'us vs them' mindset. Thanks also to some of the financial aid from the US that created a safety net for the country, the people collectively decided to slow industrial growth, regrow and restore their rainforests, reduce their carbon footprint, and develop sustainability practices like running on almost 100% renewable energy. Costa Rica has been voted one of the 'greenest' and 'happiest' countries in the world and hopes to be the first carbon-neutral country in the world by 2021! Talking to the locals and observing their attitudes and lifestyles it's easy to believe that they will succeed. After all, a country is simply the collective culture, will, and desires of its population. There is so much that the rest of the world can learn from Costa Rica. Costa Rica has clearly shown the world that there is no need to use poverty alleviation, progress, or economic growth as excuses to trash the planet.
The next morning I went back to the deck near the falls for my practice. I expected to have the same uplifting experience as the previous day if not better. As my practice progressed however I began to feel very emotional and started to cry. But I didn't know why. Was it the beauty of nature all around me? Did I mourn the passing of my nephew? Did I mourn the unsustainable, carbon-heavy lifestyles we lived? Or the plastic smiles and fake courtesies of our culture? Or did I mourn the future my children faced in a world that measured success in the most meaningless ways? None of the answers came to me, only tears. So I stopped asking the questions and just allowed the emotions to pass through me. I allowed Mother Nature to work whatever healing magic she may have in store for me.
All shops and restaurants close by 9 ,pm in Dominical. The beach vendors start packing up their stuff soon after sunset since there are no lights on the beach, all in keeping with the Pura Vida lifestyle. Our guide here, Daniel was curious about us and asked what we did in the US and what the kids studied. At dinner that night he heard us talking Kannada and was curious about the language. He was impressed that we spoke 3 Indian languages and the kids could understand two of them. I told him about my parents living in a Yoga University (SVYASA Bengaluru) back in India where people could go as a retreat to learn, practice and heal. He asked if my daughter had done the retreat and was impressed that she had. We gave him more information about the VYASA teacher’s training program, about the daily regimen there and he was very interested. He had practiced some yoga but did not have a teacher's certificate and he also had never been to India and wanted to go backpacking through the country. He was very interested in VYASA and wanted to go there and experience it in October when the resort was shut down due to the rains. Coincidentally, we told him, that October was the best month to travel in India.
This is very interesting... I thought. Here I was lamenting the fact that I had gone so far away from nature, so caught up in a fake plastic world and taking so much and offering so little while someone like Franco who lived in this paradise on earth and who truly lived Pura Vida, was also still seeking something. And that something was Yoga! It felt like Mother Nature was telling me 'You came to Costa Rica to receive my blessing but you also left a seed.' We don't have to move to Costa Rica to experience Pura Vida. Pura Vida is a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of being. A commitment to authenticity, connection, simplicity, and contentment. It's truly the beginning of a yogic way of life. I immediately felt healed and uplifted.
On our last day there I decided to take it easy and relax at the resort while the rest of the family went to Manuel San Antonio park to see wildlife and enjoy the beach one last time. I felt like I had got what I had come to Costa Rica for and didn't feel the need to do any more sight seeing. So I spent the morning near the waterfalls reading Psychology of Yoga and listening to the chanting of the Taittiriya Upanishad. I was indeed Pura Vida that day. Thank you Costa Rica. Pura Vida to you too until I see you again!