I recently traveled to Nosara, Costa Rica for a much-anticipated retreat to learn, play and be in the magical, high vibes of the country. Although I had traveled to Costa Rica a handful of times, Nosara has been on my bucket list for its famous yoga and surf vibes and I was excited to learn and be on retreat with Zach Bush! Missing out on his first “ever” retreat trying to recruit a friend meant I was quick to jump at this second offering with or without a travel companion! Luckily, I recruited a bestie, and we were finally on our way to a retreat called, “Beyond Biology” and beyond that well, we knew nothing except that we would be in good company!
The retreat was held at the enchanting Blue Spirit Retreat Center, which name is inspired by its location in one of the world’s blue zones. If you aren’t familiar, blue zones are known regions of the world where the average life spans beyond the age of 100 due to a lifestyle combining physical activity, low stress, rich social interactions, a local whole foods diet, and low disease incidence. Needless to say, we would be high vibing in this tropical paradise surrounded by like-minded individuals whom, like me, were ready and open to receive, play and take a time-out from the day-to-day. I couldn’t help but ponder whether this retreat would be reminiscent of my meditation retreat experience, or would these participants actually be willing and able to dive into the deeper layers? I also knew little of the content of what we would be doing. While there were a handful of pre-trip zoom calls to get to know other travelers, little detail was revealed about WHAT we would actually be doing. Sidenote here, you may assume at this point that this blog post serves as a “review of the retreat” and while you will get bits of pieces of my feeling on of the retreat, my goal is to share how the embodiment practices we did daily created a feeling of expansive freedom, not just in my body, but in my mind and spirit as well.
Upon Arrival
My girlfriend and I arrived a day early to Nosara to give our minds and body a moment to settle and explore before immersing ourselves in the group. The next day as we checked into the retreat, the lobby a buzz with travelers from across the globe. We would be taking over the entire resort and I talked excitedly to a participant in front of us whom had traveled all the way from Australia! In fact, that evening as I immersed myself in a sea of new faces, I was surprised at how many people had traveled so far! My friend and I were the only ones from Arizona, but shockingly it took a while until I even found another American! There were people from Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so many other countries it was truly a multi-cultural experience but with a shared passion for health and wellness and all things Zach Bush. As I sat in the opening ceremony, we finally got to meet the man of the hour and our time together was thought provoking and inspiring. Being a master storyteller, I was captivated by the blend of spirituality and science that were effortlessness weaved into an enchanting tale that hit at the core of what it means to be human, on this planet, and in the wake of evolution – both humanities and Pachamama’s. It was also the first time we got a whisper of what would fill our days, and to my pleasant surprise, this trip was all about the body! While I have a grown to love my meditation practice, it is movement which allows me deep connection to self.
Rise & Shine
Shine Sisters with Zach Bush at Blue Spirit Retreat Center.
One of the most pleasant practices of the trip was our morning dance and yoga with the Shine Sisters on the beach! While many of you may think this would be an obvious “favorite” for me, I find movement at a workshop or retreat to be a frustrating endeavor. Anyone who’s ever taught a modality like this knows, it’s almost impossible to create something that pleases such a large range of bodies and abilities. However, the infectious energy of the Shine Sisters, coupled with warm water and rhythmic waves, had my body pouring into the practice. I wanted to be open and had made a silent promise to myself to go all in and see what could be curated through the process. So, when morning movement started out as an aerobics class from 90s, I said ‘hell yeah‘ and followed along with the choreography. I knew I had a choice, I could half-ass it while getting all judgy and self-conscious or withdraw like others retreaters and head for the waves to “do my own thing” OR I could choose to be there and present for whatever arises in my body.
Dancing in Nosara soaking in the sand, waves and FREEDOM!
It didn’t take long on that first day for the sweat to begin to roll and a smile spread across my face. The music, the energy, the call outs from the Shine Sisters, were all uplifting and before you knew it, we were all (well at least those participating) having a blast. It didn’t matter if you on that foot and I’m on this one, you’re one step behind and I’m already too far ahead, what mattered was we were moving the energy! The dance turned into yoga, where the same approach applied! No one was worried about alignment or an advanced pose, we were simply waking ourselves up both literally and metaphorically! As the week continued these dates became one of the highlights of the trip for me as our choreographed aerobics turned into free form dance. I went from “proper yoga attire” to dancing full out in my swimsuit not caring and letting the sweat move down my face before popping in the ocean for a morning swim. While there is a lot of science around the healing effects of just being around water like this, for me, it was the sheer freedom that I recovered in simply not being as self-conscious as my “normal” self would be. You see my normal self would have 1) protested dancing less than an hour after waking up, feeling silly, forced and all too aware of how I must look and 2) NEVER have danced in my swimsuit fearing other people’s judgements and wondering what was shaking too much or outright just popping out! LOL, we’ve all been there, but what any good wedding dance floor has taught me, the sooner you get out there and push those thoughts to the back of your head, the sooner you’ll be having the time of your life BEING IN YOUR BODY instead of on the sidelines judging and BEING IN YOUR HEAD.
Let’s Breathe
Zach Bush & Gaia at Blue Spirit in Costa Rica.
Another powerful portion of the retreat was dedicated to breathwork! Led by a powerful practitioner named Gaia, her sessions were commanding and anything but rainbows and butterflies. Distinctively NOT spiritual (and for sure don’t ask her a spiritual question) Gaia led her session with decisive and strong leadership. Over the course of the week, you caught on quickly that when Gaia talks, we listen.Her tone was distinctly masculine in her strength with a no funny business kind of attitude, but also slightly sexual, as a tantric teacher as well. She informed from a biological and life force energy perspective, that assisted in the clarity in which she orchestrated the breath like a conductor on stage.For me, the most pivotal and powerful part came mid-week, when we had an afternoon Holotropic breath session. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of pushing through one of these sessions, you know how powerful they can be, not to mention rarely taught (please note, Gaia didn’t even announce the type of breathwork we were doing). In these types of sessions, and in large part breathwork in general, are more powerful done in community. While some practices like meditation, can easily be done at home or with the assistance of a recorded guide, breathwork is one of those modalities where the energy of the community and facilitator really helps to “push” you through when your body and mind say, I’m tired let’s rest. So as Gaia continued to rhythmically command our breath, something amazing began to arise in my body. The kundalini energy, or Shakti, began to rise and after a lengthy and powerful session, my chest began to arch right off the mat. I felt as if someone was literally pulling me up and off the mat through my heart chakra. While I’ve had a lot of spontaneous kundalini energy arise during meditation or other breathwork sessions, this one was particularly powerful and I found my body moving through “waves” of pulsation, shaking, arching and flopping to the ground when the energy would release. While still quite aware of being in the room, with closed eyes, I could hear that there were powerful activations happening in the room as well. One man began to powerful chant what sounded like mantra in another language, while I heard others make audible cries and just general commotion. But to Gaia, and all the facilitators assisting credit, not once did I feel unsafe or like there was too much going on for them to handle. Once planted back on earth and the session culminating, the internal experience continued for me for at least a couple hours. I was so “high” I could hardly talk when Zach came over to give me a sweet hug and see how I was doing. I stumbled to dinner both buzzing with aliveness and sweetly tucked into myself, not wanting the moment or feeling to leave. This session reminded me of the power we have inside to shift out internal space with nothing more than our breathe.
Ecstatic Dance
A sea of magical fruit awaiting our lips!
On our second to last day of the retreat we had a “field trip” to the local Waldorf school and farm to learn about regenerative farming. In small groups, we learned about their practices and got to taste exotic fruits “new” to us while being entertained at “the church of fruit”. While we dripped with perspiration in the sweltering heat and luscious fruit juice dripped from our fingers while sampling new and colorful things, we were definitely in our raw and unfiltered state. I worried for those with less stamina as the heat and humidity pounded our bodies and the lengthy field trip seemed to never end. While interesting and informative, the elements and sheer number of us, made each activity roll on longer than our attention spans. Luckily, as day turned to night and the sun set, we moved to a magical backdrop of leaf and flower lined tables, so beautifully and intentionally set, that the internal flame began to brighten again anticipating a beautiful dinner crafted from the farm. My aliveness for the event however, squandered a bit as I set into what can only be described as an extremely awkward conversation with the retreat goer next to me. While almost everyone I met on the retreat was interesting, knowledgeable, real and open I was eager to engage with another traveler I had yet to meet.
Dinner at the Waldorf School in Nosara, Costa Rica.
While our conversation is irrelevant to the topic of this story, it left me feeling extremely judged, uncomfortable and wondering what other false assumption others had about Americans in general. As the dinner drug on, I felt myself awkwardly sitting at table amongst the buzz but decidedly alone. While my girlfriend had wondered off to cool down at the beach, everyone else at the table seemed passionately consumed by their neighbor at the table, so I sat enjoying my food and wondering when we could move on to well anything other than this. As a side note here, this normally wouldn’t have bothered me much as I am quite introverted and don’t need to always be with someone. In fact, I make it a practice to stand distinctively by myself at social engagements when for some reason or another my husband or friends are off doing something else, just to challenge my own comfort level in my own skin. So, this was new for me. Why am I so uncomfortable? When I went to the bathroom, I noticed the other source of my discomfort, my stomach had now blown up to the size of a balloon! Did I eat something? Hmmm, no how could it be the food? I had eaten a super clean vegetarian diet every day on the trip and moved my body constantly and that’s when I remembered what my reiki practitioner had shared with me. Our bodies and our subconscious are readers of energy and my body was distinctly letting me know that someone around me was thinking negative thoughts. Everyone’s body is different and responsive to different levels of sensitivity, so this isn’t a blanked statement, but for me that bloat clarified what I already felt, the person next to me was thinking negative thoughts…and probably about me! I returned to find people lining up for cacao and grateful to have the invitation to do something else and move from my seat. My girlfriend having retuned from her walk joined me and we pleasantly regrouped. But back in our seats I could feel the tension rise again, only to look over and see a scowl from the retreat “organizer”. Apparently, we had grabbed our cacao out-of-order, and I again felt in the hot seat judged and ready for the night to be over!
My friend Kelly and I at that fateful dinner!
After drinking our heart opening chocolate, we moved to a fire ceremony that normally would have set by heart on fire, but instead I found myself standing at strict attention not wanting any more disapproving stares to come my way. What should have felt intentional and magical, felt heavy and serious, as the same retreat organizer dictated structure and rules. You could just feel the frustration oozing from his skin from a taxing day organizing it all and he attempted to command like Gaia but it ringed of inauthenticity. Just be you, I thought, but he had already moved into severe management mode. Finally, the time had come for dance, freedom, movement, I could hardly wait except my stomach felt so bloated and uncomfortable I wondered how am I going to get through this? That’s when I had another choice to make. I could a) take an early shuttle back to the center and call it a day b) I could half-heartedly move and try to be part of the group while remaining stuck in my mind and all that was looping or c) I could lay it all out on the dance floor and get this lump in my stomach out! So that’s what I did. I closed my eyes and overrode the thoughts in my head. I connected to the vibration of the music and let my body move, shake, jump whatever it wanted to do. I occasionally looked up only to find others as lost in their own movement as I was in mine, giving me further permission to let it all out. After a couple of songs, I felt the balloon that had become my stomach begin to dissipate, opening to a more expansive and free feeling in my body. Sweat begin to pour off of me and in that moment I decided to make it my goal to complete get my hair wet from the sheer energy and sweat now pulsating from my body.
Keeping my head down and focused at the fire circle!
The music continued and the more I danced the better I felt. In the past, if someone had invited me to “an ecstatic dance” practice or class I would shy away, mostly because it often feels forced. But here, it felt the opposite, it felt alive and freeing. Perhaps it was all that morning movement on the sand, the expansion from the breath or the high vibe community of travelers that now surrounded me, that made this so activating. Or perhaps it was the genius of the Universe putting me in a situation that forced me to learn how I can powerful change what I think and how I feel.Whatever it was I found myself there on the dance floor as raw, unfiltered and alive as I’ve ever felt. A thought even popped up; I think I can teach this! How’s that for surprising yourself! As the night drew to a close, I was suddenly disappointed that it was now time to return to the busses. Many retreaters had already returned including my friend, and I suddenly found myself walking back to our ride in the pitch-black night with none other than Zach by my side. After pleasantries, I turned to him to tell him how alive the dancing was for me and said, I have a new mantra. He said oh yeah what’s that? I said, every day I want to wake and ask myself “how can I be more free today?” He turned to me in chuckle and said something to the effect of the world would be a much different place if we all asked ourselves that.
Freedom
As we soak in the 4th of July holiday woven around the concept of freedom, what does that mean to you? Perhaps, it is in the literal sense as our forefathers intended or perhaps it signifies something more internal as I meant in my inquiry. Freedom not in an external sense, but an internal one. How can I be more authentically me? How can I push my boundaries of what feels “safe” or “comfortable”? How am I limiting myself because of outdated beliefs or stubborn attitudes? How can I open up space, in my body and mind, to shift what I was in order to become all I’m meant to be? What needs to go, what needs to say? This and so much more can be gleamed out of this simple but evocative question, how can I be more free today? No need for complication. Perhaps at first it just the question, then a soft action, and maybe later a big expansive jump. Either way, your moving, growing and evolving into something new and isn’t that what we came here to do?
Embodiment. That’s what I came here to do. To be a living , breathing vessel for divine inspiration, articulation and expression. To be the divine discovering itself. All those thoughts, that mental chatter, yes it can be constructive when needed but it can also be a roadblock getting in our way. Getting out of our heads and into our bodies is such good medicine, one can hardly believe its FREE and available in EACH AND EVERY MOMENT. So many of us don’t even realize that WE AREN’T IN OUR BODIES, because of trauma and disassociation or even over associating with our intellect. We go up and “out” because to be in is scary and uncomfortable but to be “in” is to unlock so much within ourselves. To be in our bodies allows us to root out the decay that we will no longer “allow” to fill us up. To make space to allow the divine in and through, using our bodies as a divine instrument, now able to hear our own unique vibration. A vibration ,absolutely necessary, to the entire symphony.
Kelly Klein and Kim Roach in Costa Rica, May 2025.