Yogini*

*A yogini is a female practitioner of yoga; yogi is gender neutral. I thought it was a funny name.

One of my goals in Costa Rica, and for this year off in general, is to get into better shape. Part of this is so I can enter my 30's next September happy with my body and my health, the other part is that I will actually have time to focus on exercise as a primary activity of the day instead of it being something I try to pencil in on days that I'm not x (traveling for work, working long hours, needing to sleep in to recover from work - you get the idea).

To this end, I brought my running shoes, hiking shoes and some stretchy exercise bands to Costa Rica with me. I have hardly used any of them for their original purpose due to the heat and humidity (not conducive to running), and the lack of hiking opportunities during portions of my trip. I have used the hiking shoes to wade through rivers, and I have used the running shoes for a few runs in Manuel Antonio. But primarily, I have been doing yoga about 3 times per week for the past 3 weeks.

I have tried yoga on and off throughout the last year, and at my yoga peak I went about 3 times per month. This is not often enough to get good at anything, much less yoga! In Costa Rica, there seems to be yoga centers or available yoga teachers in every sizable town, so in Nosara and Tamarindo, access to good facilities, excellent teachers, and regular classes has been easy.

After just a few weeks, I am really enjoying yoga as a form of exercise. It's nice for a change to not be pounding my feet on the pavement mile after mile or doing an intensive gym class workout. This is not to say that yoga is easy. I have never had to concentrate more on...practically anything. The 90 minute sessions fly by, and at each class I am already finding myself getting stronger and more flexible.

What I enjoy about practicing yoga is the mental aspect - the determination and will power, as well as the mind over body mentality. Every posture and movement is an act of intention, that being just one example of a physical lesson that can carry forward into the out-of-class world.

I also love that I am increasing strength without weights, and increasing flexibility without dull stretches. It's an engaging way to push your body to limits with positive results. I look forward to continuing to practice yoga, and my main challenge over the next several months will be finding yoga centres wherever I am travelling.

I understand that for some people yoga can be practised alone, but I am not good enough at the asanas (postures) nor do I have the self-discipline to get the benefits of practising it out of my living room. I completely buy into the need for a teacher who can guide the session, make personal corrections for each student, and vary the classes each day/week, etc.

I have a lot more to learn, but I am looking forward to the process and the physical and mental results!