Our thoughts, prayers, and call for action goes out to Costa Rica. A hurricane hit and left many feeling devastated and in need. Community rallies around those impacted and you can help too! Check out https://amigosofcostarica.org/product/help-victims-hurricane-otto-costa-rica/ to support the rebuilding efforts.

Our True Nature friend and Costa Rican native Lindsay shares her first hand account: 

Otto hurricane hits Costa Rica.
This is a sad blog about our country.
We were told we should be ready to head the hurricane, but we never imagined the total definition, what it was meaning.
It rained so hard, it was cold, that was it. No more consequences in our village, but our people in the north of Costa Rica, close from the border of Nicaragua, they had another experience. It was devastating. They lost everything.
The government, the news, the people, they told us we had not permission to go, but many people like us decided not to obey and we went not just to see or to take pictures, we went to help.
We were collecting food  and cloth the night before and we also needed to bring tools: Brooms, shovels, pieces of wood and stirs to build something to clean the mud. The night before we saw people swimming on the roads… yes, the roads became rivers when a hill just felt on the main river in town, so a flood as nobody could have expected happened…
Yesterday the mud was in everywhere in that village, located just 2.5 hours away from home. We worked so hard
and we helped as much as possible. The people were so happy to get our cooperation, to receive our donations.
If you have a site to call home, warm blankets, a bed, electricity, pure water and some dry cloth, then you have not reasons to complain… It was the Black Friday in my country. Black and sad because they lost family members, all of their stuff, but I can proudly say they did not loose their hope.
Joshua always asks for a list of supplies he could recommend the volunteers to bring, we are collecting creams, diapers, medicine, soap, shampoo, towels…
We will classify cloth to bring there, beside painting a house in the village.
I am attaching some pictures of the real needs in the district of Upala. You will be safe and happy in our community, helping us to pack happiness and more stuff for us to bring there under your name, bringing hope and love to help them build a new life. A happy life.

We are constantly showing little signs of gratitude; from saying “thank you” at the store to nodding in appreciation when someone holds the door open for you, gratitude is a part of life. But recent science suggests that gratitude is more powerful than we ever realized. The science of gratitude has revealed countless ways in which gratitude is good for our physical and mental health. Read on to discover how gratitude is good for you.

Bask in the positivity

Unsurprisingly, gratitude is linked to positivity, optimism, and a general feeling of happiness. One study found that people who practice gratitude every day reported greater feelings of positivity and an overall brighter look on life. Gratitude has been shown to improve self-esteem as well. In other words, grateful people are happy people.

Dispel those lonely feelings

Gratitude doesn’t just increase happy feelings; it also decreases negative emotions. Robert A. Emmons, a leading researcher in the science of gratitude, reports that people with a regular gratitude practice have demonstrated lower levels of envy, resentment, frustration, and the like. They also have a greater ability to handle stress and fewer instances of depression or depression-like symptoms.

Make new friends and keep the old

In addition to benefiting your own mental health, the science of gratitude shows that gratitude makes you a better friend. Gratitude reduces aggression and increases empathy, both qualities that the people around you will appreciate. Showing gratitude to your friends and loved ones is another way in which gratitude can lead to healthier relationships.

Experience a healthier body

Gratitude doesn’t just make you smile, it makes your body healthier. Research has shown that those who practice gratitude regularly have higher immunity and healthier heart rates. But that’s not all. According to a study published in Applied Psychology, regularly recording what you are grateful for at night can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

The science of gratitude goes beyond “thank you”

When we talk about the science of gratitude, we are talking about more than just saying thank you when your waiter brings you your meal. For gratitude to have a lasting effect on your mental and physical health, it needs to be a regular and deliberate practice. Check out our tips for cultivating a regular gratitude practice to see how you can integrate gratitude into your life and enjoy all the benefits the science of gratitude has revealed.

There is a lot of talk about gratitude in the yoga community and it is no wonder why. Recent science suggests that practicing gratitude improves our physical and psychological health. This is all well and good, but how does one actually practice gratitude? Apart from saying what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving, I would like to provide some tips for how you can cultivate gratitude in your daily life.

Keep a daily gratitude journal

One way to practice gratitude every single day is to keep a gratitude journal. Pick out a beautiful journal to keep by your bedside table and every day, either before you go to bed or right when you wake up, pause to write one thing you are grateful for. It doesn’t matter if it is small, big, simple, or complex. Gratitude is gratitude regardless of the subject of your appreciation. This practice helps you remember what you are grateful for and encourages you to frequently consider other things you may not have realized you were grateful for after all. Plus, at the end of the year, it is a beautiful thing to read through a full gratitude journal.

Practice gratitude for the little things

There are so many small things worth of appreciation throughout your day. Practice gratitude for each and every one of these things. Consider pausing before you begin a meal to be grateful for the food and the work that went into getting that food on your plate. Or take a moment the next time you shower to feel gratitude for the warm, running water that you are fortunate enough to have in your home. If you have something to eat and somewhere to sleep every day, you are luckier than most. So practice gratitude in your daily life by recognizing and appreciating the small stuff.

Be grateful for the challenges

It’s easy to practice gratitude when you get a promotion or win a prize. It’s a lot harder when every day feels like an uphill battle. But cultivating gratitude in the face of—or even for—those things that challenge you is extremely beneficial. We grow and learn so much from the challenges we face and the struggles we endure. Next time you feel you are fighting a particularly difficult battle, pause for a moment to feel gratitude for everything that battle is teaching you.

Share your gratitude with others

I once saw a man on the street holding a sign that read, “Joy Shared is Joy Doubled.” Those words have stuck with me ever since. The same goes for gratitude. The more we share our gratitude the more others can join in and practice gratitude as well. Whether it is telling people why you are grateful for them or simply sharing what you are grateful for with others, let yourself be vocal and inclusive in your gratitude practice.

It is easy to practice gratitude when we sit at a table full of family and loved ones, preparing to feast on delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully with the above tips you can carry some of that gratitude beyond the holiday season and enjoy all the benefits of cultivating a deep gratitude practice in your life. In the meantime, check out our retreat calendar and sign up for one of our yoga and wellness retreats… they are give you even more to be grateful for.

Indulgent Italy

Venture into the Tuscan countryside to satisfy your zest for life. Our host location, Terzo di Danciano, is a charming 18th-century villa in Cortona nestled in the hills on the border between Tuscany and Umbria. Discover a land rich in history and heritage, art and beauty.

Meet Carrie

Carrie’s second chance at life came at 31 years old when a blood clot in her coronary artery resulted in a heart attack. As a healthy triathlete, Carrie was the last person anyone would suspect of having heart disease. She chose to pursue a second career in health and wellness, and created WholeHearted Health Ltd. to help people make health a habit. Carrie received her certifications as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 500) from Corepower Yoga in Colorado and the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. She is trained in vinyasa yoga, yin (restorative) yoga, self-awakening yoga (SAY), Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga and anatomy. Carrie focuses on making yoga fun and accessible, and works with all levels of students. Carrie studied at Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she was trained in more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods.

Carrie Lehtonen, RYT500, Holistic Health Practitioner

Testimonials for Carrie

Today is World Mental Health Day. In honor of this, I wanted to talk a bit about the yoga for mental health and how yoga can be particularly powerful for those experiencing mental illness. I was exposed to yoga thanks to a psychologist who saw the potential benefits yoga could have in my fight against anxiety and depression. I didn’t entirely buy it, but I was willing to try anything at this point. It didn’t take long for me to realized just how powerful yoga was at helping me conquer my mental health issues and soon I became a dedicated yogi and a subsequently less anxious person. But why is yoga for mental health so effective? What can yoga actually do for you and your mental wellbeing?

Yoga teaches the brain how to cope with stress and discomfort

Anxiety is a snowball effect. Maybe you say something you didn’t mean or make a small mistake on a work project. It’s not a big deal. But it’s a stress trigger. And those of us with anxiety don’t handle stress triggers well. Soon our brain turns these small stressors into a nasty monster that turns everything else we touch into a black mass of fear and self-deprecation.

When we practice yoga, we are put into mildly stressful situations (who hasn’t felt their whole body tense in tree pose?) But instead of getting scared and walking away, we practice breathing deeply even in the face of this minor stressor. According to Psychology Today, yoga helps us train our brains to remain calm even in the face of stress. This practice is then something we can take off the mat and practice in our daily lives to help us become less anxious.

Yoga lifts our mood… and our GABA levels

Have you ever noticed a mood bump after yoga? Ever wondered why? It’s not just endorphins. Studies show that people who practice yoga have 27% higher GABA levels than those who don’t. Okay, but what the heck are GABA levels? We all have them and they help us regulate our moods. People who suffer from anxiety, depression, or other mood disorders tend to have lower GABA levels.

If you have experienced anxiety or depression you know it can come seemingly out of the blue and take hold of you with a grip that feels impossible to break. A lot of this has to do with brain chemistry, and part of that includes GABA levels. One study showed that yoga had a greater influence on GABA levels than walking, and higher GABA levels mean better moods and less anxiety.

Yoga for mental health is here to stay

It’s becoming more and more common for doctors and psychologists to suggest yoga to their patients, and it’s no wonder why. On a purely biological and chemical level, our bodies and brains love yoga. But if you ask me, yoga for mental health is about more than increased GABA levels and retraining our stress response.

Yoga has given me a safe space where my emotions are not something to be feared, but something to explore and experience with compassion and openness. On my yoga mat is one of the first places where I was told it was okay to feel afraid, weak, and overwhelmed. It was okay to feel anything. My yoga teachers taught me how to take a deep breath even when I hardly felt I could breathe and all. My yoga practice gave me the spiritual practice I needed to believe in myself and my yoga community gave me the support I needed to get through my bad days. The truth is, yoga for mental health is just yoga. And yoga has done more for me and my brain then I ever believed it could when my therapist first suggested I try yoga for mental health.

Looking for a safe space to de-stress and build a strong yoga practice? Check out True Nature’s retreat calendar to find the perfect relaxing yoga vacation for you.

One of the core principles of True Nature Education is service. We believe it is as important to give back to the community as it is to care for and nurture our selves. That’s why we are honored to introduce our sister organization, Dharma Fund, and one of the lovely members using Dharma Fund’s platform to fund their dreams. Read on to learn more about what Dharma Fund is and how we are helping Kirtan artist Lana Sugarman create her second kirtan album.

What is Dharma Fund

Dharma Fund is a crowdfunding platform to help anyone and everyone bring their passion projects to life. What is your Dharma? At Dharma Fund we provide people with the opportunity to dream, believe, and create a project to help support their path in life. People create campaigns on Dharma Fund to get their ideas out there and get funding for their dreams. Check out some of our current campaigns to get a better feel for what we do.

A Note from kirtan artist Lana

One of our current campaigns features kirtan artist Lana Sugarman who is seeking funding for her second kirtan album. Here’s her story:

Inspiration and Purpose: My Journey into Mantra

I discovered the practice of kirtan in Toronto, in 2004. I was 20 years old and studying musical theatre at Sheridan College, just outside of the city. Yoga practice, (mainly asana), had been something I found in high school.

Somehow I found myself at a holiday celebration for the studio Downward Dog. Part of the evening involved a kirtan with the Canadian band, Swaha. The connection of music and spirit was incredibly powerful for me, and that spring I began to study Sanskrit with the singer of Swaha, Marla Meenakshi Joy.

For the next 2 years I would come into Toronto on the weekends to practice yoga at Jivamukti Yoga Toronto, and then pop in at Downward Dog to hear Swaha and the many traveling kirtan artists that passed through town.

Kirtan was a secret sanctuary for me-I could sing my heart out, and cry, or be silent. At times it did feel a bit odd being in my 20’s and choosing to chant on a Saturday night instead of hitting the clubs (most of the time). 

The Jivamukti lineage also had a huge impact on my life. When I completed my 3 year theatre program at Sheridan in 2006, I moved downtown Toronto and became a regular at the studio. Each class begins with a chant, dharma talk, and the teacher playing harmonium.

In 2008 I took my first big backpacking trip to Costa Rica. While I was there I spent some time at the True Nature Centre for a women’s retreat. I was delighted to find out they had a harmonium, and I wrote my first 2 chant melodies there. He Ma Durga and Om Namah Shivaya are on my first album, Invocation.

It was years later I realized Luna and Joshua are still on the bhakti path- and now have this wonderful website!

The following year I completed my 300 Hour Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training. With the encouragement of my teachers, I led my first kirtan that winter. (Just me, a harmonium, and 5 participants- mostly friends)

I began to lead kirtan at the studios I taught yoga at, and as time went on, people asked if they could find my music somewhere. This inspired my first album, Invocation which was released in 2013.

SInce then, I have continued to share this practice in communities throughout Canada and the US. It has been a sweet, slow burn, with much synchronicity along the way, and it touches me deeply.
It felt time to create another offering with the chants I have been sharing live the past 3 years.

I definitely feel that sharing my approach to kirtan is my Dharma- to be singing, teaching, and offering a safe space for people to process, release, and find sweetness in silence. It lights me up. I want this album to be something you put on when you feel a bit lost, but also when you want to celebrate. An accessible immersion into the sacred.

Kirtan artist Lana Sugarman is currently working on her second kirtan album and she needs your help to make it a reality. Check out her campaign on Dharma Fund to lend your support!

Have you noticed? The leaves are turning brown, the air is getting crisp, and everything is suddenly pumpkin-flavored. You know what that means, right? Fall is here. But fall is more about flavored lattes and cozy sweaters. Fall is about letting go of the “I can do everything” attitude of summer and settling into a quieter, more reflective state. This change of season can come as a shock and a lot of us, maybe without even realizing it, are resisting this change. So take a moment to ask yourself… are you resisting change? If so, read on to learn how you can use yoga to open to change this season.

Connect to your body and ask yourself what you need

The more you practice yoga the more in touch you become with your body, mind, soul, and the connection between the three. Whether you practice yoga every day or once a week, a regular yoga practice will help you learn to identify and listen to the voice of your body.

Slow your breath to slow your mind and calm your soul

Many yoga traditions would argue that when it comes down to it, a lot of yoga is simply learning to breathe. When we slow our breath down, we activate what is called the parasympathetic nervous system. This  means that breathing slow triggers a response in your brain that tells your body to relax and start the healing process.

Open your heart and open to change

Maybe the only change your experiencing is the change of seasons. Most likely, there are a few other opportunities for change in your life. Whether it is a small change like painting a wall in your house or a big change like quitting your job, change can be scary and it can be incredibly hard for us to open to change.

One physical aspect of yoga that can help is working on heart openers. Backbends and chest openers can help you expand the space around your heart and trigger an internal reaction that will then make it easier to embrace and open to change in your life.

Set your intention and stick to it

One common yoga practice is intention setting. So as the season changes, set an intention for fall. Set an intention to open to change and then work fearlessly to embrace this intention. The process of change may be scary and hard, but once you open to change the result is a freer you.