Last week on yoga retreat with Missy Balsam Yoga, we had an amazing group come together at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge. For our service “karma” yoga project, we reached out to a local tico family — a mother and daughter — to give their house new life with a fresh coat of paint.
Having endured hard times of late, the mother and daughter had been robbed the week before. What’s more is that their grandmother was also in the hospital.
Here is a letter written to us by our TNE Village Representative, Lindsay Padilla, that she sent after the end of a very rewarding day:
It was a great experience! Missy and every one of the group are amazing. We had fun!
The house looks beautiful now. It was very deep to see Ligia’s family SO happy and thankful.
Daisy made three beautiful dolls (handmade) for Missy and two more ladies. They just had mango and they shared it! We painted both outside and the inside of the house, and it looks so good!
We noticed there was a really big hole in Ligia’s bedroom wall. It was there because their home had been robbed by a group of people. They had no money for buying the piece of plywood and a lady gave them $20. Osvaldo came back some minutes after that in order to say thanks and to show her the hardware store ticket. It was very nice. Daisy and her mom had a white blanket, and they wanted to have the participant’s hands printed on this, as a good memory.
Daisy told me her mom was so happy to decorate her small (really small) living room with that piece of cloth. That made me cry!
After a beautiful SUNNY morning (yes!!!) we came back home and the group enjoyed the company and hospitality of the mother’s home. Especially the kitchen and, of course, her food.
We had a cooking class, we practiced how to prepare coffee (real Costa Rican style). After that, I invited them to come and see my house and garden.I shared some words and I got too many hugs. Enough to last for a life time, I guess 🙂
June is upon us, and that means that we’re just days from the launch of our next yoga retreat journey, 
A bit off the beaten path, this peaceful yoga retreat will be nested in Luna Nueva’s jungle paradise. meditative walks on the property’s lush rainforest trails. Daily yoga sessions will be inspired by Missy’s teaching style of empowerment, inspiration, and joy, encouraging students of all levels to keep growing and evolving, discovering the happiness that is already inside of all of us.
During the 7 days of Retreat, we rode the waves in the ocean, diving into high and low tides, and felt the healing ocean waters caress our feet during sunset. Each day, attending to the grace and epic beauty of the setting Sun reminded me of the blessing of life, another day of loving as the sun melted into the ocean and the day turned to night. The week began with the new moon, a symbol of new beginning, a time for setting intention. Throughout the week Moon grew from new to a sweet sliver and into a radiant half moon that became illuminated by the setting sun. As Moon grew more and more illuminated, so did we, and our intentions ripened as our community and experience deepened.