A kind heart & practicing self-love

Have you ever verbalized or received the sentiment "I love you with all my heart"? Consider for a moment why the phrase wasn't "I love you with all my mind!" This month I challenge us to discriminate between thoughts and emotions. Carefully assess your true inner desires at the core of your heart as distinct from the "mind candy", whether sweet or bitter, generated from coating the heart's desires with ego-generated thoughts (i.e., illusions of the mind).

Continue the practice of awareness and acceptance from January... with greater focus on directing "I love you with all my heart" consciously and lovingly toward yourself! During hard times, beware of the tendency to self-judge or endorse illusions. Be gentle with yourself as you guide awareness into the heart with deep, rhythmic breaths. Let loving kindness prevail. In all times, savor the gifts of the moment -- reinterpret seeming negatives as lessons and relish in positive aspects of yourself.

Loving and caring for/about others foremost requires practicing self-love. Find time to slow down and harness inner kindness directly from your own loving heart. Consider adding ylang ylang essential oil to your repertoire. It will enhance your connection to the heart-centered love principles requisite for personal growth and development. Please share your personal experiences with this month's practice to further develop a community of loving beings attaining fulfillment and enlightenment!

Welcome Home: The Year of the Heart - Two Thousand and Eleven

Having been away for the long Christmas weekend this year -- spending time with family, reminiscing, and celebrating life -- it dawned on me on my return ... “There’s no place like home!” Sure, home has affiliated stresses, both positive and negative, but it’s central to my daily life -- it’s where the natural buzz / rhythms / energy vibrations originate. In other words, “Home is where the heart is”. In our own ontology, our hearts are the very first rhythm generators, providing the pulse for life throughout our known existence. I challenge us all to return ‘home’ daily to our heart spaces, the very center of our physical, emotional, and spiritual Selves.

Times might seem tumultuous. The days, months, and years may seemingly slip away from us with an astonishingly fast evolutionary 'zing'... leaving us somewhat bamboozled. Yet, we find the inner strength to carry on... to continually face our challenges. Remember, we own every moment as the only one we truly know and thus must honor each moment as perfect. Therefore, we owe it to ourselves to drop into our heart centers, find meaning, and live from this place of Truth, Interconnectedness, and Compassion. I offer the following guidance for the month of January 2011 ... During the first half of the month, allow your focus to be entirely self-directed and shift during the second half to a relationship-focused approach engendering the manifest self-evident truths from the previous 15 days.

For the entire month, meditate on acceptance of self (1st half) and others (2nd half)... take a deep look into the Spiritual mirror reflecting at your heart and ask, “Who am I?” Get radical -- go beyond the surface labels (e.g., husband, caregiver, yogi) to the emotional core of who you are in this world! Listen to the responses without applying judgment, filtering, or sugar-coating. Don’t shy away from anything that surfaces -- it's there for a reason, and you don't need to understand the 'why'... just come to accept the 'what'. Assess if these responses represent the True you. Work through this Source to begin living in Truth, shedding the layers of societal role expectations... and let the True you take full center stage.

Further cultivate a sense of acceptance with the assistance of Young Living Essential Oils: Acceptance, Envision, Into the Future, and Present Time. Make it a gradual process of True-Self re-discovery -- this will require real work on your part! Remember, it's not about "making it through" using brute force, but instead assuming a relaxed, yet radically accepting intra-psychic approach. Stay tuned for February... the month of compassion and love! In the meantime, welcome home to a life filled with purpose... directed by the rhythms of your heart. Dance to celebrate 2011 to the tune “Let’s get Spiritual.”

May the Blessings Be Forever Yours,

Dax

The long overdue Costa Rica in review...

Arrived San Jose, headed directly to Escazu-- amazed at the Americanization of the land, eateries, etc. Definitely lots of character in Escazu... spent lots of time wandering the streets, got to see the Farmer's Market, etc. It's the City of Witches :) but fear NOT! First weekend, made an impromptu trip almost to the top of Irazu-- great first volcano experience. Visited La Negrita at Basilica.

Second weekend off to a fuller volcano experience-- Arenal! Truly amazing first trip. Hotel (Arenal Paraiso) had pros and cons-- I think because it was the last available room, might not have been the best and we arrived a bit late after a long journey through the winding roads from San Jose, by bus! Pleasant experience, nonetheless. Definite positives included having hot springs right on property, great swim up bar, restaurant delicious! Had first zipline experience, which is touted as the best... was pretty spectacular! Went to the top of the volcano by horseback, amazing views despite cloud cover.

Third weekend off to Manuel Antonio, a short flight from San Jose. Stayed on the amazing property of Tulemar in a great house (Panorama)-- spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean... had the opportunity to meet the owner and tour the full house, truly spectacular! Spent a fair amount of time on the beach or at the Tulemar infinity pool, which has super views of the ocean! Lots of animal wildlife on the property including howler monkeys, sloths, and much more... even large iguanas right on the beach! Tulemar has kayaking and more available to guests at the beach... and delivers food to the beach-side bar. Was blessed to take a tour of the Manuel Antonio Park with a local tour guide, who amazingly could spot the smallest finches from a long range! Lots of great eats around the area, and great shopping downtown by the park!

Fourth weekend, must admit NOT my favorite... but definitely an experience. After being at the pristine Tulemar property the weekend prior with beautiful Pacific weather, the Caribbean lodge without air conditioning and lots of rain and unswimmable beach didn't impress me. Nonetheless, the drive through Cloud Forrest to get there followed by the boat ride through the marshes... showcases spectacular wildlife... NOT for the faint of heart! Spent time at the pool when the sun was out, and met some incredible people from across the world. Greatest place to get up close and personal with the green treefrog and the poisonous red frog. Property provides a tour of the greenhouses to view butterflies, etc.

Fifth weekend, by far my favorite city... Montezuma, beautiful plane ride across to the peninsula. Didn't find amazing beaches, but was content visiting the city square for great food, shopping, nice local bar/music atmosphere-- great pedestrian city! Stayed at the fun Amor de Mar Hotel... great breakfast, very wholesome! Zipline not the most adventurous, but offers a short break to check out the upper waterfall. Took a beautiful horseride along the beach to the main waterfall that dumps directly into the ocean-- despite the fall being "broken" from a recent earthquake, it's a great trip... many people walked, but it's a LONG ways, be warned... even by horseback it seemed quite a ways, especially during gallops (LOL). My favorite experience admittedly was walking up the inland waterfall... slippery, but well worth it. Wish had time to go back, would pack a picnic and enjoy the great atmosphere where locals and tourists mingle, making attempts to swim across the strong current to the waterfall! Great uphill walks away from town, built some leg muscles just in a weekend... on 2 trips up quite a distance to see a friend's home... well worth the hike to see the ocean from high above and had monkeys visit along the hike!

Final week back in Escazu, then 2 final nights at the Adventure Inn. Went on a day trip to the Poas volcano and La Paz waterfalls. Truly spectacular trip-- first stop, Doka Coffee Plantation (great breakfast, coffee sampling, etc... be sure to buy coffee and a stand-alone coffee maker in the gift shop). Next stop, Poas... gentle hike to the upper level, great views before cloud cover. Third stop, the waterfalls... on a beautiful expanse of property, where we also had lunch (YUM!). Definitely suggest this day trip on arrival or just prior to departure-- peaceful and relaxing with breathtaking views and the freshest air you may even breathe!

I taught yoga each week Tuesday through Thursday, but certainly made use of my time on the weekends (Friday through Monday) to see the rest of the country. Tuesday-Thursday during my down time, I mostly stayed in Escazu, got lots of walking in... but on several occasions I ventured to Downtown San Jose-- first time was to the Zoo (not really worth your time) and to have lunch at a Soda (can't recall the name... but it was great! Be sure you get a recommendation, don't just walk into a random one, especially in or near Central Market); second trip was to peruse the shops on Central Avenue; third trip was again to Central Avenue, with a full view of the Market... if you're scared of smells and meat, don't venture there!).

Enter Marina Villatoro, center stage... without her assistance, suggestions, and great finds, I undoubtedly would not have had as much fun on the weekends. I thought I'd arrive in Costa Rica, decide what I wanted to do, and just use my internet savvy to go about making my own plans/ arrangements... not so simple! Marina made everything a breeze, even with countless changes of the "plan" on my part and "snafus" with PayPal, etc. She kept her cool and worked with us to make every trip a success. Not to mention she simplified our lives by making all the hotel and tour arrangements... all we had to do was pay the invoice once she worked it out, based on our email and phone correspondence of where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do/ see, etc. I'm still amazed at the super quick turnaround/ prompt service she provided, sometimes even at the last minute to make everything a "go"! She's truly the super woman of travel planning! Thanks, Marina... for making my trip amazingly enjoyable and truly memorable!

Final days spent in Cariari at Adventure Inn, another super great find of Marina's. Final tour was a super day trip from San Jose to Doka Coffee Plantation, Poas Volcano, & La Paz Waterfall Garden. The tour was super... I didn't think it would be at first when I saw the bus and met the guide-- she (Carla) doesn't seem to be much of an early morning person and the bus looked like it would struggle to get up the mountain... which it did [at least from an auditory perspective, LOL]. Unfortunately we were amidst a large group of Europeans from a school... they knew each other and stuck together. Nonetheless, as the tour progressed, it didn't matter because the sites were amazing! The Doka plantation is a superb place... and I fell in love with their chocolate-covered coffee beans even more than Britt. Poas was clear for the first 15 minutes we got there, luckily... but it soon got covered, so we were very lucky to see it. We went up to see the Lagoon, which was also amazing! La Paz is a not-to-be-missed site, truly... very glad I decided to go along with the tour and not try the route Leah did because it's a bit rushed to get it all in when you have to catch a bus no later than 2:30pm back to San Jose.

La Negrita Protects?

First Sunday I went by car to Cartago to The Basilica to greet La Negrita (The Black Madonna)... some say it's a MUST for your own protection (apparently a study was done of famous people who failed to greet Her and bad things happened to them soon after their trip). You can buy small plastic bottle replicas to fill with the "holy water". The church itself isn't spectacular, but while you're there stop in to have a look. Afterwards, we drove to within 10km of the top of the Irazu volcano... I believe it was the first time I'd driven threw clouds, fun experience! Great views on the way back.

Home base: Escazu, a neat place...

If you're looking to get away from the hussle of San Jose-- Escazu's not that far... 20 minutes by taxi, by bus add another 15 minutes, but worth the trip... with the exchange rate of 580 colones:1 US dollar, roundtrip the bus fare is less than $1. Some say it's scary, but it really isn't... just don't carry wads of money or ooze "I'm rich!".

I taught yoga each week Tuesday through Thursday, but certainly made use of my time on the weekends (Friday through Monday) to see the rest of the country. Tuesday-Thursday during my down time, I mostly stayed in Escazu, got lots of walking in... but on several occasions I ventured to Downtown San Jose-- first time was to the Zoo (not really worth your time) and to have lunch at a Soda (can't recall the name... but it was great! Be sure you get a recommendation, don't just walk into a random one, especially in or near Central Market); second trip was to peruse the shops on Central Avenue; third trip was again to Central Avenue, with a full view of the Market... if you're scared of smells and meat, don't venture there!).

Great eats, breathtaking views from Escazu Central, and rich history!

Fly American...

Fort Lauderdale nonstop to San Jose, Costa Rica. Initial plan was 5 weeks exactly, Saturday to Saturday. No charge YET to check up to 2 bags (no more than 50 lbs each), but food on the other hand is only for purchase [in the main cabin]. Upgrade to first class from the US by checking in on the kiosk at the airport, it's only $100-$150, lots of great perks-- non-stop food and drinks! Ended up staying 1 extra night...just relaxed and enjoyed the sounds of the airplanes landing and taking off directly overhead from the Holiday Inn Express Airport... great hotel for anyone wanting to be super close to the airport and desiring the modern comforts of home [in the US]! Book in advance, it's much cheaper... should be around $300 RT between June and August.