10 Yoga Poses to Help Relieve Traveler’s Back Pain

Yoga can help.
There are several easy yoga poses you can do almost anywhere to help ease many of the common symptoms of traveler’s back pain. You can do these poses at the airport, in your hotel room, on the beach or at a beautiful outdoor setting when you get to your destination. No mat required – you can use a towel, sarong, jacket, carpeted floor, grass, etc. You will feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to enjoy your trip.

When traveling to Costa Rica, take a yoga class on vacation at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat right on the beautiful Santa Teresa Beach on the southern Nicoya Peninsula. Pranamar Villas specializes in Costa Rica yoga vacations and was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine.
Public yoga classes at Pranamar Villas are held Monday to Saturday in the hotel’s beautiful oceanfront Yoga Shala for students of all levels. See the schedule of upcoming Costa Rica yoga retreats at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas, including the inspirational retreat “Embracing Totality” led by Pranamar Villas’ yoga director and co-owner, Nancy Goodfellow.

10 Yoga Poses to Help Relieve Traveler’s Back Pain

Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

Forward Bends stimulate blood flow to your brain, stretch your hamstrings and lower back, and lengthen your spine. This is perfect for relieving back pain from long periods of sitting and from hefting luggage.






Half Forward Bend (Ardha Adho Makha Svanasana)
This yoga pose opens your chest, shoulders, back, and hamstrings. It is great for easing lower back pain after hours spent sitting on planes, trains, buses or cars.






Standard Hip Opener / Quad Stretch
To help get blood flow moving again in your legs after sitting, stretch your quads and hip flexors with this yoga pose.









Cow-Cat Pose (Bitilasana - Marjariasana)
The gentle up-and-down flowing posture of Cow-Cat pose brings flexibility to your entire spine, especially stretching and lengthening your back and neck. Synchronize with your breath for 7 to 10 cycles, and you’ll start to feel relaxed already.






Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Child’s Pose helps to reduce stress, anxiety, and mental tension. It is a deeply restorative pose that relaxes tightness in the neck and back. You should remain in child’s pose, breathing easily for anywhere between 30 seconds to several minutes.




Seated Twist Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana) or Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
Twists stimulate your digestive system, help improve digestion, and are cleansing for the body. Maintaining a healthy digestive system when you travel is essential for your well-being. Twists also can relieve lower back pain, a common complaint after long travel days. You can do either a seated twist, making sure to twist (not crank) your spine slowly and comfortably. Or you can do a supine twist lying on the ground, if you have a clean, safe place to do so. Be sure to twist on both sides of your body.


Ear to Shoulder Pose
The ear-to-shoulder pose is easy and can be done almost anywhere. The pose stretches the neck and down into the shoulder and trapezius muscles. You can do this pose sitting or standing, just remember to keep your spine straight. Be sure not to pull your head over; just allow its weight to softly move it down.



Supine Thread-the-Needle Pose
After sitting for long periods, usually your hips and gluteus muscles will feel tight and stiff. This pose helps you to open those muscles and release the tension, including in your lower back. You can also do a seated version just about anywhere – even on a plane, train, bus or car. Your hips, bottom and lower back will thank you.




Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
Legs Up the Wall pose is a gentle inversion that lets the body fully relax while calming the nervous system and improving circulation, thereby rejuvenating the entire body. This pose also helps relieve mental stress, and can help alleviate headaches, boost energy, and relieve lower-back pain. You can use a folded blanket, towel, jacket, etc. to place beneath your hips for comfort and support. Remain in the pose from 5 to 10 minutes.





Corpse Pose (Savasana)
Also called relaxation pose, Corpse Pose is the most restorative yoga pose because it helps you experience deep peace for your mind and body, letting everything relax. Remain in the pose from 5 to 15 minutes.



Article by Shannon Farley

Happiness, bliss & the beauty of life on Santa Teresa Beach

Are you happy?

That seems to be the question being asked in recent times, from boardrooms to bars, international conference centers to offices of government leaders, business schools to book stores. Are we happy? Following our bliss? Living our passion? Are we "me-focused" or "others-focused"?

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan even measures its country's prosperity by its "gross national happiness" (GNH), measuring the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health and happiness of its citizens and natural environment. Bhutan's policy attracted great interest at the United Nations climate change conference in Doha, Qatar last December.

Costa Rica has made it to #1 on the Happy Planet Index for two years in a row (2012 & 2011), based on its national conservation policies, small ecological footprint, high quality of life and life expectancy rate all being "exceedingly above par", states Forbes Magazine. The Happy Planet Index is an annual survey conducted by the New Economics Foundation, a British think-tank that aims to measure the level of happiness in every country in the world. The ranking system establishes a solid link between happiness and the environment or nature.

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Susan Money and Greg Mullins followed their bliss 20 or so years ago to live in harmony with nature in Costa Rica. The California couple first opened a bed and breakfast hotel, then the very successful Florblanca Hotel on Playa Santa Teresa, and now are owners of the highly popular Pranamar Ocean Front Villas and Yoga Retreat, also on Santa Teresa Beach.

"The Pranamar experience is a unique one. Rather than the typical corporate model, we work under the family model. Pranamar evolved from a sense of oneness – a desire to be in community with people we love and people who simply make us feel good," explains Pranamar owner Susan Money.

Pranamar Villas is a gorgeous, intimate luxury hotel fronting the spectacular beach of Playa Santa Teresa on the southern Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. A Trip Advisor award winner, Pranamar offers luxurious two-story poolside villas, elaborate oceanfront villas and tropical bungalows, all designed with Indonesian flair. Pranamar evolved from the Susan and Greg's experience of living in the Indonesian island-paradise of Bali. They loved living alongside a river where neighbors gathered in community. In that image, they created the four poolside villas alongside the "river" of their winding saltwater pool, along with abundant lush tropical gardens throughout the property. A hidden statue here and there, shells and rocks artistically placed in the pathways, all lend beauty to the eye at every turn.

The hotel's name shows the owners' passion in what they do. "Prana" in Sanskrit means "vital energy" and "breath". "Mar" means ocean in Spanish. There is definitely an uplifting energy at Pranamar.

"At Pranamar, I feel like what we're really doing is inviting guests to experience the beauty of life," comments Nancy Goodfellow, Yoga instructor at Pranamar and Susan's daughter. "To get out of our usual routines; to step aside and see this amazing nature around us and the beauty within us – this vital energy that is all around us. Simultaneously, one will experience this deep tranquility and inner peacefulness."

The long tranquil beach of Santa Teresa is nearly perfect with its light beige-white sand shimmering with crushed shells and volcanic sea glass in the sunlight, shady palm and almond trees, and spectacular sunsets. Along with world-class surfing and top-quality Yoga classes, retreats and package vacations, there are numerous activities to do in the area, such as snorkeling, horseback riding, canopy zip line tours and nature tours.

"The memories and friendships established at Pranamar will linger in our collective hearts for a lifetime," notes Susan.

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. Arnold Toynbee

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Albert Schweitzer

By Shannon Farley

Surfers can improve flexibility, strength & balance with yoga

Most surfers are probably already aware that the practice of Yoga results in great benefits for the physical body and beyond.



Yoga increases mental clarity and our ability to concentrate with intention on specific goals and desires. The breathing techniques used in this ancient science are amazing for increasing lung capacity, while helping to lengthen our ability to retain the breath (so necessary for surfers).
On a physical level, the postures (asanas) create flexibility, tone, strengthen, and hone in on our balancing skills. They also fill the body with vital Life energy (prana) and highly raise our body and self-awareness.
The following dynamic and static postures will help you achieve the strength and flexibility needed out in the surf, and will increase your balancing abilities for greater stability on your board.
Remember to always warm-up before heading out to the water, stretch for 5-10 minutes after surfing, and ENJOY!!
1)    3 legged downward dog w/ bent knee


Begin in downward-facing dog pose with your hands outer shoulder distance apart and feet parallel to each other, at least hip width apart. As you lift your hips up and back you’ll begin to feel a deep stretch along the backs of the legs. Remember to engage and tone your quadriceps (fronts of the thighs) while moving the tops of the thighs toward the backs of the legs. Breathe deeply in and out through the nose and throat, balancing the flow of breath and helping to calm the mind. Keep the arms strong and stable by pushing all four corners of the palms and all the fingertips into the ground and begin to lift your right leg up and into the air behind you. Lengthen through both legs as you take the right hip higher, “stacking” the hips and gently twisting from the waistline. Carefully bend the right knee while flexing the foot and spreading out the toes. The more you take your foot to the left, the more you will need to tuck your pelvis to lengthen the lower spine and increase flexibility in the psoas muscles. Work up to holding the position for 5-15 breaths. Bring the right leg back to downward dog posture and repeat on the other leg.

2)    Standing Pigeon w/ Eagle arms


Begin standing upright and cross your right ankle over your left lower thigh (right above the knee), keeping the foot active and flexed to protect the knee joint. With your hands on your hips, slowly bend your standing leg and widen your inner thighs back and apart (imagine you are hovering over a chair!).
Bring your arms parallel to the earth, reaching long from the heart center to your fingertips. Then cross your right arm under the left and “wrap” the arms around each other. Energetically lift your elbows and fingers upwards, while dropping your hips and thighs. Hug strongly into the mid-line with the legs and breathe deeply for 5 -10 breaths. Release and try the other side.

3)    Forearm plank w/ a "twist"

Begin with your knees and forearms on the ground, making sure that your forearms are parallel to each other and shoulder distance apart. Look toward your navel and bring your awareness to your core center, the seat of inner strength and stability. Breathe into your back body from the base of the spine all the way up toward the crown of the head. As you do this you will feel your lower abdomen activate and draw inward toward the spine (away from the floor). Then actively move the tailbone towards the heels, walking your feet back to straighten your legs (knees off the floor). Your entire body should be parallel to the earth and you will feel deep sensation throughout the core of your body.

Continue to breathe slow and even through the nose. Keep an emphasis on moving the lower "floating" ribs inward towards the back body, and then slightly soften behind the heart. Hold 5-10 breaths.
Keeping your shoulders steady with your chest facing the earth exhale as you drop your heels to the right, twisting your lower body to active the lateral abdominal muscles. Inhale back to center and drop your heels to the left as you strongly exhale (remember to keep the belly lifted in towards the spine). Return to center with an inhalation and continue going right to left in alignment with your breathing. Do your best to keep your upper body stable and still. Work up to 10 repetitions or more.

4)    Dynamic “Shalabasana” w/opposite arm and leg



Lay down on your stomach with your legs hip distance apart and arms extended out in front of you (shoulder distance apart). Keeping your gaze facing the floor, turn the palms of the hands to face each other, and as you inhale lift your right arm, chest, and left leg up off the earth. The emphasis of this movement is not to get your limbs as high as possible, but rather keep lengthening the whole spine and reach your leg long out of the hip and the crown of the head away from the tailbone. Focus your inhalation in the back of the body, thus breathing "space" into the spine.  Lower your self back to the floor on the exhalation, but keep awareness into the lower abdomen and gently lift the navel inward with the release.

On your next inhalation, lift your left arm, chest, and right leg off the floor and maintain the action of lengthening from the core of your pelvis down the legs and up the spine toward the fingertips. With the exhalation, return to lie on the ground and repeat each side, alternating right and left 5-10 times each.
On the last repetition of each side, try and hold the arm and leg up off the floor for 5 slow, even breathes. Emphasize the length of the spine and the gentle lifting of the belly in and up. Finish by sitting back on the heels with the chest resting on the thighs (child’s pose), arms and head relaxed on floor. Feel how working with opposite leg and arm can bring more awareness into your "center" and help you to connect with the innate intelligence of the body to stay centered and grounded.
5)    Navasana prayer


Begin seated on the ground with your knees drawn into your chest, grabbing the backs of the thighs with your hands. With the knees bent, first lift up along the spine moving the crown of the head toward the sky and the tailbone firmly down to the earth. Begin to straighten your legs into the air as you release your grip on the hamstrings. As you continue to sit up tall, draw your lower back away from the floor and the sacrum into the body (you will need to fully engage your core as you balance on the buttocks creating a V-shape with your body). Extending the arms parallel to the ground, relax your shoulders and move energetically along the legs from the hips to the toes. Actively lift up along the whole length of the spine, keeping the chest broad and the abdomen fully engaged. Work toward holding this static position for 5-15 breaths.

Then bring your palms together in front of your chest (anjali mudra) and actively press the hands into one another. Slightly lift the elbows away from the floor and inhale. Moving with your exhalation, turn your whole upper body toward the right engaging the side abdominal muscles with a twist. As you inhale, return to center and press the hands into each other. On your next exhale, twist as far as you can to the left with your upper body, keeping the legs together and lifted.  Return to center as you inhale. Continue to twist right and left on the exhalations, always pausing in center as you inhale to re-lengthen the spine.
Build up slowly, and increase the number of repetitions as you feel stronger. If you have less flexibility in your hamstrings or hips, then you may want to bend the knees slightly.

 

Pranamar Villas and Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa
If you enjoyed this practice and want more, come to  the beautiful Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in the surfer’s and yogi’s paradise of Santa Teresa and Pranamar Villas and Yoga Retreat. It’s the perfect blend of surfing and yoga and much more!!

By Nancy Goodfellow, Yoga Instructor at Pranamar Villas & Yoga Retreat

Tantric Yoga Roots Ancient Rituals in Modern Life

There are so many different elements and schools of thought on Tantric Yoga that I started researching and was quickly overwhelmed. Better to start with the basics.



Yoga is a mental, spiritual and physical discipline stretching back 6,000 years to ancient India, and is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism and Buddhism. “Yoga”, in Sanskrit, can be loosely translated as “union”; the original root word yuj means “to yoke” or “attach” yourself to a task. Many people think of yoga as simply easy stretching.

However, the ancient “yogis” developed these physical stretches and breathing exercises to both strengthen and also loosen their muscles and minds in preparation for hours of meditation and spiritual contemplation. In yoga, the purpose is to find union, or balance, between mind and body.

“Tantra” is the name scholars give to the style of religious ritual and meditation that arose in medieval India in the Fifth century AD. The earliest documented use of the word Tantra is in the Hindu text, the Rigveda; and Tantra is perceived to have influenced all medieval forms of Indian religious expression to some degree, according to Wikipedia. Tantric practitioners seek to use “prana”, the Hindu name for the energy that flows through the universe (including one's own body), to attain goals that may be spiritual, material or both, Wikipedia cites.



The intention of Tantric Yoga is to expand awareness in all states of consciousness, being awake, or in a dream or sleep state, according to both Yoga World and the Sanatan Society. The point is to identify what factors influence our thoughts and feelings, to transcend obstacles, and to create peace, harmony and balance in how we regard ourselves, others and our surroundings, states the Sanatan Society.

By means of physical yoga postures, breathing exercises, contemplation, visualization and repetition of a “mantra”, Tantric Yoga helps unfold a person’s divine nature, state multiple sources on the subject.

“The Tantric viewpoint is that at our core, all of us are divine and good,” explains Nancy Goodfellow, yoga instructor at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. “Holding this viewpoint, you can see the goodness in the world instead of focusing on negativity. That’s how expansion relates to Tantric Yoga, the exploration of our divine nature.”

Goodfellow integrates the spiritual practice of Tantric Yoga into her daily yoga classes at the Santa Teresa beach-side luxury boutique resort, owned by her family. She implements a broad-based Tantra methodology, which she explains is the foundation for today’s general yoga practice recognized in the Western world. “Tantra is the underlying roots to Hatha Yoga which everyone in the modern world is practicing,” said Goodfellow.



The popular Santa Teresa yoga instructor has been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years and teaching for 14 years. She has intensively studied various types of yoga, and teaches daily yoga classes, workshops and retreats at Pranamar Villas. Her classes, called "Shakti Flow", focus on an active and fluid style of yoga which emphasize energy and breath and linking conscious breathing with each movement.

Goodfellow says she sees yoga as being very practical. “Harnessing energy, having a vital healthy body, having a healthy mind – yoga helps us cope better when we have challenges in life,” she said. “Most of us doing yoga have families, have jobs, have busy lives, and Tantric Yoga helps us hone our skills to better serve ourselves and others.”


In today’s busy world, being centered and balanced is a much sought-after element by all ages and walks of life. “Tantric Yoga is very relevant today because it is about building community, being firmly rooted and understanding yourself better,” asserts Goodfellow. She emphasized the Tantric Yoga practice of chanting mantras as being very applicable in daily life. “With so much emphasis on multi-tasking, it’s not as common in our society to concentrate and focus,” she adds. “Mantras help build the skill to focus.”

 

Yoga Journey to India


Interested in learning more about yoga and experiencing its source? Goodfellow and renowned yoga instructor Michele Baker are leading a 13-day trip “Yoga Sacred Journey” to India from June 1-13, 2013. The group will visit ancient yoga sites, meet teachers, practice yoga and stay in ashrams in the “Yoga Motherland”, traveling to Delhi, Rishikesh, Varanasi and Ladakh.

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas, Santa Teresa


 

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat luxury boutique resort is set right on the shoreline at Santa Teresa Beach. The gorgeous, intimate hotel features two-story poolside villas, elaborate beachfront bungalows, extravagant tropical gardens, healthy-cuisine Buddha Eyes Restaurant, and the most lovely free-form saltwater pool.

Winner of the 2012 Trip Advisor Traveler’s Choice award and Certificate of Excellence award, Pranamar Villas offers you daily in-house yoga classes, regular yoga retreats and workshops, all-inclusive yoga vacations, and surfing and yoga holidays. See their weekly yoga class schedule on Facebook.

By Shannon Farley