Go for a yoga retreat in Santa Teresa Costa Rica in 2016

Yoga retreats at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat, on award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, draw people from all over the world. So do Pranamar Villas´ daily yoga classes with popular instructor and Pranamar yoga director, Nancy Goodfellow.
Now Nancy will be holding two inspirational Costa Rica yoga retreats, called “Embracing Totality”, at Pranamar Villas in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, next year in 2016. The seven-night all-inclusive retreats will be held May 21 to 28, 2016 and Aug. 13 to 18, 2016´in Pranamar´s beautiful, spacious beachfront Yoga Shala
“So many people come to Pranamar for yoga classes with Nancy. She is very popular in the yoga world,” said Agustina Zocchi at Pranamar Villas.

Nancy has been practicing yoga for 20 years and teaching for 15 years. She is extremely well-known among local and international yoga students for her inspiring and creative daily yoga classes, workshops, and retreats at Pranamar Villas.
Nancy began her yogic studies in the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition. Following her dream of adventure and living a more simple life in nature, she moved to Costa Rica and continued her yogic practice, while continuing to study with top international yoga instructors. Nancy has completed more than 500 hours of Yoga Alliance teacher training and began teaching classes in 1998. Nancy dedicated many years of study also to the Anusara method of yoga, with its principles of alignment, Tantric philosophy and Bhakti filled practice. She has completed more than 500 hours of certified Anusara teachings and traditional non-dualistic Tantra studies.

The all-inclusive “Embracing Totality” yoga retreats at Pranamar Villas will include:

• Twice daily Tantric-based Hatha Yoga practices – morning Shakti Flow Vinyasa and afternoon moon practices
• Daily meditations and mantra practices
• Seven nights’ accommodation at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas
• Three daily delicious, healthy meals at Pranamar Villas’ Buddha Eyes Restaurant
• An evening dinner out at a local beachfront restaurant
• A one-hour therapeutic massage treatment at Pranamar Villas’ Spa
• A Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) adventure tour on the Rio Bongo by Santa Teresa
• A Sacred Fire ceremony (letting go of anything to release) and Water Blessing (to honor the ocean and the wishes desired in life)

Optional activities during the Pranamar yoga retreat include:

• Surfing and/or private surf lessons
• Private yoga sessions with Nancy
• Mayan Calendar Astrological readings

Rates for the Embracing Totality yoga retreats at Pranamar Villas range from $1,500 to $2,900, depending on the choice of accommodation, and whether single or double occupancy. Accommodations at Pranamar Villas include luxurious Poolside Villas, Oceanfront Bungalows, and the large two-story shared Kula House.
Santa Teresa Costa Rica yoga retreats at Pranamar Villas fill up fast so make reservations today! Pack your bags, grab your mat, and travel to the beach in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for a yoga retreat with Nancy Goodfellow at the amazing beachfront Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat.
Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat
The beachfront hotel in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, specializes in Costa Rica yoga vacations and Costa Rica surfing vacations. Pranamar Villas was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine, and was awarded TripAdvisor´s 2015 Certificate of Excellence. Santa Teresa Beach was chosen one of the Top 15 Places to Go in 2015 by Condé Nast Traveler, and holds the status of being one of the cleanest beaches in Costa Rica.
Public yoga classes at Pranamar Villas are held from Monday to Saturday in the hotel’s beautiful oceanfront Yoga Shala. All classes are taught for students of all levels, with variations and modifications offered and encouraged. Mats and props are available at no extra charge. Private yoga sessions can be arranged with Nancy. Pranamar's yoga class schedule changes weekly and is posted on their Facebook page.
If you are a yoga instructor interested in having a yoga retreat at Pranamar Villas, contact the hotel.
Article by Shannon Farley

Unique Gifts Keep Costa Rica Travel Memories Alive

One of the joys of traveling is picking up that little something special to bring back home. A unique gift from a unique place that will remind you months and years later of the fun trip you enjoyed.



In the case of world traveler Susan Money, owner of Costa Rica’s Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat, all of her treasures from international globetrotting are specifically brought back home to delight other travelers, in the Santa Teresa Beach hotel’s gift shop. The small gift shop in Pranamar Villas’ Reception area features exclusive and uncommon gifts both from Costa Rica and parts further afield.

“One of the great joys of owning a hotel is the fun of shopping for the gift shop,” says Money. “Although our store is very small, it often has some unusual items from my travels around the world. When I’m off traveling, I get to tell my husband that I have to shop … for the gift shop. And what can he say?!”



Whether originally from Indonesia, Guatemala, Nicaragua or right at home in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, Pranamar Villas’ gift shop is a colorful and exotic treasure trove of jewelry, scarves, bags, yoga clothes and mats, and organic beauty and bath products.

Featured Gifts



Wrap bracelets by designer-artist Phyllis Warman are a big hit with Pranamar Villas’ guests. “Inspired by the relaxed lifestyle and shifting colors of Costa Rica's exotic Pacific Coast, the richly majestic landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, and the radiant, sun-drenched beaches of Southern California, Phyllis Warman Jewelry Designs are both casual and sophisticated,” says Warman’s publicity sheet.



The Southern California native divides her time between living in Seattle, Washington and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Warman makes all of her necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets by hand, using natural materials she finds in her environment like mother-of-pearl and abalone shells; freshwater pearls; precious and semi-precious gemstones such as opal, jade, onyx, garnet and turquoise; metals of copper, brass and sterling silver; and 100% pure cotton cord.



Earrings and other elegant jewelry from Faery Dust Workshop are very popular gift purchases from Pranamar Villas’ shop, says hotel administrator Larissa Chevalier. Made by a Costa Rican designer living at Playa Santa Teresa, all jewelry is hand-made.



Local Santa Teresa Beach resident, Rachel of Une a Une designs, brings her native French flair to her fashionable jewelry creations. After making Costa Rica her home for 10 years, you can see the influence of the tropics’ bright colors in Une a Une’s necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets. Une a Une’s delicate necklaces are sold in Pranamar Villas’ gift shop.

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat, Santa Teresa
The gift shop at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat is open to guests and the public in the hotel’s Reception area.



Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat resort is located right on the Pacific Ocean at Santa Teresa Beach on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. The gorgeous, luxury boutique hotel features two-story poolside villas and elaborate beachfront bungalows, set in extravagant tropical gardens near the most lovely free-form saltwater pool. Winner of Trip Advisor’s Traveler’s Choice and Certificate of Excellence awards, Pranamar Villas offers you daily in-house yoga classes, regular yoga retreats and workshops, all-inclusive yoga vacations, front-yard surfing, and surfing and yoga holidays.

By Shannon Farley

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