How To Travel Cheap in Sweden
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Space of Love Yoga Festival Sweden
/Paradise. Space of Love Yoga Festival Böda, Öland, Sweden 2014
There might not be words beautiful enough to depict the symphony of colours that danced and swirled between us as we created a bond that grew stronger and reached wider as the week unfolded itself in the Space of Love festival on Öland.
I have met soul mates and long lost friends. I have served the Fire and its guides during ancient ceremonies. I have danced barefoot in the soft grass and I have let the ocean stroke my naked body with her cold touch. I have felt the sand melt away between my fingers as time turns into non-existence and I have loved, laughed and cried. Endlessly. These moments are a constant waterfall of rainbows- we want it always. And I want You to be part of it too! So I let the pictures and poems speak to your heart and hope that next year, you will bathe with us in the waterfall of rainbows.
Thank you Nina and Boris for inviting us to your wedding- the most magical celebration of Love imaginable!
For the curious ones: I woke as the sun rose over the beach during Sadhana at 4am with my beautiful hermana Mina, warmed and opened my body with magical Sky and Sama Yoga. I flowed thru dance workshops, attended Celtic Sweat lodges, swam in the ocean, played in the sand and let music wash through me before closing my eyes in my pink raspberry tent at night.....
A big thank you to all the amazing teachers, guides and organizers that held and hold this space; to the participants for without them and their open hearts there would be no festival; to the musicians that create the soundtracks of our hearts' movements; and thank you to my beloved heart-family Sofia, David, Ruben and Marcus for making me fall in love over and over again. I love you dearly.
Böda Sand, Space of Love festival Öland 2014
Tell us about your festival memories in the comments below!
Pura Vida Siempre
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The Nomadic Yogi
/According to Sri Pattabhi Jois and his Yoga Mala, the space where you do your asana practice (poses) should be open and clean. In the west we are used to shalas being spacious and with a lot of room in between yourself and your neighbor. The studios are clean, have a good temperature and are QUIET. Most of us even expect a yoga space to be this way. However, yoga is about being able to quiet the mind to ground oneself and to stay focused. We practice these things on the mat to be able to apply them in our everyday life. Sticking to a regular practice while traveling is of course challenging in many ways but I believe it to be beneficial for me and for my practice to face these challenges. As yet a Staying Healthy On The Road post and to give you inspiration to keep rolling out your mat wherever you are, I share with you some of the places I’ve been doing my asanas the last few months. In some of them I had to take a few extra breaths to focus on myself instead of outside distractions, whilst in others magic happens(ed). I believe we need both sides of the coin, or it’ll get boring ;)
1. Hostel floor next to yesterday's stinking beer cans
Beds on Bohio, Jaco, Costa Rica
I am grateful for the spacious privates and their including patios in this place. Hostels are always a challenge for yoga practice since it’s never silent. This is not the first hostel where I’ve been doing my morning practice, nor is it the only or last one. It is, however, the only party-hostel I would stay at and where I keep showing up regularly. The smell of yesterday’s party (or the sounds of it during night) is part of the experience and I breathe through any annoyance that might come up. In addition to remind myself about the gratitude I feel for having a mat-sized patio outside the room.
2. In the jungle together with all kinds of friendly animals that want to join me.
Uvita jungle hostel, Costa Rica
Practicing in the jungle is amazing in so many ways; the colors, the clean air, the heat, the curious hummingbirds and playful toucans, and the sounds of the forest. However, every now and again mosquitos, ants and simply all kinds of bugs like to join in. And sometimes cats. That is fine though, I like that kind of company, it keeps me staying humble.
3. Together with 22 awesome women, every morning for 22 days, on an uneven and semi-broken wooden floor
Yoga in Tamarindo with Drishti Yoga Teacher Training, Costa RIca.
The challenge for me –who is used to yoga alone- was to suddenly share my practice with others every day, and to be guided through most meditations. Sharing and creating connection in that way open up the heart and let you go deeper in your practice. I am forever grateful for what these lovely ladies shared with and taught me.
4. On the beach when waves are coming in, removing the sand under my balancing point
Playa Uvita Costa Rica
The picture speaks for itself. Balance and alignment are obviously affected. Good fun to play around with both of these asana foundations though!
5. On a friend's dusty floor while the news broadcast is blasting out from the radio at 6am
Deep breaths and a strong Drishti to go within and connect are what help me stay grounded and calm in these kinds of situations. Yet a place to grow if it’s added to my practice every now and again.
I guess it all comes down to one thing really; learn to lie on the floor everywhere. And all yogis I know love being on the floor so it actually doesn’t take long no matter where we are before our feet are up the wall.
Beds on Bohio, Jaco Beach Costa Rica with Megan and Sabeena
Where do you find it most challenging to do your practice, exercise, meditation or workout? Share in the comments below!
Pura Vida
Practicing How to Stay Healthy On The Road part II
/It is always difficult to stick to your healthy food scheme and giving the body what it needs when transporting yourself from A to B (to C etc.). The longer the ride the harder it gets. However, traveling by air is by far the most challenging in terms of staying healthy, alert and over all good; we are not even allowed to bring our own water for heaven’s sake! Even though I dislike long train rides too, at least I have the possibility to bring my own food. A 10 hour airfare is always a gamble for a vegetarian/vegan and even more so if you eat gluten-free, organic AND non-GMO! They hardly ever get it right. I have yet to figure out how to be able to eat during long flight hours, for now I’m blessing my food as hard as I can to not get sick. Flying between Costa Rica and Europe means transiting in The States, obviously a problem for the food aware person! All food is based on chemicals and sugar. Whilst a “snack” with British Airways from London means a vegan salad containing hummus, chickpeas, falafel and greens (!). They also had fresh lemon for my hot water, hurray!
Oatmeal, brown sugar, raisins and hot water lemon.
Before even getting to the airport I started my day with oatmeal and hot cinnamon tea (not in the picture), which improve digestion and help me stay grounded. At Dallas airport, I found a classic American burger/fajitas restaurant where I asked for vegan food and ended up analyzing their special allergy menu for a good 15 minutes! The result? Black bean burger (without bread), rice and broccoli (instead of fries) and hot water lemon on the side!
Vegan and gluten-free meal at Dallas Aiport
In conclusion, traveling by air is still a pain food-wise but hopefully they’re getting there soon enough. Airports around the world usually have snack stores with a variety of healthier snack options such as organic raw granola bars, nut mixes and fruit. In most restaurants you can ask about ordering off the menu and they’re cool about it and, as previously stated, mint (tea) is the herb easiest to find no matter where you are. What is more, they did allow me to carry my own water bottle through security, which is a great resource and helps in staying hydrated. Next time I’ll bring my thermos ;)
Bonus tip: in the carry on bring a small bottle of olive, avocado oil or the like to rub on nails, hands, lips and other dry areas. I also like to carry some essential peppermint oil in case I get motion sick.
For more tips on how to stay healthy while traveling check out my previous posts:
How to Stay Healthy and Balanced while Traveling
Practicing How To Stay Healthy on the Road
What are your experiences with airplane food? Good or bad? Do you have any tips? Share in the comments below!
Pura Vida
Yoga Teacher Training Costa Rica
/Guanacaste province is located in the northwest of Costa Rica. This province is the warmest in the country and between November and April there is hardly any rain (dry season), resulting in dry forests and a desert like climate.
During one of these hot months is when I decided it was a good time to do a Yoga Teacher Training. It happened to be located just outside of Tamarindo, which is basically as far as you can go from Puerto Viejo (southeastern corner of the country). And it was indeed hot, even I used air-condition! And, occasionally, I really missed the green jungle and all its sounds, movements, rain and humidity. I was surprised, however, that the howler monkeys woke us up around 5 am still, and they were close! Strolling around the surrounding areas showed me the many mango trees and it started to make sense why heaps of monkey families were hanging around in the desert.
Sunset Playa Negra, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
We started late in the mornings (6:45), when the sun was already up, making the sun heat the shala to a boiling temperature by the end of practice (9:30). Everyday we also practiced teaching, had philosophy class, anatomy class and Yin Yoga. In total, we did more or less five to six hours of physical practice everyday. I truly enjoy that kind of intensity every now and again. The regularity takes my practice to new levels and the wisdom from the physical asanas (postures) grows deeper inside me. For anyone wanting to experience profound transformation, I recommend trying longer retreats (no matter what level you’re at on your path). And of course, I recommend joining me and Yoga By Magie for any workshops, classes and retreats :)
Reversed Prayer. Sunset Jaco Beach, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica
Every seventh day we had a day off. If you’re a yoga junkie, it’s hard not to do any practice at all, even though the body really needs some rest to process what it’s learning. I kept my morning meditations, in addition to going with some of the girls to Playa Negra to try Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga for the first time! We went to an empty beach where the ocean was quiet enough to not knock us of balance. Doing yoga outside can be challenging, but if you’re used to it and have a good drishti (focus) you will enjoy SUP yoga. My favorite part was lying in Savasana (on my back), hands touching the water, looking up to Father Sky and Grandmother Moon, noticing the shore with its trees in the distance while the sun was setting over the west coast of Costa Rica. Big hug to Naturalbeautyyoga who showed us this place!
I am grateful for having met such a beautiful group of strong, independent and open-minded women. Already a couple days in, I asked to experiment with them by guiding them through a drum meditation and ended up doing another one the week after. Thank you all for being so receptive and for everything you shared during these weeks!
Me and two of the girls drove down to Jaco for a couple of nights to get a different scenery and some beach. While they headed back home to Canada, I went visiting another yogini in San Jose and together we bussed down to Puerto Viejo to watch the craziness of the last Easter days. That is to say, I am now back in the buzzing jungle doing yoga, writing on the porch, doing sweat lodges and work at the wellness center.
Sabeena, Megan, Magie at Jaco Beach, Costa Rica
What did you do for Easter?
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Famous sunset Jaco Beach, Costa RIca. Foto: Magdalena Larsson
Road Trip in Costa Rica's Paradise
/The last few days, we’ve been on the road and I have managed to have a few relaxing moments without work ;) We rented a 4-wheel drive in San Jose and headed south on the west coast, towards a small beach village called Uvita. The guidebooks happily refer to this part of the country as “the real Costa Rica”, meaning this is what Costa looked like before tourism created beach towns with hotels, restaurants and roads. I’d say that statement is exaggerated as the main highway runs all the way down to Panama and is a proper, good road to drive on. Sure, there are no towns to be seen (and obviously the further south you get the more national parks and less people there are) but there are plenty of hotels and you need a car to get around. The tourism here is rather for the ones who have money.
Uvita and its surroundings are amazingly beautiful, remote and tranquil. Even though we are traveling in the backwash of high season, we found empty beaches and quiet waterfalls. The Uvita beach and the ones following south are all part of the Marino Ballena National Park and, thus, are protected and preserved with the help of an entrance fee, certified guides and the like. Needless to say, that makes the area clean and home to many interesting animals such as dolphins, whales, turtles and colorful fish. We went for a boat and snorkeling tour to swim in the warm ocean and say hello to the playful dolphins in the bay.
After a few days of spectacular beaches, ocean, animals, waterfalls and yoga on a wooden deck in the jungle we jumped back in the car and headed towards Jacó. I have earlier tried to explain Jaco, but it has to be experienced and that is precisely why I took my sister here last year, and now Ola. It is intense though and I can only stand it for a couple days in a row. One morning I did my practice on a hard concrete floor, among the fumes of last night’s beer. Challenges make you grow.
The Famous Jacó Sunset
After Jaco, we headed north and today we made a road trip from Tamarindo to Nosara. All of Nicoya Peninsula requires a 4-wheel drive, patient and a lot of time. Just this short trip took longer than expected due to gravel roads, roadwork and car accidents. We had a great day tho, and shot a short video for you. My first vlog haha Enjoy! And comment below if you do=)
Today, I'm starting my next project; the Yoga Teacher Training here in Guanacaste. I look forward to 3 weeks of deep asana practice and further self-exploration! See you in a few weeks=)
Pura Vida
Moon Calendar 2025 ! In this article, you get all the dates for the new and full moons of 2025, including their zodiac sign, according to western astrology. We also take a look at the names of each full moon and their meaning, as well as what lunar year is 2025 according to the Chinese Zodiac.