Upside Down in Costa Rica: My Week of Yoga and Reconnection

How disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with nature shifted my perspective

As someone who spends most of her time online reading and experimenting with tech tools, spending a week off the grid was not only a great way to disconnect and reset, but also an illuminating way to see how automatically (and eagerly!) I feed my ADHD brain with instant gratification and live life by default rather than by design.

I spent last week doing sun salutations three times a day to the chirping and buzzing of a real-life forest—reminiscent of the soundscapes of my favorite meditation app. In Rio Chirripó, located on the Talamanca mountain range in southwestern Costa Rica, practicing yoga comes with the territory. That's exactly what I did at Shawna Krueger's "Evolve with Inversions" , a yoga retreat designed with the focus of teaching you to go upside down.

The challenge of inversions intrinsically brings feelings of fear and pushes you out of your comfort zone. And that I was—all week long. From traveling solo, meeting and connecting with 25 strangers, hiking mountains, and jumping into frigid river waters, it was a week of self-discovery and reconnection for this yoga retreat first-timer.

Here are my main takeaways:

1. When you're led by your interests and passions, you naturally connect with like-minded people. Conversation and connection were seamless and effortless because we all shared the common ground of a dedicated yoga practice, whether as students or teachers. Just getting to our hotel required a 4.5-hour journey from the nearest international airport, so a certain level of commitment was necessary.

   

2. The structure of the retreat, broken down into themed days that aligned with our activities, kept me engaged and focused. For example, on "FEAR" day, we workshopped different inversions. On "ADVENTURE" day, we hiked a nearby mountain and cold-plunged into a swimming hole. These themes kept my mind and intention focused on each day's purpose and clarified what I wanted to gain from the experience.

   

3. As the oldest participant and likely the only parent, I initially felt like a fish out of water. However, as I formed connections and engaged in conversations, I realized we were all drawn to the retreat for different reasons—professional or personal crises, or simply dedicating more time to our practice. Ultimately, we're more similar than different, united by our shared human experiences of joy, grief, starting over, curiosity, and independence.

   

4. Immersion in the cloud forest's beauty demands one thing: slowing down and paying attention. This call to Slow Living is something I want to incorporate more into my everyday life. Listening to the river's rumble, watching clouds drift over mountain peaks, touching wild hydrangeas the size of my head growing along walking paths—the environment naturally cultivated mindfulness and presence.

   

   5.I would do this kind of retreat again. And again. And again.