In 2023 I accompanied my daughter on a trip to Costa Rica led by her Spanish teacher. I was one of several adults on a tour bus filled primarily with 7th-9th graders. This was my second trip to Central America, but my first to Costa Rica and my first since my yoga practice has become a central part of who I am. (I had been to Panama for a primate behavior field school way back before grad school in 1999. I don’t recall doing any yoga on that trip!)
As we traveled around Costa Rica last year, I fit at least a little yoga in each day, and I found my yoga practice inspired by what we were seeing and doing as tourists in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. It makes sense, really, because the names of many yoga poses are inspired by the natural world. Many others are named after heroes, saints, and sages of Indian mythology (for a more comprehensive treatment of this topic, see The Heroes, Saints, and Sages Behind Yoga Pose Names by Colleen Morton Busch in Yoga Journal, 2021).
In any case, I decided that a nice commemoration of the trip would be to photograph my practices and the inspiration for the poses I chose. At the time, not yet on Substack, I presented these as a series of social media posts. I’ve dug up all the pictures to recreate the memories here. Hope you enjoy my little photo project!
Day 1: we took a boat through canals to Tortuguero. We saw howler monkeys, iguanas, and lots of birds. Picture 1 is the view from the boat on that first day. Picture 2 is my Ardha Navasana (half boat pose) at a beach several days later on the Pacific side of Costa Rica
Days 1-3: From the boat on the canals around Tortuguero we observed many birds. Picture 1 is a Little Blue Heron, seen from the boat. Picture 2 is my Bakasana (crane pose) from my practice in the hotel in Monte Verde.
Day 2: Tortuguero is known for its sea turtle nesting and hatching. We were there in the wrong season to see the turtles, but we did visit the sea turtle conservancy visitor center to learn about them. Picture 1: This is one of a few interesting sea turtle mosaics in Tortuguero with toilets in front of them (???). Pictures 2 & 3 show 2 versions of Kurmasana (tortoise pose) at the beach by our hotel on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica in Tortuguero.
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Day 3: Hiking near the Arenal Volcano. Picture 1: At the end of the hike, a lovely little pond. Picture 2 is my Ardha Matsyendrasana (half lord of the fishes pose) from my practice in the hotel in Playa Jacó, Coastal Puntarenas
Day 4: In the morning we went kayaking in Lake Arenal, which was probably my favorite activity of the trip, but I didn’t take pictures since I didn’t want to risk losing my phone. After a long motion-sickness inducing bus ride (I had the dubious distinction of throwing up more than anyone else on the trip), we went horseback riding near Monte Verde, probably my least favorite activity of the trip as horseback is out of my comfort zone. Picture 1: The horses knew how to navigate the rocky path without much input from novice riders! Picture 2: I practiced Vatayanasana (horse face pose) on the balcony of our Monte Verde hotel.
Day 5: Canopy Zip Line Tour. Less scary than I expected and really fun. Turns out I'm a fan of ziplining. Who knew? See how I'm smiling in picture 1? It's fun! Like flying. That inspired me to practice Virabhadrasana I with Vimanasana arms (airplane - or flying machine - arms in Warrior I) later in the day in the courtyard of the hotel.
Day 6: We stopped at the crocodile bridge over the Tarcoles River. Picture 1: One of the many crocs visible from the bridge. Anticipating that I’d see crocodiles, I tried Makarasana (crocodile pose) in two orientations in the hotel in Monte Verde the day before we actually saw them.
Day 7: We, of course, saw lots of trees over the course of the trip, but these caught my eye in Playa Jacó, Puntarenas. Picture 1 shows my view of a particular tree during breakfast at the hotel in Playa Jacó. Picture 2 is my Vrksasana (tree pose) on the steps of the beautiful metal church of Grecia.
Day 8: A tour of Fabrica de Carretas Eloy Alfaro - an ox cart factory in Sarchi. The carts were a traditional way to transport coffee beans and are painted with intricate colorful designs. Picture 1: oxcarts on display at the factory. Picture 2: Gomukhasana (cow face pose), from my practice at the hotel in Playa Jacó, Puntarenas (although this practice occurred before our factory tour, I’d already seen oxcarts, inspiring the cow face pose).
So many of these poses are based on animals. I’m reminded of parent-child yoga classes that I took my kids to at the library when they were little. The teacher had them try to create the shapes of animals with their bodies and then showed them the animal-inspired poses that already exist. That was a fun and engaging way to use their little bodies then. And this project was fun and engaging for me.
I hope that you, too, might be inspired by the world around you in your yoga practice.
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Sylvia thanks for sharing this. It’s such a great idea. And I loved the bio mimicry in action. You’re awesome. Love tedrah