A Restorative & Yin Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica

Restorative and Yin Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica
With Annette Knopp and Jane Fryer

at the Harmony Hotel
in Playa Guiones, Nosara, Costa Rica
July 12–18, 2009
Guests are greeted in Liberia, Costa Rica on Sunday, July 12 and depart the following Saturday, July 18.
For more details, please read below.

Prices for the All-Inclusive Retreat Week
Single Occupancy: US$2,295.00
Double Occupancy: US$1,795.00 (per person)

Head to Central America and unwind with us this summer at this fabulous yoga retreat in magnificent Costa Rica! We would like to invite you to take a time out and hit the “reset” button as Jane & Annette guide you through deeply relaxing and restorative sessions during this rejuvenating week. Time for rest and meditation, as well as soaking up nature in all of its jungle glory, will be the main points on our agenda. Both Restorative and Yin Yoga practices are becoming increasingly popular as we continue to learn more about the true importance of rest and relaxation and how vital it is to our well-being. Ahhh…

Nosara, Costa Rica is a magical place, and a great location to unwind, lounging by the pool or strolling along the beach. We will reside at the beautiful beach-side Harmony Hotel, a lovely sustainable property with Zen-style, and full service Spa and healing center.

Who could benefit from a Yin & Restorative Yoga retreat?
Anyone who wants to step out from a high-wired and ‘doing-focused’ lifestyle and allow for their bodies and mind to unwind, to nourish themselves, and relax back into stillness. Also any sort of practitioner, from beginner to advanced, who would like to immerse in this often overlooked aspect of Yoga. Yin Yoga is often called “the quiet practice” and similar to the restorative style naturally evokes a state of contemplation – more than yang-style practices or power yoga disciplines. In our predominantly “goal-focused” culture we have become so habituated to look ahead, to improve, and to demand more from ourselves and our bodies. In Yin and Restorative Yoga we have the opportunity to let go into what is already here, to be nourished by being-ness. Instead of pushing, we yield and come home into natural Presence.
Click here to read the full interview with Annette on Yin Yoga

Annette Knopp is a dharma teacher, spiritual counselor, certified Vinyasa and Yin-Yoga teacher, RYT, with a background in Non-dual Eastern traditions and modern Western integrative approaches. She is a faculty member of the Omega Institute, facilitates workshops and retreats internationally, and is featured as one of 12 women spiritual teachers in the recent book “Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening”. Visit Annette’s website at www.thefreeheart.com

Jane Fryer, RYT 500, is the founder of inward bound and has been traveling and teaching yoga retreats since ‘91. Her yoga studies began in the ’70s at Kripalu, and have continued over the years with instructors of Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Anusara yoga styles. She is multi certified, and primarily influenced now by Anusara’s extraordinarily positive approach to yoga/life on and off the mat. Jane’s expertise, coupled with the openness with which she shares her life experiences, are the gifts she brings to her students. With a rare understanding of anatomy and the body’s energy systems, she provides both beginning and advanced students with a safe environment to explore, heal and integrate the body and mind. She believes we are all hungry to reconnect with anima mundi, the soul of the world; our source. This is precisely the process she experienced when first drawn to yoga decades ago. Jane is also an expert teacher of restorative yoga and vipassana meditation. Not to mention her lifetime of experience as an astrologer which informs her themes so that your practice will resonate with cosmic rhythms. She is also an acupressure massage therapist and provides amazing hands on adjustments for her students. Jane and inward bound have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York and Los Angeles Times, Time-Life’s The Powers of Healing, Washington Woman, Mademoiselle, New Body, Yoga Journal,Vogue, Travel & Leisure, Healing Retreats & Spas, Wall Street Journal, etc. Jane recently moved with her husband Fritz from Washington DC to Nosara, Costa Rica, where they created Heartwaves, a development to host travelers to this pristine paradise, a protected Pacific Beach, famous for surfing and yoga.

Package includes:
- 6 nights accommodation
- Divine breakfasts and dinners (gratuities included)
- Morning & afternoon sessions
- Massage, Mythic Journey, and Sacred Ceremony
- Ample personal free time to choose in the moment what delights your heart
- Round trip transfer between Liberia Airport (LIR) and Nosara Beach

Not included: international flight or optional excursions (canopy tour, horseback riding, river kayak, surfing lessons, etc.)

The Harmony Hotel has just been beautifully renovated and is simply gorgeous! Inspired by the old school tropical destinations of the eras that appreciate low key glamour and total escape, Harmony Hotel is the perfect setting for people to unwind and get in tune with their natural rhythm. The graceful simplicity of earth tones and crisp whites create rooms that are rooted in nature and beach life at the Harmony.

All 24 accommodations reside on a path that meanders through a tropical garden overflowing with native vegetation. And the ears do not lie—that is the sound of waves. The path ends nearby at the warm, inviting Pacific Ocean.

The open air restaurant at the Harmony seats its guests in a stylish but casual atmosphere that draws upon ’70s surf culture, Brazilian Modernism, and old school tropical resorts. Taking its cue from a harmonious way of living, the kitchen cooks up local organic seafood, fruits, and vegetables. This means a menu of options flavored by the exotic likes of wild ginger, taro, banana, plantains, mango, coconut and of course, black beans and rice. In addition to the main restaurant at the Harmony, the Juice Bar provides vegetarian tapas, fresh squeezed juices and herbal teas. Like the restaurant, they use organic ingredients whenever possible. In the new trends of green hotels, Harmony has been rethought to meet height standards of sustainable living where beach life meets comfort.

Heed the howler monkey wake-up call for a quiet, early morning session.
The most popular time is sunset. And, it’s no wonder. The waves get glassy late afternoon and the colors are mind expanding as the sun dips into the horizon.

Room Amenities include
Daily Maid Service
King Size Bed (Only King Beds available for single or double)
Refrigerator
Air Conditioning
Ceiling Fans
Laptop-Sized Safe Deposit Box
Coffee Maker
Wireless Internet
Less than 5 minute walk to the beach!

How to get to Nosara
Nosara is just over a 2-hour drive from the airport at Liberia, served by Delta, American, US Air and Continental. Delta has added a direct flight from Los Angeles to Liberia, departing on Fridays and returning on Saturdays. The package includes transfers from Liberia or Nosara airport on February 22 & February 28, and we will assist with your transportation if you arrive on other days…

Or, for your convenience you can fly from San Jose to Nosara
If you fly into San Jose there are domestic flights to Nosara that are approx. 45 minutes in duration. For more information, prices, schedules and weight restrictions (small & strictly enforced) please contact:
Sansa Airlines: www. flysansa.com (Located at the International Airport, San Jose)
Nature Air: www.natureair.com (Located at Pavas Airport, a domestic airport 35 minutes from the International Airport)

If you want to rent a car
You can rent a car at Liberia airport or at Nosara Beach with National. A weekly rental of a small 4X4 SUV (you really need a 4 wheel drive) is $353 plus $15-20 a day for a mandatory car insurance. A somewhat larger Terios is $461. Please contact the local agent Ronald Castro to confirm rates and availability (011-506-682-0254) or rcastro@ancar.com. There is only one gas station in Nosara, and bring cash, plastic is not accepted. For more info of this kind www.nosaratravel.com

A little more about Nosara Beach…
Nosara also offers a range of excellent dining experiences, and other recreational activities that include horseback riding, hiking, deep sea fishing, kayaking, and, the always desirable, but sometimes elusive, tanning of the soul.