In a place where the beauty of nature is unlike anywhere else on the planet, join Gillian for a life-changing week, or two-week retreat in the gorgeous surroundings of the Bodhi Tree Resort in Nosara on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Rest in luxurious jungle accommodation, wake at dawn to the sounds of the rainforest and deepen your meditation and yoga practice in stunning open-air shalas with ocean views. Drop into a slower pace of life and make the most of the chance to reconnect with yourself and the environment in a relaxed atmosphere and in heart-warming company.
Gillian’s summer retreats are organised, each year, around her enquiry into the conditions for human flourishing. In all the places of the world where humans live the longest, healthiest lives - the Blue Zones of the planet - people share the same nine secrets about how to live well and live long. These are the locations where the greatest number of people are to be found who have lived to be 100 years-old, or more, in a good state of health - body and mind. The Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica is one of these five Blue Zones. It is the perfect place to discover what Costa Ricans proudly call ‘pura vida’ - the pure life. Here, there is everything to learn about how to cultivate and sustain the optimal conditions for human well being.
Join Gillian for a transformational retreat and share in her understanding of the benefits of Blue Zone living. Each day, discover more about the nine variables that are essential to human health and happiness and learn how this knowledge might become part of your daily life. Cultivate new rituals of self-care practice, and begin the day with morning meditation, time for reflection, and revitalising, strengthening sun salutations. After a fresh tropical juice and breakfast of locally grown fruit, and other delicious, farm-to-table food offerings, take your yoga practice off the mat and join Gillian for a silent yoga hike through the surrounding rainforest. In the afternoons, after a nourishing lunch, take plenty of time for yourself - rest; enjoy a spa treatment; explore the local beaches; try a surf class; take an excursion; or a Spanish immersion class, and return to the yoga shala before dinner for deep relaxation through restorative spinal release and breathwork practice.
Gillian’s teaching suits complete beginners as much as more advanced yoga practitioners: all levels and all ages are welcome on retreat and happily practice side-by-side. This is because Gillian teaches alignment-based hatha yoga, which means practising slowly, so that care can be taken in each pose, and each flowing, sequences of poses, to bring muscles and bones, breath and body into proper alignment. Gillian offers a joyful and careful engagement with the transformational process of self-discovery that begins on the yoga mat. Her teaching of the physical postures is always related, in an engaging and accessible way, to her current state of enquiry into yoga philosophy and what it means for humans to find relief from physical and mental suffering through the practice of yoga. Gillian incorporates Qi Gong - energy work - into her morning sun salutation classes and provides the opportunity, on retreat in the Blue Zones of the world to relate the practice of yoga to a profound appreciation of nature and the environment as an aspect of a healing process that quickly enables participants to quite literally feel that they are ‘coming back to life’.
The remote and unspoiled beauty of the Blue Zone of the Nicoya Peninsula, with a stunning combination of rain forest and Pacific Ocean beaches in Nosara, provide the ideal location to retreat, and rest in an appreciation of the planet and the wonder of life unfolding all around. Costa Rica is a country at the cutting edge of so many global trends, which makes it the perfect destination to learn more about how humans can live well and sustainably on the planet. National commitments to green energy; protection of wild lands, rainforest and biodiversity; and investment in education and health, without a permanent standing army, make Costa Ricans justifiably proud of being ahead of the curve when it comes to environmentalism and sustainable tourism. With coastlines on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica is famous for its biodiversity, volcanoes and beaches. Roughly a quarter of the nation’s land is made up of protected jungle, teeming with wildlife and in August, during the period of the retreat, the Pacific Coast is the best place in the world to observe Humpback Whales ‘wintering’ with their young in the warm tropical waters.
Provisional Retreat Programme
Morning Sun Salutations - 7-9
Breakfast 9.30am
Silent Hike 11am
Lunch 12.30
Evening Spinal Release 5-7
Dinner 7.30 - 9
A day off during the week will be dedicated to an optional group excursion.
Accommodation (a discount is available if booking two weeks)
Week One
Treetops King Room Ensuite - shared patio deck - double occupancy - £1250 per person per week - Room booked
Treetops King Room Ensuite - shared patio deck - double occupancy - £1250 per person per week
Treetops Queen Room Ensuite - single occupancy - £1150 per person per week - Room booked
Treetops Queen Room Ensuite - single occupancy - £1150 per person per week - Room booked
4 x Bodhi Casitas each with two Queen bedrooms - shared bathroom - outdoor lounge - shared occupancy, each Casita sleeps 2 - £1200 per person per week - Two Rooms Booked - Six Rooms Remaining
1 x Dorm - triple occupancy - £900 per person per week
(Another dorm may be added by special request)
Week Two
Treetops King Room Ensuite - shared patio deck - double occupancy - £1250 per person per week - Room Booked
Treetops King Room Ensuite - shared patio deck - double occupancy - £1250 per person per week
Treetops Queen Room Ensuite - single occupancy - £1150 per person per week - Room Booked
Treetops Queen Room Ensuite - single occupancy - £1150 per person per week
4 x Bodhi Casita Queen bedrooms - shared bathroom - outdoor lounge - shared occupancy, each Casita sleeps 2 - £1200 per person per week - Two Rooms Booked - Six Rooms Remaining
1 x Dorm - triple occupancy - £900 per person per week
(Another dorm may be added by special request)
What’s included
Luxury jungle accommodation at the Bodhi Tree Resort for 7 nights/8 days
Three delicious, organic, locally sourced meals a day for your entire stay
Two 120-minute yoga and meditation classes day in the stunning open-air shala with ocean views
24 hour unlimited access to the salt-water infinity pools
Additional activities
An optional boat trip is often a highlight of being on retreat with Gillian - a chance for the whole group to enjoy a change of scenery on the water - and enjoy together the thrill of a more intimate exploration of coastline and ocean environment. The boat trip will be offered on the day that is free of yoga practice and for those who wish to explore what else the resort and local area have to offer, there are a variety of experiences available including:
Zipline/canopy tour
Paddleboarding
Horseback riding
Immersive Spanish lessons
ATV tour
Jungle/waterfall hiking
Boutique shopping
Weather and Travelling in Costa Rica
The travel experts in Costa Rica suggest July and August as the best time to visit, because this is the period described locally as the ‘second summer’. This means less tourists, quieter beaches and the days are sunny on the pacific coast even though it is rainy season. Sunny days, hot temperatures and tropical showers once or twice a day are a beautiful combination in a rainforest environment by the beach in a luxury yoga resort. To find out more please consult the local travel experts’ website: Costa Rica Guide
Many people will want to organise travel and adventures in the USA, or Central and South America around the yoga retreat. Others will want to take a tour of the incredible scenery of Costa Rica before or after the retreat. If you would like to join a tour with others, or have your own bespoke adventure organised, please consult the travel specialists at Costa Rica Guide and quote: “Blue Zone Yoga Retreat: Bodhi Tree”.
Travel Options
The closest international airport is Liberia (LIR), about 2.5 hours away from the retreat centre. Airport transfers from Liberia to the retreat can be organised by Bodhi Tree. Once you have booked your flights, let Gillian know, so that group airport transfers can be organised.
There are a number of different ways to travel to Liberia, for example, stopping off in the USA, or stopping off in various European destinations on the way. You might want to track flight prices on Google Flights, or join Jack’s Flight Club or dowload the app on your phone - Secret Flying - for cheap flights and special offers.
Direct Flights from the UK - via British Airways - travel to the largest international airport - San José - on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some guests are flying into San José on the Wednesday and taking a mini-tour of Costa Rica ending in Nosara for the start of retreat on the Saturday.
Tip: If you’re flying into San José, you can take a small plane directly to the airstrip in Nosara. Sansa Air offers daily flights starting at $80 that will get you there in less than an hour. Bodhi Tree airport transfers can also be organised from Nosara, which is just a twenty minute drive away. Let Gillian know if you would like to take this option. Note that during the rainy season small planes can be delayed, or cancelled, so you are better not to depend on the small plane to Nosara or to San José on the day of the start of the retreat, or on the day of a return flight to Europe from San José.
Some guests will prefer to take a shared private 4 x 4 transfer from the retreat to San José airport (5 hour drive) early in the morning to catch the direct flight back to London on either the 15th or the 22nd August. Let Gillian know if you would like to find out more about this option.
Nosara is located about halfway down the Pacific coast in a remote section of the Nicoya Peninsula. San José (SJO) is about 5 hours’ drive from Nosara. From either location, the drive is along well paved highways for most of the way until about an hour outside Nosara when the road turns to rough dirt (four-wheel drive essential at this time of year).
You may wish to fly into San José, either on a direct flight, or via the USA, and then enjoy the adventure of an organised tour, or go wild and take a road trip over a few days, arriving at the retreat centre after having taking in the stunning scenery of Costa Rica. For example, Gillian is flying into Miami from London, and then into San José, taking a road trip to Nosara over five days, and flying home from Liberia, via Miami at the end of the retreat. She is then flying home from Liberia, via Miami, to London. There are so many different ways to travel depending on your preferences, but if you are unsure please email Gillian for more advice.
If you would like to join a tour with others, or have your own bespoke adventure organised, please consult the travel specialists at Costa Rica Guide and quote: “Blue Zone Yoga Retreat: Bodhi Tree August 2020”.