Pura Vida

In Spanish, "pura vida" translates to "pure life."  A great description is below on a friend's coffee mug:

If anyone else has been to Costa Rica, I'm sure you've seen the term everywhere.  It's the country's coined slogan.  In my 6 weeks so far in Costa Rica, I've reflected a ton on this phrase -- experienced it and lived it.

For anyone who didn't know what I've been up to this past month, I came down to Costa Rica for an extended stay to be a helping hand with my friend's adventure retreat company -- Run Like a Girl.  It's been an indescribable adventure that I'm beyond grateful to have been given the opportunity to experience.  It came at just the right moment in my life when I was ready to welcome a change and a wild ride, and to sum up 2017 for me.

It's been a big year (doesn't it seem like every December we think that?!); I finished up my second round of school with an accounting degree and moved to a ski town that I thought I wanted to plant deep roots in.  Plans don't seem to often work out the way we want, and God shows us that our ideas for ourselves are not always in line with what He's thinking, too.  So, I closed a major chapter in my life, broke down, left Vail, and wondered what on earth I should do with my life and where I would go next.  I like routine and stability, and my life had turned upside down -- I guess my version of a quarter-life crisis.  I knew I would end up back on the front range at the right time... it's homebase, but I didn't want to go straight back to there.  I wanted a detour.  One strong conviction I have in my life is that when an opportunity is presented, take it.  I didn't run away, but I followed my heart and did what was best for me and my soul at this sudden and new point in my life.

As content as I am with my blessed and comfortable first-world lifestyle, I've always wanted a chance to live in another country for an extended period of time -- and Costa Rica has been that chance (I hope it's not my only one!).  My favorite part is that I'm getting to skip most of the winter season from up north in the States :)  I could sit in the sun and let it warm up and soak into my skin all day.  Sometimes I wonder if I was a lizard in another lifetime, because if I'm not in direct sunlight, I'm usually cold.  It's the life source of planet Earth.  It's my life source.

One major difference I've experienced down here, that I've reflected the most on, is that my energy levels have dramatically increased.  And no, I don't think it's because I've had an endless supply of Costa Rican coffee at my fingertips.

Photo of Hailey, taken by the talented Kate Arnold.

Back home, I would say that I ate pretty healthy and clean.  I strongly advocate for balance, so I made sure I got enough sleep, fruits, veggies, proteins, chocolate, and ice cream in my diet.  I always sleep so good -- ask anyone that's had a sleepover with me; I sleep like a mummy... literally.  I don't move, and it's very rare that I wake up in the night.  Even though I ate healthy, exercised, and slept like a rock, I felt like I was always tired.  I saw a doctor and got blood work done, but everything was normal.  I got a salt lamp in my bedroom to detox at night, and that helped a little.  But, my eyes always felt tired and I'm always ready for bed by 8pm.  It didn't seem quite right.

The daylight hours down here in Costa Rica are pretty consistent: the sun rises around 5:30 am, and it's broad daylight by 6.  The sun starts to set around 5:15, and is pitch black dark by 5:30.  You go to bed and rise in the morning with the schedule of the sun.  It's great; I get my required minimum 8 hours each night, and then some :)  

But, I knew it wasn't just the sleep and coffee giving me so much energy.  When Hailey, Kate and I would talk about when or where we wanted to run that day, sometimes they'd mention they were still a little drained from the day before and say they needed a more low-key run (but I was still dying to keep up with their "low-key!")... they're much stronger runners than me, so I'd get a butt-kicking workout anyway, but the next day I'd be recovered and wide awake and ready for the next workout.  It was strange, I've never had this much energy before.  Was it this mysterious phrase of pura vida in my life?!

When looking at all the factors in my life that contribute to health and wellness and energy, the only thing I can think of is that the food I've been eating down here -- the rice and beans, the backyard chickens' eggs, the fresh-from-the-ground garden veggies, the fresh squeezed blend of juices from all the abundance of fruits here... it has to be that.  Like I said, I ate pretty well at home, or so I thought... but I didn't always buy organic produce.  I'm a pretty good label reader and try to buy products with ingredients I can pronounce, but the food market in the states is a freaking scary one.  If you haven't seen the documentary Food, Inc., find a way watch it.  It'll destroy your life.  The chemicals... all the toxic chemicals that we eat...

It made a strong impression on me when it came to my dairy and meat purchases, but eating the way you really want to is sooooo expensive.  I had to prioritize my food convictions, and buying organic and local produce was what I compromised on.

This very morning's harvest

The last week I've been able to stay in an eco-community with a dear friend outside of Orotina.  There is a community garden that you take your basket to each week and it's filled with all sorts of fresh, green, delicious fruits and vegetables.  I wish I could live somewhere with a year-round growing season, because I've always wanted my own garden someday, and this is simply amazing.  Straight out of the backyard -- nothing added, all organic, and a 5 minute walk away.  That's how most of the food I've eaten the last 6 weeks has been, and I've never felt more energized and alive.

Photo by Hailey Van Dyk

Pure life.  That's what it is.  Living in a jungle, eating the fruits of the earth, soaking in all the sunshine, dripping (literal) gallons of sweat in the heat and humidity... it's detoxified and healed my soul, and my body.  I miss Colorado, my friends, my family... but this part I never want to leave.  It's my biggest (and only, really) fear of resuming my normal life when I come back.  I don't want to lose all my energy, because I've never felt more alive!  All I can do is to try and bring as much of pura vida back with me.  Even though it's expensive, I definitely will be strongly convicted to eat pure and organic food back home.

Want to experience pura vida for yourself?  I promise it's life changing, and there's no part of it you'd regret.  Live life to your fullest, heal from the inside out and outside in.  Click here to see for yourself.

Photo by Kate Arnold

Photo by Kate Arnold