Pura Vida
Our family has been through quite a bit over the last two years. In fact, tomorrow will be exactly two years since Hurricane Harvey changed our lives. And the last two years have been quite a roller coaster, both personally and professionally.
Lots of simple, quiet downtime is definitely our prescription.
I’m writing this from Costa Rica. Sitting here in this beautiful, lush, green, tropical space my husband and I are nurturing ourselves and de-stressing. Some hiking to beautiful lookouts where we can rest and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. Lots of journaling and meditation time. Sitting and watching sunsets. It’s all very good for the body and brain.
One of the things that I notice is how calm and unstressed everyone seems here. Seriously, it’s unbelievable how relaxed and friendly and calm it feels here. The Costa Rican’s, they call themselves Ticos, have this concept called pura vida. It means pure life, or simple life. They use it for everything. Hello, good bye, as a conversational interjection to say everything is okay. They even use it instead of saying cheese when taking a photo. It’s a philosophy of being happy for what you have and not stressing. The Tico version of Hygge - I imagine. I also see connections to the Dutch idea of Niksen. It’s certainly a less-stress mentality.
As I slowly sink into this environment and it’s pura vida vibe I realize that we could all use more of this. We get too riled up about things in our everyday lives. Yes, life isn’t perfect. Yes, things are sometimes stressful and overwhelming. But that’s not all there is. The calmer, more peaceful moments are there, too - ticked away into the corners of our everyday lives. I encourage you to find your own pura vida. To include meditation and mindfulness as one of the
#IngredientsForAHealthyLife. Let’s all seek ways to stress less and slow down.
Be mindful, eat well, be well,
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