Balancing act

I should be excited for my trip but instead I'm completely freaked out and filled with trepidation and dare I say it, fear. I began planning this yoga/surf/volunteer retreat in early March--and short of a day tacked onto a long weekend, have not had a real vacation since Christmas. After the brow beaten winter we had (I've never shoveled so much in my entire life!) and the nonstop flow of projects at work, this has been my beacon. I've held onto the challenge of surfing, the daily yoga and give back to the community like a talisman, to replenish my soul. The uncertainties of the last few weeks mainly sparked from the debacle with the car, has left me raw. And now I need this retreat more than ever.

The retreat is hosted by Holly Beck at an ecolodge on the Western Coast of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a Central American nation located south of Honduras and just north of Costa Rica, and the mere mention of the country as a destination raises eyebrows from family, friends and strangers. It's not a country on my bucket list, nor is it one I ever thought to even consider visiting. I'm by no means an adventure-seeker of extremes, but there was something about Holly's program, Suave Dulce that appealed to me. (Check out the video that sold me here.)  I'd like to think it was the mix of soul searching and exercise--you spend mornings learning to surf, afternoons in yoga practice and volunteering within the local community--the practice of giving back to others, restoring balance to yourself, readjusting the karmic nature of things. I've been swimming in preparation, my own self-induced training circuit, with a yoga class or two in between; I'm ready as I'll ever be and am looking forward to where this journey will lead me.