Journey #51 – Costa Rica
My first visit to Costa Rica became both quality sightseeing trip and happy meditation sessions. I've met new friends and received very warm and loving hospitality, which will remain for the years to come.
University for Peace
Arriving at University for Peace we were received by Charles Skinner which is the Director of the Peace Activities at that institution. The session was meant to last for an hour although we extended a little bit more but unfortunately there was no more time on their busy schedule. I introduced myself and the concept of meditation linking it with how meditation can help produce social changes in societies. I had to rush a little bit and not give many details because of the little time and then we started the meditation.
It was on Friday when almost all of the students leave the premises very early or just take the day off so as to enjoy the weekend or start preparing their tasks for next week so actually just 1 class out of 5 were present at the university and out of that 1 class less than half of it stayed while the rest left as soon as they finished.
We meditated for around 35 minutes and after the session I enquired about the kind of experiences people had and they all agreed on having a relaxing and pleasant session, some of them manifested they felt their bodies disappearing or very light and soft.
Kramer Yoga
The idea of this “talk” was just to address on the surface the topics that we were going to talk about the next day on the paid workshop. I introduced the topic of meditation and gave basic guidelines about the practice, then we meditated for around 30 minutes and after that I briefly mentioned some of the benefits about meditation, why we should do it, the impact on our mind and some tips to improve our lives with the technique but did not get to deep on any subject since the idea was to leave them with the willingness of knowing more about it.
We meditated for around 30 minutes and after the session. People all agreed on having a relaxing and pleasant session.
Kramer Yoga
We separated the whole workshop in 2 segments. The first one took around 2 and a half hours in the morning and we addressed topics as THE MIND and its functions, how to meditate properly, the process of meditation and the purification of the mind, how the 4 universal values help us on our meditation practice. In between all this topics we had 2 meditation sessions of around 25 minutes each. In the afternoon I explained more about the benefits of meditation, how to create positive habits, the 4 responsibilities, peace energy and law of karma & attraction. We had again 2 meditation sessions in between of around 30 minutes each.
People felt completely relaxed and still, seeing colours or light, feeling their bodies disappearing or having the feeling they were not here, absolute happiness and stillness. A man said he felt dizzy at some point and I explained him why could that had happened.
Alquimia Book Store
The session went very well and the number of people attending was beyond our expectations! I introduced himself and the technique at first, then we meditated for around 35 minutes and then I wrapped up talking a little bit about the benefits of meditation and why I was recommending everyone to try it by themselves. We also opened for a couple of questions before finishing. Everyone was very happy and we got a very nice feedback in general. They all managed to relax, to feel light and soft and to even feel like their bodies were disappearing. It was a very interesting session since we were meditating in the middle of a big mall while people were coming and going around us.
Andrea's Group
I met Andrea back in the Europe fellowhsip and he has been very much involved with what we do and trying to join us every time he can. After spending some time with us in Honduras and when he knew we were going to be in Costa Rica by the time he and his group were going to be there as well he manifested his intention to have a session with us and fortunately we were able to arrange it. Charles Skinner drove us to the place where he was staying and we just had a meditation session with him, his cousin and his students. I just briefly talked about the technique and guide the session, it was a very intimate session and it was good to improve our relationship with Andrea and see in which ways we can work together in the future.