After an extended summer stay in the Hamptons filled with parties and lots of houseguests, I found myself in need of a little self-care at summer’s end. Not the Instagram inspired face-mask-selfie kind of care, but more of an everyday healthy ritual – something to jumpstart a routine that would keep my mind and body in balance.
The timing was perfect when I opened an invitation from my friends at Haute Yoga to join them in Costa Rica for their annual ladies’ retreat. I immediately accepted! The Haute Yoga tribe is quite a special and unique group. The women are genuinely encouraging of one another, and being with them is empowering in a very nurturing way. Owner and founder, Holly Miller Weston, lives life authentically, and she inspires everyone around her to do the same. Instructor Katherine Wilder’s joyful, playful approach to teaching and living is absolutely liberating and quite infectious. These ladies truly take their yoga off the mat and into their lives.
The Bohdi Tree is a little sanctuary in the jungle of Costa Rica where we shared nutritious, local food, daily yoga classes, meditation, a bit of surfing, and lots of belly laughs. Being ensconced in nature and living a little closer to the Earth where I could be a bit more in touch with myself was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The meals we shared at Bohdi Tree were delicious, and dinning alfresco added to the charm of our gatherings. The focus on fresh ingredients is something I embrace at home, but the emphasis on vegan options was particularly inspiring to me. Some of us newbies fell in love with the scrumptious vegan chocolate brownie cookies that appeared on the buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner! The ladies who had been here before admitted to taking bagsful of cookies home. I took both the cookies and the recipe back with me.
My Cosa Rican jumpstart worked! I’m now practicing yoga regularly, meditating as often as possible, and more than seventy-five percent of my meals in any given week are vegan. But, I also reconnected with an idea I’ve often espoused – celebrate life often! Sometimes that means belly laughs with your girlfriends and sometimes it just means a hot cup of tea and a scrumptious chocolate brownie cookie, vegan of course!
Yield: Makes 35 cookies