Return to Puerto Vallarta: An Adventure of Yoga, Zen & Flow
Discover New Perspectives of Mind & Body along Mexico’s Famed Pacific Coast during the Free Soul Festival
Returning to a festive Puerto Vallarta, ready to unwind thru Yoga.
Holiday With Intention.
Breath in. Hold. And breath out. Feel the stillness. Breath in again. I sit with legs crossed, lotus position, and eyes closed as the early morning birds begin their joyous song. It’s six am. A new day in paradise. My mat creates an oasis above the dew on this freshly cut grass. On the beach, just a few meters ahead, gentle Pacific waves crash ashore almost lullabying me back to sleep. But no, I’m awake and present while forming my intentions for this practice, for today and for this weekend’s Free Soul Festival, an indulgence of yoga, mindfulness and music in Puerto Vallarta.
Over the years, Puerto Vallarta has been an easy, go-to, get-away destination. A short flight from Los Angeles carries me a world away. But it’s safe to say, my prior trips have been more MTV Spring Break than Eat, Pray, Love. My ratio of tequila shots to vinyasa flows done here; let’s just say, there’s always time for new beginnings. I’ve returned to this beachside city, halfway down the western coast of Mexico, with an open heart, ready to experience it from a new perspective.
The Free Soul Festival brings together not only acclaimed yoga instructors from around the world but spirits of every level of practice, each descending on Vallarta with their own stories, desires and goals. Me, I’ve come to reconnect to my body, my mind and my soul. It’s not as if anything is going particularly wrong in life; just that over the course of the last couple months, I’ve lost sight of what is important. I’ve lost sight of what thrills me. Add those general frustrations to a physical injury keeping me from running, the activity that gives me the most joy in life; and well, a weekend immersed in reflection, positivity and serenity is highly welcome.
Practicing Pranayama Meditation at Sunrise.
Letting Go.
Arriving just last night, I immediately was thrust from my world of fill-the days-to-the-brim routine into one of calm, flexibility and relaxation. Walking into my first event was a bit like that first day of class at a new school; a full order of excitement with a side trepidation, but here school yard clicés were replaced with warm, welcoming hugs of inclusion. I met Jessica Doll, photographer, nonstop traveler and badass runner, as we set up our mats and prepare for a movement meditation.
With the festival having begun earlier in the day, fellow participants linger while enjoying refreshments. Some slowly pace the room. Others sit in small groups chatting about earlier sessions. Occasionally someone extends an arm into the air and gracefully recoils it back. A leg stretch leading to a pointed toe. Jessica and I sit on our mats patiently waiting for the session to begin. 45 minutes in we learn the mediation is already in practice. Really? It is? When did we start and what are we missing? Turns out movement mediation isn’t the hands at prayer, guided meditation so many of us are accustomed to. The goal isn’t to reach any particular pose, but rather to fill our existing movements, any movement, with thought, intention and awareness.
I share a small laugh with Jessica, giving up my predetermined conclusions as Raoul Diaz, Kintra master, floods the room with traditional Indian sounds courtesy of a harmonium. Raoul introduces us to a mantra which we then chant back. With each repeat the intensity, the focus, the joy builds until no one in the room is left sitting still. This communal celebration of song reaches down to the gut and soothes in such a way that my heart can’t help but smile. Fully transported to another space; soaring high in the moment, my first event of the weekend comes to a close.
Evening Kirtan with Raoul Diaz at the Free Soul Festival.
Reaching For Enlightenment.
That smile again paints my face as the misty, ocean air of this early Saturday morning fills my lungs. Bodies warm, minds calm and spirits energized, we practice pranayama meditation, a deep awareness of quality of breath and the way in which it moves throughout the body. Feeling this life-giving force within sets the tone for the day, one of positivity, gratitude and enthusiasm.
It’s been years since I’ve attempted two yoga sessions in a day, if ever at all, but a yoga, mindfulness and meditation weekend seems like just the place to try. Midmorning Jessica and I attend Forever Strong, a class guided by Jacob Manning, Yoga Master and Inspirational Creator. After flowing through a series of sun salutations, Jacob challenges our bodies to stretch, find our limits and push beyond those limits if only for second. During this intense vinyasa session, I test the strength of my left calf, my running injury, while breathing into the muscle. I hold and then release both the breath and some lingering, built-up tension. Is it just my imagination or am I gaining movability again?
For an entirely different session we move from the poolside at our host resort to the Malecón, a mile-long promenade hugging the ocean in the heart of the city. In the midst of vacation revelers, traffic horns and beats echoing from nearby clubs, we sink deep into our poses during Healthy, Happy Hips with Robin Martin, a two hour sunset session. Yoga, like little else, directly connects the mental state to that of the physical with distinct areas of the body playing unique roles. It’s said that when we open our hips we feel past traumas and current anxieties. These emotions come to the surface as I sit with, accept, and let them go. Focusing on this spiritual work, the sounds of the city aren’t distractions but rather soothing notes added to an internal soundtrack that reaches an emotional peak as I forgive myself for believing my life should be something other than what it is. The lack of motivation, direction, fulfillment I’d been having, it’s all ok. It’s ok to relax and let the cycles of life take us on a journey.
Feeling rejuvenated I join Jessica back at the Malecón just hours later for a Sunday morning sunrise session. Laying on my mat, eyes to the sky, the contrast is not lost on me. Here I lie, center of the city, in peace and tranquility with a couple hundred other yogis. Even in a resort destination, all too often we force ourselves to check off activities as if we’re squeezing every last drop of lime into our margarita. Gotta make sure we get it all in, every last drop. With the sunlight creeping closer and closer to our mats from the rooftops above, we twist into an extended side angle lunge. I survey the range of diverse attendees, together reaching inward as we release the bind and reach outward, taking our bodies and minds on a journey toward a greater enlightenment.
Sunday morning begins with Yoga on the Malecón, Puerto Vallarta.
The Cycle of Now.
Back at the hotel I decide it’s time to try running again. I’ll do what I can, push it till it’s uncomfortable and then pull back; that’s the plan anyway. As ready as I can be for the unknown, I step onto the treadmill. Yes- the treadmill. I know how most of us feel about the treadmill, but for me it’s a controlled setting on which I can experiment, challenge and, when the mind fully lets go, immerse myself into a meditative run. Nice and easy, slow but steady, my feet alternate bouncing lightly off the belt. One mile leads to two, three, four, five and surprisingly, six. Running further than I have in a month, I smile in relief into the giant mirror walling the front of this fitness center. But it’s not just muscle tension released; gone is what feels like two checked bags of luggage crammed with mental anguish.
I realize the anxiety I’ve been putting myself through for not being able to run, for not being excited about life, only serves to reinforce my inability to run and my inability to feel enthusiasm. My mind informs the physical as I allow the physical to inform the mind. An endless cycle stuck in the now, until this moment standing sweaty in a few hundred calories burnt, feeling a million pounds lighter jolted out of my existing patterns.
Arriving to the village near Xinalani before a short walk to the secluded retreat.
Retreat To Refresh at Xinalani.
The Pacific sprays as our lean, fiberglass speedboat cuts through Banderas Bay. The Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, Puerto Vallarta’s famous backdrop, glimmer in the hot, humid air. A new day begins. A new adventure awaits. We race toward Xinalani, a secluded yoga retreat and eco-resort twenty minutes down the coast, inaccessible by land. I can’t help but feel anticipation as if I’m being let in on a secret paradise. I imagine a real-life incarnation of The Beach, a favorite book and movie of my teenage years, minus the food rationing and mercy killings. There’d be no young Leonardo DiCapro killing a shark while swimming here!
Instead we arrive to an incredible series of luxurious, palm-thatched casitas built high into the mountain side. At the base a large beach club, lounge bar and sand terrace nestle a cliffside pool and private beach below. What is this place? I’ve gotten the sense of stepping from one plane into another only a couple other times in my life, but the wonder, the euphoria, I feel as we explore the property takes me to another dimension. It’s as if someone took all those childhood dreams of what Paradise should be and turned them into an adult, tropical playground of health, wellness and discovery.
With only the day at Xinalani, Jessica and I indulge with a large, vegan breakfast. Overlooking the bay, we chat with new friends about their holiday retreat. Zip-lining through the jungle, deep-tissue massages, snorkeling, surfing and kayaking along the coast; I’m struck with just one, coffee-bean-sized morsel of jealousy. Ok, maybe more…but no need to fret. We head to one of the six, spectacular yoga spaces for a private session. Practicing sun salutations in this open-air treehouse, midday breezes gently tickle my face while dolphins dance at what seems like an arm’s length distance out in the ocean.
The feeling here is magical. Standing tall, confidently, in Tree Pose, an overwhelming sensation of gratitude rushes through my body. This practice is a celebration of breaking through self-imposed obstacles and coming out on the other side. I give thanks for this stunning location while feeling the culmination of a long weekend’s worth of practice; the practice of yoga, but also the practice of living in the present moment, leaving self-criticism, cynicism and apathy behind and instead embracing love for nature, others and myself.
Ryan stretches tall in Tree pose at Xinalani.
Moving Forward Anew.
Melting into shavasana, the always rewarding corpse pose at the end of every yoga session, I can’t help but smile with the Universe; a small internal chuckle of “but of course” as my palms face the sky. “But of course the Universe brought me here.” After weeks of pain, both physical and mental, I was led to Puerto Vallarta’s Free Soul Weekend, to recover. It took a detachment from the ordinary world, everyday routine and habitual ways of thinking to alter the course. Eyes closed with body feeling not separate from the world, but of it, I see with a fresh perspective; Puerto Vallarta as a destination for health & wellness, and injury as opportunity that when cared for, learned from and nurtured, serves not to hold us back, but to make us stronger. In disconnecting, I discovered the harmony of connection.
Waves crash onto the Xinalani private beach. Prints & much more available at Society6.
More Hidden Adventure. A Vallarta Travel Tip:
While in Puerto Vallarta take a day, preferably book the first boat out to explore Mexico’ famous, hidden beach. Playa del Amor, part of a recently named national park, Parque Nacional Islas Marietas, is a wonder of the world that every adventurer should see. A short swim through a hollowed, volcanic rock system will leave you in awe of Mother Nature. Naturally caused, or formed by deliberate government test bombings in the early 1900s, these islands hold UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. Plan ahead -book ahead- as daily visitors are limited. Enjoy!
Ryan arrives to Mexico’s Hidden Beach after a short swim.
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