What price are you willing to pay for a view? - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #2

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because, well let's face it, most of us don't stick with them longer than a month or maybe two, if we are really dedicated!

This year I decided to try it again. I'm not calling them "resolutions" though, I am calling them

 "goals that I aspire to" 

There are 4 of them

The 1st one is

 Start walking everyday - up and down the ridge. 

This I do with my my friend Verdette. She is back in Costa Rica and staying with us until July --

 and she LOVES walking the hills.

 I am totally motivated and enjoy walking but I absolutely suck at walking up steep hills! 

I am 8 yrs older than she is (which I think can make a big difference when you are over 65) so I am using that as my  excuse reason for lagging behind her on the hills. WE have agreed that she should just go on ahead of me and I will catch up. That seems to be working out OK so far.  Anyway, although I welcome the exercise, I mostly enjoy walking and listening to my music and enjoying the beautiful scenery. 

Today I got to thinking...

what price are we willing to pay for a beautiful view in the states?

Of course it depends on the city, but back in the states on average

An Unobstructed View from a High Elevation adds at least  (9% – 12%) to the cost of the house

Here in Costa Rica, there are beautiful views just about everywhere!

Locals build houses perched on the side of a ridge and enjoy its beauty on a daily basis. 

Very peaceful and beautiful. They don't have to pay an arm and a leg for it either!! 

It's part of life here.

Just like it should be!

Reminds me of a beautiful painted postcard

I'll share the rest of my "goals" in another post

For today, here are a few more pictures from our walk 

(oh - also - in one shot you can see Verdette way down the hill ahead of me and in another she comes back to find me - I had stopped to take some pictures. we also met up with my neighbor and another lady from my yoga class as we approached our turnoff)

What price...for a view? from Devon on Vimeo.

Alternative Health Forum - Grecia Costa Rica

Sunday July 23 marked the 1st alternative health forum held in San Roque de Grecia and hosted by Jeanetta Owens.

In general, the term “alternative therapy” refers to any health treatment not standard in Western medical practice.

Technically, “alternative” treatments are used in place of conventional medicine; when used alongside standard medical practices, alternative approaches are referred to as “complementary” medicine.

The field of alternative therapies is diverse: It encompasses practices spanning diet and exercise changes, hypnosis, chiropractic adjustment, and acupuncture.

For more alternative health info you can also follow my page Awakening to Wellness on Facebook

Grecia Alternative Health Forum

Purpose - The forum (which will be held on a monthly basis  - subject to change based on participation) is an opportunity for expats and the local community to connect with others and share knowledge, experience and products to help improve overall health through alternative practices. As we get older we instinctively begin to pay more attention to our health, but why put it off ?

Begin today no matter what your age and live a healthy happy life -- 40, 50, 60, 70 and beyond!

July 23 - Invited speakers

Dr. Lazaro Gonzales - Ozone Therapy San Roque Abajo

Gil Monge - Owner Ruta Sana Natural Market  (Organic fruits, vegetable, products)

Ser La Luz Retreat Center - Owners Michael & Ed 

Lavanson Coffey - Applied Kinesiology 

Melaney Phillips - Earth Matters - Owners Melaney & Catharine Phillips (natural predominantly organic wonderful goodies for the body and home)

Don Baker - Anti Aging

Logan Thompson - Holistic Solutions ( Consultations, Alternative Therapies, Seminars, Training, High Potency Supplements, Chemical Free Beauty Products)

Lucy Watler - Attorney at Law

Johnny Walker - Liposomal Vitamin C
Dr Sherman Thomas - Forum Interpreter - a graduate of the University of Costa Rica, PhD in the Philosophy of Chemistry 

If you are interested in attending one of our forums or would like to be a speaker or have products, services or advice to share please leave me a comment or email me at urbandoggs@ gmail.com or for questions and/or reservations please call Jeanetta at 506 2494 0970 CR or 786 363 9036 US.

Hope to see you at the next forum!

Below is a video of the 1st forum

Alternative Health Forum from Devon on Vimeo.

A Simple Life Expectancy Test - Our Life in Costa Rica

Today's post might seem a little off topic, but not really. If you are going to be around long enough to retire (and beyond) you have to take care of yourself and make sure that you do everything you can to stay in shape, which in turn will help you live longer and be stronger.

Living in Costa Rica is different from living in the US in a lot of ways.

If you live here, especially in some of the mountainous areas (where a lot of expats live) you are going to encounter hills, uneven grade, unexpected dips and lots of potholes. On the hills and the slopes you will see many locals walking and riding their bikes. They take these hills like they are nothing (of course they are used to them) but, if your body is not up to par you aren't going to be able to deal with it and might find yourself scurrying back to the U.S.

There are many ways to stay in shape, yoga is just one of them.

Kim & Mayela on our last incline (there are 2)

Friday was the 1st day we walked the 2nd leg of our journey to the community center (Mayela drove her car on Mon & Wed). Since I have to walk up a steep hill just to get to Mayela's, I get a double work out.

After class some of the the gals stay to do a little cool down and some push ups

There is some controversy about the balance test below but I think we can all agree that musculoskeletal fitness is important. Everything we do relies heavily on our ability to balance. As we age, we gradually start to lose our muscle strength, vision and sensory perception – all things that contribute to our ability to balance. As a result, our mobility can be compromised and lack of mobility can lead to falling, which can lead to a whole new set of health issues.

I would not encourage anyone with bad knees or back issues (or if you are too frail) to try the test below. The rest of you - give it a try! Young & old alike.

The good news is that physical balance is a learned skill that can be maintained and improved by practice. 

What is your balance like?

Here's me

Balance Test Yoga Day #3 from Devon on Vimeo.