13. Dominical and Flying Yoga Massage

Dominical turned out to be a really cool little surf town with a great relaxed vibe and some nice people.  One main dirt road with a selection of restaurants and shops, a few other roads that led to the smoothie cafe, hotels and the eco laundry.   Close to Bamboo YogaPlay was a fresh fruit stand we would get a pipa (coconut) most days, apparently natures own electrolyte drink!  There were the usual market stalls at the edge of the beach with arrays of sarongs and local jewellery.   I liked it there so much I decided to extend my

stay by a couple of days...a trend that you may notice develops as this story unfolds...!   Not leaving until the Tuesday (22 February), not only gave me a chance to enjoy some more spectacular sunsets over Dominical Beach and have more beach time, I also got to have another ‘flying yoga” massage with Whakapaingia (Whaka) David Luke.

Luckily for me, Whaka and his wife Sara and their beautiful baby Kotahiataahu (Tahi) were in Dominical for the month of February.  Usually based in Venice in LA, Whaka is originally from New Zealand.  During the “Awaken the Wild Woman” retreat, the breaks we had gave us the opportunity to take advantage of other services offered through Bamboo YogaPlay.  I had met Whaka the day I arrived.   In addition to the obvious affiliation of being from the same side of the world, the energy that I felt as he walked passed me turned my head and I knew there was something special about this person.    When I discovered he gave massages I booked in immediately.  Okay they called it a Flying Yoga Massage.  I had no idea what flying yoga was but I was game, and by all reports being “flown” by Whaka was amazing.  I had no idea how amazing!  It was perhaps the most amazing massage I have ever had.  I had to completely trust and surrender to Whaka and it was easy.   I felt I definitely travelled to a place of peace during the massage.   It felt so good afterwards my body was humming and did so for a long time after the massage had ended.  It was much more than just a physical experience.  So much so I booked in for another before I left Dominical.  This time the massage was on the beach, so to hear the ocean as well enhanced the experience even more.



View from Costa Paraiso



Okay if this is so good, maybe I should try to learn it for myself...particularly as Whaka and Sara were running a workshop on the Sunday afternoon when the retreat finished that morning.  So over 2 hours we got the opportunity to learn the basics, be flown and fly others.  Okay so you don’t become an expert in 2 hours but my partner Bob from Denver who I met that day and I did just fine.  Yes I flew him and he assured me he was at least 160lbs but its not about strength really, its about trust and getting the technique right.  I also flew another guy, Bryce, who was even bigger than Bob.  Man it was fun to realise you can actually do this when you are a 165cm, 62kg female! 

Now the workshop was great but not only did we learn how to fly but we got invited to pizza and movie night at Costa Paraiso,  a resort just down the road in Dominicalito.  It seems that Bob was one of the owners and Bryce was the chef....pretty good networking, don’t you think!  Anyway the girls and I headed out there and we had a great night, two of us being the last to leave of course!

Of course I don’t have any photos of my flying yoga massages or the workshop but if you are interested to see what it actually is and find out more go to www.kohayoga.com and see Whaka and what he does.  I highly recommend having a massage if you hear he is anywhere near where you are!

So after my second massage I just chilled in Dominical the rest of that day and tried to sort out what time the local bus actually left to go back to Quepos on the Tuesday.  Always a bit of pot luck as “time table” has a different (or maybe no meaning) in some places here.  Finally I managed to decipher  (with my limited Spanish) it was somewhere around noon.  It also seemed to be scheduled to take 2 hours which seemed excessive seeing as Quepos is only 40 kms away!  The bus from Jaco to Quepos only takes 1.5 hours and thats 70kms.  I also picked up 2 new pairs of bikinis for $7 each....bargain, yes indeed!  I really needed these as whoever thought that going to Costa Rica with 1 bikini was a good idea (me) was wrong.  The original pair are practically worn out!



Dominical Beach



When I did catch the bus the next day about 12.30pm (not too far off), we got about 15 minutes out of town and we were stopped by the police.  I don’t know about you, but when anything like this happens it makes me nervous even if I don’t have anything to worry about.  The police came on the bus and walked from one end to the other.  We all must have looked a bit dodgy as we were then told to get off the bus (all in Spanish again, well it was the local bus after all!), line up with our hand luggage in front of us and the dogs gave it the once over.  At the same time other police where doing the same with dogs over our luggage that was in the hold of the bus.  Finally we were given the all clear and allowed to get back on the bus!  The trip didn’t quite take 2 hours but I could see how it might given that the stops were very close together and that makes a lot of stops over the next 40 kms!  The rest of the trip was uneventful and I arrived back in Manuel Antonio feeling wild and ready for the next adventure.

Sunset over Dominical