Mindfulness, Meditation & Yin Yoga 

Your everyday life is filled with doing…

You rush from one place to another.

You say you want to meditate more, practice more Yoga, contemplate life,

spend less time on your phone, and have more meaningful time with the people around you.

And yet, somehow, another day passes and many of those things remain intentions.

Sometimes what you need is a different set of conditions.

This retreat offers the place, space and time for just that.

Nestled in the jungle on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Vida Asana will be your home for seven days,

while the practices you explore together become gateways on the journey back home to yourself.

There will be plenty of time to rest, and allow what you practice to settle,

as well as opportunities to venture out and experience the beauty of Costa Rica with mindfulness as your companion.

Because moving from doing to being doesn’t mean doing nothing.

Sometimes it means creating the conditions to do the things that bring you closer to yourself.

Is This You?

You may spend much of your time practising, teaching, preparing and holding space for others. 

Imagine having seven days where you don’t need to lead or achieve, but can simply receive.

 Through the spacious rhythm of the retreat, you’ll have time to rest, practise and experience what becomes possible when you move from doing towards being.

You may already be interested in meditation or mindfulness, but find it difficult to make these practices part of everyday life. 

Imagine having dedicated time to explore them without having to squeeze them into the edges of your schedule. 

Through guided meditation, breath, Yin Yoga and contemplative practice, you’ll develop practices you can more naturally return to at home.

You may have explored Yoga deeply through movement, anatomy and the physical body, while feeling curious about what lies beyond it. 

Imagine experiencing meditation, mantra, stillness and mindfulness not only as ideas, but as lived practices. 

This retreat gives you space to deepen your relationship with Yoga and reconnect with your inner life.

You may also be curious about the “why” behind contemplative practice—not interested in accepting ideas at face value, but in exploring what you experience and drawing your own conclusions. 

Your Schedule

The final schedule will allow for both structure and spaciousness. A typical rhythm may include:

• Morning practice with sound, breath and meditation.
• Dharma talks and inquiry rooted in the Bhagavadgītā and other sacred texts.
• Yin or Yin Yang practice, including themes related to emotion and organ health.
• Free time to rest, reflect, swim, walk or enjoy the venue.
• Guided relaxation, chants and songs, including the possibility of a Yin Yoga lullaby.
• Time for community rest, conversation and integration.

The purpose is not to fill every hour. It is to create a rhythm in which study, practice and restoration can support one another.

The intention is to offer both substance and spaciousness: enough study to engage a curious mind, and enough open time for the learning to settle into experience. 

Please note that this is just an overview and the final schedule with ALL details will be provided before our retreat.

Residential Retreat + Optional 50-Hour Pathway

This is first and foremost a seven-day residential retreat.

For practitioners and Yoga teachers who would also like to complete a 50-hour certificate, an additional online programme of study and practice will be available separately from the retreat investment.

The online component is designed to help you establish and sustain these contemplative practices in daily life, without turning your seven days in Costa Rica into an intensive training.

A 50-hour Yoga Alliance Continuing Education pathway will be available as an optional addition.

The Gifts of the Retreat 

This retreat is an invitation to come home to yourself through the fuller experience of Yoga.

You’ll have the space to:

• Move from doing to being, allowing your practice to become less about achievement and more about presence.
• Deepen the contemplative side of Yoga through meditation, breath, mantra, stillness and inquiry.
• Experience mindfulness not as another idea to understand, but as a way of meeting yourself, your practice and the people around you.
• Befriend your mind and nervous system with greater patience, compassion and curiosity.
• Explore Yoga beyond anatomy and the physical body, opening into its emotional, philosophical and subtle dimensions.
• Rest without needing to justify your rest or turn the retreat into another act of doing.
• Be a student again, even if you regularly teach others, and receive from the practice in a new way.
• Return home with a deeper sense of connection and simple practices you can continue to live with.
• Explore meditation through both experience and understanding, discovering what genuinely supports your own practice. 
• Move from collecting more techniques to developing a personal practice you can actually sustain in everyday life.

What’s Included

Your retreat experience will include:

• Six nights & seven days of residential retreat at Vida Asana, surrounded by the rainforest, river and natural beauty of Costa Rica.
• Full room and board (three daily meals). 
• Morning practices with sound, breath and meditation, creating a gentle way to arrive in the day.
• Dharma talks and inquiry exploring the Bhagavad Gītā, the Yoga Sūtras and the deeper dimensions of practice.
• Yin and Yin Yang practices supporting both physical release and a more subtle relationship with the body, mind and emotions.
• Guided relaxation, chants and songs, with space to soften, listen and let go.
• Optional, a 35 hour Yoga Alliance certificate applicable as CE with Yoga Alliance or  towards 300h Axis Functional Yin, Yang  & Yoga Teacher training.
• Time to rest, reflect, explore and enjoy the spaciousness of Vida Asana and its surroundings.
• Shared meals, community practice and the simple pleasure of being together without needing to perform.
• Moments of laughter, conversation, silence and connection that emerge naturally when we share this kind of space.

Accommodation and meals are intended to be part of the residential retreat experience. Final room options, dietary information, airport transfer details and any optional training or certification pathway will be confirmed in the final registration details.

What’s Not Included

The following are not included in the retreat package:

• Airfare or other travel costs for your journey to and from Costa Rica.
• Airport or local transportation not specifically listed in the final registration details.
• Personal expenses such as souvenirs, phone calls, laundry, additional meals or other purchases.
• Optional excursions, tours, massages or activities outside the retreat programme.
• Personal, medical or trip cancellation insurance.
• Any optional training, continuing education or certification pathway unless specifically selected and included in your registration. 

I’m Your Retreat Host, Kathy Páez…

I was born in Costa Rica and, as a third-culture child, intermittently called it home while growing up. But it wasn’t until recently that I began to understand just how deeply this place had shaped me.

I came to Yoga in my early twenties, initially looking for a way to meet anxiety, low-self esteem, and the busyness of my mind. What began as a personal practice gradually became a path of study, teaching and discovery that has now accompanied me for more than two decades.

My journey took me from Costa Rica to Barcelona, and from teaching regular classes to studying the deeper dimensions of Yoga. Along the way, I found teachers and teachings that changed the direction of my work, especially Paul and Suzee Grilley and their functional approach to Yin Yoga. I later became a long-term assistant to Paul Grilley, an experience that continues to inform the way I understand the body, practice and inner life.

Over the years, I’ve studied functional anatomy, skeletal variation at dissection labs, Sanskrit at the University of Barcelona, Yoga philosophy, prāṇāyāma, chanting, mudrā and chakra meditation. I’m the author of Yin Yoga: Potential in Stillness, the founder of 2Y Functional Yoga School and an anatomy teacher trainer at Mount Madonna Center.

But my work is not only about what I’ve studied or the teachers I’ve learned from. It is about bringing these different strands together in a way that feels clear, grounded and alive: the physical body, the subtle body and the part of us that is always listening beneath the surface. I also often refer to it as leading and living with soul & science.

Returning to Costa Rica to share this retreat feels meaningful to me. It is an opportunity to come back to a place that holds part of my story, and to invite you into a practice that has taught me, again and again, how to come home to myself.

I look forward to practising with you there.

If This Retreat Is Calling You, Reserve Your Place Today

If you’ve been longing for more space, a deeper connection with your practice, or the opportunity to step away from the demands of everyday life, this retreat may be the place to begin.

Your place will be confirmed once your deposit has been paid. You’ll then receive everything you need to prepare for the experience.

If you feel that this retreat is what you’ve been looking for, you’re welcome to secure your place with the deposit or get in touch with any questions before registering.

Investment & Early Bird Pricing

The Early Bird price for this seven-day residential retreat is $1,995 USD per person, based on shared accommodation.

Early Bird pricing is available until January 18, 2027. After this date, the regular price will be $2,295 USD.

A $450 USD non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your place. This deposit is applied towards the total retreat cost and is not an additional fee.

If you prefer a private room, this is available for an additional $300 USD.

Booking Process

1. Choose your room type and place your non-refundable deposit of $450 USD. This deposit is applied toward the total retreat price and secures your place.
2. Under the standard payment plan, the remaining balance will be divided into two equal payments:
   • 50% of the remaining balance due by January 19, 2027
   • Final 50% of the remaining balance due by March 20, 2027

This means that your retreat will be paid in full well before departure.

Participants joining later may be offered an adjusted payment schedule, subject to the specific registration arrangement. In these cases, the full retreat balance must be paid by June 25, 2027.

If you would prefer a custom payment plan, please get in touch. I’m happy to discuss the options with you, but all retreat fees must be paid in full before the retreat begins unless a different written arrangement has been agreed with the Retreat Organiser.

For full information about cancellations, refunds, payment terms, travel insurance and other conditions, please review the Costa Rica Retreat Terms & Conditions.

Simply place your non-refundable deposit below to hold your spot. If you would like to discuss a custom payment plan, you can also book a free appointment with me.

Cancellation Policy & Travel Insurance

Payment & Refund Terms

The $450 USD deposit is non-refundable and is applied toward the total retreat cost.

More than 180 days before the retreat start date:
Payments made beyond the $450 USD deposit may be refunded or transferred as credit toward a future retreat or training offered by 2Y Functional Yoga School.

150–180 days before the retreat start date:
50% of payments made beyond the $450 USD deposit may be transferred as credit toward a future retreat or training offered by 2Y Functional Yoga School.

Less than 150 days before the retreat start date:
No refunds or credits will be issued.

This international retreat requires advance venue payments, planning and financial commitments made on behalf of the retreat organiser. For this reason, we are unable to make exceptions to this policy, including for illness, injury, changes in schedule or other personal circumstances.

The participant is responsible for reviewing this cancellation policy and purchasing appropriate travel insurance before completing registration.

We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance that includes trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical expenses and emergency assistance. This can help protect your investment in the retreat and your travel arrangements.

Please note that travel insurance is the participant’s responsibility. We recommend reviewing the policy carefully to ensure that it provides appropriate coverage for your individual circumstances.