Healing from Grief at a Costa Rica Yoga Retreat: Carly’s Story

Carly arrived at Blue Osa with one goal in mind. She wanted to feel something again.

At just 32 years old she experienced the unthinkable, losing her husband Jordan in a tragic accident, catapulting her into a grief and pain she could not explain. Like so many who find their way to Blue Osa, Carly came here not with an itinerary, but with a broken heart and a quiet, desperate hope that healing from grief was still possible for her.

What transpired over the next few days was an absolute miracle and a blessing to witness. And lucky for all of us, Carly was brave and open enough to share her story with others who may be walking the same path.

Finding Blue Osa: When the Right Place For Healing From Grief Finds You

“It found me,” Carly said, when asked how she discovered Blue Osa. “I was searching for wellness and spa retreats in Costa Rica and I came across it and the reviews were amazing and the name just spoke to me.”

She booked the trip without a plan, just a knowing that she needed to get away, be alone, and find herself. It turned out that the day she arrived at Blue Osa was exactly three months from the day she lost Jordan.

“I was seeking answers and I wanted to feel life again. I wanted to feel something inside of my heart that I hadn’t felt in three months.”

The First Morning: Letting Go of the Phone and the Need to Perform Grief

Carly arrived with her phone, feeling obligated to share everything with worried loved ones back home. But Blue Osa had other plans.

“I realized, first off there wasn’t good Wi-Fi and second off there’s no way to describe the experience here. There was no way a picture could show what I was feeling.”

She walked back to the beach without her phone, watched the sunrise in silence, and noticed a woman who hadn’t moved in twenty minutes. “I knew it was something special.”

That morning silence, one of Blue Osa’s most beloved daily rituals, became one of Carly’s most treasured discoveries. The simple, radical act of beginning a day in stillness rather than stimulation.

Healing from Grief in the Meditation Temple

Carly had never meditated before arriving at Blue Osa. But something called her into the temple.

“When I walked into that temple, I just felt like I could lay everything out to Mr. Ganesh that I was feeling. It’s like he was listening. I felt so much more of a positive presence.”

For those healing from grief, the meditation temple at Blue Osa offers something rare, a container of complete stillness, where there is nothing to perform, nowhere to be, and no one to hold it together for. Just you, your breath, and whatever needs to be laid down.

“I felt more open and free to talk about things and just understanding your soul and what truly makes you happy, and not being so fearful of what won’t happen but be open to the possibility of things that can happen from something really terrible.”

Nature as Medicine: Healing From Grief with Excursions That Became Turning Points

The Dolphin Boat Ride

On the dolphin excursion, Carly found herself in tears, telling another guest how lost and unable to feel she was. The guest told her that love is always present, that Jordan was always with her, inside her heart.

“And then all of a sudden that’s when we started seeing all these dolphins and we were just surrounded by them. The validity of what she just told me and then what I was actually experiencing, it was a good moment.”

The Boa Constrictor in the Mangroves

When their guide spotted a boa constrictor, Carly’s first instinct was to run, snakes had always been her deepest fear. But a guide shared something that shifted everything: the snake in many traditions represents the healer, energy movement, and growth, because they literally shed their skin to grow.

“I got closer and realized he wasn’t so scary. In that moment I realized that all things are possible. Sometimes you just have to embrace the unknown and the fear inside of you and see it in a new perspective, like transformation and growth.”

She left the mangroves with a piece of shed snakeskin, which she gifted to Mr. Ganesh in the temple. Healing from grief, it turns out, sometimes looks like a woman in a Costa Rican river, holding a snakeskin, laughing through her tears.

The Matapalo Waterfall Hike

Alone with a guide, sweating while treading along the muddy trail, through a creek, then a short yet steep peak, Carly found a waterfall at the end. The challenge of this short train was reflective of the process she found herself in over and over again while healing from grief. It will be uncomfortable, challenging, demanding with the ups and downs.

“It’s a reminder that all hard work pays off. When I was in the waterfall I had this aha moment, when you find love in yourself there’s always a light, and when there’s a light there’s always a path.”

She floated on her back, butterflies everywhere, and felt it for the first time in three months of healing from grief, there can be moments of peace.

“In that moment I felt like I knew I could live again. I felt life again. I felt fulfilled.”

Community, Connection, and the Gift of Disconnecting

One of the most unexpected gifts of healing from grief at Blue Osa was the community Carly found, a group of strangers who became something far more.

“Everyone’s here for their own reason and trying to find their own path in life. And we all kind of intersected to help each other. I feel like I’ve known you for years and we’ve only known each other for five days.”

Without constant connection of Wi-Fi pulling her attention outward, Carly discovered what it felt like to actually be present with the people around her, to have real conversations at dinner, to share real moments without the pressure of documenting them.

“It’s your moment. Stop trying to take a picture of things and just experience them.”

What Carly Learned About Healing from Grief

On her final morning at Blue Osa, Carly was overflowing with clarity, with gratitude, with a quiet new confidence that life still had something extraordinary in store for her.

“I’ve never been sad to leave a vacation. I’m usually ready to go home. But the tools I’ve learned here are gonna help me have a really successful life.”

She left with a practice, a perspective, and a piece of wisdom she wanted to pass on to anyone else standing at the edge, into the unknown of how to move on while healing from grief.

“When you are in the process of healing from grief it hits you like this really raw and really profound, deep pain. But you can either dig a hole and bury yourself in it, or you can use it as a catalyst to bring new opportunities to your life. You just have to take that first step and trust the process.”

Healing from grief is not linear. It is not quiet. Sometimes it is dolphins and snakeskin and waterfalls and a meditation temple in the Costa Rican jungle. Sometimes it is floating on your back and looking up and remembering, for just one moment, that you are still here and your life is still worth living.

We are so honored to have been part of Carly’s journey. Her radiance, her courage, and her willingness to leap, 6,000 miles into the unknown, left a mark on Blue Osa that we will never forget.

Your Blue Osa family will always be here for you, Carly.

About The Author, Yogi Aaron

Yogi Aaron is the founder and creator of Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™ (AYAMA), a revolutionary methodology that challenges conventional approaches to yoga. Using a science-backed approach, he prioritizes muscle activation over traditional stretching. 

With over three decades of dedicated study, mentorship, and hands-on experience, he has established himself as a leading expert in yoga therapy, alignment, and pain-free movement.

As owner and operator of Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa in Costa Rica, Yogi Aaron leads transformative programs that combine his expertise in yoga instruction, retreat facilitation, and wellness business operations. His work spans both in-person immersive experiences and digital education through The Yogi Club online platform and the AYAMA™ Certification Program.

Yogi Aaron’s teaching methodology represents a paradigm shift in modern yoga practice. AYAMA focuses on activating and engaging muscles to enhance range of motion, build strength, improve stability, and optimize alignment—while reducing pain and injury risk. This evidence-based approach has positioned him as a thought leader challenging the status quo in the yoga community.

His mission extends beyond the mat: to liberate individuals from chronic pain and guide them toward discovering yoga’s authentic purpose through intelligent, body-informed practice.

Learn more about training opportunities with Yogi Aaron at Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa.