Holis Wellness Center

Auricular Therapy

Auricular Therapy is based on the principle that correct stimulation of the precise pinpoint-sized pressure points located on the ear result in a powerful healing response in corresponding limbs and organs of the body. The stimulation causes the body to release anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety chemicals and hormones. It also dilates or constricts the blood vessels to improve circulation or stop bleeding and to increase white blood count amongst many other powerful effects.

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Jim ParisiMusic Review

New Reggae Night in Costa Rica

Reggae music has become a global phenomenon, cast into public awareness forty years ago by musicians like Johnny Nash, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. But the music remains Caribbean in temperament.

In 1995, the young Costa Rican music label Papaya Music released “Costa Rica Reggae Night”, an excellent compilation of authentic Reggae music from the Caribbean coast of this country. It is a compilation of thirteen songs from well known Costa Rican bands, both past and present; it was a kind of history of notable reggae bands from this area. The album has been a big hit, selling more than fifteen thousand copies in just ten years, a remarkable feat for an independent Central American label.

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Costa Rica Yoga JournalMark GoldsteinYoga

Breath and Movement

Many, if not all styles of yoga integrate breath into their practices. I teach the Vinyasa Flow style of yoga, and we link breath to each movement we make. There are quite a few asanas, or yoga poses, that can illustrate the experience of linking breath with movement, and this edition’s pose of the month is really a pair of poses named Cat and Cow.

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Crazy From the HeatMatt Casseday

Juan Santamaría Must Be Rolling Over in His Grave

Every April 11th, Costa Rica celebrates Juan Santamaría day. On that date in 1855, young Juan helped defend Costa Rica’s northern border against the forces led by the American mercenary William Walker, whose goal was to annex Central America for the ignoble purpose of the slave trade. The image of the humble young campesino, torch in hand, giving his life to ensure that Costa Rica was not tarnished by any kind of occupying force is in the heart and mind of every kid who grows up here; so great is the remembrance of his deed that the country’s largest airport is named for him, and a large statue of him greets every arriving visitor.

Flash forward 156 years to a little piece of land called Isla Calero. Part of Costa Rica, the isla has been technically occupied by Nicaragua for the past few months, while they allegedly work to improve the navegability of the San Juan River, which flows between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, but is considered part of Nicaragua.

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Guest Writer

PAWS: What a difference an organization can make!

I’ve been coming to the Quepos area for the past 10 years and moved here over two years ago. As many of us that travel here, I fell in love with the climate, the beaches and the abundance of wildlife. However, the one thing that always broke my heart was the number of street dogs and cats and the lack of care the animals received. I was saddened that there wasn’t any way to systematically help these underfed animals that were sleeping on the street and in poor health.

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Fishing ReportJoshua StewartLuna Tours

Catch and Release

The best policy, keeps the best fish alive.

That is what anglers around the world understand about good sport fishing. Preserve the most beautiful species flipping out of the ocean has been the main goal for old and young through the last years. That is why Sailfish, Marlin, Roosterfish and some others are released every day. Captains and mates take care of every game fish during the process of boating. They exactly know what to do in order to keep them alive and calculate the time out of water. “Catch and Release” has made an important change since it has been practiced.

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Costa Rica Yoga JournalMark Goldstein

Inversions

It’s March, and a few days ago the Northern Hemisphere will be experienced it’s spring equinox, when Winter begins to turn to Spring. Many of our visitors are here from the northern latitudes, and have been going through a long cold winter. The arrival of spring launches growth and new beginnings. Many of you reading this are ex-pats from up north, and have experienced huge changes by relocating to Costa Rica. This brings up this month’s subject and pose of the month. Change: how to create it, embrace it and how to use yoga to make it more meaningful.

During the third week in March, Earth reaches it’s tipping point on a geological scalewhich will initiate Spring to our north and Autumn to our south. Simply put : What was up becomes down, and what was down becomes up on a globalscale, and this creates massive changes.This brings up our Pose(s) of the Month: Inversions. An inversion pose is one that gets you upside down. A pose when your heart is above your head, or at least your feet are up into the air.

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Cooking Corner

Curried Chicken Burgers with Quick Mango Chutney

It’s mango season! During this time of year mango trees are literally dropping fruit at your feet. Monkeys, parrots, iguanas, butterflies, & humans feast on them and yet, if you’re lucky enough to have a nearby tree or two, you’ll still find yourself actually tripping over fallen mangoes. Don’t let that fruit go to waste. If you don’t have a tree handy you can buy them cheaply at the supermarket, the farmers market, or off the back of a truck.

Here’s a quick recipe for Mango Chutney that will last about a month refrigerated & goes great on Curried Chicken Burgers (below). Make the chutney before you start the burgers so it has time to cool to room temperature.

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Jack EwingNature and Local History Stories

Lencho’s War

1948 is a special year in Costa Rican history, but its significance was perceived differently by different people. If you were on the winning side you would remember it as a heroic revolution. The losers would call it a power grab. Most outside observers saw it as a bloody civil war, and none of the participants will ever deny that it was bloody. Today everyone recognizes that the single most important result of the war was the abolition of the Costa Rican armed forces six months after its conclusion.

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Kids Saving the Rainforest

KSTR Update

Kids Saving The Rainforest has been very busy with lots of great news that we want to share with you.

We now have our official Zoological Garden license. We use this license for our wildlife sanctuary to house any wildlife that can’t be released back into the rainforest, animals that would have to be euthanized if we did not care for them. Currently there are over 20 monkeys protected at the Sanctuary which is called the Kids Saving The Rainforest Educational Center.

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Carol VlassoffPersonalities in Our Midst

Adrián Vallí

Picture a modern-day combination of Paul Gaugin, Pablo Picasso and Jacques Cousteau living in Manuel Antonio, and you may be imagining a real personality in our midst. Adrián Valli, known to most as “Adrián, the artist from Argentina,” paints, sculpts, carves and experiments with different art forms in his jungle studio in El Lirio, Manuel Antonio.

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