Sandra Jersby is known as the Elite Stretch Therapist of Los Angeles. Sandra’s unique approach to recovery is widely popularized amongst many, from professional athletes to novice exercisers. Her extensive knowledge, in several different recovery methods, has allowed her to adapt to each client with an individualized program geared to their specific needs.
If somebody listening has never had Thai massage. How would you describe Thai massage to them?
Sandra Jersby
The first thing that pops into my mind is it is a meditation, in flow, a meditation in movement. And through that meditation, your body is taken through difference stretches. They’re receiving palm pressing. It’s not a massage with oils although it could be in certain modalities. But it’s more palming and pressing to move the energy around your body to help remove blockages. Also switching up the rhythm and tempo at the same time relaxing your nervous system. When your nervous system is relaxed, usually your muscles and joints will let go. It kind of takes you into a theta brainwave stage. So that’s why I call it meditation and flow, because your mind really relaxes. When that happens, then everything else let’s go. So a lot of the tension that we may be holding on to we may not need. It doesn’t require much force and we may just need to relax. The Thai massage moves help your body to let go and relax. We are relaxing also while we are moving you into these stretches. It’s more of a welcoming from the body like I am willing to let go and receive. And then also with the Osteo Thai, we do a lot of mobilization of the joints as well. So it’s a lot of circumduction basically moving in circles, that helps to open. We bring in this fluid movement , like we know from yoga. And we also do a lot of traction movement, like pulling to help create that space. So the combination of all these different palming the pulling, the stretching, helps to open up the body. And a lot of times people have never experienced in being in a lot of these positions. So even that is an experience like, oh my gosh, I didn’t know my body can go in all these positions. It feels invigorating and recharging at the same time being taken on this journey. The experience of all these different flows and directions and upside down. And so that in itself can be just a huge energy boost after receiving Thai Massage.
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Check out this discussion with Jeremy Strickland titled Jin Shin Jyutsu in Rishikesh. Jeremy practices and teaches Yin Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu bodywork in Rishikesh, India. Enjoy stories from the heartland of yoga as Jeremy speaks about the power and efficacy of Jin Shin Jyutsu therapy.
During this conversation Jeremy speaks about:
How he decided to live in Rishikesh?
Cranial sacral therapy and massage.
The convergence of traditional Chinese medicine and astrology.
Feeling the pulse of the heart.
Living in the yoga capital of the world.
The wildest thing he’s seen in India.
Jeremy’s bio: Jeremy Strickland is a yoga instructor with a 500 hr RYT certificate from World Peace Yoga School, Rishikesh, India. He brings a light-hearted approach to asana practice, lifting spirits and making the complicated simple. His background is over 20 years as a Certified Massage Therapist in the USA, with a focus on Craniosacral Therapy and the esoteric art of Jin Shin Jyutsu physio-philosophy.
Well, welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. I’m so happy that you are here. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Jeremy Strickland. Jeremy is a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, which is a form of manual therapy utilizing contact points or points of awareness of the pulse in the body. And he is also a yin yoga instructor. He resides in Rishikesh, India, originally from USA, he has a website, check them out at yinyoga1.com. And you can also find him on the IG the Instagram with the handle @yinyoga_jinshinjyutsu. And of course, those links are in the description. Wherever you’re listening, just give a little click and I’ll take you right over. So happy to have this chance to introduce you to people that are experts in the field of yoga, and bodywork from all over the world. Remember that if you would like to practice with us here at native yoga center, in the description and links below, there’s a link for you to join to try two weeks of unlimited live stream yoga with us for free, you can join us for the classes that we offer to the public on a daily basis. And also every Thursday on YouTube Live, I do a free webinar where you can ask questions and so I have a different topic each week. And you can join in and ask questions via the chat box. So there’s a link there as well. You can click on that, check it out. And remember to go look for Jeremy on his website. yinyoga1.com. I hope you enjoy this discussion. Enjoy some cool stories from the other side of the world. Alright, let’s begin. I’m super excited to have the chance to speak with Jeremy Strickland. He’s a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, also a yin yoga instructor. And he’s joining me today from Rishikesh, India. Jeremy, how are you doing today?
Jeremy Strickland
I am fabulous. It’s really exciting to be here.
Todd Mclaughlin
Oh, thanks, man. I’m really excited to have a chance to talk with you. First of all, I’m really curious, how did you land in Rishikesh India and managed to not leave?
Jeremy Strickland
Well, all by happenstance, just before India, I was actually living in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, and I had been there for eight months, I was my first time living outside of the US had had a big life change just before then. And was kind of not doing much of anything, just experiencing life in a new culture, studying language and what have you. And I thought I would get a yoga teacher certificate. I practiced vinyasa and bodywork for 20 years and I have dabbled in and out of yoga classes and had a pretty decent Ashtanga experience at one point. And as I was just out traveling, I thought I should get a yoga teacher certificate so I can see if I can make something happen, you know, and I was going out with a yoga instructor at the time in Vietnam. And she told me to go to Rishikesh. Yeah. And so I just did some research and it was cheaper to fly here and do a 500 hour program than it was to do anything in Vietnam or anything around there. So two weeks later, I’m in Rishikesh, first time in India. I had signed up to do a 500 hour program and ended up staying because I’m familiar with the meridian system that they’re using in yoga. And so the manager of the school that I was out when she found out that I knew the theory fairly well. She said you should stay and teach Meridian theory and the yoga teacher training which is very cool. And so I took off after my program for a couple of months and worked in Nepal and Thailand and traveled around a bit, and was about to start looking for something and she messaged me again. She was like, hey, what are you doing? She said, “You should come back here and do the 100 hour and yoga teacher training and start teaching meridian theory.” And I thought, it sounds like a good opportunity and came back and did exactly that at the beginning of 2019. I was teaching three, four or five classes a day couple of drop in classes, some Meridian theory in the 10 day teacher training program, up until COVID. And then when COVID happened, locked down was pretty intense here. But I didn’t want to go back to the US. And so I just ended up staying nice.
Todd Mclaughlin
How does it work in relation to your work visa? And then with COVID? I know a lot of folks that move to Indo and usually have to do a visa run after either a six month or one year period. Did that enable you to not have to do visa runs?
Jeremy Strickland
Yeah, well before I was just on one year tourist visas. And on the US you have to leave every six months. Yeah. And then we’re just do like a border run to Nepal. But when COVID happened, you they stopped making you leave the country and you did everything online for a while. Yeah. And then eventually, when they started kicking everything back in again. They gave everybody exit visa and told people to leave and so I left and got them. I was the first time and then I went back to the US for five months. That was the first time I’ve been back to the US and like four years.
Todd Mclaughlin
Are you around visiting family and came back like eight months ago? Are you originally a San Franciscan?
Jeremy Strickland
No. Well, originally I was born in Ohio, just for a couple of years. And then I was pretty much raised in small town in Texas. Henrietta, Texas.
Todd Mclaughlin
Yeah, very cool.
And you have a 20 year bodywork history?
Jeremy Strickland
Yeah, I stumbled into massage school when I was about 19 or 20 years old or something.
Todd Mclaughlin
That’s cool. And what is that story?
Jeremy Strickland
So I actually I had when I was a teenager, I was detailing automobiles. My dad was in the car business. My whole life was a child. And so I wound up at 19 years old, I was like detailing cars, grungy, dirty work, didn’t know what I was going to do with my life or anything. And my dad had started managing a bunch of PT schools at this time, and I came home one day and he had a female friend. And I was complaining about being dirty and sweaty and grungy and not liking my work. She said, almost verbatim. She said in six months from now, you could have a manicures license and be working in an air conditioned salon wearing nice clothes and holding hands with girls all day long. And sure enough, six months later, I’m in a salon polishing fingernails and giving manicures and pedicures. And at one point I see a reflexology chart by the pedicure stage. And that was the first time I’d ever seen that or that concept. Yeah. And so I thought, well, I should maybe learn how to do some reflexology, if I’m giving people foot massages for pedicures or whatever. So I called the local school and asked if there was a class. And I say, Well, we talked about it in our massage training program. But we don’t offer it as an individual class. And so soon thereafter, I’m signed up for the massage therapy program. And I went to that was in 1995.
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Check out the new podcast with Caitlyn Burkhardt titled Transformational Breathwork. During this podcast we discuss topics like:
How she became inspired to practice transformational breathwork?
The pros and cons of Ayahuasca and breathwork.
What is transformational breathing and how does it work?
How breathwork helps with depression and anxiety.
The four pillars of trauma release.
Nutrition training and training.
Caitlyn has worked in the wellness industry for over 15 years and embodies whole health by nourishing her mind, body, and spirit using all of the same tools that she offers her clients. She is a Transformational Breathwork Facilitator, Polarity Therapist/energy medicine provider, massage therapist, and functional mobility coach. By offering these well rounded services, she seeks to empower people through knowledge, self discovery, and movement so that they may better care for their bodies and love themselves just as they are.
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. My name is Todd McLaughlin. And I have the pleasure of bringing Caitlyn Burkhardt on to the channel today. And so check Caitlyn out at her website, bodacitysportandsoul.com. And also her instagram name is at @bodacity_ sportandsoul. She’s going to be teaching a Transformational Breathwork workshop here on Sunday, March 5, just two days from now. If you’re listening to this after March 5th, don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be having her back. You can join in via zoom no matter where you are. It’s gonna be 1:30pm Eastern. We cover all this to throughout the conversation. So on that note, I’m so excited to have you here. Caitlyn, how are you doing?
Caitlyn Burkhardt
I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Todd McLaughlin
You’re welcome. You know, today is this podcast release and in just two days on Sunday, March 5 at 1:30pm Eastern, you’re going to be offering a Transformational Breathwork workshop here at our yoga studio. But it’s also going to be live streamed so that some anyone can join anywhere in the world. So I’m excited to have you on the podcast today just to introduce our listeners to you and to you our listeners and learn more about what you’re interested in. So I’m curious, can you first of all, tell me how you got inspired to practice transformational breathwork and or study transformational breathwork?
Caitlyn Burkhardt
Sure. In a nutshell, I basically was suffering from really chronic suicidal depression and nothing worked. I had been in therapy for like 25 plus years, I’ve been on and off medication. And I had always taken really good care of myself like physically. And so when I started to feel suicidal and sad again last year, I was like, “This just doesn’t make any sense.” Like I shouldn’t be feeling indifferent about living. And so I tried, I decided to do something different. And I booked a retreat down in Costa Rica, where I did ayahuasca, but they also offered us two breathwork journeys on the first day and the last day. And so that was my first experience with Breathwork. And the second like that, after that first class, I was so blown away with the results of it. I was like, I have to learn how to do this to give this to my clients.
Todd McLaughlin
Nice. Amazing. Can you explain? There’s a lot there.
Let me let me first dig back a little bit on into at what point in your life was depression something that was apparent that you had? Like, are we going back to high school days? Are we going back to like, eight years old? When do you remember having that recognition that I have something that I’m trying to deal with here? That’s serious?
Caitlyn Burkhardt
Yeah. Yeah. It started well, it started with eating disorders when I was like around 11. And then my behavior started to also spiral. But the depression probably reached its peak in high school, and I was hospitalized for that and my eating disorders three times. During high school. I was put into foster care because my behavior was so uncontrollable that my parents were like, we can’t keep her home. I was engaging in very risky behaviors. I never did drugs, that wasn’t my thing. But I was like hitchhiking and hanging out with pretty bad people. And just putting myself in harm’s way, like pretty regularly. And so, um, depression and anxiety just became like, a part of my life forever. After that, I maintained therapy with two therapists. And it would kind of come and go, like, I would manage it and be like, Okay, I need to make an appointment with my therapist, and then it would just, but it was never like gone, it was always there. And as an adult, I have suffered from Adrenal Fatigue, which is basically when like, you have a nervous breakdown and your whole your nervous system gets so over fried and overworked that your body kind of starts to shut down. Yeah. And I just decided back in 2020, to like, the everything I’ve tried so far, isn’t working, like why don’t I feel better yet. So going to that retreat in Costa Rica is a place called Arrhythmia. It’s a medically licensed retreat, and they actually code a lot of data on everybody that goes there. And one of the most interesting facts they told us is that they turn away 22 people a day from doing Ayahuasca journeys, which is a pretty hardcore psychedelic plant medicine. Yeah. So they have to turn away people daily from there, for whatever reason, medical or whatever. And those people, they gave them five nights of Breathwork instead, and all of them have the same exact outcomes and comparable experience that we all had taking the Ayahuasca. Yeah, it’s powerful. And I can attest to that. Yeah.
Todd McLaughlin
So you had the opportunity to participate in an Ayahuasca ceremony as well? When you were not under the influence of the Ayahuasca you also underwent these breathwork sessions? And then if you were to make a comparison of the experiences from each, what were the pros and cons?
Caitlyn Burkhardt
So the way that plant medicine and breath work, the way that they work on your brain is actually very similar. Because there’s basically you have your amygdala, which is like your fear center of your brain that holds a lot of your emotions. And then you have your logical center or prefrontal cortex. And normally, they’re not talking to each other. They’re just like this one, the fear, one is getting information first. And then this one, the logical one gets information second. And when you’re doing ayahuasca, or plant medicine, or breathwork, what happens is those two parts finally converge. And so you’re kind of able to have a conversation with parts of yourself, like as a third party, so you can go back into a moment in your childhood and go, Oh, I didn’t have the capacity to handle this as a child because I wasn’t in control. But now I’m an adult, and I can see how this story no longer serves me. I’m gonna let that go right now. Yeah. And the other thing about plant medicine and breathwork, the way that they’re similar is they’re deeply somatic. So it’s a very visceral experience with both of them. However, with Ayahuasca, you’d purge a lot differently, like there’s vomiting, there’s, there’s pooping, and you’re stuck. So when things start to get too heavy, you’re stuck on that trip for like, who knows on 6,10, or 12 hours sometimes. And with breathwork, you are much more in the driver’s seat, because you can just switch up your breathing. And you can take a break if you need to, and then go back into it when you’re ready.
Todd McLaughlin
Are you open to speak about what your Ayahuasca experience was like?
Caitlyn Burkhardt
Sure. I did four of them. While we started with breathwork on the first night, and I didn’t know it at the time, but I had three rheumatoid arthritis flare ups in my wrist, hip and shoulder. It was to the point where I was limping. I couldn’t lift my arm up and I was kind of concerned. I’m like, how am I going to be able to do anything this week? How will I do yoga? And after that first breathwork class, all three of my flares were pretty much gone. And I was able then they were gone completely the next morning. So the next morning I was fully functional able to do yoga. It was like they never happened.
Todd McLaughlin
Amazing. That’s cool.
Caitlyn Burkhardt
Yeah, yeah. Because what breathwork does is it makes you so alkaline, temporarily that all of your cells become extra oxygenated. And disease really can’t live in an alkaline environment. Yeah. So it’s like an incredible anti inflammatory. Nice. And then on my Ayahuasca journeys, what I discovered was, I mean, I just covered a lot of stuff, but like the first place we went to was back into the womb. And I learned that a lot of my depression wasn’t in fact, mine. It had been passed down to me, generationally through the womb. Yes. And so I was able to purge that and get that out. But the thing that a lot of people often mistake with things like Ayahuasca is that it’s gonna make all of your problems go away. And it doesn’t do that, because my life, in fact, completely fell apart in the next three months after returning home from that retreat.
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About Melissa Influenced in my early yoga days by concepts of Iyengar and Ashtanga lineages, Vipassana meditation, and the study of structural bodywork, my yoga practice was cemented through a dedication to the Ashtanga system which since 2003, has taken me on journeys around the world to study with senior teachers. I am forever grateful to my teachers Victoria Laws, Annie Pace, R. Sharath Jois, Ruth Harting, Lee Joseph, Christopher Beaver, Dawn Eagle Woman, and the teachings of S.N. Goenka among others for some of most my profound learning journeys. I consider my path as a mother to my daughter and puppy dog to be my greatest teacher, and greatest gift, yet. I aspire to meet my students where they are in the support of healing and growth. I am in the process of obtaining my E-500 RYT status to reflect my years of study and teaching since my initial certification with Yoga Alliance in 2011. I look forward to seeing you on the mat!
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. I’m really pleased to bring to the channel today, Melissa Friedman. Melissa is a mom. She is an Ashtanga yoga teacher. She also teaches yoga therapeutics. She is an artist, and she is a naturalist. And you can find her on Instagram @nectarofthebee. Which she also has another Instagram handle called @themedicinebeads, where she showcases her artwork, which can also be found on Etsy. If you have any questions reach out to her. And so I’m so happy that you are here. Thank you so much for your support. Your feedback is so motivational to me, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. So, on that note, let’s just go ahead and get started here. I’m so excited to have Melissa Friedman here today. And Melissa, you’re joining us from Telluride Telluride, Colorado. Is that correct?
Melissa Friedman
Yes.
Todd McLaughlin
Well, thank you so much for joining me. I have been watching you post about teaching primary series in Colorado. And so I’m really excited to ask you questions about yoga and all of those great things. I also just want to make mention that people can find we can find you on Instagram, and you have a handle called at @nectarofthebee and also at @themedicinebeads. And so I’m curious if you can first explain what the @nectarofthebee site is?
Melissa Friedman
So that’s my paintings. I’m a painter. And yeah, it’s so I had a little yoga studio a few years ago that I actually turned into a little art gallery at one point. And the art gallery was called Nectar Arts. So my name Melissa means honeybee and I’ve always had an affinity to honeybees. So a lot of the names of my things have centered around bees and nectar and so @nectarofthebees is my Instagram for my for my paintings for my artwork.
Todd McLaughlin
Cool. Did you own a yoga studio in Telluride?
Melissa Friedman
Yep, it was just a tiny little space. And I originally had opened it to do yoga therapy and just one on one work with people. And then I had other teachers using it and teaching really small classes for a while.
Todd McLaughlin
What time frame was that during?
Melissa Friedman
Um, gosh, that’s a good question.
Todd McLaughlin
It’s it’s 2023 right now. I’m kidding.
Melissa Friedman
I’m trying to think…. so it was a space I had for body work. I was a body worker for a long time I had a studio and this little space opened up right next to it in the same building. And I just kind of jumped on it and because I needed a place to do my yoga therapy and I had a space for it, but it wasn’t quite big enough. So I want to say it’s 2012. Yeah, something that too until I went on maternity leave in 2019 In so yeah.
Todd McLaughlin
And so I’m curious what came first bodywork or yoga practice?
Melissa Friedman
Um. bodywork came first. I mean I had started exploring yoga before that for sure. I probably got into meditation first when I was just like 14 years old or something like that. And so I started exploring Yoga I would say in college for a little bit. And then I think the bodywork, my interest in bodywork kind of led me into a deeper interest in yoga and just the body in general. So, yeah, I became a body worker before a yoga teacher before I was like crazy passionate about yoga. Yeah.
Todd McLaughlin
Where did you grow up?
Melissa Friedman
I grew up outside of Boston.
Todd McLaughlin
How did you find yourself landing in Telluride?
Melissa Friedman
Um, my sister, I have two older sisters, and one of my sisters moved here first. And I came to visit her and just fell in love with this area.
Todd McLaughlin
So that’s cool.
Where did you go to bodywork school.
Melissa Friedman
I went to a school called Pacific College of Bodywork and Awareness. It was in Kauai.
Have heard of that?
Todd McLaughlin
Yeah.
Melissa Friedman
The founder, Lee Joseph. He passed away a couple of years ago, a few years ago now. But he was just an amazing human being. And that was kind of where my journey started with it. And it just, you know, evolved from there
Todd McLaughlin
Was that in Hanalei, Kauai?
Melissa Friedman
His school at the time? I’m not sure if it stayed there after years after I left. It was. Have you been to Hawaii?
Todd McLaughlin
I have not been to Kauai. I’ve always wanted to go to Kauai because it’s a pretty epic surf destination.
Melissa Friedman
It was kind of in between towns. So I don’t know technically where it was. It was like in between Kappa and this the other small town. I can’t think of what it’s called right now. But it was just like it was built down a long winding road. And he had this beautiful property. And so the school was a separate building on his property.
Todd McLaughlin
Had you known that you wanted to get licensed as a massage therapist or certified and then consciously went to Kauai to study there or were you just hanging out on Kauai and realized this is what you wanted to do?
Melissa Friedman
Actually, I was living here and started looking into massage schools and I had heard about Kauai and that I had to go there. I asked around and another therapist here said oh my goodness, you’ve got to check out my teacher that I studied with and I looked at several schools and the second I had a phone conversation with Lee Joseph I just knew that he was my teacher.
Todd McLaughlin
Were the fundamentals in Swedish massage or was was he trained in everything and blended everything into the training?
Melissa Friedman
I would say that the fundamentals were more Rolfing based structural bodywork and he also part of the program was hypnotherapy. So a lot of what we did was very psychosomatic centered. You know, getting into the body and finding what was stored there emotionally and really getting to the root of why we get stuck.
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Welcome to the Native Yoga Toddcast. I’m so excited to introduce to you Lindsay Gonzalez.
Please check Lindsay out at her website, lindseygonzalezyoga.com. I’m gonna put multiple other links in the description below of places that you can find Lindsay. You can find her on Instagram, the handle @lindsaygonzalezyoga, you can also check out her yoga and surf retreat center in El Salvador Central America called Balance Surf and Yoga on a website called ElSalvadoryoga.com. They also have a website called sunzal.com. And there’ll be a couple of other links in there as well.
I’m so pleased to have this chance to meet Lindsey and to talk about her life down in El Salvador taking people surfing teaching them yoga, as a birth doula and in leading transformational breathwork workshops and classes. And so with that being said, also, if you all enjoy this show, if at the end, if you can write a quick review and or leave a rating and review. I really, really, really, really appreciate it. Thank you.
All right. So let me go ahead and let’s get into the discussion. Here we go. I’m so happy to have this chance to speak with you. This is Lindsay Gonzalez and Lindsay, you’re joining us from El Salvador. How are you today?
Lindsay Gonzalez
I’m doing well. Thank you so much for this connection.
TM
I’m really appreciative of my friend Alexandra, who lives down in El Salvador. She recently wrote me and said, “You’ve got to come do a yoga and surf retreat down here in El Salvador.” She sent me your information which led me to be able to get in touch with you. And therefore I’m so appreciative for you to take time out of your busy schedule. Can you tell me how your yoga journey began?
LG
Oh, so it’s actually come full circle in a way. I was a young girl just out of high school and I moved to Costa Rica, and kind of did it on a whim. I thought, I don’t know if I’m gonna go to college right away. But I know I need to go and get better at surfing. And so I bought a one way ticket to Costa Rica, almost over 20 years ago. Wow. And I lived on the beach with these two women that were just a few years older than me. But they were both yoga teachers from California. And they were they’re doing the traveller thing. And they had a little tiny yoga room set up. And we would invite all the local surfers over and they would teach yoga. I had come off of a life of being an athlete. I was really flexible, so they said, “Lindsay, you have to be a yoga teacher. You’re good at this.” That was the first nudge. And it’s interesting that I’m back in Latin America at this point in my life, still doing exactly what they nudged me to do.
TM
Oh, that’s amazing. Yeah, very cool. So then I’m guessing in that 20 year period, you went back to the states and then had been traveling back and forth between US and Central America?
LG
US and all over, really. I went back to the states and I said, Well, I think it’s time, I was 21. I said maybe I should go to college. So I went to college, but I ended up spending all of my time in the yoga studio, just down the road. And you know, being from the East Coast, you may have heard of Charm City Yoga? It was in Baltimore for a long time. And they recently were bought by YogaWorks. But I trained at Charm City 20 years ago with Kim Manfredi. She’s given so much love and respect over the last 20 years. She’s really been a guide in my life. Then I’ve always had this love of surf. So, you know, I was back and forth between Central America and the US and different states that I lived in in the US.
TM
Nice. And how long have you been in El Salvador now?
LG
It’s been about six years.
TM
Wow. And both you and your husband, is it Adrian? You guys work together and manage the whole center together?
LG
We do it all. Family life and work life.
TM
Nice. Do you have children?
LG
We do. Yes. Yeah, we have two little babies. Our son Luca is three and a half and our daughter, Olivia. She goes by Olivia Paloma. So she kind of has two names. But she’s one and a half.
TM
Nice. Congratulations. Did you both meet in El Salvador or here in the States?
LG
So funny enough, we met in Colorado, and he walked into my yoga class in the middle of winter. And I had just gotten back from leading a retreat in Panama. And I was telling my regular students about the event and how much I love visiting Latin America. He was just very kind and sitting in the back of the room. And he said, “Have you ever been to El Salvador?” And I said, “No, that’s the only place I haven’t been in Latin America.” And he said, “Oh, I should tell you about my project down there.” And we became friends. You know, it was a two year friendship before we before we started our romance. And he invited me down to El Salvador, actually, for a job. He invited me down to help him open and run the yoga retreat center, and really bring it to what it is now. And very quickly, we found that we would be great partners.
TM
That’s amazing. Very cool story. So what is it like running a yoga retreat center in El Salvador?
LG
Oh, gosh, it’s a lot of work. I think we have to prioritize time for surfing now, where before we did this, we would surf a lot. Yeah. But it’s, it’s really been such an amazing project to work on together. And now after being closed for about a year, we’re reopen. We have new rooms. We have a retreat here right now.
TM
That is wonderful.
LG
We have another small group of professional young surfers from Panama. So there’s a lot of life here, and a lot of good vibes. So it is a lot of work, of course, but the work is fun. I get to go surfing with the customers. So that was great.
TM
That is amazing. That sounds like the dream job for sure. Your center looks really beautiful. It looks like it has an amazing pool and rooms. I saw from looking at your Instagram today that you have a new cafe opening that is inspired and Balinese style architecture and decor. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
LG
Yes, so separately of each other. My husband and I both spent quite a few years going back and forth to Bali for different reasons. I was there to teach yoga teacher trainings and he was there to go surfing. Years and years ago he had a small jewelry business with his mother and they sourced a lot of jewelry from Bali. So he was spending time there and then finally we got to go to Bali together and when we were there together on our last trip right before the pandemic, we said this is it. We have to take as many pictures as we can and we have to remember this feeling and bring it to Latin America and then create it. We did it in a Latin American way. But I think the Balinese style is beautiful with hardwoods and natural fibers and lots of very intelligent details that make the stay feel luxurious and rustic at the same time.
TM
Nice. That sounds amazing. Did you find an architect and/or builder in El Salvador to build for you? Or is that something that you both were hands on with?
LG
Very hands on! We worked with a local architect. And we had fun meetings where we would come to her with all of these ideas, and then she would put it onto paper. And a lot of times, she would say the builders have never done anything like this before. So we’re going to be able to teach them a new skill. And that was an exciting project, even in regards to like the thatched roof in one of our buildings. The thatch is done in a Balinese style versus a Latin American style. So very different, very challenging. But it works. And it’s beautiful.
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