I'm so happy to have one of our MLPC yoga teachers on the show today. Meet Raquel from Costa Rica. Raquel entered one of the MLPC competitions and won a spot in the first 25-Hour Root Chakra course that I ran in 2021. Since then, she's been part of our community for about six months! Raquel is an Economist and she has been working in Finance for the last +6 years. Raquel is married, has two Dachshunds who she adores, and enjoy nature, hiking and yoga. Tune into this episode to learn more about Raquel. You can join her for summer season Mindful Let Go on Fridays on Zoom every week throughout July and August. Join Raquel's class at www.themindfullifepractice.com
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Follow me on Instagram @alexmcrobs and check out my offerings in yoga, meditation and coaching at http://themindfullifepractice.com/live-schedule.
Full episode
TRANSCRIPT
Intro
Welcome to the Sober Yoga Girl podcast with Alex McRobs, international yoga teacher and sober coach. I broke up with booze for good in 2019 and now I'm here to help others do the same. You're not alone and a sober life can be fun and fulfilling. Let me show you how.
Alex
All right. Welcome back to another episode of Sober Yoga Girl. I am super excited because today I have one of the Mindful Life Practice yoga teachers with me Raquel Navarro. Who's all the way in Costa Rica and I felt like we needed to have some episodes where we get to know some of MLPC teachers and learn more about them and what their passions were and what inspired them to get into yoga. And that's why we have Raquel here and Raquel's the first of the teachers. So welcome, Raquel. How are you?
Raquel
Thank you. I'm very good. Thank you. I'm very excited to be here today.
Alex
So nice to have you. And you are-- it's 7:40 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. What time is it in Costa Rica?
Raquel
9:42am.
Alex
Wow. Isn't that so cool? I like that we're able to see each other in real time and you're on the other side of the world like it's just incredible. It's amazing.
Raquel
Yeah.
Alex
So Raquel is a yoga teacher part time, and she also works in finance. And as I-- as we mentioned, she's in Costa Rica. And so I would love just to start us off Raquel if you could tell us a bit about yourself. Like your background to your childhood, where you're from.
Raquel
Yeah, sure. Well I am born and raised in Costa Rica and really well, I'm married. We were talking about that earlier. I recently got married last year right before the pandemic started. I have two dachshunds which are like this winner dogs, which I adore. They're like my kids. And I study economics when I was in college which is a lot of mathematics and like research and analyzing. And I think sometimes I idolized it before I started working on it. And that's one of the reasons that I really felt like I needed something more creative. And that's why I found my passion for yoga. So now I just super excited with my new journey on this yoga-- like business entrepreneur of spiritual practice. I'm really excited about that. I see and I have been able to explore like a new side of me that it's not like this formal business. Right? Is more like connecting with people more outdoorsy and I just adore that.
Alex
Yeah, that's amazing. It sounds like it's like a real contrast from your first job and then your other job.
Raquel
Totally. Because in finance or at least the jobs that I had that it was like for stock and research and financial notes. You really are just with the computer. You don't have any personal relationship right there just working by yourself. So I just love that, for example, in the MLPC the check-ins, you really have a connection with people, right?
Alex
Yeah.
Raquel
I just really enjoy that. Yeah.
Alex
It's so true. So tell me about-- speaking of yoga. Like, how did you get into yoga? How did you find yoga? What's your story there?
Raquel
Well, it's really like super random because really, because of this like fin-- I adored my job in finance, but I didn't like the full time finance job. So at some point, like a couple of years ago, I remember I started thinking like I don't feel like this is me for the rest of my life. I don't want to do like over time, every couple of months when there's earnings reports. And since my husband, he works in a property. He's a-- engineer. He has this like super flexible schedule. I really always like I just found like that I needed something like that, like a balance. Right? And at that point, I remember like we started just thinking about some business or something that I could have started just moving from my full job to my part time. And that's why we decided to do this like outdoor deck in the property. So I can just run the space for yoga. Right? Because I really like it. But I never had at that point like a full long practice. And when we started doing the retreats on Saturday, that's when I just fell in love with this. I think, like I find somewhere like a community and I started like really like questioning myself. If that's something that I wanted to explore. Right? But I always failed and I think that's part of like this insecurity. Like I'm going to be able to do it? Like I'm always more formal. And I was like feeling like insecure about my friends in-- like, finance will think. Right? Because it's the whole opposite.
Alex
Right.
Raquel
But yeah my husband was super supportive and he helped me built it with all of the things from the properties. Thinking some a pine tree plantation. We used like the pine trees from the property. So it was really special because we really did it ourselves. Like everything there is handmade by us. So it's really like a project with a lot of love. Yeah.
Alex
Wow. And when did you start that?
Raquel
I started that in 2020 January 23 like the first event but we built it like six months ahead of that.
Alex
Okay. Wow. And tell me about I'm so curious about it. What types of events do you do?
Raquel
Okay, so at the beginning I just online. I do look for like Instagram and stuff like that. I look for pictures that I really found that I like the buy subtly-- channel. And I remember one of the first one was the Argentine girl that is called Dani. And I think it looks like the universe is helping me with this because she really until today, like a really good friend. And I really I don't know, like every single time that I found someone, it's really nice because I feel like it confirms that I'm on the right path. Like I'm really happy every time we do it. But yeah like, basically the events are like people give like and then again. We do a hike like a one hour hike. We do a meditation on the top of the hiking trail and then we come back to the desk. We do the class. And then we do like a very small like-- what's that like, I do like a banana bread or like Vegan cheesecake or something and with coffee. And that's pretty much it.
Alex
That's amazing. And so the people that join are they local people? Is it tourists? I guess with Covid there hasn't been tourism much. Right?
Raquel
Exactly. Like tourist has been through Airbnb. Yeah. Like Airbnb. It's a bunch of the percentage of. So most of the people are from Costa Rica and most of them, they go like one time like it they're not like pulled on customers, like they come back and come back. It's more like they joined for the retreat is that like catches the ride in turn or something like that. So they go, I have a couple, they usually come back. But yeah, it's always like a student from the teachers that go or like you say they like the idea of the retreat, they visit.
Alex
Yeah. Oh that's amazing. That's so incredible. And what is your vision for your retreats in the future.
Raquel
Well, part of my decision to move part-time is because I always thought that when I had kids, I wanted to stop working in finance. So I was thinking maybe like being more on the property and upper more classes in the week. That's certainly I don't do that because I have to work in the city. So that's one idea that I want to explore. Like see how it feel because obviously I don't know. I haven't been pregnant if I want to like, still working in finance or like just move out of the city. But, yeah, like in August, I'm going to start like one, like monthly class with a--
Alex
Amazing.
Raquel
Married couple. Yes. So maybe just like a small group like in weekdays. That's something that I would like to do.
Alex
Yeah. That sounds amazing. I would love to come as you're talking about it. I'm just like we need to do an MLPC retreat in Costa Rica. Like it would just be incredible.
Raquel
That be so cool. I think Shivon was the one that mentioned that. Like I was telling her, like you should do something and I for sure will go whatever you want.
Alex
It would be amazing. Incredible. So what-- has your yoga practice helped you with? Like, what have you gotten from it?
Raquel
Well at first, really, I'm like a very outgoing and very active person. So sometimes like, I'm very-- I don't know like I get tired like, how can I say that in English? Like I burn out myself like, I tried to do all of this different stuff. So I see Yoga like really cools me down. It helps me, like, identify what is my next move. Right? And release me up any stress. I'm very like, I want to have everything scheduled. I'm very like OCB. So I think that's something that really helped me see that I cannot control stuff. I think Yoga is perfect for that because I'm not attached to ideals or suspicions. You have to go with it. And even for example, there is retreat that we're doing here in Costa Rica. At first we didn't have a roof on the deck. It was just an outdoor with the trees even coming from the bed. We didn't cut anything. And I remember when it started raining or something like that, I was so anxious and I did at that time, I noticed that really has just let go of everything because even when it rains like everyone was super happy going with the-- like the with that kind of stuff, and they enjoy. So I think that's part of what get like I just remembered that I have to enjoy the journey and then attach to an expectation and just go with the flow.
Alex
Yeah, absolutely. Like I just came from my yoga teacher training and we're talking about the Yamas and the Niyamas and the philosophy of yoga and like that kind of stuff can really change your life. Like change the way you think, change the way you process things, change the way you relate to the world. Yeah. So tell me about what would you-- I guess why did you want to be a yoga teacher?
Raquel
Yeah. Well, as I was telling you before like I am-- I think like the first year. Well, the whole 2020, I pay teachers to give the classes.
Alex
Right.
Raquel
Obviously, I didn't gain much because I was giving all of the profit basically to pay the hour. And the other part was going just through my-- like for the trails and stuff. And I remember like I at the beginning I said like, I want to do this because every time that I pay like this fee for the teacher. I can see myself picture retreat like it was going to be like a win win situation. Right? But he had-- I know like before we gave the classes and started talking with the teachers on these. I don't know like they always said, like a couple of them just like, why don't you do it? Like why don't you take the course and you can do it yourself, right?
Alex
Yeah.
Raquel
And I think that opened like that window of opportunity. And yeah, like in October of last year, that's when I look up-- yeah 2020. That's when I remember that I decided that I wanted to do it. I did like a lot of research because I was not like very sure like which should be the teacher or if I should do it here in Costa Rica or over the country. And I remember for me, since I work during the week, I needed to do it like I need to do it online because of my time that I had available. But, yeah, I really enjoy it. And I think it was super challenging because it was like seven hours a day because I get things when I could feel like I remember it was three months, something like that, or doing like in three weeks. So I selected the three weeks and I just did my part time job and then the whole rest of the day I dedicated that to yoga. But I think it was really nice because I just proved myself that I had everything that I needed even in that sort of extreme situation.
Alex
Right. That's amazing. What was-- you said what was challenging about it?
Raquel
Well for me, first learned so much about stuff that I really didn't even understand. Like, for example I heard like sanskrit--
Alex
Yeah
Raquel
before, but really understanding all of the meaning and background when I started the teacher training. I see that I really didn't know anything about the history of yoga. So for me, it was really interesting to learn all of these like philosophy and history that is so cool. And I think it was like overwhelming a little bit at the beginning. And any I remember like we learn like everything in sanskrit, but we understand the meaning behind it. So yeah, that was really cool. And then just like doing so much hours of yoga every day because I remember we had like it was like for me the 200 was really like these people, but we had to do like two hours every morning of yoga and then we have to watch like the anatomical practice teaching and then I have to record myself. It was online. So it took me like four hours a day just both physical and yoga. So I remember I had to ask my mom to come to my house because I didn't have anyone who could record and my mom held me on the video.
Alex
Wow. So yours sounds like it was a lot of was it a lot of on demand content like--
Raquel
We have both like every single morning we have the recorded classes which were the two hours classes, and we have two people that were giving the class like Troy and then another girl but I could not remember the name that was like was like his assistant. And then every week we had one call live on, like Thursdays I remember. And then on Saturday it was like the whole morning. So it was like pretty intense every week.
Alex
Wow. Yeah, that's a lot.
Raquel
Yeah.
Alex
It's so incredible though. I love this the way that the Internet and the way the 200 hour trainings are now like we're allowed to do them on Zoom and previously we weren't allowed to. And it just makes yoga so much more accessible to people all over the world. You know, like it can reach you know, in our class you were in the module one. That's how we know each other actually. Raquel won the competition for the first module that I ever did of yoga teacher training. And, you know, we had you in the Cayman Islands. We had Emily in Kuwait. We had Emma in Abu Dhabi. We had Matt in the UK. We had Lee in the United States. Who am I missing? We--
Raquel
The girl on Greece. Alex?
Alex
Oh, Alexander in Greece.
Raquel
Yeah.
Alex
Yeah. And so we hit like you know, every single person was in a different country. And it was just so amazing that you could fit these classes in with the rest of your life. You know, some people had kids at home. People are coming home from work like and previously, you know, for me when I did my yoga teacher training, I took a full month out of my life and went to stay somewhere to do it which is amazing. But it's really inaccessible for a lot of people. And it's pretty cool the way Zoom has brought that into our homes.
Raquel
And I think it's more for me when I think look back on it, I think it's more valuable because you can just pause and you have the person's full attention on you. Right? Like, if you're in a class is more like in you were in an open space with a bunch of people is more like intimate, I think. And you have like a more close connection with everyone on the training. So I do see it has a lot of props like better options that doing on site. And also like if you have classes that are recorded, you can pause and you can like, copy all of the notes that you want to take as if were like you can lose like right, you end up going to say like "can you stop just for a minute and repeat all over again".
Alex
Yeah.
Raquel
A bunch of times. So that's really nice. Like I think that that's cool.
Alex
Yeah. And I think I have to admit like I do live stuff now sometimes some live events, some live workshops, but I find now it's harder for me to get that close connection with people because on Zoom you're exactly right. We see their face, you see their name, you see a bit into their life. Whereas in real life it takes a little bit longer now to build that connection. So that's interesting you've felt the same thing.
Raquel
And I think when I said the course everyone was in the state. There was this like one girl in Spain. But when I took the one with you, I really like that. Like I feel like even though we were going through these like, I don't know, like it's kind of awkward situation the covid, we can just decide to take the time now to try like to grow and be better and learn new stuff. And really have a connection with amazing people that hopefully after covid and so we can travel again.
Alex
Yeah. Absolutely, so I have a question for you. If you had advice for someone who was curious about yoga, interested in starting a yoga journey, what would you recommend to them?
Raquel
Well, I will recommend that they don't feel insecure. I think for myself, sometimes it will seem like it's going to be like these overwhelming super physical practice that you have to be very flexible like all of them. And I remember like I feel like if I didn't do the very hard, like, handstands or asanas I wouldn't be good. Right? Or I couldn't teach or I don't know, like I have all of these misunderstandings. I think really when you learn about the history and really that the only thing you should conquer to is yourself and just understand that sometimes you may want to do like a very physical practice. Other days you want to meditate or right. It's just like so different and everything will be Yoga... And I think that will be is just do-- don't compare with anyone. And don't believe all of these Instagram like I don't know, like aesthetic? That's not the real yoga.
Alex
Yeah, absolutely. And that's a really good I like to say in my classes, like what we're doing is not competitive, it's collective. And I think sometimes we think that it's we feel competitive in the yoga class environment. But in reality, we're all here to get better together. You know, to get better mentally. To get better physically. To get stronger and it's not about the actual poses. And I think that took me years, even as a yoga teacher, to realize you know, you see all this stuff on Instagram and you want to be you want to be that way. And exactly what you said, like don't believe the Instagram aesthetic. I love that.
Raquel
Yeah. And I think something else is to find a teacher that suits you because for example, when I started looking for yoga teacher training, I'm a very like, I really like talking with people.
Alex
Yeah.
Raquel
And I remember the first time that I went to school just to see if I will enroll there I was here in Costa Rica and when I got to the studio, like no one was welcome. No one will me at the door. And then I remember there was this one girl sitting alone in the floor meditating. And I was like, I'm not sure what I should do, right? And then she told me that you have to remove your shoes, your feet on the ground, and don't talk. And then we stand Mantras like for two hours and they would be like a two hour pause. And I really feel like I didn't like it. Thank God I gave myself the opportunity to try somewhere else.
Alex
Yeah.
Raquel
And I seen really to find a space where you feel comfortable, right? I mean for example, in the MLPC that's beautiful that you really find that connection. You really know what's happening in other people's life and you connect. And yeah just if you had a bad experience just look somewhere else. You're gonna to find a community.
Alex
Yeah, it's so true. And I had some pretty experiences, not exactly the same, but similar. I had some experiences in yoga studios growing up that just were not the right fit for me and having the courage to try somewhere new. You're exactly right. Like, don't walk away from yoga just because you found one experience that didn't resonate because there's so many styles or so many teachers, so many communities. And what might be right for one person, it's not right for the next. So it's just like finding the perfect fit. All right, well Raquel thank you so much. It was so awesome to actually sit down with you and chat and learn more about you and your journey and and your story.
Raquel
Thank you.
Alex
And--
Raquel
I'm very well.
Alex
I was going to say I'm sure a lot of our yogis would be really interested to learn more. And you can find Raquel on the Mindful Life Practice. Raquel is teaching mindful let go throughout the rest of the summer. It is on Fridays? I believe yes cause that's my day off. Raquel's teaches on my day off. And so definitely check that class out and you'll hear the beautiful sounds from Costa Rica in that class.
Raquel
Thank you.
Alex
All right, Raquel I'll have a great day and I'll speak to you soon.
Raquel
Thanks, bye.
Alex
Bye.
Outro
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Sober Yoga Girl with Alex McRobs. I am so grateful for every one of you. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next one and leave a review before you go. See you soon. Bye.
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