A Week in Costa Rica: Photography of a Fun Yoga & Wellness Retreat in the Rainforest
He arrived in Costa Rica the way seasoned travelers do—quietly, observantly, with a camera slung low and a well-worn yoga mat tucked under his arm. Based in Palm Beach, Florida, the photographer and longtime yogi, Eric Striffler, has learned that the real story of a place doesn’t announce itself. It unfolds. And at the Vajra Jahra Villas and Retreat Center, it unfolded slowly, deliberately, and with remarkable grace.
Vajra Jahra sits cradled by the Costa Rican jungle, a place where humidity softens the edges of thought and the air itself seems to encourage deeper breathing. From the first morning, the rhythm was clear: two yoga classes a day, bookending the hours with intention. Dawn practices opened the body gently, birdsong filtering through open-air studios, while evening sessions leaned inward—longer holds, quieter minds, the jungle darkening just beyond the mat.
Between practices, nourishment was treated as ritual. A private staff prepared fresh, healthy meals daily—vibrant plates of tropical fruit, vegetables still warm from the sun, thoughtfully balanced dishes that felt both grounding and celebratory. Meals became communal pauses, conversations stretching as easily as the afternoons themselves.
Eric moved through it all with a practiced eye, documenting not just poses or plates, but gestures: the way steam rose from coffee at sunrise, the unguarded laughter after class, the subtle shift in posture when people began to feel at home in their bodies again. His lens caught what retreats are really about—the unspoken recalibration.
Excursions pulled the group beyond the villas and deeper into Costa Rica’s wild generosity. A hike to the Nauyaca Waterfalls was a collective exhale—lush trails, bare skin damp with mist, and then the falls themselves, thunderous and humbling, reminding everyone exactly how small and alive they were. Another day brought a visit to an expansive nature and animal sanctuary, where rescued wildlife moved freely and quietly, offering lessons in resilience without words.
Back at Vajra Jahra, the experience grew more ceremonial. A cacao ceremony invited participants to slow the nervous system and open the heart, the earthy bitterness of cacao grounding them in the present moment. A spiritual dance experience followed—less choreography than release—where bodies moved instinctively, shedding self-consciousness under the canopy of night. Later, a vision board–making seminar gave form to what had been quietly surfacing all week: intentions clarified, futures imagined, direction gently reclaimed.
For Eric this retreat wasn’t about escape. It was about attention. The kind that yoga teaches and photography demands. By the final day, his images told a story far richer than scenery—a collective softening, a recalibration of pace, a return to something essential.
Costa Rica has a way of doing that. And at Vajra Jahra, surrounded by movement, nourishment, ceremony, and wild beauty, the retreat became more than a destination. It became a reminder—documented frame by frame—that wellness is not something we chase, but something we allow when we finally slow down enough to see it.
The week was as much about inward work as outward scenery. Between classes, workshops on mindfulness, journaling sessions, and guided meditations provided ongoing opportunities to photograph transformation—not staged moments but honest ones: tears released during a closing circle, laughter after a shared vow, the quiet pose of someone newly at ease. Eric found himself drawn to sequences that conveyed progression: the same participant at day one, midweek, and at the final ceremony, revealing subtle shifts in posture, expression, and presence.
Sustenance and hospitality played a starring role. A private culinary team at the luxury resort served fresh, vibrant meals that complemented the retreat’s healing intentions—green smoothies, sprouted-grain bowls, locally caught fish, and tropical fruit platters arranged with thoughtful restraint. Eric documented food as part of lifestyle storytelling: the steam rising from a turmeric-laced broth, hands arranging microgreens, the communal rhythm of plated lunches on long wooden tables. The resort’s attentive staff added visual cues of luxury and care—pressed linens on lounge chairs, spa treatments administered with gentle precision, and twilight service as lanterns were lit along forest paths—creating a sense of seamless support that allowed participants to fully surrender to their spiritual work.
By week’s end, Eric’s images formed a cohesive narrative of renewal: rainforest panoramas that ground the story, intimate portraits that chart inner change, action shots of yoga practice, and still lifes of nourishing food and understated luxury. The experience reinforced his fondness for the rainforest’s restorative power—the way light, sound, and humidity combine to heighten awareness—and affirmed his approach to lifestyle photography: patient, observant, and deeply respectful of the personal journeys unfolding before his camera.