SET YOUR LIFE ON FIRE
A raw, transformative experience where the rainforest meets the sea in Costa Rica
17th - 22nd of September 2023
SET YOUR LIFE ON FIRE
Pilates, Yoga, Surf & Mindfulness Retreat
As Rumi says, “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” We’ve curated an intensely centering and expansive experience designed to do exactly that—set your life on fire (not in the burning it down sense, more in the igniting your energy, purpose, and glow sense!), by placing you in an environment, leading you through practices, and surrounding you with community that fan your flames.
The programming of this retreat to Set Your Life on Fire is inspired by Maddy and Katie's journeys to take lives that were busy, and evolve them into ones that are full.
COSTA RICA
It all starts with environment. The exact location of our experience will remain confidential until booking, by request of the local community, who want it to remain as magically raw and infrequently travelled as it is today. While we have explored some extraordinary corners of the globe, we’ve never experienced a place quite as magnetic as this enclave in Costa Rica. You experience a visceral slowing of your breath and heart rate and a deep clarity while there. It’s isolated, embedded in some of the more pristine wilderness you’ll find, and filled with many more four legged creatures than two legged ones. We’ll stay in an open air eco-lodge there to soak in the sea, fresh air, and star-filled sky fully. More detail can be provided on location via private message.
PILATES, SURF, YOGA & MEDITATION
Equally important are the practices we’ve planned to help you find, light, and fuel your inner fire. Each day will include a combination of yoga, meditation, pilates, and surf, with delicious, high-nutrient meals crafted from local produce to keep you fueled. We will also offer sessions to help guide and inform your journey to center and expand, including vision boarding, opening and closing intention setting ceremonies, and breathwork. These practices fuse the best of ancient and modern wisdom to help us strip away the noise and busy-ness of day to day life and prepare our bodies and brains for growth. They are also deeply nourishing, fun practices that have helped both Maddy and Katie set their lives on fire—and whatever your path, will help you leave the experience invigorated and smiling.
COMMUNITY
Finally, we’ll curate a diverse, open-minded, high-human + high-octane community for this experience. Immersing yourself in an eco-lodge in the jungle and “setting your life on fire” is not for everyone—which is perfectly ok!—but a community excited to experience that journey together makes the journey even richer.
CONFIDENTIAL LOCATION OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Costa Rica is the most biologically intense country in the world. Even though it only accounts for 0.03% of the Earth's surface, it contains nearly 6% of the world´s biodiversity. And the specific area we will host this experience is Costa Rica’s most biologically diverse, as recognized by National Geographic. The correlation between biodiversity and ecosystem creativity—the ingenuity and tenacity of its species—has been much studied, and you will feel that creative energy surround you and inspire you while there, creating the perfect environment to foster growth.
YOGA, SURF, PILATES, MEDITATION
The practices that will serve as the backbone for our day-to-day throughout this experience include yoga, surf, pilates, and meditation.
YOGA
The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning “to yoke,” or “to unite”. The practice aims to create union between body, mind and spirit, as well as between the individual self and universal consciousness. Such a union tends to neutralize the things that keep us inert—ego, fear—creating a sense of spiritual awakening that allows us to achieve more in body, mind, spirit, and our lives at large. We’ll teach a mix of vinyasa and yin yoga to both push and nurture ourselves throughout the experience, all in our beautiful, private yoga shala nestled in the Costa Rica jungle.
SURF
As a pursuit, surf is unique in its symbiosis with nature. It challenges you to feel, see, read the ocean more deeply than ever before, and to appreciate both its playfulness and power. It’s both a wildly fun and wildly humbling experience that pushes your strength, stamina, and balance, builds your mental focus, presence, and calm, and cultivates a primordial connection with nature. Whether you’ve never surfed before or are an expert, our location has access to the perfect surf break for you. And, we’ll be working with seasoned, certified surf coaches to ensure surf is accessible and fun for the full group.
PILATES
Pilates, initially called “contrology”, is designed to maximize the control we have over our muscles, starting with our core. Through a series of low impact, slow & controlled, repetitive movements and stretches, the practice enables us to build long, lean muscles, great posture, and flexibility—all key factors that keep our bodies feeling fantastic and going to work for us day in and day out through our 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond.
MEDITATION
The human brain tends to want to live in the past, reliving memories—both the good and the bad—or the future, worrying, imagining, planning for things that may or may not happen down the road. Meditation trains us to quiet the mind and be instead entirely focused in the only moment we can control right now—the present. The Buddha describes this as a singular path toward “the cessation of suffering”; a modern take we found quite powerful was actually from David Lynch, who said “the thing about meditation is: you become more and more you.” Whether you have a rich meditation practice or have never meditated, and whether the take of a 3000 year old eastern spiritual leader or a modern-day filmmaker resonates with you more (or neither!), our guided meditations will make the practice accessible to you. There’s a reason countless humans the world over, spanning thousands of years, have found solace and clarity from this practice, and we believe you will as well.
TYPICAL DAY
Wake up call from the local howler monkeys
Sunrise guided meditation
Energizing pilates or yoga flow
Breakfast
Free time
Midday surf session
Lunch
Afternoon free time
Restorative yoga or pilates session
Free time or special event (vision boarding, breathwork)
Dinner
MEALS
Our local personal chefs take great pride in the rich aromas of Costa Rican culture and prepare each meal from scratch, bringing both culinary education and a rich home cooking legacy to their craft. Each meal is prepared with sensitivity to personal tastes and dietary needs, making sure to add heaping portions of local flair. Traditional dishes with a culinary twist, served with the sounds of the jungle in the background, our meals will be loaded with both nutrients and flavor. All restrictions and preferences provided ahead of time will be accommodated (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, allergies, etc.).
Three meals a day fully included.
YOUR INSTRUCTORS
Madeleine Karlsson
Maddy is a Holistic Health & Nutrition Coach, a Certified Pilates Teacher, a Yoga Instructor & a TedX Speaker with over 15 years experience working in the wellness industry. Maddy can best be described as an adventure seeking soul who has traveled around the World to learn and share her passion for good food, fitness & mindfulness. 14 years ago she set foot in Costa Rica and has been drawn back ever since to its magical sunsets, the sounds of the jungle and the amazing surf. In 2019 she set her life on fire by leaving behind a flourishing career in real estate, a Pilates business and 10 years of her life in Monaco to call Costa Rica home.
Katie Tobias
Katie is a certified Yoga and Meditation instructor who teaches at Barefoot Yoga in Rincón, Puerto Rico. Katie was a global fitness and fashion marketing executive in New York, London, and Sydney for over a decade before deciding to set her own life on fire in 2019, which ultimately led her to move to Rincón, which she calls home eight months of the year and where she surfs and practices ocean-front yoga every day, and spend the other four months of the year traveling to different places that fuel her (with Costa Rica and El Salvador being two of her favorites). She also started working for herself, becoming a brand & marketing consultant for companies that share her values of east meets west wellbeing & sustainability, and teaching yoga & meditation.
ACCOMMODATION
You will be staying in a private eco-lodge nestled where the jungle meets the sea, with three pristine beaches and two waterfalls just a short jungle path away. Our space features a saltwater pool, a restaurant, and numerous outdoor seating areas to fully embed and enjoy the jungle surroundings.
The open walls and unique architectural fingerprint will make you feel at one with nature. There are nine lodging spaces on the property, each of which will be configured to accommodate between one and four guests.
Classes will be held in our private, ocean-view yoga Shala, located on the beach, a short walk away from where we are staying.
A few important notes on accommodation & pricing:
- In this pristine part of Costa Rica, there are no hotels or large retreat centers. We feel that is part of the magic of this particular location, and though it means we are unable to offer many private rooms, we also feel the communal experience in this open-air eco-lodge is a powerful one.
- While the space we’ve selected is consciously designed and beautiful, it is also rustic and not luxury-grade accommodation. We’ve included several photos to give you a sense for the spaces, and are happy to answer any questions you may have as well.
- All shared accommodations will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis, while honoring any reasonable requests (e.g. to only share room with someone of the same gender). Shared rooms include doubles, triples, and quads, and bed sizes ranging from twin to queen.
- 'Hosting this kind of experience in such an isolated location is complex and costly (limited local resources means bringing everything in); we have priced the experience as accessibly as we can while still covering our costs and ensuring we earn something as hosts.
PRICES
*All prices are per person*
PRIVATE SINGLE
Price per person: $3400
These rooms are perfect for the solo traveler who wants to enjoy the privacy of their own space.
SECURE YOUR ROOM WITH A 1000 USD DEPOSIT.
SHARED STANDARD
Price per person: $2100
These rooms are our lower budget rooms and are located within very close distance to the dining area. The rooms are on the smaller side but come with a large covered deck overlooking the jungle. The rooms can accommodate up to 3 guests in twin & queen sized beds. We will allocate the queen beds on a first booked, first served basis so the sooner you book, the better.
SHARED DELUXE
Price per person: $2300
These rooms are a little more recent and more spacious than the standard rooms and can accommodate a maximum of 4 guests. We have a total of 5 queen beds and 2 twin beds in this category so it will be a case of first come, first served for the queen beds.
PRIVATE DOUBLE
If you're traveling with a friend or loved on and want to enjoy the privacy of your own room, this is the best option for you! These rooms feature a double queen bed or one queen and one twin.
Price per person: $2800
What's included:
- Five night, six day stay at a beautiful, consciously-designed eco-lodge.
- Daily pilates, yoga & guided meditations.
- Daily surf lessons (with the exception of arrival and departure days).
- 3 high-nutrient, locally produced meals a day.
- One breathwork session.
- Optional waterfall hike
- Two Set Your Life on Fire journaling sessions to look inward & grow.
- Opening and closing ceremonies and intention-setting rituals.
- Transportation to & from local airport to eco-lodge.
- Any transportation required during experience (e.g. to surf lessons if at a break other than the one in front of our eco-lodge).
- All materials needed for the experience (yoga mats to use while on site, etc.).
- All taxes
Not included:
- Visas, air travel, travel insurance; local airport is Puerto Jimenez, which can be reached via 30 minute regional flight from San Jose.
- Additional individual coaching sessions
- Specialty beverages and alcohol (available for purchase)
- Spa treatments (available for purchase)
- Additional local activities (e.g. waterfall hike)
- Gratuities
- Enrollment in the six-month virtual expression of Set Your Life on Fire: The Program, though all who register for both The Experience and The Program are eligible for a 10% discount on both.
THE TIME IS NOW
The last three years have been incredibly taxing in myriad ways. They have also been clarifying, and for many, will be an inflection pointā€”taking a life that is busy, and evolving it into one that is full. This experience is designed to help you do exactly that, starting with stepping away from the busy-ness, noise, and habits that make it hard to see clearly, and replacing them with the quiet, intentional practices, and rituals that enable clarity. If youā€™ve read this far, listen to the intuitive voice telling you that this experience is exactly what you need. Set your life on fire. Don't let this opportunity pass you by...
