Aqua Nicaragua Wellness Resort

Grace Van Berkum

aquaman — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:10:30 +0000

Grace Van Berkum is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Sivananda Hatha Yoga Teacher, and Certified Personal Trainer. After studying and working in the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in the Bahamas for 6 months, she headed to Central America to teach and became captivated by the natural beauty of Nicaragua. She is passionate about cultivating inner peace, increasing vitality, and preventing disease through conscious eating, exercise, yoga, spirituality, and connecting to nature.

YOGA and MEDITATION with Grace Van Berkum:

Enjoy daily hatha yoga classes on the beautiful ocean deck re-energizing body, mind, and spirit. Reduce stress and pain in the body while reducing stress and agitation in the mind. A magical and tranquil spot to connect to nature, go within, and clear your mind. All levels are welcome. Private yoga sessions available for more focus and individualized attention.

NUTRITION CONSULTATIONS with Grace Van Berkum:

Learn the basics of healthy eating for your body and digestion. Grace provides food and supplement recommendations that can help you improve your eating regimen when you go back home. Book a free 15 min consultation with Grace to discuss how she can help you get on track.

NUTRITION: RAW, VEGAN CLASSES with Grace Van Berkum:

Curious about raw, vegan foods? Want to learn more about how these foods can help you look and feel great but don’t know where to begin? Let Grace help you on your way with her fun, hands-on, raw, vegan workshops! Learn how to make delicious, nutritious, and satisfying raw, vegan foods that includes soups, dips, pates, entrees, and decadent desserts. All food prepared will be gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free. Each inspiring workshop is 2 hours long and includes recipes and important tips.

BEACH WORKOUTS with Grace Van Berkum:

Grace is available for beach workouts for an overall fun body workout focusing on strength, power, core work, and cardio.

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May – July Guest Yoga Instructor Carley

aquagwen — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:15:56 +0000

Carly has a background strongly rooted in athletics. Spending six years in complete dedication to volleyball, playing at the varsity level in university and competing nationally, in indoor and beach volleyball. From this intense physical background a deep understanding of strength and conditioning, and anatomy and physiology, was harvested. Most significantly, during this time, Carly would say her awareness of the importance and power in self healing was established. Now in her practice as a student and teacher of yoga Carly regularly applies this knowledge.

After volleyball and studying psychology and world religions at Brandon University, MB, Carly became a student of the globe, with a fiery passion for adventure, expanding her horizons and creating a greater understanding for those that she walks the path with.

Her travels quickly led to the ocean, and surfing, factors which have dictated most of her moves since then. Traveling and surfing Europe, North Africa, Indonesia and Hawaii. When not in the ocean the study of yoga has been another great source of grounding and peace for Carly.

Currently, Carly lives in Gigante, Nicaragua, a small fishing community, immersing in Latin American culture. Gigante has been a gracious host in lending Carly the platform for synthesizing her greatest loves, teaching and furthering her own understanding of surfing, connecting with nature and the ocean, and deepening her yogic path and facilitating well being and healing for others. Here in Gigante, Carly is grateful each day for the opportunity to share her passion, with others, and encouraging them to find what it is that makes their heart beat fast, and hold the courage to stick to that exploratory path.

Carly
Soul with Sol Wellness and Yoga
Live Mindfully, Live Joyfully, Let Your Spirit Move You!
(505) 89236972

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Lots of movement behind the scenes for tourism in Nicaragua! by Tim Rogers/ Nicaragua Dispatch

aquagwen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:18:51 +0000

Tim Rogers, of the Nicaragua Dispatch, talks about how Nicaragua is being positioned in the world of tourism as a great spot for tourists to visit.

The Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR) has launched a new partnership with global online travel booking agency Orbitz Worldwide and Taca Airlines as part of its new promotion and visibility campaign.

In addition to INTUR’s aggressive media-marketing campaign in the U.S., Nicaragua will continue to make its presence known among the ruck of U.S. popular culture by hosting reality TV programs and even making an appearance at the movies. INTUR is currently negotiating with MTV and several other U.S. cable channels to bring a variety of reality programming here, and the forth-coming feature film “Destination Wedding” will be a lowbrow comedy about a U.S. couple that decides to get married on a tropical beach in Nicaragua.

More intelligent viewers, meanwhile, will soon enjoy seeing Nicaragua featured on Nat Geo TV, which is currently filming on Ometepe Island, according to Tourism Minister Mario Salinas.

Nicaragua is also expected to get a big boost in tourism infrastructure this year, the minister said. The country is working with the Inter-American Development Bank and Royal Caribbean to build a tourism pier in San Juan del Sur, and has already secured funding for a small tourism marina on Lake Cocibolca in Granada. The government is also studying the possibility of building a private airport in Rivas, Salinas said.

Salinas says Nicaragua is also close to announcing the construction of four new international brand hotels, three of which will be built in Managua and one on the Pacific coast. More incredible yet, the tourism minister says an Italian consortium is visiting Nicaragua for the second time to make a bid on building the fabled “Costanera” highway, a coastal tourism road that will connect all the beach towns between Masachapa and Costa Rica.

The “Costanera” has been a will-o’-the-wisp project for more than 40 years, but is now closer than ever to becoming a reality, Salinas says.

You can read the entire article here.

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Nicaragua – Unique & Original by Bold Magazine

aquagwen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:43:49 +0000

Nicaragua is becoming that “have to visit” hot spot. People are visiting this Central American country and realizing what a beautifully tropical place we have just to the south of America! Bold Magazine shares with us just how awesome Nicaragua is and all it has to offer, and Aqua Wellness Resort is one of those great resorts in Nicaragua to visit.

The impression most people have about Nicaragua is the Sandinista Socialist revolution that deposed the Somoza regime, the economic embargo imposed by the US, the Iran-Contra scandal and the devastating armed conflict that lasted for years. Almost 20 years later, the largest country in Central America, is finally on the threshold.

Nestled between Honduras and Costa Rica, Nicaragua is one of the most beautiful countries in the Central American region, with hundreds of pristine beaches, active volcanoes, warm tropical climate and untouched coastlines. Add to the virgin rainforests, the only fresh water lakes in the world with sharks, picturesque colonial cities, a low crime rate and low cost of living; Nicaragua is posed to become the next great eco-destination.

If you are planning a visit to Nicaragua, we recommend to stay at these three top – eco friendly – resorts.

AQUA WELLNESS RESORT

Perched atop the trees to minimize the impact on the forest and with a bird’s eye view of the Pacific Ocean, Aqua Wellness Resort; an hour-and-a half from Granada offers private plunge pools, yoga, surfing, and cooking lessons. Besides Running a series of conversation and reforestation programs, AWR has an outstanding and one-of-a-kind turtle and monkey protection program.

You can read the whole article here.

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Nicaragua is not the new Costa Rica, says tourism minister! by Tim Rogers / Nicaragua Dispatch

aquagwen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:46:01 +0000

Tim Rogers, with the online news publication Nicaragua Dispatch, shares with us how the tourism minister, Mr. Salinas, wants the world to know that Nicaragua has a rich history, fabulous diversity, and stands apart from Costa Rica.

For the past 10 years, unimaginative travel writers, real estate developers and all types of Nica neophytes have been calling Nicaragua “the next Costa Rica.”

The hackneyed description is meant to be a comment on Nicaragua’s affordability and growth potential, and a compliment on its coming of age. But Tourism Minister Mario Salinas says it’s time to put that cornball comparison to rest.

“In lots of U.S. publications they talk about Nicaragua as the ‘New Costa Rica.’ But we don’t like that, because we think we have a diversity of offerings—a culture and a history—that Costa Rica never had,” Minister Salinas said during a recent talk to the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).

Nicaragua is Nicaragua, he said.

Indeed, Nicaragua is a country whose tourism slogan promises a “unique and original” experience, not: “Nicaragua: we’re like Costa Rica was 10 years ago. Stick around!”

Salinas says, “Now is the moment to distinguish ourselves among the multitude; to sell ourselves as a destination and inform consumers in the U.S.” about all Nicaragua has to offer.

“We have to differentiate Nicaragua and show people why Nicaragua and not Costa Rica or Panama or South America or Brazil,” he said. “We have to present our offering and show what makes us unique and why a North American tourist should come to our country.”

You can read the entire article here.

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Apr. 15 – 22, 2012 – Gracious Living Retreat w/ Randi Smith #3

aquaman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:30:34 +0000

This special event is co-hosted with empowerment coach and tai-chi master Randi Smith. Learn more about Randi here.

Gracious Living presents three 7 day amazing, inspiring, rejuvenating retreats at Aqua Wellness Resort in 2012, exploring the Gracious Living motto while connecting to mind, body, spirit.

Retreats will include daily morning hatha and yin yoga classes on the beautiful ocean deck to energize, re-balance, and detoxify the body.

Additional daily lectures or workshops designed to inspire you to be healthier in the body and mind.
Menu includes 3 daily organic, fresh, local meals that are dairy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and soy-free.

Free time in the afternoons to chill out on the private beach, take surf lessons, do jungle hikes, paddle surfing, kayaking, snorkelling, horseback riding, boat trips, or enjoy relaxing, detoxifying massages. Trips to other colonial cities, volcanic islands, volcanic hiking, and canopy zip-line tours through the cloud rain forest can be arranged.

LECTURES & WORKSHOPS WILL INCLUDE:

1) What is prana and how to increase it though yoga and nutrition for more energy.

2) Energy centres in the body, and how yoga exercises and meditations can help unblock negative energy in the body and mind.

3) Exploring the breath and how it affects the mind, and how the mind affects the breath. Learning how your breath is an indication of your emotional state and how you can change it. Learning how proper breath work can de-stress and reduce anxiety.

4) Connecting to your intuition and becoming aware of what resonates with you, while letting go of things that don’t serve you.

5) How meditation affects your thoughts and how your thoughts mirror your reality. Change your thoughts, change your life!

6) Basic anatomy and how a better understanding of your body will help improve your posture, your yoga practice, and reduce pain or imbalances. Also, learn about your internal organs and how certain foods affect efficiency to detoxify toxins from the body.

7) How raw food increases your energy, prevents disease, and makes you feel (and look) like a million bucks! Hands-on workshops that include raw, vegan smoothies, dairy-free milks, soups, entrees, decadent desserts, salads, and healthy Nicaraguan chocolate. Gracious Living recipe books included.

These retreats will help you re-connect to the real you. You will be provided with tools and information that will guide you in the direction of creating your best life ever! AQUA is the perfect beautiful, transformational, nurturing environment for this life-changing, adventurous, and fun retreat!

Beginners are welcome, guys are welcome, all ages are welcome, past retreat participants are welcome….EVERYONE & ANYONE IS WELCOME TO ATTEND! All classes and recipes are always new, fresh, and evolving.

$1800 double occupancy for a 1 week Gracious Living Retreat in a magnificent treehouse that includes everything mentioned above, plus airport transfers.

$2300 single occupancy.

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Aug. 4 – 11, 2012 – Soul with Sol Wellness Yoga and Surf Retreat

aquagwen — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:21:55 +0000

Soul with Sol Wellness Yoga and Surf Retreat

August 4th to August 11th, 2012
$1700 for double occupancy
and $2200 for single occupancy

Contact Info:
soulwithsol@gmail.com
www.soulwithsol.wordpress.com
(505) 89236972

Join us on this seven day retreat of yoga and surfing bliss! Take seven days for yourself. Learn to surf, deepen your yoga practice, balance your health and reinvigorate your spirit.

Including:

2 Yoga Practices Daily- one morning class, and a sunset class, on the beautiful ocean-side yoga platform. Practices will be varied, with practices from Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Traditional Hatha, Pilates and Tai Chi. The style of our classes will be based on the needs and enjoyment of the group, while maintaining diversity from various traditions. With Sunset Yoga, and Meditation sessions, centering your mind, body and spirit, and deepening your understanding of who you really are.

7 Nights in Aquas beautiful tree-house bungalows, either single bed occupancy, or double bed occupancy.

3 Organic, healthy fresh, vegetarian meals a day, (please inform us if you would like to add meat or fish to your diet for the week.

Surf Lessons including a yoga based warm up and post surf cool down.
Board rentals will be from a local community development organization called Project Wave of Optimism. Rental cost $20 for the day, and all profits benefit WOO’s development initiatives in Gigante. Learn more about WOO’s sustainable development efforts here. Or, feel free to bring your own board down! Additional packages are also available, including chartered surf boats to the best breaks, if you are ready to charge on some world class waves!

Opportunity for further community involvement, practicing Karma Yoga.
Momentary Immersion~ A 2-hour walking tour of the coastal fishing village of Gigante, facilitated by Project WOO, aimed at providing you with a better understanding of what community development efforts are happening locally and how you can help! Please inform us ahead of time if interested in participating.

One class on Ayurvedic nutrition and yogic practices. First identifying your Ayurvedic Dosha (body type) and then working together to design a yoga practice for your dosha, to maintain balance and optimize function of your body.

One sunset jungle hike to a spectacular ocean view.

Practice self healing techniques, by using breath work, yoga nidra and using self and partner massage.

One partner yoga class, practicing the relationship of balance, and playfully sharing your yoga practice with others.

With plenty of time for freedom and relaxation the beach, and additional excursions and nutritional classes available.

Communicate your needs to us and we will help you facilitate the health retreat week best suited to you.

Carly
Soul with Sol Wellness and Yoga
Live Mindfully, Live Joyfully, Let Your Spirit Move You!
(505) 89236972

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Aqua Nicaragua Wellness Resort in Playa Gigante, Nicaragua by Kirsten Hubbard

aquagwen — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:22:59 +0000

About.com’s Kirsten Hubbard gives a review about Aqua Nicaragua Wellness Resort. She talks about the settings, accommodations, dining, and much more.

Located near Playa Gigante (12 kilometers north of San Juan del Sur) on Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast, Aqua Nicaragua Wellness Resort is one of the preeminent luxury beach resorts in Nicaragua. Built into a forested hillside, Aqua Nicaragua’s scenic villas, spa, bar and organic restaurant make the most of one of the country’s most breathtaking settings.

The Setting

Aqua Nicaragua Wellness Resort is set on a stunning private cove, around the corner from the small village of Playa Gigante. The beach is large enough that you never feel crowded. Strategically placed hammocks, shades and beach chairs beckon with prime relaxation space. Most remarkable is the beach’s namesake, “El Gigante” itself – a cliff (sort of) shaped like a giant’s foot.

Important note: While Aqua Nicaragua’s hillside backdrop means arresting views, it also means stairs. Many stairs. For guests staying in a treehouse villa, it can be a ten minute hike to and from the beach or hotel restaurant. We’re in decent shape, but after a trek from the beach to reception at the top of the hill, we were winded! If making the hike a few times daily is an issue, the resort recommends staying in a beachfront villa. They’ll drive you to and from reception.

Accommodations at Aqua Nicaragua

The villas at Aqua Nicaragua are extremely spacious, most boasting two full bathrooms, expansive bedrooms, and living spaces with futons. We were fortunate to experience both types of Aqua Nicaragua villas: a beachfront villa, and a treehouse villa. Both included air-conditioning, large decks and private plunge pools.

The beachfront villa was our favorite; the location can’t be beat. The ocean was just a few steps away, and Nicaragua’s warm Pacific waves were a nonstop soundtrack. The villa was also equipped with a full-size kitchen (full refrigerator and utensils only, though; no stove or microwave, so don’t plan on cooking). Our treehouse villa was just as lovely, though quite a hike to the beach. In the morning, we woke to howler monkeys peering in at us!

Dining at Aqua Nicaragua

Aqua Nicaragua’s Bromelia restaurant specializes in “healthy local cuisine with contemporary style and flair.” We enjoyed the food, particularly the ceviche. All fruits and vegetables come from local farms, and bread is baked onsite. Breakfast is included in room rates, but lunch and dinner are only included in specific inclusive packages. Prices are among the higher end of what I’ve encountered at Nicaragua resorts; about what you’d expect at a nicer US restaurant. I recommend mixing it up a bit – leisurely seafood lunches in Playa Gigante, for example, and memorable dinners at Aqua Nicaragua.

Activities and Wellness

Guests seeking local culture can venture twenty minutes on a forested path to the village of Playa Gigante. It’s best not to make the hike after nightfall (we did without any problems, though it was very dark). The village itself includes a handful of restaurants, surf hotels and residences, facing a stretch of beach as gorgeous as Aqua Nicaragua’s.

Wellness is more than just a name at Aqua Nicaragua. Guests can take part in individual or group yoga instruction on a 1,100 square foot platform facing the beach. However, the very best views at Aqua Nicaragua are undoubtedly at the spa, which specializes in “Pure Wellness with Nature” services. We opted for Aqua massages. Facials, body polishes, and other services are also offered in a relaxing forest setting.

The resort offers a number of guided activities for its guests, like hiking tours to the top of El Gigante for sweeping Pacific views, day trips to Granada and Ometepe, fishing, diving, and more.

Read the original article here.

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Let Nicaragua be your second home – by Ocean Home Magazine

aquagwen — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:07:17 +0000

Melissa C. Gillespie from Ocean Home Magazine writes an article about how your next home could be in Nicaragua!

Aqua Wellness Resort is a new eco-luxe development perched on a forested hillside overlooking a perfect crescent beach on Nicaragua’s unspoiled Redonda Bay.

The development offers 25 eco-friendly treetop villas that range in size from 1,150 to 1,500 square feet, and there are plans and space to add 16 more. Most villas have multiple bedrooms, plunge pools, and separate kitchen/dining bungalows, making them ideal for families and extended visits.

Elaborate paths wind through the trees, leading to the beach and an 1,100-square-foot yoga platform. Onsite yoga and wellness instructors offer classes in a variety of yoga techniques, cooking, and nutrition. Plus, the property’s hillside location will give you ample opportunities to get your heart rate up.

From the outdoor yoga pavilion to the custom spa to organic cuisine, Aqua combines wellness with a unique connectedness to nature. The privacy, amenities, and pricing should make Aqua a popular vacation home option. Aqua Wellness Resort villas start at $395,000. Aqua offers several vacation and wellness retreat options for those who prefer to simply visit.

You can read the whole article at Ocean Home Magazine.

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Aug. 11 – Aug. 18, 2012 – Paul Cabanis Iyengar Yoga Retreat

aquagwen — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:29:28 +0000

It’s not everyday you get the chance to rise above the fray, hang with monkeys and sleep in the trees. Join Paul on a seven night journey to deepen your practice, surrounded by the pristine beauty of Central America’s best-kept secret. We’ll practice twice a day in the open air, spy on tree frogs, trek a volcano at night, learn to make raw chocolate and sleep in our own personal tree-houses.

Paul Cabanis is a Junior Intermediate III Iyengar teacher in Los Angeles. A yoga teacher and practitioner for more than 20 years, Paul’s classes combine precision and detailed instruction with enthusiasm, warmth and a wicked sense of humor. Expect at least one reference to pop music and endless puns. His teaching style fosters personal inquiry, blending asana and pranayama and bringing the subtle layers of yoga fully to life.

Classes:
• morning pranayama (1 hour)
• late morning asana (2 hours)
• afternoon asana & meditation (2 hours)

Price: $1,900 single occupancy; $1,400 each if two people share a queen size bed

Includes:
• three local, organic meals a day • one reflexology foot massage
• two excursions
• group round-trip airport transfer • raw chocolate cooking class
• five hours of yoga daily

Airfare is not included. A non-refundable
deposit of $300 is required to hold your spot. Final balance due July 11, 2012.

Contact: racheldowd@verizon.net |
+1 310-855-2696 | Skype: racheldowd1

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