Costa Women Blogs

Costa Women events in the different areas are possible thanks to our bevy of beautiful hosts.  This week we meet Anne Ryan who organises social events in the Marbella and West of Marbella areas including...

Sup Yoga! What is Sup Yoga? It’s Yoga on a surf- or so-called- Sup Board! In the sea. I came accross this activity recently and was keen to give it a try. Windsurf La Herradura is offering Sup Yoga sessions three times a week, at 9 am, it’s 15euros and weather permitting. Here I went on a summer morning in July 2021 The sun was shining. And I was hoping for a calm sea. My alarm clock was set to 7 am, which is not my time. But – again – I can be quite excited and jumping out of bed if something nice is coming up. At the beach in La Herradura at 8.30 am – it’s quiet and peaceful. The little village was just waking up. La Herradura is “the smaller sister to Almuñecar. A hidden horse-shoe-shaped paradise”, like a friend was telling me, thanks to Debbie Skyrme. Actually, La Herradura is stunning. A bay, surrounded by nature and not too many tall buildings. Crystal clear water, you see lots of fishes swimming. So Sup Yoga. For Sup Yoga inflatable boards are used, they are smoother. In comparison, if you do Stand-up Paddle hard boards are used as they are more stable on the sea. Ah! That’s why I went wet several times! But first I was explained how to kneel on the board, stand up and how to paddle, or canoe. Off I went, on the board, stood up and…… splash! Straight into the sea. “Good morning”, my teacher was saying \ud83d\ude09 OK, up again – I felt a bit like a sea lion, you know, the big chunky animals in the water when crawling back on the board. I decided to kneel and paddle to the Yoga, which was easy and enjoyable. About 20 meters off the beach they put a rope between two buoys where we clicked the Sup boards and stowed the paddles. Now the Yoga started. The first 10 minutes was just relaxation. Laying on the board. Listening to the sound of the waves. Feeling the movement of the water. The Yoga teacher Maru from @fisioyogalaherradura taught in English and Spanish, the session was gentle and according to abilities. I must admit my balance is not good, never was, like I noticed already on my Canyoning adventure. Hence I did not manage to stand up. But that doesn’t matter, because many Yoga positions are on the floor (aka board) and on all 4 anyway such as Down Dog, Plank, and Cobra. Whenever I tried to stand up, I(t) went wet. I absolutely loved this morning’s Sup Yoga session. Yoga on the sea calms you much more than being in a studio. The movement of the water. The smell of the ocean. Watching the fish. And listening to the splish-splash of the waves against the boards is just paradise. After an hour back on the beach, I was full of positive vibes and energy. I highly recommend this to anybody who likes water and a few gymnastics. Windsurf La Herradura is a family business in the second generation! Started in 1979 (!) the founder – a dutch guy – is still around, but now his daughters are running the place and the 2 shops: one shop in La Herradura, the other shop in Marina del Este, the small yacht harbor is a place to visit anyway. Support your local! 10 out of 10 stars! Tipp: if you are interested and have a group together they come to your place with the boards and teacher Maru! Follow my blog https://www.andalucia-mi-amor.com/post/sup-yoga https://www.facebook.com/AndaluciaMiAmorBlog/ https://www.instagram.com/andalucia_mi_amor_blog/

Looking forward to an exciting new life and road ahead, meet Annika who is on her way to Malaga.    Did you choose Spain, or did Spain choose you? 2019 me and my novio, Christian, visited a friend in Malaga, which led to meeting more nice Malaga citizens. Christian is fluent in Spanish and had for a long time before we met thought about buying something in Spain. But not moved forward in his plans. In January we went to Grand Canaria for a holiday and there we looked at some properties. We soon came to the conclusion that this was too far away, too isolated and not too attractive. Then we looked back to our memories of Malaga and how much we like this City. We are not beach lovers and we both like a “real “ city. We went out on Idealista and Google, looked around a lot and finally we found a flat in Centro Histórico that we could renovate just the way we wanted! And we have started! During the renovation we have found a small studio where we will stay during the creation of our dream place. We will come back to Malaga the 26th of July. And a very exciting road is laying in front of us! So far we have experienced no big challenges. We will still have our base in Sweden. We have chosen not to take help with a lawyer so paperwork is one of the challenges but at the same time it gives us the opportunity to learn about how everything works.   And why Malaga? Malaga has got everything you can wish for. It’s the warmest city in mainland Europe in the winter, but only one of the warmest cities in the summer. It’s a town with a lot of history, things to explore, good food and also the beach if you want it. Easy to access from other countries and close to surroundings to explore.   What advice would you give someone thinking about making the move? I would give the same advice to everyone not just about moving to Spain. You go girl! If you want something grab it!   How do you spend your days? I’m a fashion designer and dressmaker. I’ve been self employed in all my life. I also have a side business catering for parties and I’m qualified for interior design. If I decide to go full time in Malaga I’m sure I will fill my days. In my free time I will exercise – I do dance aerobics, yoga and long walks.   Something you are proud of? Running my business, raising three children. Living my life.   Who would you have around your dinner table? I would like to invite historical people from Malaga to understand how the city has developed. I read a lot of biographies of leaders and dictators in the world, I would like to get under their skin… But of course new friends of/in Malaga to be one of the común and also practice the language.       What’s your secret weapon? I’m a great cook   Favourite saying? Be curious, spontaneous and it will lead you to adventures you never dreamt of.   Things you have to bring to Spain with you? My sewing and cooking tools   Something you would tell your younger self? Everything will be as you want it to be. As long as you thrive for it.   Where can we connect with you? www.annikakarp.se   Thank you Annika!  See you when you arrive 🙂   If you want to share your story with us, please complete the online questionnaire here

First I would like to thank Ali Meehan for the motivation 🙂  I’m drawing mandalas since a few years and almost one year I’m giving Mindfulness Based Mandala Workshops. Since a while I wanted to try out a different style and here is a short summary of my June Challenge.  — In the beginning I had the idea it will be a simple task which won’t take too much time till it got harder and harder.About 6 months ago I tried my first “One Line Mandala” inspired by one line art. Since then in my head I want to try it out and not knowing that I just got stuck in the thinking mode of ‘how should I implement it?’. (and the time passes … ). So I used the challenge to experiment and practice my curiosity. While I was doing that and I was sure that I found ‘my way’, next realization: I was working out of auto-pilot after I did a ‘mistake’. Day 10. First thought – oh what should I do? First reaction I wanted to revert it! Calming down and accepting the situation I discovered that actually I love my new style and how it took it’s own shape. Second half of the month. I was getting lazy and forgetting it but pushing myself to continue even after midnight sleepy and demotivated and against my mind, which was telling me: ‘you’re late, the day is over’, ‘skip one day, only one,…’. Day 22 – the month felt so long.. I really wanted to skip that day. I know it’s sounds strange, in the end it’s just a simple mandala drawing,.. but the mind turned it already into a big deal. This inner fight between doing and not doing it, next realization: Why I’m putting so much pressure on me? (= why I’m practicing!! to put pressure on myself?) I allowed myself to enjoy a few minutes, that’s why there is only one open circle. Day 26 turned into a more simple One Line Mandala compared to Day 1, which was too intense, this happened because I tried the new technique with the old information. So I gave myself space to gain new experiences, which you can see in the following days. The last one on Day 30 just summarizes the whole challenge. Hope, joy, flow in the “dark” times in the “mistakes“. One drop (one intention – one step) helps us to move on, discover and create our own beauty. — On my website you can see all my mandalas of the challenge ordered from Day 1 – Day 30.  https://elsurneb.art/blog/june21  further information of Mindfulness Based Mandala Workshop https://elsurneb.art/mindfulness    

Hi  My month without alcohol, has made me realise that you really don’t need it to enjoy life. The first thing that I noticed after only a few days is my face began to have shape I hadn’t realised how puffy alcohol had made it.  The incentive to carry on couldn’t have been better and I couldn’t believe how quickly this happened. I lost weight in other areas and the weight just seemed to drop easily. It wasn’t something I had thought about before I started so a massive bonus.  I had also noticed that when I was drinking the day after I could be anxious and having never suffered with anxiety this worried me. I didn’t want to spend my life feeling this awful feeling which was completely alien to me. Going into bars and restaurants the locals got to know me as the agua con gas girl. I do feel proud of myself and the benefits of not drinking far out weigh the negatives of drinking. I have decided I will carry on not drinking, I am more alert ,I have  more energy and wake up feeling great every day. The thing that helped me most , was before I started I had read a lot about the effects of alcohol and I am also a trained therapist who has helped lots of people with addictions and seen the devastation if it gets out of control. I used to say to my mind that I was drinking ethanol (which it is )and this helped me to not drink. Why put healthy good in your body and exercise, only to put a toxic substance in your body   I cannot think of any reason to start again but I will still enjoy the odd glass of bubbly, hopefully with some of you Costa Women. Cheers to my alcohol free life. 

  I had a dream at the beginning of my Awakening, it was quite profound… I saw a pack of cards spread out… and understood how they are all connected and part of a bigger picture. Each experience is to cherish, and allows everyone to experience all life’s facets… that ultimately bring each person, if you’re lucky, to the unfolding truth about who you are and what life is all about.   Nothing more was revealed to me as that was for me to explore along my journey… not even the Joker showed his face back then!   Only now after so many years Awakening, could my Joker self step forward and guide me through final ah ah moments that allow me to be clear and fully perceive the seeds of love that invisibly weave throughout all life, through everything and everyone… especially deeply hidden within our negative wounds that we have carried around since the beginning of time, and allow me to be the Divine, loving and magical being IAM born to be and enact this lifetime.   It was one repeating thought, IAM a failure that kept resurfacing and distracting me from fully embracing and experiencing NewEarth. Enough was enough! I needed some help! I came across David Ian Rogers on my alternative news network who I resonated with and agreed to meet online. David is a 21st century Heyoka (sacred clown or joker) who’s mission it is to free people from their tormented mind… in a very short time!   It was time for me to dismantle this mental aspect; a big belief in lack, which was deeply nestled and entangled with so much more! David guided me to easily unravel and clear many deep wounds in less than 2 hours. Afterwards for about 3 weeks, relaxing with daily mindfulness & release practice, I made Barbara sense of it all and felt my body, mind and spirit come into a beautiful new balance. It goes without saying, I highly recommend this very loving and crazy David to sort you out if necessary!   During these 3 weeks, I was inspired to finish my latest intuitive painting and… yes… my Joker self appeared with a message… Life is a Game of Cards, be Aware and Play Well\u2764\ufe0f   The longer message is about understanding the Joker’s double role. The Joker plays the fool, distracting folk with laughter, away from them realising the truth of their own invisible connection to All That Is and innate Divine intelligence. The Joker mirrors the embodiment of the light and the dark, right and wrong, good and bad, sharing with us all, the truth one needs to discover and be aware of, when each is ready.     MasterCreator Class. My online MasterCreator Class is a practical guide for Awakening hearts to journey through this natural shift of consciousness in all ease and grace. It contains all the latest and essential new information that helps me through my own Awakening and Ascension journey. It is a great follow up from my true love story… Your Magnificent Self… A Journey to Freedom, and a chance for you to commit to and celebrate your true Sovereign and free role as Master and Creator, fulfilling your passion and mission this lifetime, birthing NewEarth (a life of unity & harmony) from within.   Over 21 days you will be inspired to fully realise your Divine, loving and magical nature, release everything that no longer serves you in a fun and lasting way… fears and beliefs in lack, trust yourself to go beyond everything known and allow yourself to discover the unknown, whilst celebrating in all playfulness, all that you are. For more information and sign up, click here… MasterCreator Class   ©Barbara Franken… Creative Visionary & Master CreatorInspiring New Energy Consciousness & Multi-Dimensional Living         A True Magical Children’s Story about Love and Life. To inspire our children to connect deeply within themselves and the natural world around them and remember the truth of their being ‘Sparkles of Love’, here to bring love and harmony into the world, quite simply by being them self and enjoying their life in each moment. Click here to read more information & link to purchase.     A paperback and Digital Book is available from all Major online stores… Amazon and Apple.  I share my own magical journey, exploring Who I AM with the help of nine Elemental Beings and expand from a world of fear, struggle and limitation into a New Energy Consciousness of love, grace and freedom. It is in this loving space that I discover my Divine and ALL LOVING self and allow myself to integrate together as one Body Consciousness… a DivineHumanBeing… and Magnificent Master Creator who expresses and creates heart and soul passion on the physical plane and beyond..  Join my online MasterCreator Class and emerge yourself in the celebration of life through dance, song, art, relaxed inner journeys and beyond everything known… preparing yourself for your NEW role on New Earth.   There is no time like the present moment to Sign Up and give YOURSELF this magnificent gift… More Info: MasterCreator Class     All the money raised from my books and classes go to my non-profit association The Magnificent Consciousness that holds free local Creative Art projects in Benalmadena, Spain.