Do you REALLY know how far you can push yourself?
Do you know your limits?
I just discovered my new limits.
I found out exactly how far I could push myself while trekking through Costa Rica’s remote Corcovado National Park.
I have lived in Costa Rica for the past ten years and yet had never been into the Corcovado National Park, the closest I had come was a beautiful fly over in a plane.
Then, out of nowhere, a friend suggested we hike into the Corcovado. I said yes.
If I am honest, I had been putting off this journey because of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of what I could not see.
Fear is debilitating. Fear paralyzes us and stops us from acting. Instead of focusing on what could go right and be extraordinary, we turn our focus on what could go wrong.
When my friend asked me to join him in the Corcovado, I realized fear was stopping me from doing something I knew I would love. Fear was stopping me from doing something I knew I could do.
Yogic living = the constant practice of expanding our capacity and to go beyond your self-imposed walls. We live in a cage. But instead of pushing on these walls that are not really there, we continue to live inside their illusionary nature.
So when my friend asked me to go, I thought, this is the perfect opportunity to overcome my growing and debilitating fear and push the limits of who I think I am.
For me the outdoors has always been a refuge – a safe place to be and to go inward. Nature provides love and care. Her arms are always open to us, we only need to step into her bosom.
It was on this trip into Costa Rica’s remote Corcovado National Park that I reclaimed my power. This journey provided a reawakening of my inner strength and power – something I did not know had been diminished.
This experience of reclaiming my power, achieving sharp clarity, becoming physically stronger, has happened several times in the past.
For so many reasons, we as humans, need to remain vigilant until the end, to test what we are capable of doing. There are so many ways we can test ourselves and push through self-imposed boundaries. For me, hiking is one of the best ways to push beyond these walls.
There are a few different options for entering the Corcovado National Park. The one we chose was to enter through Los Patos.
Our hike began early in the morning. My friends Isaac and Alex joined me, we left Blue Osa at 4:45 am and arrived at Los Patos at 6:30 am. From there, we began a 20 KM intensive hike to Sirena station where we would spend the next two nights.
Each of us hit several walls but in the end, we overcame them all becoming not only much stronger, but resilient.
In total, we hiked over 50 KM during the 3-day period.
Here is a photo log of our journey of
How I Regained My Power in Costa Rica’s Remote Corcovado National Park
On the first morning, we drove to Los Patos.
The beginning of the tour.
The beginning of the tour looked just like this.
Isaac is finding balance.
Part of the joy of being in Corcovado is discovering trees that are more than 300 years old.
And the abundant life that is always around us. Can you spot the little guy?
We are not even halfway, and already we are finished for the day.
Finally, we reached Sirena station. We found out a few days later it was actually a 22 KM journey.
I was so happy and overjoyed that I had to do a handstand!
Then we went to the beach to watch the sunset. The sun, a magnificent source in the universe reminds us that the eternal is always with us.
The next morning we woke up and started our day at 5:00 AM with the sun. We had the chance to really explore the Corcovado with our guide and made several small adventures.
Waking up early gave us the opportunity to see the amazing light during the sunrise. So often when I tell people how early I wake up, they look at me with horror on their faces. But in waking up early, we are spectators to the magnificence of an awakening day all that awakening can bring.
For the rest of the day, we spent time looking for animals. Here are just a few that we found.
The final morning we again left at 5:00 AM to catch the sunrise and begin the 20 KM journey to Carate where we would meet our driver.
We were ready to go! The sun was just starting to rise, we were full of energy, and the air was fresh and cool.
And then we found jaguar tracks. For the next 5 km we followed these tracks along the beach.
I knew the final day was going to be hard, but I don’t think anything could have really prepared me for it. Most of the 20 KM was on the beach, and when it was in the jungle, it was a lot of up and down. The temperature climbed to 85 F degrees.
We were all spent before we got even halfway.
It is in moments like these, in the outdoors, that we are truly tested. In truth. If we did not continue we would have been without water or shelter. We had to continue. We had to move on.
So many times in life, we give up before we have even started.
The imaginary walls come up and we become fixated on what we can not do, instead of focusing on what we can do. In the outdoors, when we climb real mountains, in those moments when we think we cannot continue or go on, the ONLY thing left to do, is to put one foot forward.
The world can sometimes seem so insurmountable and huge. The mountains we climb in life can seem so big that many of us are left thinking, “I can’t possibly climb that!”
But we can. One foot at a time, we can do anything in life.
Learn More About Facing Fear in Yogi Aaron’s Autobiography
