Regulating

Finding My Rhythm in Costa Rica

I’ve been in Costa Rica for a few weeks now, meaning to write, or at least imagining that I would. I kept waiting for the right kind of inspiration to arrive: a sudden ping, followed by a romantic afternoon at a cafe.

Instead, nothing particularly coherent showed up. Just heat, salt air and slow days. A kind of pleasant mental quiet that felt more spacious than productive.

I assumed I would write about what I packed, but found myself completely uninterested in writing about fashion. That’s probably because I’m at the point in my trip where all my clothes are covered in dust and I’ve run out of underwear. Eventually it occurred to me that maybe the thing to write about was simply what’s been on my mind: finding my rhythm here.

Not in a dramatic way. In a very ordinary, bodily way.

When I first arrived, I didn’t think I was eating especially differently than usual. It all felt reasonable. But when I actually looked at the pattern, I realized I was eating a cold wrap most days, fruit almost daily, an occasional smoothie. The kitchen at our Airbnb isn’t great for cooking so I was eating out more than usual, which meant lots of raw, cooling foods without really clocking it.

Around the same time, my digestion started to feel off. I was more fatigued than usual. My tongue developed a thick white coating with redness around the edges, one of those small but unmistakable signals if you’ve ever paid attention through the lenses of Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine. Nothing alarming, just information.

I also noticed that I wasn’t feeling quite like myself…a little flat, a little ungrounded and less internally organized. A subtle shift that’s easy to dismiss.

Meanwhile, my boyfriend was thriving.

He is, without exaggeration, a solar, fruit powered man. Give him sunshine, mango, coconut water, and the ocean and he becomes visibly more alive. His energy lifts and his mood brightens.

Same environment. Same inputs. Completely different internal response.

What my body kept craving instead was almost comically consistent: a warm bowl with beef, sautéed vegetables, beans, potatoes, avocado. Salt. Density. Something grounding and satisfying.

Once I started paying attention and eating accordingly, a familiar steadiness came back online. Not a spike of energy, but a quiet sense of being back in myself.

It made me laugh to recognize how deeply this tracks with my personality. For better or worse, I am a true Capricorn. I do best with steadiness, structure, and grounded nourishment. My system seems to thrive on warmth, protein, grounding, and slow burning fuel, even when the environment suggests otherwise.

Not my bedroom, but I wish! This feels grounding to me.

It’s easy it is to absorb assumptions about what should feel good in a place like this. Tropical climate equals tropical diet. Light, fresh, hydrating, raw. It sounds strange to most people, but I rarely eat fruit - I’ve always had a subtle sense that it doesn’t work for me, even though I’ve never been able to fully explain why.

Both Ayurveda and Chinese medicine talk about digestion, warmth, and internal balance in ways that feel surprisingly practical once you start noticing your own patterns. Certain foods build steadiness while others create dampness or cold. When I look at it through that lens, it makes sense. Raw, cold, sweet foods seem to tip my body into too much dampness. This is simplified, and I’m not an expert, but I enjoy exploring health through these lenses.

I’ve also noticed that too much sun or beach time tends to fatigue me rather than energize me. I love the beauty of it, but my system seems to prefer it in small doses, buffered by shade and plenty of hydration. Same goes for socializing. I like it in small doses, but too much is quickly fatigues me.

I still enjoy small pleasures that belong to being here, a few bites of pineapple most days, usually on its own. In that amount, it feels perfect. I don’t want more than that. The line feels very clear in my body.

Instead of trying to overhaul anything, I started making small, minor adjustments. Here are a few things that have helped me feel more regulated, steady, and anchored:

• prioritizing cooking at home

• eating almost exclusively warm, cooked foods

• adding more protein and grounding foods

• drinking water with a full lime and good quality salt for electrolytes

• getting sun exposure exclusively during a morning beach walk at 7am and sunset when the UV is below 3

• gentle movement and yin yoga

• early nights and fewer plans

Sunday morning yoga at House of Shakti with my favorite teacher, Gaby.

It’s amazing to notice how small, ordinary choices accumulate into how I feel in my nervous system, mood, attention, and sense of coherence.

I used to think listening to the body meant responding to big signals, exhaustion, illness, obvious discomfort. Lately it feels more like learning a quieter language: subtle yeses and noes. Less about optimization, more about finding rhythm and paying attention to what actually stabilizes you.

Your body already knows.
The practice is remembering how to listen.