ABOUT THE GODDESS GARDEN

Jacqueline Bürkler – Owner

Jacqueline was born in Switzerland where she grew up and achieved a pH. D. in natural sciences from the prestigious Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. She always liked to travel and in early years traveled through Europe, Asia and the continent of America. She lived 13 years in Colombia before changing her home to Costa Rica in 1999. The serenity of the rainforest and the pristine beaches of the Caribbean Sea inspired the idea to create an intentional place for transformation: The Goddess Garden Retreat Center.

Marcelo Ruiz – Keeper of the Land – Owner

Marcelo was born in Ecuador and at the age of nineteen went to live in Chicago where he got a degree in Art. He also attended Northwestern University where he obtained a teaching certificate. He taught algebra and geometry in public schools.

Among his interests are spirituality, meditation, shamanism, films, poetry, indigenous tribes, community service, and Argentine tango dancing.

The Goddess Garden is a yoga teacher training center and yoga retreat center and most of all, an intentional place for yoga, meditation and transformation in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

This yoga teacher training and retreat center is surrounded by huge jungle trees, which follow the path of a small creek. Just a step away, you will find the oldest and most amazing tree in Cahuita. Its roots, as tall as a man, will leave you breathless… in reality it is a temple. This beautiful setting will invite you to practice yoga and meditation.

The Goddess Garden Retreat’s spiritual center has two floors, where the view of the rainforest expands to almost 360 degrees. It is designed to give you a wonderful feeling, putting you in touch with nature during your yoga and meditation sessions.

Costa Rica is a peaceful country that disposed of the army many years ago and has a consciousness geared for peace and taking care of the environment, making it perfect for yoga and meditation practice.

So choose to come to our yoga retreat and yoga teacher training resort to practice and learn yoga in Costa Rica, in the midst of awesome natural surroundings.

In our healing spa, we offer a variety of treatments tailored to your specific needs. Choose from a la carte options, such as a healing massage or Aromatherapy Renewal Facial, or indulge your well-being with our special spa packages. Our wellness therapists offer a variety of massage styles, including Swedish, deep tissue, relaxation, acupressure, or a customized combination.

Our current Spa Specials include:

Complete Renewal – A decadent combination of customized massage, aromatherapy facial, and exfoliating foot scrub, with reflexology and herbal steam towels. Two hours of rejuvenation, relaxation, and refreshment!

These services are meant to enhance and enrich your stay, so you can be entirely relaxed while participating in your group retreat or enjoying your personal vacation. Rebalance your body, mind and spirit, finding a blissful state of harmony.

The buildings are distributed over an area of 14 acres using the natural clearings in the forest to build the resort. The water in the rooms is heated by solar panels to cut down the use of electricity. Our restaurant serves mainly vegetarian dishes with organic vegetables and fruits locally grown. We compost our organic leftovers. This compost is put back as fertilizer in our garden.

Every action to conserve energy helps to minimize the damage that we cause to Mother Earth and we go the old fashion way of drying the clothes in the sun when possible. In our vision for the future is the creation of the Peace Garden. At the Goddess Garden, we would like to have a museum in the forest with sculptures and paintings representing the feminine energy of the Universe. It will be dedicated to honor Mother Earth.