Author: Dr. Erica Peabody

I spent all of last week on a surf trip to Montanita, Ecuador. I am excited to share pictures and stories with you all and I am so glad that so many of you keep up with me this way. There is an underground group of Great Lakes surfers, yes people actually do surf the Great Lakes. I am not one of them, however the guy that I am dating is and that is how I got hooked into this trip. I do have to say that I didn’t really feel like I “deserved” a vacation like that since I was just in Costa Rica over the holidays, however the price was something not to be passed up and so I found a wonderful doctor to cover my practice and off I went. Montanita is an old fishing town turned hippie surfer town…just my style. The people of Ecuador are a simple folk. There is not much money and barely any education in the area I was in and so the people are not living and working to try and get anywhere. They are happy and content and present and WOW that is refreshing!!! There i no “running the rat race” mentality and subsequently, a lot less stress or at least a very different stress. I do my best to take each moment as it comes and be present so as to not miss a beat. I haven’t always been this way however I find the most peace in that space and will continue to strive to sustain that. Join me, why don’t ya… (picture taken at one of the beaches we surfed at, more pictures to come).

Meet Jennifer… she and I have been best friends since high school…a VERY long time. She is one of the most wonderful women that I know. She is intelligent, funny and authentic, probably the top three qualities that I look for in friends. The greatest thing about her is she has been such a dedicated friend to me no matter what. I do not believe that there has ever been a time that she wasn’t in my life. I moved all over the country and she came to visit me in all the places I lived. She has been on the other end of the phone for some really wonderful conversations and some really crappy conversations where it is all tears and barely any words. She has guided me in many of my huge life decisions, or at least I always let her have a word about whatever the situation is. She is amazing. She has the biggest entrepreneurial spirit of anyone who I have ever met and she is in the process of materializing her latest “million dollar idea” and this one is going to go far. In the few years, when her and I have hung up the phone, I take a moment to be grateful for her in my life. Thanks Jen. My life is better simply by having you in it:)

One of the most disappointing parts of the media today is the fact that something like a “Sweat Lodge” can go from a wonderful and beneficial Native American ceremony to something that “kills people”. Just a few months ago, there was some famous someone doing a sweat lodge somewhere and 2 people died while there. I can tell you up front, there was a lot of ego involved when things like that happen. So when I was invited to go with a friend, I was slightly apprehensive. When I first mentioned to a few people that I was going to attend a Sweat Lodge, the first thing out of their mouths was “Don’t people die doing that?” Yeah some people have died doing that however so many more hundreds of thousands to millions of people have lived during sweats too…so I went anyways. I have been involved in a lot of life transforming activities however I have to say that this was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. There is a place called “Cedar Water Healing Lodge” http://www.gaylejoseph.com/. in Milford, MI. When you go there, you are instantly accepted as one of their family. The people that run the ceremony have the most loving and giving energy and the experience is one that I would recommend to everyone. The ceremony was explained to us when we got there as well as a guarantee that if something is not going well for you, a phrase can be said and you can remove yourself from the lodge. There were 16 of us for this experience and it lasted about 3 hours followed by a wonderful feast of delicious food. Really and truly a wonderful experience. The lodge in Milford runs sweats every three weeks and I plan on attending as much as will fit into my schedule. Come join me if you would like:)

There are those people in our lives that when you get together, no matter how long it has been, you never miss a beat. These are a few of those people to me. Scott, Marco, and Christine are all friends of mine from our crazy adventure through chiropractic college. Much like so many people, when you go through schooling that is so intense, and there are others doing the same thing, some serious forever bonds come out of that. All three of these friends practice in and around Denver, Colorado. I make it out there to visit them a couple times per year though we have never traveled together. We all closed our practices for the week and spent that time together. They are family. I just thought I would share a picture of part of the crew. This is us opening coconuts and drinking the coconut water and then eating the meat…right in front of our resort. So much fun!!!

So I will be making a few posts so that you can experience some of what i experienced in Costa Rica from December 18-28. I met some friends from chiropractic college and we had an amazing week of fun in the sun at the Ylang Ylang Beach Resort in Montezuma…www.elbanano.com. My personal accommodation was a luxury tent, which I will post pictures of at a later time. I was awaken by howler monkeys every morning, which are pretty much like roosters here in this area, start their daybreak noise at the first moment that the day begins to hint it is on its way, right around 6am. The first two mornings I had no idea what it was, and sounded huge (something the size of an elephant) and I could tell it was getting closer and closer. Naturally my stomach was dropping as I wasn’t all that confident that the canvas that separated me and the outside world was going to actually keep out this monster. After the second morning of waking up in sheer terror, I began to ask around. Of course, the first time I asked any of the locals it was all cleared up. There were a ton of monkeys, both white faced and howler, on the resort property and one of my friends took this picture of the one that was more than likely playing my alarm clock. Such a beautiful sight. Pura Vida!

I will be out of town for Christmas this year and am looking forward to getting away and having some serious down time. I am heading to Costa Rica with 3 great friends and a set of parents of one of the friends. It is a good mix of people, low drama, active, healthy and of course, all chiropractors…well the parents are not chiropractors however they do live a chiropractic lifestyle. When I get together with these friends, it is really wonderful and refreshing. We all start from the same platform, meaning we all live our lives the same way and do the same things and view the world the same. You know those kind of people in your life I am sure. They are the ones that when you get together, some really great conversations happen, some amazing realizations occur and the the vibration together is high. I have a bunch of these friends, though none of them live very close to me. It’s sometimes a bummer however it gives me great reason and destinations to travel to. So I am looking forward to getting on the plane early Friday morning. There is a lot to do between now and then though so I will remain 100% present here until I am gone. Then I will be 100% gone for 10 full, fun days!!!

In my mind, if it is going to be cold, we may as well have snow with it. I mean really, if it is cold outside and if there must be precipitation falling from the sky, then give us some of the big white fluffy stuff! I love the snow. BRING IT ON!!! Actually I am just finishing our annual celebration with the Cafe of LIFE Book Club and sitting by the fire with my dog however just before I sat down, I saw a dusting of the fluffy white stuff. I love the snow. I am a snowboarder and my happiest place on earth is anywhere that I can be strapped to my snowboard carving down a hill. I will keep you posted with my white winter adventures this year. I am not sure what I have in store yet for traveling to the slopes but I am sure I will come up with something. I love snow and I love snowflakes. In fact, if you drive by the Cafe of LIFE during holiday decorating season, you will find snowflakes are our main event. I would actually like to keep them up all winter long, but most people start getting on me about it during the middle of January to get my decorations put away. So if you life in Michigan, it would probably benefit you a lot to get out there an enjoy the snow…it’s going to be here anyways, it is inevitable. I love the snow, have I said that yet?