Monica Mesa Dasi

For me, this is personal. ❤️

Eight years ago today, my oldest son, Cheyne, left this world by su***de.

Something my Ta**ra teacher reminded me of this morning has stayed with me: no matter how spiritual we are, we cannot spiritualize death.

I have a beautiful and very real spiritual relationship with Cheyne. I feel him. I talk to him. I receive guidance from him. I am deeply grateful for the ways our relationship has continued beyond his physical life.

But I am also his mother.

I am a human being with a human heart, and I miss my son in his physical form. I miss his laugh. His presence. His body. His voice. I miss being able to reach out and touch him.

People may see me surfing, teaching, laughing, traveling, loving my life, and showing up with a lot of strength and courage. All of that is real.

This is real, too.

I have been devastated by the su***de of my son. I carry trauma from his death. There are days when I am strong, and there are days when I am not okay.

Sometimes it is okay not to be okay.

This is part of why Su***de Prevention Month matters so deeply to me. I want to do whatever small part I can to help prevent another person from dying by su***de, and I want those who have survived the su***de of someone they love to know they are not alone.

This year, Cheyne has been asking something different of me:

“Remember my life, Mom.”

So I am.

I am remembering how he lived. His fire. His laughter. His love. The incredible athlete he was. The big brother he was to Skye and Ronin. The beautiful memories we made together.

His death is part of his story, but it is not the meaning of his life.

Today I am making room for all of it—the grief and the gratitude, the human and the spiritual, the tears and the beautiful memories.

Swipe through if you feel called. I hope something here helps someone who needs it today.

I love you forever, Cheyne.
And I will keep remembering how you lived. ❤️

***depreventionmonth ***depreventionawareness ***delosssurvivor

Pain into purpose is my jam.
⚡️
Giving young men a chance to rise.

It’s one of the parting gifts my son Cheyne gave me when he went to the Upper World.

He makes it clear.
Who. What. Why. When.

Now.

Soul on Fire Surf Scholarship Fund was born from love and created in his memory. He loved surfing, but never got the chance to fully live out all of his surf dreams.

Today that love lives on by helping young, profoundly under resourced Colombian surfers access opportunities their talent has earned.

Right now one of our athletes needs us again as he’s earned his spot and been invited to the ISA Junior World Championships in El Salvador.

Together, we got him there last year, and together we’ll get him there again this year.

To everyone who has donated, shared, coached, mentored, cheered, provided equipment or opened a door - thank you!

YOU are part of Soul on Fire, and we are just getting started, so you can donate now for Oscar, Chispy, and all of our future athletes,
🔗 in bio.

With what Colombia is going through right now after the earthquake, I feel it’s a particularly good time to give back to this country - the country of my roots - and it’s people.

Ride the wave. Change a life!

🌊 🇨🇴

This is a man with a lion heart 🦁♥️

Today on the Lionsgate 8.8. I celebrate the birthday of one of my most beloved Ta**ra Yoga teachers, Michael.Ta**ra.Yoga

You may not know him, unless you’re lucky like me, because as most true teachers are, he is very humble, flows below the radar, tends to be practicing more than he’s on social media, and is one of the most studious and devoted practitioners I know.

We met three years ago, when I was studying Ta**ra at a training, where he was one of the faculty. We got to be with him every morning for about three hours for a month and when it was over I continued to study with him weekly.

He has been as devoted to me and my Ta**ra, and healing path giving me more than I could ever have asked of a teacher.

He makes it a point to give me a class on the grief anniversary of my son Cheyne’s passing, his birthday, and all of the most difficult, and also cherished days of my year, no matter where either one of us are on the globe.

He has shared with me all the direct teachings he has received from his own Gurus, his own trials and tribulations, and all the way he has made me feel like I have been one of his teachers as well.

A true teacher shines the light back onto the light of your own luminescence, and that is what he has continued to give me.

We understand each other as spiritual seekers, freaks of nature, and devotees aspiring to live, love, and learn the ways of wisdom, so that we can share it with others and help all heal.

A man on a mission is one of the most beautiful and powerful gifts for our planet in these extraordinary times, so I celebrate his lion heart and soul and wanted to share him with all of you.

Om Namah Shivaya!
❤️‍🔥

**rateacher **rayoga

A single flower can awaken love 🌼

This is a frangipani, one of Costa Rica’s most beloved blossoms. Its fragrance is rich, soft, and deeply sensual.

For centuries it has been associated with love, beauty, devotion, and the sacred.

In ta**ra, the senses are not a distraction from awakening. They are one of the doorways.

Pause.

Breathe in the fragrance.
Notice the colors.
Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin.
Listen to the breeze moving through the trees.

You don’t have to chase extraordinary moments.

Sometimes awakening begins when you allow yourself to be completely present for an ordinary one.

This is one of the many gifts Costa Rica offers so effortlessly. It gently reminds you to slow down, soften, and truly receive.

This December, I’ll be sharing so much more than yoga on my Awakening the Goddess Within retreat. We’ll immerse ourselves in practices that awaken the heart, the body, the senses, and the soul—all surrounded by the beauty of this extraordinary place.

When you slow down enough to truly receive, life begins to reveal its sacredness.

We have two rooms left, and then if you have always wanted to immerse yourself in the path of love, me and the other amazing goddesses coming ready to welcome you in.

**raretreat

The word “guru” is often misunderstood.✨

A guru is someone who helps remove the darkness of ignorance by pointing you back to the light that already lives within you.

They don’t ask you to follow them instead of God. They help you recognize the Divine within yourself, within others, and within all of life.

Every teacher I’ve loved has done exactly that.

I’d love to introduce you to the gurus who have most deeply shaped my life.

Neem Karoli Baba’s great teaching:

Love everyone.
Serve everyone.
Remember God.

Those simple words have become the foundation of my life, my teaching, and the way I try to walk through the world.

Amma has shown me what unconditional love looks like in action. Through her example, I’ve learned that devotion isn’t separate from serving the world.

Every embrace, every humanitarian project, and every act of compassion reminds me that love is something we live.

I was raised by deeply mystical Catholics, so in many ways Jesus was my very first guru. Long before I understood the word “guru,” he planted the first seeds of devotion in my heart.

And then there is one more teacher.

The one I never expected.

My son, Cheyne.

His life—and his passing—have taught me more about love, surrender, compassion, and the mystery of the human heart than I ever imagined possible.

Some of our greatest teachers don’t come to us in the ways we expect.

I’m filled with extraordinary gratitude for the way they have pointed me toward love, faith, and the remembrance that there is only one God, and that Great Spirit is a part of each one of us.

May we all recognize the teachers who illuminate our path… and may we each become that light for others.

🙏🏾

When FEAR gets in the way. 🫥

I have wanted to teach a Retreat in my own community where I live in Costa Rica, but so many fears have gotten in the way.

Fear: Will enough people sign up?

Fear: After years of teaching mainly yoga retreats, will people also want to learn about Ta**ra?

Fear: Will the women who come all get along?

Fear: Do i still have the magic?
✨
I am happy to say that I have faced every one of those fears head on and realized that the time is now.

There’s nothing cliché about awakening the goddess, it is truly time for the Planet and all of Humanity to be blessed by a woman in her full power.

I wouldn’t be who I am if It weren’t for the teachings and practices that have gotten me through the ages, stages, and rages of life, and so it’s my joy and honor to bring this to a few women who called by this work, play, and devotion.

This is an intimate retreat and we already have it half full with incredible women who are ready to embody the path of love. (there are only four spots left)

I totally trust that if this calls to you, you will comment “RETREAT” get all the details, and meet us in paradise to live, love, laugh, AWAKEN, and reconnect to the deepest parts of your feminine essence through transformational teachings and sacred sisterhood.

I always pray for just the right women to join me so if it’s you, I look forward to wrapping my arms around you and handing you a coconut on in a few months!
💗

**raretreat costaricaretreats 📸 Kat

This is a vulnerable post for me⚡️

This past year has been one of the most beautiful years of my life, experiencing epic love, spending extraordinary quality time with my sons, family, and friends, having epic travels, teaching at festivals and events and sharing what I love, surfing, and living the jungle life, what more could a girl ask for?

When that girl is 60 years old and has come through everything that I’ve been through as a single mom, the grief journey that turned my life upside down, working nonstop for over 25 years - even though it’s serving the people and sharing the yoga and ta**ra path of my heart - my body is finally saying that I need some rest.

I’m entering a new chapter, and I want to share my truth with you.

Here’s some questions I’ve been asking myself this past few months:

Who am I if I’m not helping transform lives?

Am I worthy enough to slow down and rest?

Is it time to put my energy into the true love that I prayed for all my life?

Have I done enough?

What will possibly come through me if I take a pause, take care of my health, be brave and allow myself to receive, and listen to what God wants to come through me next?

As odd as it seems, it’s harder than you can imagine, but I’m going to practice what I have been teaching all these years and love myself enough to take a leap of faith and trust that this is part of my divine plan.

My prayer is that it’s for the benefit of all beings

Including YOU.

“ When you love yourself, you love the world!”
♥️

**rateacher