“Big things come in little packages,” says Jill Ruttenberg, owner of Ama Tierra, a fabulous Yoga and wellness lodge nestled in the rolling hills of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. We had met the owners, Jill and her husband Bob Ruttenberg, late last year at the Yoga Para Todos festival in San Jose. They’ve been operating AmaTierra for five years, where Jill practices natural healing, Chinese herbal medicine and energetic healing.

“Laughter is the best medicine.” All of us have probably heard this proverb at one time or other. To me, Yoga and laugher together is the best medicine.

Frequently during Yoga practice, I find myself snickering when I fall out of a challenging arm balance, or when the teacher is grasping her toe in a pretzel twist while my body feels like it will never be capable of such contortion.