~ by Dagmar Reinhard

Would you believe that yoga has been in Africa for thousands of years? Leslie Salmon Jones, Afro Flow Yoga® founder, told us this fact during her week-long yoga workshop at the Hart Center, at the Vista Ballena Hotel in Uvita. Leslie spreads joy and the feeling of “pura vida” amongst its practitioners, one of them being hotel owner Suzanne Hart.

The center, embedded in blooming nature and with the most amazing views of the Whale’s Tail and the Pacific Ocean, is cooled by fresh sea breezes and offers an amazing venue for events of this caliber. Leslie has been living her dreams as a professional dancer, certified holistic personal trainer, certified life coach, and yoga instructor.

She took her students on a transformational journey, together with her husband and musical director Jeff W. Jones.

Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, and cofounder of Afro Flow Yoga®. Other workshops are offered at renowned yoga studios, festivals, and universities in the U.S. and various international locations in Bali, Hawaii, Jamaica, and Canada, to name a few. Jeff, a percussionist, bassist, vocalist, and master of African-inspired rhythms, played the djembe, congas, bongos, Sudanese acholi lyre, Indian bells, and tambourine, with a great range of tonal instruments creating an intuitive dynamic flow of sounds which touched the hearts of the participants on a healing musical journey.

Jeff has performed different musical genres at international venues, such as Scullers Jazz Club, The Supper Club NYC, Windows on the World, Berklee Performance Center, and Mile High Stadium, and at the inaugurations of President Barack Obama and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. He has opened concerts for celebrities such as Little Richard and Al Green. 

Jeff and Leslie co-created two wellness DVDs: Core Strength and Core Power, available online. 

We were extremely pleased to have this professional couple of yoga artists here in Costa Ballena, opening the beautifully conceptualized Hart Center, honoring Suzanne Hart´s father

INFO: http://www.afroflowyoga.com/ - http://www.vistaballenahotel.com