A Beautiful Night in Paradise- Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico

Wow! Oh my Gawd! I was just at the beach in beautiful Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico. I actually live here in the winter! it is too amazing! I have been here a month of 2009, busy setting up my house, getting used to being here, and settling in to the routines of life here. I get to be here until mid-March. I am blessed. And a good dreamer!

Tonight I went for a walk on the beach, an hour or two before sunset. It is Christmas time, so the beach is filled with delightful Mexican families from other places. Kids were playing in the water, throwing sand at each other, laughing, dodging waves, and generally moving lots of the energy of the place through their bodies. (When the holidays are over, we will return to our generally empty beach).

The adults were busy with the kids, digging in the sand, letting themselves be burried, or sitting drinking beer and enjoying the delight. The colorful umbrellas lit up the beach like balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When the sun set, the sky turned an amazing orange, even without clouds, and it was so sweet to watch people posing for photos in the orange light, and generally enjoying the moment.

I ran into friends, and we shared a margarita as the sun dropped below the horizon in a blaze of glory. In the mid-heavens, the half moon was hanging, lighting the way home, a perfect couterpoint to the palm trees, and foretelling of the light to come in the next days. What an evening!

On the walk home my compannion and I were laughing with glee about how smart we are to be here, and enjoy this amazing experience of beauty and spirit. I wish you could be here too, and I'm glad that the

beach is not clogged with gringos (AKA, "internationals") buying t-shirts and seashell napkin holders. Please only come if you want to experience a small Mexican village, with the sweetest people, the warm sun, the fresh seafood, and absolutely no entertainment except counting the waves and walking home in the moonlight feeling smug that you created this dream for yourself and most people haven't.

I was carrying a heavy load of clean laundry from the laundromat as I walked, so I was left behind by my companion. That was okay with me, because it gave me more time to love the moon, love the uneven dirt road, and love the silly little dogs that used to bark when I passed but now are used to me an let me go by without raising the alarm.

This is my third winter in Chacala, and my second in my own home. More about home ownership at the Mexico beach and my in-progress under-construction roof top patio and ramada roof in a future post.

For those of you that don't know, Chacala is a little beach village, 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, in the Riviera Nayarit. The beach is the most lovely half-mile crescent of gentle sand and surf I have ever seen in my many years exploring this coast. It is the perfect place for a tropical vacation for those who don't need any entertainment-- except for counting waves, sipping a margarita or cold beer at sunset, and being with yourself. There is no disco, no parasailing, and no all-inclusive resorts. We do have about six or eight thatched palapa restaurants serving the freshest seafood you will ever find, right on the beach, accompanied by local mariachi bands if you are willing.

Some day this village will be overrun by the development envisioned by the Mexican government, and will contribute millions of pesos to the national treasury. In the meantime, it is a treasure of its own, and I suggest you get here as soon as possible, before it is too late. If you want help making that happen, write or leave a comment and I can help with lodging and transportation.

And if you really want to rock, contact me about my Valentine's Week Romance Retreat in Chacala, February 8~12, 2010. It will be amazing. Check my website for details.

See you here.

I am in Chacala, and it is Warm!

I Made it! I am in Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico!

Well, for those of you who know the story, it was a long ride from Northern California to Chacala this year. I got a bit frustrated when I got attached to my idea of a schedule and the outcome! I know, I know, I preach against such attachments, but I got caught.

I wanted to be here in my winter home by early November, and I was attached to quickly wrapping up loose ends with my wonderful house sitter, saying good bye to my Toltec community there, packing my truck, and hitting the road (a five day drive). . . AND get into the sun and sea of this lovely little beach village. Many circumstances arose to hold me back and slow me down-- I was weeks "behind schedule." I finally arrived in Chacala just in time Thursday evening to go directly to the Las Brisas Restaurant on the beach for a pretty darn good Thanksgiving dinner with all the usual fixings and some good people.

Now that I am here, all the delays and "problems" seem inconsequential. I made it, I am here, my house was clean and ready for me, everything is perfect-- and always has been (including my thinking I was behind schedule, attached, and frustrated).

I went for a walk on the beach this morning. The ocean was sparkling and the air balmy and soft. The surf was gentle, and a few local tourists were playing in the waves.

After visiting with some returning Winter Gringos, I dropped in at Chac Mool Café, where I treated myself to a big turkey (Thanksgiving leftovers!) and tomato omelet drenched in "crema" (like not-sour sour cream) and green salsa, with beans on the side -- and a great cup of espresso decaf! Ahhhh, paradise. My bill: $4.00 US.

I am very grateful. We at Joydancer had a wonderful summer season. I attended and lead many wonderful talks, workshops, journeys, and other events. Our 5th Annual Summer Celebration of Life in July was amazing, my Conscious Relationship Road Trip to the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia in August was a dream come true, and Teotihuacan in October was our best Journey of Transformation ever! I look forward to more of the same in summer, 2010, and hope you will join me for the magic.

I loved meeting all the new people along the way, and I welcome all of you to our newsletter and the Joydancer family. In future issues I will have news about our new website coming soon, an updated online store, and new video and audio connections to my teaching. Now I am looking forward to a great winter, sharing with you from here in Chacala, and I continue to encourage you to get down here as a visitor, for a personal growth intensive, or for my Valentine's Week Retreat on Love, Romance, and Relationship.

(For information about personal growth intensives or help with accommodations and travel, please contact me directly at allanh@sonic.net).

I invite you to join me in spreading the word ~ we can and will liberate ourselves from a fear-based cultural dream, and live in happiness in the dream of heaven on earth. What skills or experience might you offer to the new dream through Joydancer.com? It is time for action, it is time to change the world we dream in our own minds! Let's do it together!

There is no hurry, of course. . . and, not a moment to waste.

_______________________

I will also be encouraging you, over and over, to join me at the beach in Chacala, Nayarít, Mexico, this winter.

Chacala is safe and clean, the people, sun, and surf are warm and friendly, and the fresh seafood is scrumptious. Nothing scary you are reading or hearing in the news about Mexico is true about Chacala! A paradise this close and unspoiled will not last much longer. Do it now.

I will be here through March, 2010, and I look forward to seeing you. There are at least three ways you enjoy Chacala with me this winter. Choose yours below. The airport is Puerto Vallarta.

If you have interest or questions, please contact me.
Make reservations early to assure yourself the best accommodations for your needs. I can help.

Use this link to the Valentine's Retreat pages.

Call or write about your Personal Intensive (individuals or couples).

The Joydancer office: (707) 528-1271
My direct line in Chacala: (707) 206-7623 (Skype, toll only to California).

Or write: allanh@sonic.net

Three Ways to Enjoy the Winter in Chacala, Mexico

“The New Relationship” a Valentine's Retreat & Workshop

I am very excited about our Valentine’s Week Retreat on Love, Romance, and Relationship, coming up February 9 ~ 13, 2009, here at the beach in Chacala, Nayarít, Mexico.

Here are ten reasons you might want to join me and us for this special Valentine’s Week Retreat for singles and couples. . .

“THE NEW RELATIONSHIP ~
FIVE AGREEMENTS TO MAKE LOVE COME TRUE”

1. You want to do something special for Valentine’s Day.
2. You want to treat yourself and someone you love to a new way of being in love together.
3. You are single, and want to learn more about real love.
4. You want to improve your relationship for Valentine’s week.
5. You want to deepen your understanding and practice of my Five Agreements for The New Relationship.
6. Your relationships fail to work, and you want to learn why.
7. You dream of successful romantic relationships and are looking for a teaching that will support your dream.
8. You love Mexican food and culture, and you want to immerse yourself in it (the culture, not the food!).
9. You want to get out of the cold and enjoy the tropical beach in a wonderful small village with great seafood that is easy to reach and comfortable and safe to relax in.
10. Number 10 is for you to fill in the blank, then come! ___________.

Last evening, on the way back to my home after my daily sunset beach walk, I was enjoying the soft warm/cool tropical air, when I looked up and saw the half moon hanging directly over my head. Venus was appearing as the first star, over the ocean in the west. I thought to myself, why aren’t YOU here, too?? Why are YOU putting up with the cold and wet, when you could be here?? Big Mystery.

Note: The moon will be full on the first day of our retreat. Come early.

One the other hand, we don’t want everyone here. That would be a bit much. So, we are letting you select yourselves. Those of you that haven’t fallen under the spell that I hear is going around up there, something about financial Armageddon, end of the world, lack, collapse, poverty, fear fear fear—those of you free still to dream—you are the ones. Come on down!

I am going to be sharing one of my Five Agreements for the New Relationship one each day of our retreat. They are on my website here with explanations, but here my new agreements as a list:

1. "Your nature is Love. You are the source of Love in your life."
2. "You are not responsible for causing people’s emotional reactions to your reality."
3. "Being the source of love, you are complete within yourself."
4. "The Truth is more important than the outcome of the Relationship."
5. "True happiness is the result of love coming out of you."

These agreements are also available as a set of five audio CD’s in the Joydancer.com store here. You can book the trip, order the CD’s, pack your swimsuit, and you are ready!

While you are here, there will be lots of time to relax, tan, swim, read, walk, and enjoy the sea, sun, and sand. Whether you are single or in a couple, I guarantee you this week will be a treat for you in more ways than you can imagine.

Chacala is a still-little-known paradise, only 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s west coast. The half-mile beach is clean, the surf gentle, and the local people are as warm and friendly as the sun and ocean.

The seafood in the beach-side palapa restaurants is fresh every day. The beer is cold, the salsa spicy, the chips crisp, and the view stunning. And I live here! What a great dreamer I must be!!

Lynn in the California Joydancer office and I can help you make arrangements for lodging and ground transportation to Chacala. Rooms with kitchen, bath, and hot water, start at about $40 USD and go up as far as you could want. Food is reasonable. People are finding cheap tickets, too. Want help with air fares? Go here.

The cost of the Valentine’s Retreat with me (think “love, romance, and relationship”) is $600 for the five days. What a deal! ($120 per day!).

Well, the rest is up to you. Operators are standing by (Lynn will actually be away from the office from Wednesday January 13 thru Sunday January 17th so hurry!).

Contacts for information and registration:

BEST: Register and make a deposit in the Joydancer Store here

Joydancer California office:

• Phone: (707) 528-1271
• E-mail: lynn@joydancer.com

Allan in Chacala:

• E-mail: allanh@sonic.net 

• Skype: “allanhardman” –
• OR (707) 206-7623 – rings on my laptop.
• 
Chacala landline, from US dial: 011-52 (327) 219-4012


Chacala Resources:

• http://chacalalife.blogspot.com/
• http://chacalabudgetrentals.blogspot.com/
• http://www.chacala.org/
• http://afamilymovestomexico.blogspot.com/2009/01/opening-night.html




“Joy in My World”

Christmas in tropical Chacala looked like it was going to come and go without any of that “Spirit” that we equate with the season. Little did I know. On Christmas Day evening, I walked to the new Chacala Cultural Center— a little place with a big name and a big idea—and joined 100 locals and visitors for an evening “concert.”

When we arrived, a bit early for the concert, we learned we had just missed Santa Claus. A visitor had brought his outfit and enough presents for a huge passel of kids. Someone had contracted one of those uniquely rural cars with the loudspeakers to go through town announcing the event in Spanish, so lots of kids showed up for Santa! I was disappointed I missed it. The story I heard about it tonight was great. It sounded like it was an experience of a lifetime for many of the kids.

As the concert crowd gathered, it was fun to know and greet so many people I have come to know and love here, both local Mexicans from the village and gringo guests who have discovered and fallen in love with Chacala. The outdoor back yard of the Center was decorated with colored lights winkling on the fences, a little stage (was that the cover for the old septic?) with lights and microphones, and rows of chairs on both sides. An actual sound system was ready, crackling in pure local style, and beer and wine was being served in the back. Donations were accepted for the Center (it needs a bathroom! Hey, if you want to help, send a donation to my office in Santa Rosa, CA, and we’ll make sure it gets here).

I have no idea where 100 people came from in this little town. As we settled down, Rudy and Sandie began their first song, and I realized we were in for a treat. They sang for an hour, sweet songs, some rockers, original songs, some spiritual reminders, and Rudy brought out his Johnny Cash. The audience appreciation was clear. Nothing awesome happened, no records were broken, and no autographs were collected, as far as I know.

At the end, simple candles were passed out, and as we lit them, we began to sing Silent Night together, followed by the more up-tempo “Feliz Navidad.” As the final chords faded into the balmy night air, I realized that I was sitting in a plastic chair in a funky yard in a little (some have said primitive) village with a crowd of not-necessarily-like-minded souls a long way from “home” — and was experiencing pure unmitigated unquestionable JOY.

There was nowhere else on this planet I wanted to be and nobody else I wanted to be with, but right there, with those people, right then in that moment. I was content, I was happy, and I was feeling joy.

I still am.

Merry Christmas to us, and the joy in us, every day.

Life in the Slow Lane

From Chacala, Nayarít, Mexico

I was working on the internet as usual in the morning yesterday. As the day progressed, I knew when I would take a break, do my beach walk, buy some fruit, and stop to see if the woman at the trinket stand found any good yarn paintings for me in Tepic. I had a plan.

Earlier than the plan called for, a niggling feeling started that wanted me to leave the house. I recognized it as one of those possibilities that Life offers for adventure, so I let go of my project in progress and prepared to leave. Then, more e-mail came, a house detail was crying out, and time went by.

I was aware of a voice telling me I was blowing Life’s invitation, but I let it be, and continued to do what I was doing. In time, I walked out the door, in the flow, wondering what to expect. I have tenants in an upstairs unit here that are here from the previous owner. They are an architect and engineer working at a subdivision of villas behind “The Gate” at Marina Chacala. It was Saturday, and they were preparing to leave to be with their families in another town.

They were waiting for someone to arrive with their door key, so we had a chance to chat a bit for the first time. I asked them if they knew an English-speaking expert that might consult with me about some drainage problems in my back yard. The new neighbor has changed the grade of his lot, and now there is no place for the summer rain (deluges) to drain out of my yard.

After I showed one of them the situation, he said, When would be a good day? What? A good day to bring a machine in here, clean out the dead trees and trash, and then bring in the fill dirt you need? Er. . .uh. . .Tuesday? OK, we’ll be here.

A gift.

The key arrived, and they left to be with their families. And I stood in amazement. And simple gratitude to Life.

I thought, No point in stopping now. I walked into town, and my future neighbor was sitting on the stoop of his store enjoying a beer. I walked past, said Hello (well, Hola, actually), went about twenty feet (well, seven meters, actually) and Life tapped me on the shoulder. Ahem!

Oh! I went back, and we began our first real conversation, talking about his family, his building plans, my drainage, and more. He suggested that now would be a good time to bring in trucks of fill, before he starts building next month, so the trucks can cross his property to get to my back yard. I smiled and said “Tuesday.”

He gave me a tour of the very beautiful home he built above his store, which he intends to rent to Chacala visitors after we are neighbors. I left knowing that everything was in place as it should be in the universe.

The beach walk was great, even if it was ahead of schedule! And the two Huichol and Tepehuano yarn paintings were gorgeous, so I brought them home to grace my walls.



FOOTNOTE: In Santa Rosa, CA, if Life niggled me to walk outside, I would usually find an empty street because everyone would be somewhere else. So I would walk to my neighborhood Community Market, say Hello, and buy some chocolate. I like this better. However! Life does not care about location, only realtors do. Life is here, as us, always saying Ahem! to us through our bodies. I am grateful for this lifestyle that is slow enough and flexible enough that I get to listen.

Thank you, LIFE!



Now, back to that project.

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LATE BREAKING NEWS: Susana from Casa Pacifica just dropped by to let me know her breakfast restaurant, Mauna Kea, opens tomorrow on her rooftop overlooking Chacalilla beach, the ocean, and the whales. She will have great “American” breakfasts, wireless access and phones for those addicted, and flyers, maps, and event information for new visitors to Chacala. Photos to follow—after my first breakfast!

PS: Susana is looking for someone who wants to take over the restaurant. There is a living space on the roof, too. Ready for a new life?

CHACALA: Where I Am and Why I’m Here

I first broke through my fear and resistance about traveling in Mexico sometime back in the early 1980’s. Where I grew up in Southern California there were angry young people from Mexico, and I was afraid of them. I surely did not want to go where there was a whole country full. Wow, was I wrong!

A Spanish speaking girlfriend convinced me to go, and a friend who was living in the state of Nayarít, on the west coast of Mexico, insisted we come visit. The train ride down and the time in the coastal village was the beginning of a life-long love affair with this country and its people.

After many years of vacationing in the beach towns of the west coast of Mexico, and one six-month stay, I met don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec author of The Four Agreements and other books (1995). My long apprenticeship with him meant many journeys to sacred sites throughout Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. During that time all my travel was devoted to my work with don Miguel, and I missed my beach vacations.

During a six-month stay in Santa Cruz, Nayarít, in 1990, I bought a parcel of land, dreaming of creating a retreat center there. Because of my travels with don Miguel, and my focus on my work at home, the land came and went from my awareness and care for many years. In 2003 and 2005 I added small parcels to the land, and in the last few years began planning for the future. We have been planting trees again, adding many banana varieties, irrigating, and generally improving the land.


In the winter of 2007-2008, I was free enough to “risk” moving to Mexico for the winter. Santa Cruz is a bit isolated and lacks some of the amenities and social possibilities I needed, so I rented a house in Chacala, an hour closer to Puerto Vallarta. I used to say “I can’t move to Mexico until they have high speed internet access.” Well, it is here! I can work from “home.”

Three days before I was to return to California in March of 2008, someone offered to sell me their house in Chacala, and I accepted the offer with gratitude. I returned to Chacala in November 2008, and began painting and upgrading my new house. I love being back in Chacala. The new house has two vacation rental units upstairs—and I look forward to making them available to like-minded visitors. Right now I am living in one, and renting the other long-term, while I bring possibilities to life in the main house downstairs. Check here often to find out availability.

There is a beautiful half-mile beach here, with very few people on it most days

Chacala is a fishing village, so the palapa restaurants on the beach serve fresh fish and shrimp every day (and a cold beer or two if you are so inclined). The streets are not paved, and roosters are the main wildlife.

There are many wonderful small places to stay (and even a larger hotel or two) scattered throughout the village. A program called “Techos” (= roofs) has enabled local landladies to add a second story to their houses, with kitchens and often an outdoor patio. They rent for $45 and up per night.

Chacala is 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s west coast. It is part of the new “Riviera Nayarít,” a tourist designation recently created by the government. It seems unfortunate that development may come soon and without much vision for its impact on the community, its way of life, its economy, and its future. These things can best be evaluated in hindsight, so I will wait!

But I invite you not to wait to explore and experience Chacala, a jewel of laid back Mexican culture and environment. Be warned, there is no parasailing here, no discos, and no party animals at foam raves—simply a beautiful beach, with gentle surf and the sweet sun, palm trees, and a community of warm and happy people who welcome you to share and enjoy their way of life. We hope you will join us soon.

I invite and welcome dreamers, visionaries, visitors, investors, and hard workers who feel inspired to join me in this dream of now and the future—La Casa de las Aguilas, the House of the Eagles.

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