As a physician I can unreservedly say that one of the gravest problems constantly pursuing Americans—one of the major assassins of health—can be cured by living in Costa Rica. Yes, cured.
I’m not talking about heart disease or asthma or cancer. I’m not referring to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar. I’m speaking about that thing that often sits on top of and aggravates all those conditions. I’m discussing stress. Yes, stress.
Now before you say, “Oh, just that?” please read on.
The problem is that it is almost impossible to escape in the high-pressure society of the U.S. I’ve quoted it many times, but I think Lily Tomlin had it right when she uttered her famous joke, “Even if you win the rat-race, you’re still just a rat!”
So why not do like so many of us have done, and leave the rat-race? Retire in Costa Rica.
I have to tell you that I was always counseling patients to lower their stress levels because it exacerbates so many conditions. For example, I can’t count the number of lawyers who, when they left the courtroom for good, were able to stop their blood pressure medicines. Stress is a killer.
You know how much we look forward to our vacations—that short bit when we can run away from the pressures of life? Those moments when we get to recharge our batteries and we begin to feel de-stressed. But they always end too soon, don’t they?
Living in Costa Rica offers you peaceful, beautiful surroundings amidst friendly and welcoming people. A place where I’ve found that I can unwind, loosen up, ease off, slow down, put my feet up, take it easy, hang loose, chill out, and take a load off.
When was the last time you could say you lived like that? I’ve heard from expats over and over again—they had no idea how much stress they were under until they escaped it: “I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.” “I sleep soundly and awake refreshed for the first time in years.” “I feel young again.” The quotes go on and on.
I’m not saying that you’ll never feel any stress living in Costa Rica, but compared to filing a U.S. tax return, having to choose between picking mangos, pineapples, or papaya for your breakfast cereal is pretty low on the tension-scale.
Of course, just retiring from an over-complicated work routine helps, but living here, Mother Nature’s garden breathes a renewed and healing energy into your soul. Almost everyone I know loses weight—a lot of it—once they are living in Costa Rica. Overall, we’re healthier. It’s the increased walking that we do without even realizing it, it’s the lowered cortisol levels that come sans stress, and it’s those healthy food options we talked about before—they don’t hurt one little bit either.
You know there are only five Blue Zones in the world—places where people live much longer than average. One of them is here in Costa Rica. The proof is in the pudding.
So take a chill pill by joining me and many others in living a new, full, de-stressed life in Costa Rica. It’s just what the doctor ordered.
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