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SIMPLE + TRUE

by Grace Theisen

Simple + True EP available now on iTunes and Spotify.

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I have been getting way more serious about my mental health and combating pain these days... mainly because I am so tired of feeling shitty. I am tired of feeling sorry for myself and I am tired of being a victim to my pain. If you have chronic pain/illness these are a few things I cannot recommend enough: 1. The @curablehealth app and doing IT DAILY. 2. Being selfish with your healing-making it your number ONE priority no matter what life has to offer. If that’s going to yoga, taking 20 minutes to meditate, work out, eat better... we begin to FEEL BAD because we let ourselves feel bad. I truly believe that now. (If you don’t believe me.. watch the HEAL documentary on @netflix.) When my body starts to hurt, it’s probably because I haven’t moved off the couch or feed it well or gotten enough sleep. We HAVE to STOP MAKING excuses and claim our health back. Speaking to the choir on this one. Is it easier to pop a pain med then take an hour to meditate, free write and move my body? DUH. But that isn’t the long term solution. We have to fight hard for long term solutions... ones that have lasting positive effects. 3. Follow @ruthielindsey. This mama has been my saving grace since moving to Nashville 4 years ago. She is light, love, speaks honesty and from the heart but also pushes me CONSTANTLY to re-frame my mindset about pain... that healing IS FOR ME and I don’t HAVE to suffer. I don’t have to be a victim to my circumstances. 4. Set boundaries. Holy moly I cannot harp on this one ENOUGH. I am the people pleaser of all people pleasers but GUYS. That gets you NO WHERE in life... other than burnt out, in un-healthy relationships and anxious/stressed beyond measure. For me, moving to Costa Rica was the beginning of getting myself out of the dark hole I was in and learning to take my life back. 5. FIND POSITIVE/SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY WHO WILL CALL YOU OUT when you need to be pushed and hold you when you need to cry. 6. Lastly, as @frankieballard once told me, “you only have to be sober TODAY.” (In regards to weaning off pain meds.) Take it a day at a time. Live your life TODAY and just for today. Be gentle with yourself and shower your body in grace upon grace. ❤️
I came to Costa Rica not having many answers and a LOT of questions. I felt fragile in my faith walk and wasn’t even sure what I believed anymore and decided to come into this trip pursuing nothing. I let go of my expectations and others of me to “pray, journal, read my Bible” and decided for once in my life i was just going to LIVE. To exist and be present and not try to seek out God or Jesus or answers and see where I landed. To be honest, I didn’t even bring my Bible with me here. I was burnt out from American church, by Christians saying one thing and doing another (including myself) and needed a break. - I have listened to podcast after podcast about others losing their faith and finding it again and some just losing it all together. I kept wondering, “But if I was raised in a different home across the world... would I believe all of this?” I still have no idea. - I wish I could say over the last 4 months I I have had this CRAZY clarity and feel 100% CERTAIN in my beliefs but I don’t. I have met people here who believe in all kinds of things but the underlying belief that I CAN say I know now is that EVERYONE is searching for love and light in their life. And EVERYONE has the right to find it in their own way. I know many of you Christians reading this are probably thinking, “Oh here she goes... off the deep end.” And I would ask you to stop and check yourself and your thoughts. If God is LOVE and we were ALL created from God.. then we all have the ability to LOVE and BE LOVE. He has to have his hands in EVERYTHING because we ALL come from Him. - I can count on my hand the number of times I have prayed here but I cannot count the number of times I have cried and celebrated and felt DEEP joy with others humans who exude more love and light than I have ever known in my life... humans who wouldnt call themselves “religious or Christians.” And I think there is something to be learned from that no matter what you believe. God said the MOST important commandment is to “love yourself and love others.” We all want to feel accepted and known and loved. And if for you, that is church... then do that. (Continued in comments.)
I have never felt more alive or myself then when I am at this beach, in this water or watching these sunsets. Just so dang THANKFUL for this place that has given me back so much. Mi corazón está en Costa Rica. ❤️ - #nofilterneeded - 📷: @hanshm91 - #playahermosa #costarica #sunsetsurf #shakabeachretreat
It has taken me 27 years to FINALLY be comfortable in my own skin and if I am being honest it’s still a daily practice (and lots of counseling) to wake up and tell myself, “You are worthy to exist here and take up space. Your opinions matter. Your music matters. Your VOICE matters.” - So to all my women out there, whatever race, ethnicity, age, size, hair color, eye color or shape you are... I want to remind you that YOU MATTER. Don’t wait 27 years and a LOT of sleepless nights and endless people pleasing for you to realize YOUR PRESENCE ON THIS EARTH IS NEEDED. YOU, WHO YOU ARE TODAY, IS PURE PERFECTION. - In a still very patriarchal world that daily sends us mixed messages about being strong, but not TOO strong; being kind but not TOO kind; being opinionated but not TOO opinionated... (the list goes on) can we band together as sisters and continue to push back and say: “THANK YOU BUT NO. You do not get to tell us how to live or determine for us what is strength and success is. That is something we get to decide for ourselves.” - In 2019, can we-as women-lean into each other more instead of tearing each other down with our opinions on how we think someone else’s life, parenting, job, etc.. should look? Can we instead focus that energy on ourselves in doing our best to set an example for the younger generation of women that sometimes being strong means asking for help and setting boundaries for ourselves and taking time to rest is actually a non-negotiable?? That our weight and size doesn’t actually determine anything?? And can we PLEASE STOP SAYING SORRY FOR THINGS WE DON’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR?! (Speaking to the choir on this one...🤦🏻‍♀️) - So here’s all the badass women in my life and throughout history that have taken the road less traveled so that women around the world are starting to be taken more seriously. Here’s to committing to daily do our part to continue this legacy so that my 5 nieces and all the little women worldwide can make even further progress than we did. - “NO ONE can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt - #internationalwomensday
Dear 2018 Grace, Sweet child. You will make it through these dark nights. The suicidal thoughts. The never ending anxiety. The cloud of depression that never leaves. The detox of heavy pain meds. I know it feels like your life is ending but I promise there is ALWAYS a silver lining. To every story-no matter how dark or hard the days seem in the moment. - You see, my love, you will get a call from a dear friend and you will go to Hawaii on a whim and meet a wonderful girl and she will tell you about this magical place called @shakacostarica and that you should apply to work there. You will then pick up surfing and decide on a whim to apply for the job and get it. You will pack up your suitcase, your anxiety and your fears and travel across the world to live in the jungle for the next 6 months. - It is there you will learn to L I V E again. You will go from barely being able to carry a surf board to surfing for hours at a time. You will slowly see your body transform and be able to withhold doing hours of activity a day versus laying in bed watching Netflix. You will no longer wake up to anxiety and depression knocking at your door but instead to howler monkeys and birds chirping. You will walk around BAREFOOT. Yes BAREFOOT (crazy coming from a girl who slept in socks 365 days of the year for her entire LIFE) and your hair will grow long and unruly and makeup will never be touched and you will choose comfort over style and embrace sweaty-ness over cleanliness. - You will learn that the ONLY thing in life that makes you come alive like nothing else is the act of giving yourself to others-in conversation, in serving dinners, in doing dishes and in playing music-and you will realize this whole time you’ve being doing life backwards. You have been DOING before BEING. Growing before being grounded. You will see that life really is THAT simple and Love really IS the only thing holding all of our broken, weary souls together. You will fall back in love with yourself again and not even care about all the silly flaws and mistakes you have made anymore. - So my love, I urge you to keep going. Put one weary step in front of the next. I promise, it will all be worth it. ❤️
Three months ago, I came to Costa Rica with two carry ons, a broken and fragile heart, an anxious mind, a body wrecked in pain and nausea from almost two years of Percocet and Oxycotin and in utter need for drastic change. When I was about to leave Michigan, my mom said to me: “My only prayer for you is that you go and find the confident and courageous warrior I have always known you to be.” And of course I sobbed because I knew with every bone in my body... she was right. I lost myself, my confidence and a lot of relationships in 2018. I knew I needed drastic change of scenery, of people, of a job and lifestyle to pull me out of my quickly sinking ship. - I’ll be totally honest... I was scared shitless to live in another country, much-less the LITERAL jungle where the closest hospital is 6 hours away and REAL LIVING SCORPIONS AND MASSIVE SPIDERS co-exist in your living spaces. I hadn’t shared a room since sophomore year of COLLEGE and am the most anxious traveler known to man. (Just ask @matthewbienz and all the millions questions I asked him before coming about every worst case scenario that could happen.. 🤦🏻‍♀️) But my biggest fear? I would not be able to do this job because of chronic pain. I hadn’t WORKED since April and was terrified of my body’s ability to cooperate or be on a schedule. - But you know what I have learned over the last three months? Place any broken human in an environment soaked with life, love, ENERGY, nature, light, grace, community and compassion and watch them grow. I came into this with zero expectations for myself and this experience and decided to just let NATURE run its course... maybe for the first time in my life. And I can whole-heartedly say, I am changed. From the inside out. My hardened heart has slowly softened and expanded without my forcing it one way or the other or trying to believe “this or that.” I let go of other people’s expectations about what my life “should” look like at this stage and decided to just spend my time here EXISTING. And boy, let me tell you, the moment we let GO is the very moment we BECOME. And what greater gift is there than that. ❤️
You are 100% correct. I am NOT a dog person... but over the last 2.5 months this ten year-old lady has stolen my heart. I swear she is a cat in a dog’s body (which is probably why I like her 😂) and is SO picky about who she likes and doesn’t like. She puts herself to bed most nights when she is over people and most the day, lays in the rancho not wanting to be bothered. - When I first got to Shaka, @matthewbienz was Vida’s number one and I honestly could have cared less about connecting her... mainly because she could have cared less about me. The feeling was mutual. 🙈 But once Matt left and I had to start feeding and taking care of her... we slowly started to bond. Now she rarely leaves my side. Anytime I play guitar, she finds me and lays down at my feet. She has even started to follow me to yoga and will come interrupt the entire class just to sit near me by my mat. 😭 - This angel has become my new roommate, my confident, and my counselor. When I have bad pain days, it’s like she KNOWS and will always come find me and nuzzle her face in my lap. When my sister came to visit, she saw our bond and even started praying every day that Vida would always have a “puppies heart” and be full of life and love for the rest of her life. - I have learned so MUCH from this old soul... she has taught me how to quickly bounce back after hard days and her pure excitement about life, food and the ocean never go unnoticed. I told Mike when I was giving her a bath the other day, “I love how the non-dog person is now somehow now in charge of taking care of the dog.” I still am not a dog person (I legit throw sand at any dog that tries to pick on Vida at the beach...) but I am now 100% a VIDA person. - Vida-bear. You have completely stolen my heart. You will forever be SUCH a huge part of my Shaka experience and I am so dang thankful for your puppy soul. - Here are some photos the amazing @laurieandcharles snapped during one of our afternoon beach swims. 🤗
These last few weeks have been a WHIRLWIND and probably some of the most transformative weeks of my stay. - Before coming to @shakacostarica, I never woke up earlier than 1 P.M., I had to force myself to workout (or really even get out of bed), and I hadn’t picked up my guitar in months. I was a shell of a human so burnt out on life, my job, moving, relationships and detoxing off pain meds. - Over the last few weeks, I got talked into a “dawn patrol” surf thanks to @nikolaricola (“just try it once and if you hate it we never have to do it again...”) and fell in LOVE. I thought I loved surfing before but surfing as the sun rises... when no one else is in the ocean is just UNREAL. Not to mention I have been doing yoga almost daily (thanks to the amazing @surfsoul.retreats) and while I still have bad pain days... it is NOTHING compared to before coming here. - This morning’s dawn patrol crew was probably one of my most favorite surfs I have had yet mainly because I FINALLY caught my own GOOD damn wave out the back and rode it all the way in 🤗 and @_sophiejamesw and I wore matching rash guards because #duh. - But the biggest change for me here hasn’t been the surfing or how my body is (almost) use to waking up at 6 A.M. everyday 🤦🏻‍♀️ or being able to do so much physical activity... it’s the fact that I came to Costa Rica with zero intention of doing music... but slowly and surely @matthewbienz and Mike pulled me out of my shell by asking me to play a song JUST for them... and then JUST for our guests... then JUST for yoga and then JUST at the brewery... and soon enough... I was playing out again without fear or perfectionism leading the way. I have felt my heart LITERALLY come back to life again in a way that has been missing for over a year. I re-fell back in love with the THING that even got me to @songsagainstslavery. - So thank YOU @shakacostarica and guests for believing in me and encouraging me in my craft and giving me back the thing that makes my heart SOAR like nothing else. Not to mention meeting/playing with @suzinaomi suzinaomi has been the cherry on top of it all. - PS: MY SISTER CAME TO SHAKA OVER CHRISTMAS AND SURFED TOO!!!! 🤗
2018 was a year I will never forget. It carried a lot of heaviness, grief, pain, anxiety and depression. Friendships were put through the wringer and relationships ended. My nonprofit went through some massive changes that brought a lot of heartbreak and tears. I struggled with suicidal thoughts and had days where I never left my bed because the pain and mental anguish were debilitating. I moved home from Nashville, a city that I love more than anything else in this world, to wean off almost two years worth of Oxytocin and Percocet and to be totally honest... I barely remember the months following because I became a shell of a human. I thought 2017 was the hardest year I had ever endured going through my second back surgery but 2018 almost took the wind out of my sails. I fumbled with my faith, with God and gave on praying because I didn’t see the point anymore. I stopped playing music because I had zero energy to do anything other than exist. - But then I found grace through a trip to Hawaii that led me to Costa Rica and here I sit in a hammock writing this out with tears streaming down my face. Because for as HARD and as SHITTY as this year was... it ended in a place that brought me back to life. Literally. A place where the jungle and ocean give off so much LIFE and LIGHT to you every single day and allow for TRUE inner healing to happen. I was introduced to surfing and it saved my soul and slowly has re-built my confidence back up to show me that I CAN move across the world and do a totally new job, make new friends and not just exist but THRIVE. I CAN play music again and fall back in love with the reasons why I even started playing. I CAN handle my chronic pain and not let it stop me from living a joy-filled life saturated in love. I CAN do relationships well and keep my heart and hands open to whatever life has to offer me next. But most importantly, I CAN do all of these things and feel deeply about people and relationships because I now KNOW the depths of pain and suffering. And I truly believe you can only feel LOVE as deeply as you allow yourself to feel pain... because they both come from the same place: your heart. - ...continued in comments.

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Finding beauty in pain, through creating art, in pursuit of redemption. 

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