First stop Bali!

On the 12^th of February 2013, we took our first flight. On the way to the airport, I was feeling content, curious and joyful. I was ready to explore and see what this big world had to offer. After a 6 hours flight, we reached our first destination. BALI! We chose Bali as our first stop, not only because we love it (we have been here already 4 times) but also to unwind and recharge our batteries. Our routine life style surely depleted most of our life force and Bali was the perfect place to rejuvenate both physically and mentally.

Rice fields close to Ubud

Let me back up a little and tell you my main intention to do such a trip. For a long time, I struggled to find my purpose in life. I studied economics, even got a masters degree in this field but always ended up working in areas based on human connection such as tourism, recruitment, teaching and finally psychotherapy. I get a sense that many of us struggle to find our true calling which lies deep within our hearts. Our busy minds often interfere and we end up losing our path and have an unfulfilled life.

Of course, there are the lucky ones who know exactly what they want. I am certainly not one of them. Is this where the happiness lies? Finding out our heart's deepest desires and following our calling! How do we get there though? 

When I look back, I can say that life always guided me in the right direction although I was not aware of it at the time. In our first stop of this remarkable journey, I had some ideas of what I wanted in my life but I was still wishing for more clarity.    

Bali is called the Island of the Gods.  You can feel the incredible energy when you reach Ubud, the spiritual heart of Bali. It is a small town in the middle of the rice fields and it offers a variety of options to unwind. We personally love yoga and spent a lot of time at Ubud Bodyworks. It is owned by Ketut Arsana who created a unique style called Kundalini-tantra yoga. I have tried many different yoga modalities and this one suits me well. And no, it is not about tantric sex if that's what you had in mind!

There are a number of yoga studios where you can try a variety of different styles including ashtanga, hatha, vinyasa and many others. Some of the main studios are Yoga Barn and Radiantly Alive.

Our raw food diet

Ubud is a paradise for healthy eating. There are many cafes and restaurants that offer organic, raw or vegetarian options. We decided to do a 3 day raw food detox. It was hard. Our energy levels dropped each day and on day three we were feeling very low. 

As part of our detox program, we tried the colonic treatment at the Ubud Sari Health Resort. It was certainly a very unusual experience to watch what has been hiding in the colon for many years. I assume that this treatment is probably not for everyone but I felt better and lighter after it. Another good address for colonic treatments is the Smiling Buddha Clinic run by Lesley (+6281237871644).

Bali is the home of many healers and gurus. We tried a few of them as one of my goals is to raise my consciousness level. A powerful Balinese healer we have seen was Tjokorda Rai. He is truly an amazing man. His messages to me were “follow your 
passion”, “be more patient, wisdom will be given to you”. He advised me to smile in front of a mirror and imagine swallowing that smile into my solar plexus every day. Smiling is a great way to start the day! You can read more about him at this blog.

Spiritual Bali

One amazing woman we met is called Jero Pura. I recently had a treatment with her and it was absolutely amazing. She helps to raise the kundalini energy in the body and balances the chacras.  She is two hours away from Ubud and you need a driver who speaks good English if you don’t speak Indonesian. Yanden is an honest Balinese driver who is fluent in English. His number is + 62 817 9711 730 or wayankaden@hotmail.com. Another good healer is Esoteric Agung who does reiki and chakra alignments. You can contact him at +62 361 7961 517. Without a doubt there are many more healers who are worth seeing in Bali. Just go with the flow and your will be guided to the right treatment. This is how Bali works!

Ubud is an oasis for healing massages. You can get incredible treatments at Ubud Body Works for $20. A more affordable option is a local healer Kasna (kasnamd@yahoo.com or +6282146533137) who comes to your place and gives you a miraculous (could be also painful) massage for $9.

Daily offerings to Hindu Gods

Ubud is becoming the Mecca of spirituality in Bali, hence you can meet many like minded people. We attended a talk given by Rudolfo Young whose mission is to inspire 1,000,000+ people back to the "beginners’ heart" which from my understanding is the pure heart that we were born with. 

When we saw him, he was coming out of a 6 month silent practice and we were able to hear his first words. He told me that “you already know your purpose but you are too distracted to see it”, “authenticity is your biggest value” and “you don’t need to prove anything to anyone, you are already perfect”. I think Rudolfo is right that we are all perfect in our unique ways and we often get too distracted by our continuous mind chatter to see the guidance of our hearts clearly.

This trip actually gave me the opportunity to heal myself and recognise the direction I want to go. My humble advice is to take time off even 10 minutes per day, tune in, slow down, open your heart, spend time in nature and with your loved ones, do meditation, try yoga, quieten your mind so you can clearly hear your heart / higher self. To find out more about mindfulness, please follow the link.