Retreat – Transform You in Bali – May 2019

May Bali Retreat –  WOW, WOW, WOW!!!

What fun did we have at the Transform You Retreat in Bali!  7 days of relaxation, rejuvenation, and re-setting our plans for the future.

So what did we do?  ‘A Lot’  is the short answer, but let me go through the Retreat highlights.

Everyone arrived at the Retreat venue on Saturday 18th on schedule and were escorted to their room to freshen up, unpack and relax a little before our first get together and Welcome Ceremony.  The OO’s and ahhh’s as the ladies walked into their rooms was gratifying as one can never tell how the retreat venue will ‘rate’ to the guests but everyone was very happy with their room, location, and inclusions.

After our Welcome Ceremony, the Management and staff invited to attend a special Balinese Blessing Ceremony to ensure we had a safe and happy visit to the Resort.   It was very special as we were linked and blessed.   I will remember this ceremony for many years to come.  It was so unexpected and very beautiful.  It will be an inclusion in every Retreat package in the future at this venue.  The ceremony set the standard for the exceptional service that we had from each and every member of the Alam Sari team.

Each day of our retreat started with peaceful meditation or laughter yoga, followed by a delicious breakfast.  Fueled for the day, we had our retreat workshop, which over the week included, hypnosis, exercises, and tasks to reset our thinking.  Over the years, we build habits around everything we do.  Planning is no different.  Eventually, we do things, automatically, almost by remote.  So it is the same process, we don’t even think about, and even if we didn’t achieve goals last year, we set them the same way this year.  The retreat workshops are designed to change the way we think, and thereby change the results we are getting.

 Retreat Highlights

Pyramids of Chi.

This was an amazing experience.   The timing of this Retreat meant we were lucky enough to be visiting the Pyramids during Full moon, so the package was upgraded to include the Full Moon Ritual.  Amazing!  We started with a short introduction to the process, so we knew what to expect.  Then we were ‘smoked’ to cleanse our energy and spirit!  We formed a circle around a huge open  fire pit,

Spiritual Sound Healing Experience

the spirits, birds, and animals of the 4 directions were called in to join us!  (An amazing Shamanic experience) we burnt our sabotages and let them go plus offered our dreams and wishes to the spirits to bring us guidance on… as part of the fire ceremony.

Then it was into the Pyramids for Sound Healing.  If you have never experienced this, you should, it is amazing.  You will resonate to one or many of the sounds.  Everyone agreed…. the whole experience was life changing!  Beautiful, emotional, time stopping!  Just very hard to describe!      Afterward, we were treated to a fantastic vegetarian meal of musleman curry, rice, dessert, and a sweet drink.

All in all, a wonderful night out and confirmed The Pyramids of Chi as a definite inclusion in any retreat hosted in Bali!

Karsa Spa Pampering Package

Included in the Retreat package was 2 – 3 hours of pampering.  I choose for the group a ‘special’ Buddha Package that included a 60-minute massage, a Chakra Healing and a facial.  Wow and more Wow!   The staff at the Karsa Spa were brilliant.  Relaxation +  and topped off with the Chakra Healing – everyone was in blissful land ……

Cultural Excursions

We visited an elementary school as we had brought with us donations of rubber balls, reading books, pencils, paints, crayons, etc for the kids to use at the school.  The kids loved the balls.   The teachers loved the art equipment and reading books.   We loved the joy on the faces as we sat and chatted to them.    It is an inclusion in each Life Change Retreat to give back to the communities that we visit in some way.  So, this visit definitely ‘ticked’ my boxes for the contribution!

Monkey Forest

Great place to visit, in fact, I would say, a must do, in Ubud.  We saw small (tiny) baby monkey’s, grumpy old monkeys and every type of monkey in between.  They tried to steal the bags, water, and phones off unsuspecting tourists, but fortunately, we had our wits about us and escaped in tack.   It was a lovely place to visit.

Tirta Empul Temple

On our tour around we came across the Tirta Empul Templand where, if you wish, you can take part in a purification ceremony. Lorraine and Vanessa decided this would be a great challenge.   The water is freezing cold and you have to be for about 45 minutes.  The ceremony included changing into bright green robes, creating a blessing, giving blessing to the temple.  What a wonderful experience this was for the two ladies.

I am going to include this as part of the next Bali Retreat.  They came out with smiles, ear to ear, very reflective and very happy that they took the plunge and trusted their intuition and just went for it.  Those of us who watched from the sidelines were quite envious!

Markets – Shopping and Eating,

Every retreat must have shopping included!  and Ubud is an amazing place to shop.  You have choices of markets, boutiques and very exclusive outlets to venture into and save yourself some serious money.   We spent time in the markets – everyone filled their souvenir lists; we visited silver factories; batik factory and lots of specialty shops.   Bracelets, essential oils, pottery, buddha’s, yoga equipment and really anything you can imagine they sell somewhere.   Shop till you drop …….. so we did and the ladies certainly got their fill!

The restaurants are amazing and whether you want local Balinese food or international cuisine you will find your choice in Ubud.  Alam Sari kept us very satisfied with a very extensively breakfast, generous and tasty lunches (different taste every day) and we ventured out at night!

The Shaman

The Shaman was a Retreat optional extra!  All the ladies decided “Why not?” and what an experience for them all!

The stories left us in awe and laughing at his antics so no recap of our adventures will ever be complete without mentioning the Shaman. Such a character.   If you have seen the Pirates of the Carribean you have ‘met’ the Shaman!  He was amazing.   Look for the Video I have uploaded of him sharing a ‘laugh’ with Vanessa, the Laughter Yoga Lady.

Transform You Retreat Summary

We had fun and laughed so loud.  The Balinese culture – the dancers, the Shaman, the staff, the kids, all were memorable moments!  The friendships built added so much value to us all and the enjoyment of our retreat.  We arrived as strangers and left as family, knowing that we would keep in touch and meet up again regularly.

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