Eat Pray Love, Create.
I didn’t really know what to expect on my first retreat. Besides Julia Roberts experience in Eat Pray Love, I traveled to the magical island of Bali with no expectations only intentions in my heart.
The minute you leave the airport you’re immediately embraced into the culture.
The buzzing speed of mopeds swarming the car to the left to the right, all over. The numerous beautiful, massive stone statues that sat in the middle of a traffic circle. The smell of incense burning.
There seems to be this universal understanding about driving etiquette in fully trusting those around you to do the right thing. It’s the scariest and safest driving I’ve ever seen. I released judgement seeing the infants and children, families of 4 piled on a moped often with no helmets.
Little did I know days later I’d be catching a Gojek (ride share) and jumping on the back of a moped completely liberated and fearful of my life at the same time!
I found myself anticipating to see a dose of road rage or conflict in some way — it literally didn’t exist in the 11 days I was there.
My first stop was Uluwatu. I had 2 days on my own before the retreat started. I found a temple a block away from my hotel. I instantly found myself alone in the wild, walked down a path of monkeys, playing, bathing and exploring. The path ended and brought me to a fence, little did I know I was on a 230 foot cliff looking down at the most stunning view I’ve ever seen.
Instantly tears of joy, pain and gratitude came over me.
In beautiful places, I noticed my inner dialogue asking, “how did I get here?” My answers morphed and changed throughout the duration of the trip.
I’m greatly attached the water element as it provides me:
- peace and relatability in seeing the ebbs and flows of waves
- infinite edge of the ocean reminds me of the infinite possibilities available
- the sound of the waves and wind insulating the strength and intensity around us
I spent a few hours at this temple just soaking it all in.
I made a commitment to myself to make sure I found deeply, present moments each day.
This was so effective that it was the first trip I’ve taken that didn’t go by fast.
I couldn’t help but notice all the “meditative” opportunities in the Balinese culture. From the trades of beautiful wood and stone carvings, to the daily creation of palm & flowering offerings to the Hindu Gods.
The opportunities for deep flow and active meditation is built into their everyday way of life — witnessing the embodiment of peace & life flow is nothing like I’ve seen before.
The jet lag allowed me to find my deep flow states as well. My schedule for 8 days was:
- Wake a 4a. (Peak times of content creation 4a-7a writing my course)
- Walked to Yoga Center — Hot Yoga 107 degrees for 1–2 hours/day
- Indulge in a daily coconut and superfood fruit bowl
- Explore
The 2 leaders of the retreat assembled the most beautiful itinerary, allowing us to sample elements and traditional ceremonies.
Fire.
The fire ceremony was powerful. We had an opportunity to burn a piece of paper written with things that didn’t serve us. The priest led a beautiful ceremony filled with singing, chanting and a brass bell, getting us to a deep meditative state which hit vibrations in my body literally feeling the new neural pathways being created to honor the release of things that no longer serve me.
As 12 of us created a circle around the pile of wood unlit, we each threw in our paper and a lit incense. When the last person threw the paper in the entire fire sparked and ignited. (typically it takes about 20–30 minutes for the fire to start). We each brought a strong intention, purpose on our trip and clearly that energy ignited this powerful element.
Water.
The next day, we experienced a Water Purification Ceremony at a Water Temple. Here releasing, purifying and creating an intention for the future.
We spent about 40 minutes in the pools moving through the purification ritual under waterfalls completing a series of water washing over our head, rinsing out our mouth, then drinking the water. The priest concluded the ceremony with a blessing of flower water poured over our head.
The 8 days of yoga, connecting with incredible women and experiencing some of Bali’s most beautiful traditions was fulfilling in so many ways.
Create.
The last 3 days of my trip were dedicated to film a new course I’m launching called, “Ascend to Your Power.” I met a talented film director from Canada who was willing to shoot the video for me that I had planned on just shooting from my iPhone.
We found a great villa and with lights, camera, action we began to produce.
The catalyst to my course was the crisis that hit in my life May 2022. I was a burned out mother and Series B startup executive who got pushed out of a startup and toxic marriage. I became a full time single mom overnight, tasked with rebuilding my entire life. I was numb, stuck and lost a big part of my identity. I learned how to reset my nervous system to move out of the hypervigilant state I was living in.
With the prevalence of so much uncertainty in the world due to layoffs, life changes and a number of other transitional & traumatic life events — at some point we will be tested on our resilience and our ability to bounce back after a set back.
Now as an Entrepreneur, Align Coach and a PhD student of Industrial and Organizational Psychology — it is my honor and purpose to create this course.
The course is a culmination of self-healing techniques like meditation, positive psychology frameworks and an introduction to the chakra system — to decrease stress & anxiety and learn how to tune into the messages in our body and the world around us.
In an introductory 8 Week Reset course I breakdown the word “Ascend” into 8 Modules towards a journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
Alignment
Solitude
Compassion
Energy
Nature
Divinity
Everyone deserves a reset.
If you’d like to learn more about this course, feel free to schedule a discovery call with me.
So how did I get here? I got here through the trenches of sacrifices, tears, heartache, love and support. Where there is dark there is light, I was exactly where I should be.
