(photos by faith. i love her photos!)
if you have been thinking of coming to our next soulful escape to bali ~ this october, now is the time ! we are almost fully booked with a most delicious group of women from around the world...
3 spaces left !
email nicole ~ nipabese@hotmail.com for a booking form or more information.
xo
we had an amazingly powerful afternoon trip to the holy springs on our last day in bali!
the balinese visit these springs when they feel in need of a blessing or cleansing - some go regularly (ie each full moon), and others during times of personal need. it is a sacred place to meditate...i loved being able to experience and participate in this tradition.
after driving through magestically scenic roads to get to the springs, we gathered as a group and talked with nicole and paul's friend kasta who had arranged for us to visit (as this is not a normal tourist spot). it was pouring with rain and all a bit exciting! we all enjoyed listening to kasta's stories and asking questions about what we were about to do...and then we began our descent down into the gorgeous green jungle...i'm certain that each of us got just what we needed from this sacred place. it's hard to put into words just what we experienced.
sitting deep in the jungle inhaling the humidity and the serenity and the power of life surging around us...it was simply magical.
we received our blessing and went together as a group to immerse ourselves under the waterfalls of holy water...a beautiful moment i'll carry with me always. our walk back up the mountain was quiet and contemplative, each of us soaking up the good energy and lightness that we felt.
it was amazing.
and now, back in *real life* with all that daily stuff and mess and stress and responsibilities...i can focus on how i felt in that moment, meditating and feeling so wonderfully *me* and a l i v e ! and i can hold that in my heart, along with all the gratitude and love for our group of women who came together and shared this experience. so much gratitude and love. xo
our group was incredibly lucky to have such a deep, yummy cultural experience while in bali - all thanks to the strong connections and friendships that nicole and paul have and were able to share with us. both of them speak indonesian and have a really soulful connection with the people and places on the island. we were so blessed to get to hang out with them all!
we went on a long, gorgeous walk through the rice paddies one day - with dayu as our guide. the tiny pathways we walked on and patterns of the fields felt outer-worldly, and from time to time we would come accross and old, weathered rice farmer with his sythe who'd give us a toothless smile and stare at this gang of tall white women probably wondering what the heck?!!
we had a fun rainy dinner one night and watched a balinese fire dance performance...
our retreat was held in a small village just outside of ubud where there weren't a lot of tourists. i enjoyed seeing local life and making friends with a few shopkeepers on my daily caffeine/coconut/sugar walks - this dear lady tried to teach me to make one of her offerings (fail!) and then invited me over to her home to meet her inlaws. we chatted every day in our broken communication and i was so touched by her warm loving heart!
offerings are part of the each morning in bali - and we would see them all over the place - above is the temple at our retreat about to have the daily blessing.
we were able to spend an afternoon at another family compound with a family nicole has been friends with for over 20 years - beautiful, open hearted people. in their home we got our own private balinese dance and lesson in dancing (i had the eye movement down, but that was about it!), instruction on playing the gamelan and a chance to learn how to make these beautiful offerings...made from palm leaves. it was harder than it looked! and they get up and make 100 of them each morning! so beautiful...
it made our week really special being able to connect deeper to the village than if we were just regular sight-seeing tourists. the balinese people are so beautiful and friendly and made us feel so welcome in their homes. i hated having to leave!
and here they are...this fab couple who fell in love in bali (how many years ago?!) and gave us such a rich and beautiful time in bali...love you guys! xo
oh ! i've never eaten so well in all my life as this week in bali...so many colourful healthy fresh fruits and salads...it was divine deliciousness!
each morning during our artmaking sessions nicole's friend dayu set up a juice bar ready to make us amazing juices and smoothies on demand, complete with real bamboo straws to drink through.
we ventured out in groups and all together to so many great places to get food from - each place blowing our minds with taste, presentation and the bargain price for such a feast!
i loved getting fresh coconuts cut open to drink from, and there were lots of interesting and beautiful fruits to try.
(my cousin lisa blissing out over her lunch at alchemy)
we all fell hard for alchemy in ubud - a raw vegan cafe with an amazing ambiance as well as incredible alive food...some of us were not ashamed to dine there for lunch and dinner on the very same day...and then hit it up for lunch again the following! the raw california rolls were out of this world, and their salad bar so overwhelming with creative choices...and their raw chocolate...well, theres a reason i don't have a photo of those...they were in my face too fast! note their takeaway containers above...swoon! (snacks for our outing one day, packed by a local friend of nicole's)
alone with the juices and smoothies, dayu brought balinese treats for us for morning tea each day. delicate and beautiful - it was such fun to unwrap the leaves and see what sweet treat was inside - it normally involved coconut which i always think is a good thing!
we had the chance to try lots of balinese food as well as a javanese meal one day - the presentation always being as exciting as the taste. oh the fun of not having to cook at all - let alone be served these artful dishes - it was a dream.
while half our group was spening the afternoon at the silversmith, the other half went to dayu's house - she lives in the traditional family compound and gave us a tour of her lush property boasting avocado, papaya and cacao trees (as well as a pig and about 100 ducklings) amongst other things that i was too distraced by the adorable ducklings to recall. dayu is a woman of many many skills - and all of us loved getting to know her as the week unfolded - one of her passions is raw food, and so our group got a beautiful outdoor lesson on how to make jamu - a traditional balinese health drink with fresh turmeric, and raw chocolate mouse from the cacao. totally inspiring ! and when i add something into our family meal plan other than toast/cereal i may just try my hand at these at home...
so now that i have well and truly worked up an appetite from this blog post i shall sign off, and dream of tropical fruits and not a dirty dish in sight !
we ate well. very, very well.
and just incase you suspect us of being all healthy like, all of the time...there was a wee bit of this naughtiness as well, just to keep it all balanced.cheers!
xo
behold the power of a circle of women!
our group came from all over australia and the us to form a tribe of inspiring and open-hearted goddesses. my heart was bursting with gratitude for these women who took a leap, trusted in nicole and i, and made the huge effort to get themselves to bali for this week of self care and love. not knowing each other prior, they melted together and cared for one another in such a dear way and made hilarious and amazing memories that i'm pretty sure will last forever.
we began our retreat with a circle and individual intentions for the week and then dove into the creativity!
nicole and i each offered a workshop - mine was creating juicy colourful fabric prayer flags with lots of different stitchy, collagey, image transfer goodness, and nicole led us in the japanese art of shibori with both indigo and cochineal (hello ground up lice!) dye pots that had us all in a fluster of excitement running to our wardrobes for things to dye and setting record sales at the local scarf shop as it was so addicting to see what we could create by simply folding and stitching our fabrics.our wish for this week was to provide space for slowing down, for noticing, for filling ourselves up creatively...and trusting ourselves to let happen whatever needed to happen...
our idyllic open air room was the heart of our retreat - where at any given time from dawn to midnight there would be huddles of artmaking - stitching, painting, journalling, bead making. we filled baskets with different gorgeous supplies for a smorgasboard of creativity - the energy and excitement surrounding all the possibilities was exhilarating!
a highlight for me was getting to make jewellery in a local silversmith studio in ubud. we split into smaller groups to spend an afternoon working with silver - there was total creative freedom to make whatever we wanted to - i had so many ideas it so tricky deciding what to make! really fun getting to use all the tools under the casual guidance of the 'two ketuts' who were there to handle the blowtorches with ease and um, fix our mess ups.
in one afternoon i proudly made a wonky ring for my man (who has lost a grand total of 8 wedding rings in our 15 years of marriage) - it started off saying 'love U' on the inside, but when i had finished somehow the 'l' had vanished. oh well, our love isn't perfect ;)...AND a cool pair of earrings for myself - woop!
i know this to be t r u e !
the entire week had me feeling so recharged creatively. so many artistic inspiring details in the landscape, architecture, graffiti, decor, food, fabrics, styling as well as having art supplies and creative people doing creative things surrounding me all day long. and no little people messing it up ;) being free to start a project (barefoot) and then take a break by jumping into the pool, enjoying a piña colada and flitting off to start another project! creative heaven. yep.
up tomorrow: food ! xo
ahhhhhhhh bali! i'm still in this blissful dreamy place soaking in the time i spent there last week. trying very hard to hold onto the feeling of being warm and inspired and surrounded by friends and gorgeousness!
i arrived late at night and after giddily catching up with nicole for a few hours and eating a delicious beetroot burger i went to sleep under my mosquito net with the window open beside me and so much proof of life chirping, buzzing, whirring out there. it was so exciting!
the next morning i was overwhelmed and so blissed out by all the GREEN! and glorious colours and plants and flowers and aliveness everywhere! i spent the whole day gushing over every vine, every mossy path...along with intermittent squeals and hugs with nicole "i can't believe i'm here!" "i can't believe we are doing this!". we planned out this retreat a year ago while floating on our backs in the indian ocean in fremantle. and now, here we were...
i spent the week being so intensely aware and grateful for every detail of beauty and joy that i experienced. i felt such self-care in my thoughts because i had that freedom to think and notice - as well as the obvious bliss of child-free showers (and trips to the toilet hello!), sleeping through the night, having delicious, healthy meals set down in front of me and being surrounded by creative inspiring soul sisters who were so loving and kind and accepting of each other. it was in one word - magical!stay tuned for tomorrow's post on our gorgeous group & the fun stuff we created in bali! xo
