TammieImagine this …….
You gently wake to the sound of nature after a restful sleep. You stretch and smile and remember where you are, yes in Bali on a Women’s Mindfulness Retreat, in the middle of the jungle, yay! and today is a very special day, a total gift to yourself, a day of silence. You can choose to head to yoga or just wander out onto your private balcony overlooking the vibrant green fields and rice paddies to be greeted with a delicious breakfast.
You take your time, eating slowly, savoring the deliciousness of the fresh fruit, the buttery flakiness of the croissant, the smell of fresh coffee is total bliss and you feel a million miles away from your usual busy breakfast routine at home.
After breakfast you decide it’s time for a wander, to connect with nature and commune with the swaying palms and cheeky squirrels, so many beautiful photo opportunities abound.
You feel captivated and enchanted by this place and even though you haven’t ever used watercolors before, you take the set from your room and sit on your balcony and you begin to paint. To play with color and light and shapes and even though you are no Picasso, you are enjoying being creative in this way and you realize at home you rarely have time for hobbies or to tap into your creative side. This is fun and you decide to make a special card for your partner who supported you to take this trip.
Then it’s lunchtime, you are totally loving not having to prepare any meals and you don’t even have to think about what to order, everything is taken care of for you and it is all divine. All of the food is locally sourced with the finest ingredients, you are excited to see what today is offering and secretly hope it’s the avocado chocolate mousse for dessert.
From time to time you see other participants, walking past, doing their own thing, everyone is completely relaxed and comfortable with the same understanding and appreciation for this very special day of quiet solitude. And your friends said you would never last a whole day without speaking, ha! Its a total joy not having to interact and to have all of this delightful time to yourself!!
Time for a swim to cool down after lunch in one of the two onsite swimming pools, then to dry off in the sun, you notice the dragonflies dancing on the breeze, dipping in and out of the pool, iridescent blues and reds they remind you of something from Jurassic Park or an art installation, not real life.
But slowly you are beginning to realize that real life is full of magical moments and some of the content from the mindfulness workshops you attended yesterday comes back to you, as you sit and watch and breathe. Your mind relaxes and a small space begins to open for something new to emerge, something different and exciting and not at all like the thoughts that have been swarming around your head in recent months, you begin to feel free 🙂
You slowly rise to know you have a massage scheduled for 3 pm, which is followed by a sandalwood body scrub and flower petal bath. The idea of this decadent spa treatment has kept you going for weeks and you can’t believe it’s actually about to happen!
You slide on your white slippers and dressing robe and make your way to the day spa. You melt into the table as sore and tired muscles are soothed, a few small snores may escape, but you don’t care. You don’t even care if you are managed to put the paper underwear on the right way around! After your body scrub, you are gently guided to a divine bath overlooking a small carp pond. You are provided with ginger tea and you sit and reflect on how lucky you are, and you feel peace, deep unabiding peace, and contentment.
After your massage, you take the short walk back to your room where you curl up on the bed for a nap. You can’t remember the last time you slept during the day but it feels just right. You can hear the birds outside and the sound of your own breath. After 1 hour you draw yourself from your cocoon to meet the other girls for afternoon tea and to discuss your experiences of the day before getting ready to head to a local water temple for ritual cleansing.
You are presented with the gift of a sarong and wear a white shirt to receive the blessing from the Brahman Priest. You slide yourself into the crystal clear pools under the light of the moon and make your way to the spouts of Tirta Empul to be cleansed and purified. You feel any last vestiges of resentment, dissatisfaction, and stress-totally leave your body.
After the cleansing ritual you head back the retreat centre to some herbal tea and bliss balls before showering and heading to bed. As you lay in bed that night you wonder how one day of doing nothing can have held so much significance for you. You feel relaxed, peaceful, cleansed and grateful, so very grateful.
BUT WAIT …. This is only 1 of your days on our Womens Mindfulness Retreat! You can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
But don’t take our word for it, you can read previous retreat participants testimonials here.
View our video testimonials and retreat videos here or watch the video below, our most recent Women’s Mindfulness Retreat video.
To view our next Women’s Retreat so you can have a similar experience for yourself click here!
