Our Final Stop

After we finished our sound healing at the Pyramids of Chi, we had a driver take us down to the southwest part of Bali on the ocean. What we thought would be about a 1.5 hour drive turned into a 3 hour drive. We experienced rush hour traffic on a Friday night in Bali! In all honesty, it wasn’t relaxing at all. There are narrow roads and motor scooters everywhere! The cars on the road, including our driver, are busy passing motor scooters with people riding with young children on the back (sometimes with no helmets and wearing flip flops!). At times, I just had to close my eyes and trust that we would get there safely. I know that after this experience, I personally would not plan on driving in Bali, but would only rely on hiring a driver 😃 

Because the Balinese are busy preparing for the Hindu celebration of Nyepi, The Day of Silence on March 7, there are decorative penjors hanging outside all the residences. Penjors are ornate bamboo plies that decorate the entrances of all Balinese buildings on their mountain facing (Kaja) side. It is really impressive to drive through the villages and see the penjors swaying. The penjors are built for the duration of the ceremony and are essentially an altar. While each family’s penjor is uniquely designed, they all contain common elements. There will be events going on up to March 7 - then on March 7, the national Day of Silence, everything is closed in Bali including the airport. 

After our nerve-wracking drive to our final stop, we reached  La Joya Bali Resort where we had rented a small bungalow. 

It turns out that La Joya Bali Resort is really off the beaten track — there is nothing around it at all. So this location is a total contrast to the hustle and bustle of Ubud. I was initially very disappointed as we really don’t have a lot of options to see anything unless we hire a driver. However, after getting a good night’s sleep, we decided that in some ways, this might be the better way to end our time in Bali. There are so many thoughts and ideas from our retreat experience that we want a chance to contemplate. So we decided that we would use this time to try to reflect on our experience, and think more intentionally about what we want to implement in our lives before we re-enter our familiar environments. We are planning to just read, get some more massages (I will have had more massages this week than I’ve had in my lifetime), and take time to prepare ourselves for our trip home and the winter weather in Minneapolis. 

After a relaxing day spending time reading, looking at our retreat journals, and talking more about what we learned, we ate dinner overlooking the ocean.





If you look carefully, you can see the scores of surfers catching the waves as the sun was setting.

It’s been a wonderful adventure and I can’t think of a better adventure partner than my friend, Lynn. Not only did she say yes to going to Bali without a moment’s hesitation last summer, but we’ve enjoyed pushing ourselves to think about what we will take home from this experience. We are both looking forward to returning (though not to the snow and cold 😊) and sharing what we’ve learned with our family and friends. We leaving on Tuesday, March 5 and, with the miracle of traveling east, will arrive home on the evening of March 5 after traveling to Tokyo and Detroit. See you soon!

Our Sound Healing Experience

After the retreat ended, several of us decided to go to the Pyramids of Chi for a “sound healing experience.” The Pyramids of Chi were built to induce state of the art sound healing and relaxation. The experience uses a combination of ancient sounds, sacred geometry design, polar positioning, and the shape of a pyramid. The rhythm, beats, and vibrations of the gongs, drums and Didgeridoo, in combination with the scent of sandalwood and the peaceful atmosphere inside the pyramid, reduce “beta-wave” brain waves that dominate conscious thought and increase the intensity of “theta-waves” within the brain. The increase in theta-waves brings a deep relaxation and awareness of inner self. Researchers who study “sound healing” claim that 20 minutes in a “theta state” can be the equivalent to 3-5 hours of normal sleep in rejuvenating the body.

When we entered the pyramid, we chose a mat to lay down on and were given a mask to put over our eyes. Then the pyramid is darkened and several musicians play all the instruments in an intentional way to produce the sound healing effect. 

For centuries, the ethereal and emotive vibrations created from Gongs, Drums, and Didgeridoos have helped countless cultures to achieve many states of mind, health and spirit.

Information for this post was taken from The Pyramids of Chi website. For more information on the science of sound healing, check out the Pyramids of Chi website.

Another amazing experience!

Last Day of Our Retreat

On our last morning, we reviewed everything we had learned as well as doing a few activities including one that demonstrated the connections we made over the course of the week. Most of us marveled at the synchronicity of events that led each of us to say YES to coming on this retreat. Many of us weren’t really sure what we were getting ourself into when we signed on to come. But now we will travel back home with useful tools as well as new friendships.

At the beginning of the retreat our leader, Miriam, asked us to write down anything we wanted to “give up.” For some of us, this might have been an old identity that we had outgrown, or a habit that wasn’t serving us, etc. As part of our closing, we got a chance to see what we had written down and to decide if we still wanted to give it up. If so, it went into the bucket and then we had a ceremony of burning all those discarded parts of ourselves that we are leaving behind.

It’s been an honor to get to know a wonderful group of women and to share from deeply with them these last seven days. I am reminded again in the power of a group to help inspire us to keep working towards becoming our best selves. What fun we had, too, in the process!

Where Do I Start?

My days have been busy and my heart is full with gratitude for all that I’ve experienced over the last week. I will have lots more to share when I get home, but wanted to try to capture some of my impressions from the water purification ceremony we went to yesterday.

The night before, we had a wonderful “future dinner” where we were arriving back to Bali 5 years in the future. We then got to “share” everything that has happened in our lives. We all got into the spirit and our imaginations took us to some wonderful places as we enjoyed wonderful food, great conversation, and a chance to try Balinese dancing. My “2019 word” is ZEST - I certainly felt zesty as I dropped my normal dancing inhibitions and tried to follow our beautiful dancers moves. 😀

Very early the next morning, our driver, Made, took us to the temple. Along the way, we stopped to take a photo of the sun rising over a volcano.

Once at the temple, we were dressed in sarongs, white tops, and a yellow sash over our swimsuits.

Our group ready to enter the temple.



There are a whole series of steps that lead down into a lush sanctuary with a series of ponds and waterfalls.

Part of the way down, we stopped and gathered in a circle with the priestess who explained all the parts of the ceremony. The Balinese people are incredibly spiritual and believe in the importance of harmony between themselves and God, themselves and others, and themselves and nature. They also believe in the importance of purifying themselves of anything that can bring negative energy into their lives.

We then descended more stairs until we got to a beautiful pond with four waterfalls. 

After removing our white tops and sashes, we got into the water to begin the ceremony.

The first waterfall is to cleanse your body. The second waterfall is to cleanse your mind. The third waterfall is to cleanse your soul. And the final waterfall symbolizes letting go of everything in you that is negative energy. Because the Hindus are extremely tolerant, our guide told us to pray to our God as we went through the ceremony. 

As we reflected about the experience afterwards, all of us felt it was extremely moving, and for some, very emotional.

After the time in the water, we put on a dry sarong. You can see the kernels of rice on my forehead and throat - these are placed here to signify welcome abundance into my life.

We then went to a beautiful resort and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast.

We then had a chance to learn to make Canang Sari, the small, palm-leaf basket that the Balinese make daily to offer thanks. Everyday, these beautiful offerings are place in front of residences and businesses. Each of the flower colors has significance. Gratitude is a foundational value of the Balinese people and it is evidenced in all the people we have met.

The final opportunity was a chance to meet individually with a Balinese shaman. Traditional Balinese healers play an important role in Balinese culture and help people restore balance between the seen and unseen worlds. 

The shaman and her interpreter.

So grateful to have had this experience today.