Some Photos from The Last Two Days

We are so busy and Internet is really spotty, but thought I put up a few photos to give you a flavor of our days.




Gathering for breakfast each morning.

Market in Ubud.

Massage tables.

Lynn and I before our massage today - what an amazing experience!

Our dinner tonight - theme was “Heaven on Earth” so we were encouraged to wear white 😀

Christine, one of our fearless leaders.

Flowers are everywhere.

Will have so much to tell you all soon!

A Fun First Retreat Day

Lynn and I had a little time before our retreat started, so we went and had a foot massage. As someone who hasn’t done a lot of massages, this was a new experience for me. We got to sit side by side and had two lovely Balinese women massage our feet and lower legs. It was lovely.

We then went and had an early lunch at a little cafe.

After lunch, our entire group met for the first time. Our Australian leader, Miriam Castilla, specializes in gathering groups of women and bringing them “on retreat.” She says it is a chance to look at your life and imagine “the life you desire.” Having worked with lots of women, she knows that often women have been so busy taking care of others that sometimes they can lose themselves along the way. Miriam will be sharing the practice of meditation as one way to quiet our minds so we can listen to some dreams we might have. In addition to daily meditation and yoga sessions, Miriam help us think about practices that will help us live our lives with more intention. We also have a quiet time each day to dream, journal, etc. - she recommends no phones, talking, or books during our daily quiet time.

We all are having the opportunity to have two full massages during the week. Lynn and I both got one of our longer massages today. It was really relaxing.



After our massage, we swam for awhile and then got ready for dinner by the pool. There are 12 women plus Miriam - each of us is in a “transition phase” and this retreat will be an exciting transformative experience.





Gusti, one of the friendly, helpful Balinese staff members at Sama’s Cottages.

A Relaxing First Day

Our retreat is at Sama’s Cottages in Ubud. Our group of women (about 12) are the only ones here, so it feels like a private hideaway. A tropical pathway takes you from the street into a lush tropical area where each of the cottages is set back with only a view to the path, not the other cottages.

Lynn and I are sharing a cottage that is beautifully made up complete with a flower on our beds.

Our breakfast was serve on our patio in front of the cottage.

After breakfast, we took a walk into Ubud. The road is narrow and is filled with lots of motor scooters. 

After doing some walking and a little shopping, we had lunch at a wonderful little cafe with the entire menu filled with beautiful, healthy food. I couldn’t be happier with how easy it will be to get the kinds of food I love to eat!

Part of the intent of this retreat is to spend time reflecting - I brought Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward, about Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. A key thought I read today is there are two primary tasks in life. The first is to build a strong container (1st half of life task). The second task is to “find the contents that our container was meant to hold.” I’m clearly in the second half and I’m hoping to do a lot of thinking about my “container contents.” Unbeknownst to me, Lynn brought exactly the same book to read 😀So I’m guessing we’ll have some rich conversations as we make our way through the book.

Our retreat starts tomorrow afternoon - so in the meantime, just trying to take in every part of this experience.

Arrived at Ubud, Bali!

We arrived to our “cottage” (at about 2 am) that Lynn and I are sharing after a wait in immigration at the Bali airport and then an hour plus ride here. We were able to sleep a little more and are now up seeing Sama’s Cottages in daylight. 

We are in hot, humid weather here! When you look at the map, you can see Bali is just below the equator. What a contrast to the weather we left behind! Our leader, Miriam, has advised to just go “ natural” with your hair - to hard to fight the heat and humidity!

Up and ready to see what the day brings. Today is a “recovery” day - our retreat starts tomorrow.

My Adventure Partner

My friend, Lynn, eagerly signed on to this adventure when I called her last summer to say I was interested in going to Bali. With absolutely no hesitation, she said she would sign up, too. I met Lynn 33 years ago when I interviewed for a position at Ridgeview Medical Center, the hospital in Waconia. When I got hired for the position, she quickly became both a supportive colleague and a great friend! We were both young, working moms trying to balance our lives. Even after I left Ridgeview Medical Center, we kept in touch. For the last 13 years, we’ve been in an Adventure Club together. Our Bali trip will certainly be an adventure.

Lynn and I are felt like millionaires when we picked up 7,000,000 plus of Indonesian Rupiah to use in Bali. We’re both making our final preparations before our very early flight on Wednesday morning, February 20th.

Traveling to the other side of the world!

My good friend Lynn and I are traveling with a group of women for an adventure. I first heard of Bali when I was in high school and played the cello in the pit orchestra for Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, South Pacific. One of my favorite songs in the musical is "Bali Ha'i," about a mystical island, visible on the horizon, but not reachable. Now, all these years later, I'm actually traveling around the world to Bali!

When I first learned about the trip, I had to look at a map to see exactly where Bali is located :-)

We have long flight to get to our destination. We are flying to Seattle; then onto Seoul, South Korea; and finally to Denpasar, Indonesia.

From there, we will travel to Ubud where we will spend a couple of days recovering from jet lag before starting our retreat.







We don't know totally what is in store for us — part of the adventure is stepping out into the unknown and being open to the people we will meet; new learning about meditation and yoga; and the cultural experience of being in Indonesia.  I'm a tiny bit nervous, but mostly excited!