The BALI CHI

The dining and reception areas.

The charming pond from the seminar room.

From the dining room down the valley to the sea.

Part of the seminar room. It is below the dining room.

The Seminar room and the dining room above it.

The buffet and the dining room.

Outside a two storey bungalow.

Outside a two storey bungalow.

The main bedroom in the bungalow.

Down to the sea from the main bedroom in the bungalow.

The salt water swimming pool.

The salt water swimming pool.

The swimming pool and the ocean in the background.

From this Mountain (Abasan) Retreat we have occasional journeys to the other part of Gaia-Oasis which is on the coast. It was here, at the end of the seminar, that we watched a beautiful display of Balinese dancing by the children from the local school. And .... yes of course, we had a scrumptious celebratory dinner. The next day - the Friday - some of the group swam, lazed, read and received various massages from the very competent masseuses at both Gaia-Oasis Abasan and Gaia-Oasis Pantai (the seaside or beach resort). The remainder of the group went on a day long tour to the Museum, Mountain Temples, the Markets, Waterfalls, the beach and Bathing in the Hot Springs.

Here are some photos -
 

The spectacular Mundok Falls.

I felt very special being met at Denpasar airport with my name on a sign, I've never had that before!  Then we detoured to collect another participant for the Creating Happiness Intentionally workshop from his hotel and I was amused that the driver kept referring to him as my husband. As his English was very limited I did not even try to explain, just chuckled to myself every time he said it!  Three hours later we arrived at Tejakula - a rural area in the north of Bali where Gaia-Oasis Abasan is located. Peaceful. Picturesque. Quiet, but for a few roosters (some which I suspect we ate).  Much of the food we ate grew in the extensive gardens on the property. A wonderful place to spend a week creating happiness intentionally.  It had a sun-warmed pool in which I discovered the delights of floating around under the stars.

Sunday the workshop got under way and we sure had full days. Each day began early with meditation. Breakfast followed, for me tropical fruit and black rice 'porridge' - but there was much more available than this. Some of the fruit I had not seen before, like snake fruit which has a brown scaly skin just like a reptile. We then worked through the day with a couple of free hours for swimming and massages and walks. Sometimes we had 'home work' - thinking time - even while we slept. I was in awe of Sandy MacGregor, the facilitator, that he could maintain such a high level of presentation for so many hours each day. I certainly felt I was getting value for money. The few Divine massages I fitted into my free time were really welcome.

There were participants from Port Hedland, Tassie, Perth and Sydney. The gals from Port Hedland have me intrigued and it is now on my want to visit list. The group became close knit and supportive of each other. I expect some of us will be friends for life now. We watched and supported each other to examine where we are at in life and where we want to be. To set some clear goals and plan how we will achieve them I learned that our real power to change out lives is within our subconscious mind, accessed by meditation and visualisation. I am set on becoming a meditation addict.  Another spin-off of all the meditation included in the course is that my need for sleep is greatly reduced. And now with just 4-5 hours sleep each night  I am staying alert and focused all day.

I had one of those extra special meditation experiences when I was using a rainbow meditation I invented which seemed like an extraordinary occurrence to do with my heart. I want more of that, pity the exact experience can't be summoned up at will, but others tell me such experiences may be a once in a life time pleasure. Afterwards I recalled my friend's words after her first solo flight: "If you could bottle this feel good stuff it would be illegal to sell it."

Those of you who know me better will not be surprised that my main goal is to include more creativity in the form of ceramics in my life. And of course travel. I will set up my own studio when I settle again and in it create "Lush Us Jen Art."  

Whilst at Tejakula the local school children performed a traditional dance for us. It reminds me of belly dancing with much use of their hands but also their eyes in a dramatic manner. This was accompanied by traditional instruments, mainly percussion.  One of the dances had each visitor separately invited to dance for a short time. This was held at Gaia's beach side property (we were only 10 minutes or so away at the Gaia mountain property).  The beach there is of black volcanic sand. Initially it looked like tidal mud flats to me ... but it was real sand, just a different colour.

By Friday the seminar was done and some of the group went on a tour of the greater area. We visited the not so interesting Singarajah museum and a  picturesque 'floating' Hindu temple. I tried my hand (badly) at bargaining at the local market. Thankfully one of the other ladies rescued me. She felt so sorry for my inability to bargain effectively she later gave me her calculator. And I discovered the enormous power of The Calculator. It showed the hawkers that I was no longer so naive and reduced their aggressive sales tactics like magic. The mountainous scenery was truly impressive although travelling on the narrow winding roads with their many obstructions was exciting (hairy) at times.

We trekked down, then back up, countless stairs to see a tropical waterfall. The lush green surrounding it was so different to Tasmanian water falls such as my favourite Montezuma Falls. The climb back up was a real challenge in the heat. Well done team.  A dip at the mineral springs afterwards was really welcomed by all of us then refreshing cool drinks. The highlight of the day for me was a serene Buddhist temple.

We all went our own way Saturday morning, some to shop, others to head back to Australia; the bonds we have formed this week motivating us to commit to keep in touch. The Port Hedland gals have me very curious to check out their turf some time.  And I am sure that my new friend from Perth and I will have a cuppa from time to time to share our progress with creating happier lives.

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