As I hung up the phone from speaking to my gorgeous friend and web designer Josie, a rush of excitement hits me!! We are only a step away from releasing our first Raw Elements “ Nourishing escapes retreats in Bali”. 3 months of planning, which included a trip to Bali with my family to research the perfect location is finally coming to fruition. But if I was to be truthful the wheels started turning (a long) time before this.
I can thank my beautiful friends and clients for putting the wheels in motions for this exciting venture. To be honest I had never really allowed the thought of expanding into running wellness retreats abroad, anymore than a dream. I mean, I am a Mum of four vibrant children and my duties lay here in Bendigo close to them. But once the seed was planted in my head, things started to manifest and the belief of I can’t do that turned into - yes I can do that.
So we booked our flights to Bali with kids in toe to go, to explore the perfect venue for our Bali retreat. In the 7 days we found a balance of exploring Ubud and Canggu (whilst I noted everything we did, including taxi fares, distances to travel to places and the feel of the locations).
We spread our time between visiting great little cafes, sit seeing, visiting water parks and relaxing by the pool). My list was quiet extensive of what I wanted included in the retreats.
It must be easier to travel to
I wanted it to be a place where you walked in and you felt immediately relaxed and nourished.
It Must have beautiful helpful staff.
Great venue to host the retreat, with an amazing view to practice our daily yoga.
A restaurant on location, that provides healthy fresh meals .
It must be close enough to the attractions but still remote enough to feel the tranquility and peace of the stillness of this magical place of Canggu.
Have close access to magical places to visit such as waterfalls and cultural markets.
A facility that offered new experiences such as all different styles of yoga classes/ dance and meditation that was accessible for our group.
An amazing pool you can laze by the pool with a swim up juice and cocktail bar.
Plus water healing practices.
Wifi was important so that my group could contact their loved ones.
Comfy bed and warm shower was a must.
Plus the shopping, cafes and tourist attractions were magical at our location
I wanted my clients to be able to step onto that plane and know that they could kick their feet up as everything else from here on in has be organised. After visits to 7 possible venues we found the one that ticked the boxes.
So now for the planning. I have loved every bit of the planning and I have learnt so much on the way. Much more than I could even start to describe. Actually let’s just back up a bit “ when I said I loved every bit of the planning” well I did except for the part about setting up payment booking pages and additional web pages- this is not my forte.
Thank goodness I had my beautifully inspiring, crazily talented and creative friend and web designer Josie to help do this side of it. Although Josie always believes that the person running the business should know the in's and out of the programs she is setting up, so with much resistance and frustration on my behalf and I’m sure I wasn’t the easiest client for Josie.
I sat down to do the tedious job of filling out my booking page- with a 2 yr old climbing on my back as my other kids were throwing balls and anything else they could find around me. You see, I know that it’s not just as easy as jumping on a plane and flying into the sunset. We all have responsibilities back here at home. Work commitments, family commitments, leaving your pets the list goes on.
Many of us dream of that time away for ourselves to reconnect, but we ask the question how, or maybe we don’t even allow ourselves the permission to get to the stage of asking how? We shrug it off and say I can’t. This journey has highlighted for me own journey 3 years ago, when I decided to further my yoga studies by enrolling in vinyasa yoga course which required me to travel to Melbourne every fortnight for 3-4 days.
One of the final requirements of the course was to complete a teacher training in Bali for 10 days. At this stage I had 3 young children and a yoga business. I was running, but my desire to learn more and do something for myself, urged me to persist. It was scary asking for help from my family and partner, as I don’t like asking for help - I feel as a Mother, it’s my responsibility to care for the children, but a part of me just knew that this would help reconnect me to my passions.
I remember that day my family dropped me off to go to Bali I was overwhelmed with an array of emotions, fear, a lost, sadness. It didn’t help that I had just spent 10 days with my family in Thailand so I had really become more attached to them than ever before. The thoughts running through my head and the guilt I felt, especially towards my 1 year old son. I didn't want to leave them, I wanted to go back to the safety of home and being a Mum. Why would I chose to do this or put myself through this or my children through this. I wasn’t sure if the fear was coming from leaving my family or the fear of what I would be confronting on our retreat.
Here's a snippet of what was included on our first day. Our first imitation was to stand up in front of 90 plus peers and announce ourselves one at a , whilst holding your space and being present. The rule was you weren’t allowed to put down the microphone till they believed you were in your truth- ouch.
Over the week were put through the ringer of partaking I daily 3 hr intense vinyasa yoga practices in extreme heat, hours of teacher practice to your peers, per day, and being pulled up on every little thing you did, whilst teaching. Not to mention group work where you had to delve in and find your limiting beliefs and own them which were stopping you from reaching your true potential. So the fear was great, the anxious butterfly’s in the belly were intense.
I took that step into the unknown and by day 2 the butterflies eased, and I started to find myself again. I found my sense of humour come back, my zest for life. I felt rested even though other participants who didn’t have children at the time spoke of their weariness and tiredness. For me it was like a well needed holiday- just attending to my own needs and getting plenty of sleep and our 2 hours down time by the pool was a well deserved rest to replenish from our long days of training.
For me, the long days of yoga training wasn’t even in the same ball park of looking after children day in day out. I received so much from the retreat from the moment I stepped on that plane it stared my initiations. It gave me a new sense of courage faith and trust and the insight and feeling of who I was again, what my passions was as a mother and an individual. It taught me some awesome new teaching techniques on the mat and in life.
They always say that what you practice on the yoga mat is in preparation for how you conduct your daily life. I formed bonds and life long friends and we formed a unity and memories we will always cherish. I cherished my journey for many reasons, it gave me back that spark which had gone missing. It showed me how imperative it was to ensure that you kept that spark alive, not just for yourself but for your children as well.
By day 8 I felt like I was on another level. I felt light, free, happy, passionate and excited. I thought fondly of my loved ones at home and looked forward to our unity. But wow did I need this getaway and challenge set by the course. I am forever grateful that I took the leap of faith and followed the universes signs that day, for I wouldn’t be here today, organising retreats for you to find your inner spark. So if you are in that stage of wanting, searching for something or needing something for yourself.
Start with asking the question how?
This will get the emotions rolling and things will start to manifest. Picture and feel yourself in the beautiful beach side of Canggu, waking each morning to a nourishing soul feeding yoga class, followed by a gorgeous breakfast by the sea. Take trips to mystical places, shopping expeditions and connecting with like minded people.
The rest will fall into place and before you know it, you will hearing the announcement from the pilot that we’re about to land in Bali. Let me share this experience with you, it will be life changing on many levels and for many it will be that chance to find your spark. Come back refreshed, nourished and with new adventures on the horizons. Nourishing Escape Canggu HERE
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