If you’ve never been to Asia and considering it as your next vacation destination, I strongly encourage you to make a stop in Bali. Being the peaceful place that it is, I decided to attend a Zen yoga teacher training course in an attempt to escape the fast pace city of Hollywood. In the 5 weeks I was there I fell into a blissful peace alongside the other 23 students from all across the world. Almost everyone in the course had just quit their job or was in some other kind of big life transition. It was the perfect place to find our purpose in life and a deeper connection to ourselves.
Bali is the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. There are many temples everywhere you look that serve as performance venues, since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The inner courtyard of the temples holds the most sacred rituals, which are offerings exclusively for the gods.
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Bali is a very spiritual place. I met many spiritual gurus along the way that gave me some great words of wisdom to live by. The first guru named Annette, performed a treatment on me called “Raiki”. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s “life force energy” is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and well being. After visiting Annette I sensed an amazing state of calmness and well-being.
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Annette gave me reassurance that I’m on the right path in life, but it is essential that I take time each day to slow down and relax. She is absolutely right. After moving to LA from the Midwest, my life chaotically sped up trying to conquer the hustle and bustle of the city. Even if you live in a small town, it is important to tune into yourself every day and find something that brings you relaxation and joy. Life is too short for all work and no play! The next guru I saw was Jecortori. He is one of the most recognized healers in Ubud. People from all around the world come to study with him. When I arrived to see him, he took one look at me and using the best of his English stated “little American girl what are you doing here, you look fine nothings wrong with you.” Then he motioned me to sit down in front of him as he began to dig in the back of my head with his fingers. “Bad very, very bad” he whispered. Then he revealed that nothing is wrong with me, I’m fine the only thing is that I’m missing passion from my life. It gave me shivers up my spine when he brought this to my attention, as I had been feeling passionless the past couple of months. Now that I’m aware of this lack of passion, I’m making a conscious effort to live with passion. From the simplest tasks, to relationships, to career, I’m going to show up with passion. He also taught me that we must take responsibility for our lives and always live from a place of faith versus fear.
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After visiting so many gurus one can work up an appetite. The traditional Balinese foods are made from pork, chicken, and duck. You can hardly find beef in the menu here since cow is a sacred animal in Bali. Since I was on a yoga retreat tofu and tempe were amongst the more popular selections. However, the traditional foods are all served with steamed rice and vegetables. My favorite dish was called Pesan be pasih (grilled fish in banana leaf). In this dish, a fish fillet is marinated for six hours in a seafood spice paste and then cooked and served in banana leaves. I usually topped this one off with a desert of pisang goreng or fried banana fritter. You can find numerous street vendors who would make these and other snacks out in the open air.
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For alcoholic beverages, there are two primary drinks:
1) Brem (Rice wine) where the wine comes out of the rice because of fermentation. 2) Arak, which is a kind of hard liquor. It is fermented from the sap of a special kind of palm tree. Be careful not to drink too much of this liquor because it is strong and will leave you with a massive hangover in the morning, trust me!
All in all if I could describe Bali in one word it would be: paradise and an indeed a must visit for 2013!
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Holland Baxley is a certified yoga instructor and fitness trainer. Originally from the land of supersized portions and cold enough weather to hide any baggage underneath an oversized sweater; Holland took an interest in nutrition after moving to the land of bikini bodies, Hollywood, California. Today Holland gives her fans at HollywoodHolland.com the latest advice on fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle tips of Hollywood’s elite.