Thank you to Agnes, Marushka, Anna and Ashwaq for all making long journeys for the Holistic Retreat Bali. All enjoyed the group dynamic, variety of experiences and revelations. As is so often the case, the guests all complimented / supported each other. Thank you again ladies.
“The Bali Holistic Retreat is located in Villa Paradise in Sanur, a compound of lodgings lined with lush greenery. It is a peaceful and nurturing place for harried stressed souls to heal and relax. The air-conditioned rooms have large ensuite facilities, a comfortable big bed, a massage table and other furniture. The room walls are concrete/stone and are thus largely soundproof. The retreat is facilitated by Mitch who also leads morning meditation before breakfast. During the retreat we (3 lovely ladies and I) experienced different non-allopathic healing modalities and massages; and learned several meditation practices, yoga and three breathing techniques. The four of us retreaters visited a Balian healer who can detect sickness in body and mind and even the causes of certain problems (e.g., family problems) simply by touching your back, limbs and looking at your eyes. We also visited a listrik healer who can generate slight electrical shocks on parts of your body by touching with her hands. You lie down with feet set on a wet towel. Her left hand massages whilst the other, on the opposite side, stays static. The shock is much less than what you get when touching an electric fence which uses AC (alternating current) but the shock, at first, causes you to take a sharp intake of breath because it was unexpected. Instead of the Tirta Empul water temple, we had a water purification ritual at Mengening, assisted by Ketut who helped us with our sarongs, in preparation for the water baths. Mengening temple is a world heritage site and is smaller and less crowded than Tirta Empul. Like Tirta Empul, the spring water is soft and on a hot day, you emerge from the ritual bath truly refreshed. Perhaps because it is less crowded, I found Mengening more peaceful than Tirta Empul. All the spiritual/health practitioners were lovely, kind, helpful, informative and apparently non-judgmental. Apart from Mitch there were 13 other practitioners who healed, taught and gave us massages. It has been a few weeks since the retreat and I still practice the health advice from Ibu Made using easily available materials in the pantry/kitchen e.g., warm water, salt and various vegetables and fruit. She also gives a mean massage using oils that she made herself. I call her Doc Made because she has knowledge/instinct on what is wrong with your body and suggests options for healing using self-massage and natural food. During the retreat we learned how to defend ourselves from attackers, from Jon, using tai-chi and the principle of yin and yang. Jon has a wide range of expertise, from TCM to tai-chi to qigong to Bazi astrology. Most of all, he makes learning fun and the group session with him was filled with laughter. I was not interested in my astrology. Instead, he taught me how much pain there is where energy blockages occur in your body and how effective qigong energy healing is, in unblocking blockages. For breathing exercises, we did the Wim Hof method with Mitch every morning, was taught a relaxing breathing exercise by Jon and had a prolonged breathing session with Hannah. There was music, we laid down and Hannah instructed us to breathe in and out with our mouths open. After about 10 minutes, my body felt electrified, similar to the effect from the listrik healer, but prolonged, more intense and spread throughout my body. Hannah came to assist me. Then I was transported to an alternate world of colors and seeing people I knew/know who are either dead or alive. My body was encompassed by bright lights and tingling. It was probably like an acid trip except that this trip was brought on by this breathing technique, not drugs. During the retreat I was filled with wonder with what I was experiencing every day and grateful to Mitch, his team and my three co-retreaters, from whom I learned so much. Unfortunately, I still have verbal diarrhea as you can see from this long review, something the retreat has not cured. To experience the various spiritual practices that Bali can offer, do this retreat.”
“This was an amazing retreat. The rooms were spacious, and the food was just the best. The staff took such great care of us. Every day just got better and better. It felt like the healers were somehow arranged as we needed them. It’s like you were just opening yourself up more and more each day, ready to receive more spiritual information. It felt like every healer somehow prepared you up for the next so you can go deeper within. I don’t have the words to describe how much this retreat has changed me. Thanks Mitch and family (Made and Wayan).”
