Went to the Bali Spirit Festival last week and had one of the most uplifting days of my life! Awesome.
The venue was the spacious, natural abundance of Purnati Arts Centre in Ubud
There was a smorgasbord of different workshops available which you could dip in and out of at your leisure. This was fantastic as I was able to drift into whatever I felt I want to do without feeling too scheduled.
Started the day with a joyous ‘Yoga with Sacred Chants’ class with the sublime Sky (more on his journey in the next blog). Slow,powerful Asanas whilst chanting mystical mantras; a gentle energy washed over the room. Sky’s positive vibes and gleaming smile gave me a inner giggle while riding out any physical discomfort which he described as a ‘gift’ (even that made me chuckle!). He was such a positively glowing human being I requested an interview and spent some quality time with him over a coconut.
Next an insight into Ayurveda and its teachings about how the primary elements in Mother Nature exist deep within us, providing us with our own unique Blueprint or Prakriti led by Insiya Rasiwala. She gave us the basic information on the Doshas (mind-body types) and how to align your particular Dosha with the asanas you practice. I’ve got to admit that I find it often difficult to focus on anything but my favorite asanas unless I’m in a class! We ended with a tri-doshic yoga practice which really helped to illustrate the teachings.
Feeling a major hunger pang I headed up to the Dharma Fair for some yummy organic Balinese food. Isn’t it nice when you can eat from a banana leaf spoon and plate!
After a well earned siesta I decided to shake things up and joined the Bollywood Sisters dancing workshop and I have to say it was the funniest, silliest two hours I’ve spent in a long time! The girls took us through a step by step sequence with Bollywood moves with given names such as the ‘nipple clasper”. After the first half hour they had us shimmying in the amphitheater and by the end of the session we’d even choreographed our own group sequences. Well done to one of the teachers, Shamila, who had given birth to her son only ten weeks previously and was totally energetic!
After such an vibrant, fun packed and loved up day I booked myself in for a ‘Tibetan Singing Bowl’ treatment with Grant Smith. I was expecting a nice massage to the vibration of singing bowls and what I received was beyond words.
Grant, a well trained Homoeopath,Naturopath and Kinesiologist spent at least half an hour explaining the history behind the bowls before beginning the treatment. Tibetan ‘singing bowl’ is in fact a western name for ‘precious bowl’. They were originally crafted from 7 metals including gold and silver. Each one gives off a totally individual pitch and tone. Much mystery surrounds the bowls; some thought they were merely used to offer alms to the Gods whilst others insist that Lamas used the bowls in secret sacred ceremonies.
Grant explained that he would take different bowls which resonate individual sounds (via a collection of gongs) over my body without quite touching it. He would be guided as to where in my body required alignment. Each tone correlates to a certain organ, tissue or bone.
I relaxed back into the restful state. How can I describe the experience? transcendental? I felt like I myself was a vessel; sound vibrated through me and at one point the precious bowl near to my crown chakra seemed to offer a celestial orchestra into my brain. I was certainly outside of my body for some of the treatment and Grant described himself as sweating so much at one stage he checked to see if he’d left the window open! The treatment has left such a wonderful impression on me that I’ll be contacting Grant this week to find out more (and of course I’ll blog!).
Where in one day can you experience Yoga with Sacred Chants, A Dosha Balancing class, Bollywood Dance lessons and a most ‘precious’ experience ever? Bali Spirit Festival of course. My personal thanks to the organizers for enriching my life.
Namaste
Asian Healing 