Good Times In Bali

I am so grateful for all that I have seen, felt, heard, and experienced. I have grown so much over the last 8 months while traveling through Asia. I feel so much more appreciative of people, life and simple things than I did previously. I have an excitement, a passion and a sense of joy about things that I didn't have before.

During my travels I spent the majority of my time in Thailand.  I visited Chiang Mai, Pai, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Soak, Bangkok, & Phuket. After that I explored Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and finally Bali.

I had a clear purpose when I left on my journey. My intention was to open my heart and mind, understand blissfulness, let go of attachments, move beyond the physical body, connect to people, feel the fear and do it anyway, and explore endless possibilities on many levels.

I now understand being fit and healthy from a vastly different perspective. When we begin to understand our own minds, we create freedom within. What a ride it has been!  I have met so many amazing people along the way.

I had hoped to make blog updates a lot more than I did, but it was often very challenging to find an adequate Internet connection. I was also practicing living in the moment.  Now I have many new life experiences on which to reflect, and many wonderfyl stories to share. I feel that this really is just the beginning of a exciting new chapter in my life.

My journey to Bali was the final destination in  this phase of my exploration. I left my schedule completely open and asked for the Universe to guide me in the right direction.

I was very lucky. Just a day after I arrived in Bali, I connected by internet with a friend from New Zealand, who would be arriving in town the following day. We decided to meet at the Ananda Hotel in Seminyak.

Seminyak is a 35 min drive from Sanur, where I was staying.  I decided to get a taxi and go there the same day. I found it amusing that I wound up at a hotel with that name. Ananda means Bliss. The Ananda Hotel was the cheapest hotel on the strip at $50 US a night. After being in Thailand I was shocked at how expensive everything was in Bali,. I had been told that Bali was cheaper than Thailand, but I don't necessarily agree. The Ananda Hotel was very Balinese, with fascinating guest rooms and statues, guarding the doors.

The next day I met my friend. He was with his business partner and they were going to attend a yoga teacher training together in Ubud two days later. I decided to tag along with them, as I had no real plans other than to go with the flow and do some yoga. We used our two days together to explore Seminyak. We went to the Ku De Ta Hotel for lunch and to see watch a spectacular sunset. We checked out the brand new W Hotel that had just opened at the end of March. The W is beyond words, hotels in Vegas don't even compare. This place was amazing.

My friends were in search of beautiful statues to buy for their new yoga studios back home, so we went shopping in Buddha Village. My jaw dropped at all the fascinating looking deities. It was heartwarming to see a Balinese woman blessing the Ganeshas and Buddha figures.

We spent an evening at a friend’s home in Ubud. It was a treat to stay in a beautiful Balinese home with  such interesting company.

When my friends described the yoga teacher training program that they were about tot attend, I decided to join them. It sounded intense and amazing. All the food on the training would be raw and vegetarian. I was happy to take a break from meat for a while. I have never eaten all raw vegetarian for a long period of time.

I was so glad that I was accepted into the program.

The Radiantly Alive Yoga school held the course at the Anahata Hotel, up in the mountains of Ubud. What a beautiful place! The location the hotel, the studio and the view were unbelievable. The hotel offers only full villas.  Each villa has it's own pool! The place looks like a castle.

After 2 months of teaching in Thailand, I was happy to be returning to the role of student again. It would be an opportunity to grow, expand and reflect before my return to Canada.