I’m a little bit at a loss for words.
I’m back from Bali, landing back in the USA after a flight pulled me 13 hours backwards in time, depositing me into the winter hemisphere. While I was gone, our city decorated the streets of Brooklyn with holiday lights, and folks have pulled out their hats and gloves to stay warm.
And my mind is still on Bali time…
I’m back, but slowly–back onto the internet, back after nearly three weeks of detoxification; back having had time to rest, back after a long, winding, deep period of inner emotional and spiritual work. For ten days I left the world of coffee, wine, alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy, cooked food, work, the internet, and technology (exceptions: phone as camera and kindle book, and of course the things that are technology from other generations). Before I left, I had started building a course called “Gratitude and Grace,” a two week micro-workshop that begins December 1st. It’s clear now more than ever that this is an important and beautiful project, and I’m excited to be putting the details on it this coming week (as well as writing more, much more, about Bali). There will be many stories, and many adventures to follow. There will be an invitation to join me on the Gratitude and Grace journey.
In the winter I wake up, early to rise, early to greet the sun. Hello, world.
And today, as I ease back into writing, to talking, and to the working world, I’ll start with photographs of the Bali journey. The photographs make it glossy, shiny, sweet and surreal, but they capture a glimpse. The real trip was raw, messy, emotional, deep, dark, and light. I’ll go inside of it in good time, and the reverberations are already present within every moment, every cell, every day.
I’ll carry this inside, outside, through the heightened awareness of how interconnected we all are. You and me, we’ve got the strum beat of the universe inside of us; we’re connected by the threaded pulses of our heartbeats. Everything I do touches you, and you me. The ocean breathes and sighs, swallows and crashes; it too, dances to the vibrations. Here we go…
With gratitude and thankfulness swelled up in my heart,
Arrival into Ubud:
The skinny streets:
My shared home for the retreat:
Running through rice fields in the morning:
Rice paddies:
Another stunning morning sunrise with volcanoes in the distance:
Every day, the rice fields changed–some cut down, some flooded, some grew–it was the same, but new:
The infamous Bali dogs:
Traveling up to Gunung Kawi temple, viewing the rice paddies:
The jungle abounds:
Gunung Kawi Temple:
Water purification, bliss in the heat (and soul):
Several of the lovely people who joined in this journey:
Yoga, every day, often in the rice fields:
More yoga, balanced between two (wet!) rice fields.
The North coast (Tejakula)–the last two days there I spent quietly by the sea:
Let yourself dance, let your voice speak. Sing, from the soul. Start with a whisper. Feel the sound of your breath and the touch of your body. You’re here, you’re supposed to be here.
The trip was incredible. I’m so thankful. More soon.
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