My Journey to Bali: An Introduction

BALI the land of dichotomy. A land where Hinduism is practiced with a daily ceremony and a land in which shops abound in most villages searching out the droves of tourists that come to the land of rice paddies and gods. This experience was truly a dream come true. Never in my wildest dreams, and I have had a few, did I ever imagine that I would be on a plane to Bali.

Day One - Day Three: Travel Days

Qatar Airways 

Liza and I left Thursday, June 14th at night from Chicago International Airport. Qatar Airlines was the airlines which would take my co-heart, Liza and I to our destination. The plane held about 450 passengers. Liza and I were very fortunate throughout our entire trip as we were always seated toward the front of the plane, seats in rows 11 to 17. And, we had three flights where we had the window seats, which always makes flying more interesting.  I love looking out the window to see the clouds below. I feel like I am in a magic kingdom. When we made the reservations there was a one hour layover in Doha, Qatar Hamad International Airport (the fifth highest rated airport in the world), which was questioned. But, we naively thought that this would be enough time to run to our next gate and for our luggage to be transferred. Looking back, while being stuck for an unexpected ten hour delay; (hard to do when the flight from Chicago starts out an our late); you know you just lost your transfer.  Well, that is what happened: our ten hour flight left Chicago over an hour late and as a result we missed our connecting flight, arriving at the airport on Friday afternoon June 15th. Qatar Airways gave Liza and I a voucher for a room at the airport hotel (others had to leave the airport, but I pushed for staying at the airport) and a meal voucher (28.00 per person).

Hamad Intl. Airport, Doha, Qatar

One of several clothing stores

I have been to several airports, both domestic and international, and by far the Hamad Airport is the most luxurious I have ever seen. Only high-end stores like Gucci, Harrods, Coach, Armani, Michael Kors populated Hamad. When you have ten hours to wait the numbers of laps one can take is many. The World Cup was playing on a large television screen for those that were waiting, like us, for their next flight. One could hear whoops and cheers.

Liza and I a bit tired, but refreshed. 

At last, our flight, very early Saturday morning (2:30 am) June 16th took off. We were once again on our way to Bali. One really has to take air travel with a HUGE grain of salt and a lot of patience. Sometimes life is beyond our control; breathing calmly and centering oneself helps. The second flight was over 14 hours long. You know how many movies you can watch in that amount of time. My goal was to change my watch to that I was on the time of the country I was traveling to. A dear fellow yoga teacher gave me a Melatonin regime to follow while I was traveling to help with jet lag; so I was curious to see if it would work (sitting here now three days since my return, I would say it did).

We arrived in Denpasar, the capital of Bali,  at about 7:00 pm instead of our previous scheduled time of 8:30 am. One interesting story: when you arrive into a new country you have to go through Customs. I gave my passport to the woman behind the counter and she asked, "Why are you coming to Bali?" I replied, "to go to a yoga retreat as I am a yoga teacher." You would think I what I said was from an alien from another planet coming to visit. She turned to the man next to her and they preceded to talk about my reason. Meanwhile, Liza is waiting patiently for me, having been asked no questions. Our driver from the retreat was there to greet us (there were hundreds of vacationers arriving along with us) to take us to the Shala Bali in Ubud. I was so happy to see Andrea Russell, whom would be leading the retreat for the next six days and she us. They even kept a plate of food warm for us to have. I knew then that this was going to be something very special.

 Shala Bali, Ubud 

The Shala Bali welcomes you 

When we arrived in Ubud it was bustling with vacationers, but the Shala is nestled back in the rice paddies. To get to the Shala is an adventure in and of itself.  We were dropped off in front of a grocery store where someone was there to take our bags. Flashlight in hand the man led the way while Liza followed and I in back with my luggage. Soon Liza, holding the flashlight was not enough and I grabbed my phone to shine on the path in front of me. It was dark with the noises of the night.

Shala is a Sanskrit word meaning, "home or abode." In this case the Shala  Bali is a "home of yoga" It is a place where one can come to experience vegetarian cuisine,  yoga teachings, asanas, and meditation by a highly trained yoga teacher.

Andrea Russell: Ayurvedic health counselor, 

yoga & meditation teacher, and neurovascular 

therapist

I were so tired when we arrived that I didn't take much notice to where we were staying. Originally, our accommodations  were to be in a bungalow, but Andrea very graciously upgraded us to one of the suites which surrounded the studio and kitchen. We were awakened in the morning by the birds and frogs, and one very loud rooster.

Morning alarm clock 

Day Four: Meet and Greet 

Sunday, June 17th was a day to meet everyone that was a part of the retreat. We all arrived on our mats at 7:00 am for our morning meditation. Breakfast was wonderful. As I sat eating my meal I knew that this would be a place where I could eat everything that is made. Usually, when I travel I find the menus a struggle. But here, I was in heaven.

Our group for the week. 

Ubud is a city of about 30,000 inhabitants. BUT, in the summer, the "high season," it swells to hundreds of thousands due to the abundance of tourists.  To maneuver the streets of Ubud takes some concentration; scooters number the thousands, taxis are numerous, there are no shoulders along side the roads, there are few to no parking spots, the sidewalks are falling apart in places and the street signs are a mystery.
As we walked from the Shala to the center of Ubud we stopped for a juice as the day was not hot (mid 80's), but so very humid. It was a time to sit and find out about those that would be with us for the week.

Day Five - Day Ten  : Ayurvedic Teachings & Yoga Asana Practice

Our schedule for the week would be:
7:00 am Meditation: Guided-Walking-Silent
8:00 am Breakfast

Shala's Yoga Studio 

9:00-12:00 Ayurvedic Teachings & Asana Practice
12:00 Lunch
12:00-6:00 Free time
6:00 Supper
7:00 Night Practice
8:00 Quiet Time

Each morning we were up by six and on our mats by seven for meditation.  I have a "monkey mind," which means that my mind is constantly talking to itself, often about nothing important, just chatter. As a result, practicing meditation can be a struggle. I was hoping that I could learn how to slow down the chatter, not eliminate it, but to be able to recognize the thoughts without judgement and come back to my breath.
Andrea prepared us for our morning meditation by breaking down into three components.
Seated Guided Meditation (20 minutes)

Preparing my mat for meditation 

• Pelvis in neutral: sitting bones grounded down
• Sitting on either a bolster/blocks/blanket: knees lower than hips
• Legs either crossed in front of each other "sitting like a mountain" or if this is uncomfortable sitting on two blocks in Hero Pose. *Bring the floor to you. 
• Andrea spoken words concerning the grounding of our bodies, the use of our breath to keep us present, and words of wisdom. 

Walking Meditation(15 minutes): 

• Prepare mat for your return. Turn to the right and bow to mat. Turn to the center and bow to the sangha (community).
• Prepare Shashu hand mudra: Left hand thumb in /fingers enclose. Right hand over left hand, right thumb on top of left. Hold hands close to navel
• Turn right, bell, bow and begin Slow Walking Meditation
• inhale lift right heel/exhale place right heel in front of left foot
• inhale lift left heel/exhale place left heel in front of left foot; continue
• When you hear the bell. Stop/bow and begin Fast Walking Meditation 

• fast walk inside circle of mats until told to stop in front of mat
• bow to mat and return to seat/bow to mat/bow to sangha and return to mat

Silent Meditation (20 minutes)

• Seated Meditation with no speaking. Time to quiet the mind focusing on your  "authentic breath." 

Our meditation time ended with a Bodhisattva Chant written by the late Michael Stone 

Beings are numberless, I vow to serve them.

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to transform them.

The Dharmas are boundless, I vow to perceive them.

The Awakened Way is unsurpassable, I vow to embody it. 

Each Asana practiced ended with a second chant written by Michael Stone, The Night Chant

Life and Death are of supreme importance.

Life passes quickly and opportunity are lost.

Let us awaken.

Awaken!

Do not squander your life. (spoken quietly)