Ubud, Bali, 24th August 2023: Here I am sitting, drinking an iced coconut coffee in the middle of the rice fields of Ubud and enjoying my journey and my life. Finally!!
Anyone who doesn't know what my everyday life has been like recently, might think that I am crazy. This lazy women is tired from her holiday in Australia and needs to go on another holiday to Bali. If you think that, please read my last blog entry about my work at the Kangaroo Retreat!!!! Haha, I hope that explains everything and you’ll see that I REALLY needed that holiday.
After my delayed flight and a small incident at immigration control (long live corruption - I can't give more details here because "it's only between you and me, my friend") - I arrived at the hostel around 2:30 at night and straight fell into bed.
The next day started with a full Bali pampering program... Come on, I'm on vacation and my body has really suffered over the last few weeks and months. That's why I need to treat myself well. Sleeping in, breakfast, massage, a second breakfast in the form of carrot cake, manicure, pedicure, dinner and off to bed. That's what I call a day. The result: I feel like human again!!!!
By the way, the massage wasn't just any massage. I went to see my healer, who I already knew from last time. Yes, you read correctly: I am seeing an healer!! I visited him for the first time in March after my yoga training and was totally overwhelmed. Normally I'm careful and a bit skeptical about hocus pocus things like this, but after several people recommended him to me, I thought I’d give it a go… best decision ever!!! So top recommendation for Ubud: Go and see Madre Sundi, located in central Ubud. This link leads directly to his Instagram profile where you can also find his Whatsapp Number: https://www.instagram.com/tridatu_spa?igsh=MTJ1MGh5bTNnZXcwdw==
Feel free and ask him for an appointment or ask me if you want to know more about him. This is not a paid advertising!! He doesn't even know that I recommend him here. He and his family are just really nice people that helped me a lot and I am happy to recommend them to all my friends.
What happened in March? Some details about my first appointment with him:
Once I arrived and he saw me, he was able to tell me where I was in pain without me even saying anything. He started cracking my neck, shoulders, back - nearly anything haha. This happened, quite unspectacularly on the floor. Afterwards he took me upstairs to his massage station. I call it a massage station because it's really nothing more. Without any luxury or fancy stuff- just two simple wooden massage loungers on a balcony, surrounded by a curtain, incense sticks and typical balinese relaxation music. And yes, that’s the place where the magic happens. He started to work against my tight and stiff muscles by dropping the comment that I shouldn't always think so much. Bam!! He hit the bullseye. When I'm stressed or stressed by thinking too much, all my neck and shoulder muscles get super tight and this even leads to symptoms like strong headache and dizziness. How does he know? Ah, maybe many people have that... I mean there are many people that suffer from a tight neck. That's what stress does, right?
I don't know what you do during massages - I either fall asleep or think about stuff. Switching off is usually not possible for me. That's how it was that day, too. Since I was in between changing accommodations, had to organize things and wanted to meet a few people before moving on, I was working on a list of what I had to do, when and how. After a quick head massage, he placed his hands on my head and in the next second all my thoughts were gone. Even when I tried to get my thoughts back, my mind was just empty. Hahah, is that how it feels when you're really stupid? Or on drugs? Hahahah... Jokes aside, but that emptiness was really crazy. I felt so light, so relaxed and for the first time in my life I was fully relaxed. Afterwards he pressed several parts of my body and and asked some personal questions with which he hit the bull's eye every time - without knowing me. At some point it all came out and I started crying. I knew this had happened to other people when seeing him, so I didn't feel completely stupid for just crying in front of a stranger.
One of the lessons he gave me in my first “session” was to think about myself more often. I should not always try to please others. How does it work in reality? It's been six months and I can say: it works! “Thinking about yourself more often” comes along with my favorite principle, “listen to your gut feeling” and since I’ve been following this combination, I’ve been able to deal really well with worries or problems in my everyday life. I can classify and process things better. Things that would have given me a huge headache or that would habe put me done before, are now easier to handle. I try not to let them get too close to me or let them pass by more quickly. Also I am looking for solutions more actively. These are the little things that I took from my experience with Made and my yoga teacher training. Little things, that have a huge impact on my life.
And this time? This time the session was different. Spoiler alert: there is no crying, but there is still hocus pocus! This time his wife assisted him and explained what was happening.
I got cracked, massaged, my thoughts got cleared again and when I opened my eyes, I found flowers and herbs on my stomach. Made hold his hand over my stomach without touching it and I felt a tingling sensation. This is just my imagination, right? At the same moment his wife asks me if I feel anything. Okay, maybe I'm not crazy. They made me look at Made's arm and guess what: he had goosebumps. His wife explained that this was my energy. I have no idea what and how that just had happened, but it worked: I'm happy and deeply relaxed. Just like in March, I asked him how he does all those things and his answer is still the same: “It’s god.”
As I have found out that he has descendants that are shamans and he is now running this business in third generation. I've already recommended him to a few people and everyone, really everyone, was happy. So if you're ever in Ubud and you want a special massage, go for it. It's worth it and you support a really nice family.
Back to my holiday from my holiday. Fully relaxed, I returned to the hostel, lied down in bed and booked my accommodation for my next stop in Uluwatu. Unfortunately, that was the end of my deep relaxation. 3 Italian women managed to annoy me within 30 minutes and reminded me of the dark side of hostel life. In 90% of my hostel visits I was always lucky when it came to my roommates. But this time I felt like slamming them all against the wall. One girl who doesn't talk to anyone and just looks grumpy and these 3 loud Italian girls who are either stupid or ignorant or both. First they flooded the toilet, they are constantly running in and out of the room and the worst thing is: none of them can close the doors. This means that every two minutes the heat and 7458536468560 mosquitoes come into our bungalow. And all the signs telling you to please close the doors? Ah they're probably just decoration...I have already millions of mosquito bites from Port Hedland and Broome, That's enough!! Am I just overreacting? Am I a bit oversensitive? What was with the "not letting things get too close to you and not getting upset about nonsense? It's somehow not possible right now!!
Maybe after 7 months of travelling I need to take a breath, calm down and have some time for myself. Maybe. Maybe I have to process things before I go to Uluwatu and Lombok in a few days. Processing what happened during the last months before facing new adventures and new impressions... The sooner than the better. I shortened my stay in the hostel and booked a room for myself.
During the next few days in Ubud I just tried to slow down. How? With yoga, consciously taking time for things, not making plans, treating myself to a massage or two and even more yoga.
Unfortunately, my yoga routine suffered a bit during my trip and was definitely neglected.
In the beginning of my travels I really planned to start teaching people during my travels, but it just didn't work out. Everyday life somehow didn't allow it: neither I nor my potential students were motivated enough to push the topic and even my own yoga practice got stuck somewhere on the way. That's why I'm even happier to be back in Ubud. Back in my yoga bubble, where I will hopefully find access to yoga practice and hopefully teaching at some point.
This morning I've already tarted with a Sunrise Yoga session at 7 a.m. - that was a good start. You wouldn't believe how old my body felt during the first asanas and how much better it felt after the yoga session. So no matter what, I somehow have to include my yoga practice into my travel routine and I can really recommend it for you at home, too.
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