My experience in living in one of the most spiritual places in the world. Part 1.

Have you ever fantasized about what it would be like to live your best eat, pray, love life? In 2010, the premiere of Eat, Pray, Love sparked many to being to explore their spiritual journeys. Julia Roberts's portrayal of Elizabeth Gilbert traveling the world and ultimately landing in Bali, Indonesia to find love after a divorce propelled so many women in that exploration of their inner selves in finding peace and happiness. 

In 2017, I began my spiritual journey. As a young girl in her 20’s spending years in New York City with ultimately no direction beyond a paycheck and a party, I hit a rock bottom. That’s normally how that happens though. Each of us mosies along through life, thinking that this is it, this is the way, until we have an impending doom on the cusp of our mental breakdowns.. Perhaps it’s an anxiety attack, a loss of a job, whatever the case may be, we hit this pillar - a point in where we have to make a choice. To continue to drown in the consequences of our own actions, or to make a life-changing decision to try something new. To push past the uncomfortable feelings of the unknown and trust that whatever is next for us is going to at least be seemingly more joyful than what we had experienced before.

That was me. At 27 years old, I had hit a career-high and a personal rock bottom. Spending too much time filling my life with toxic relationships and addictive habits, I had a full-blown panic attack. Realizing I had zero self-worth, no hobbies beyond a happy hour, I scared myself to the point that I had to make it my mission to change my life. That all started with a trip to a Reiki Master, a breakup, and a promise that I would learn to rewrite my story, change my habits, and never feel that addiction towards anyone people, place, or thing.  That single choice set the trajectory for everything that happened the following few years

I stopped drinking alcohol for a period of time, I started to meditate, I began to go to more workshops centered around healing. I learned about subconscious work, shadow work, and how to heal my inner child. I journaled a lot. I slowly started to feel again. I found support through healers and the community. I wore and worked with crystals. I dabbled in breathwork, and in March of 2020, as our world was going through one of the biggest upheavals and scares - I took a flight from JFK to Bali, Indonesia to meet my 3 friends for what surmounted into a 1.5-year experience I will treasure for a lifetime. 

Bali was a massive learning experience for me. I had to learn to let go of the life I knew, the life that I thought I would have a lifetime in, New York City, and begin a whole new chapter, in a third-world country, during a pandemic, with a new online business and no consistent income. I had no idea what I was doing or how I was going to make any money but knew that if I just believed in myself enough and in the choice to stay that it would all work out.

After spending a few weeks in lockdown with my girlfriends, I made a decision to move into a beauty of a  villa in Ubud, Bali ( this is where Julia Roberts lived in Eat, Pray, Love ). I signed up for a Reiki Training as recommended through a friend of a friend and got to work on business planning, health, and preparing for this workshop. I was also wildly unprepared for what Ubud transmuted. I learned that jean shorts and crop tops weren’t really the “thing”, ( funny how no matter where you are in the world, trends, and judgments will always surface.)  If you were not dressed like a spiritual goddess you were looked at with 3 heads. It reminded me of how I would judge tourists in NYC for wearing ugg boots or walking at a glacial pace as I was trying to get to work, or even glancing in my direction on the subway. Funny how that happens as I was now the newbie tourist in a place that breeds digital nomad longevity. I also didn’t give a shit, thanks to my 10 years of not giving a shit in NYC.

So I went to my first Reiki class in my crop top and jeans shorts, got dropped via motorbike, and walked into a quirky little villa owned by Master Devi Ma. Devi Ma was a tiny little thing, Australian, and a true spiritual goddess warrior queen. She greeted me as “sister”, and welcomed 7 other sisters into her space. We spent the next 8 hours being attuned to level Reiki 1 and learning all about our chakras, the endocrine system, the connection between science and spirituality,  addiction, and beyond. Our first practice was to do a 21 day energetic Reiki clearing. That meant spending 1-1.5 hours a day sitting in meditation and clearing our chakras for 21 days. I was in a full committal mode and also riding high from Bali, so I started and completed my 21-day journey of cleansing through Reiki, and when I tell you.. The most magical things happened to me, I am not kidding. 

This is part 1 of my Bali Travel Blog Series. Each week, I’ll be writing about experiences I had in Bali, Indonesia which will include healing modalities, plant medicine experiences, dating in Bali, naked art painting, meeting life long friends, and the scene beyond spirituality. If you are someone who feels as if you can relate to any of this, please get in touch. I’d be happy to explore healing with you, recommend some crystals, workshops, and healers that I have worked with personally.