Bali Blog will call you.....Come to me, you special writing...

This last week, I have fleshed out a wild hair, and no, I didn't need tweezers.

I used the week as a culture soak of a sort. Imagined myself immersed in the culture, environment and sites and experiences of being in Indonesia. Bali, specifically.

The place conjured up tropical vistas, luxurious weather, colorful clothing, different religious practices and foods!

Why not go and immerse myself on a Creative Learning Experience of my own choosing?

This week I watched hours of "Trekking the World- Discovering the Earth's Most Awe-Inspiring Places". A 6 CD disc collection from my library about fantasical REAL places that just oooooze spiritual goodness. I would HIGHLY recommend it.
Harry and I enjoyed it very much!

I went to 2 different cuisine restaurants that I've never tried!

Thai Food at "The Bankok" in Liverpool, with Lynn & Mike and the most decadent curry puffs, deep fried tofu, freshly delicate spring rolls, a big bowl of coconut curry with scallops (the broth was unbelievable at the end!) and banana pastries with coconut ice cream and Jasmine tea. Soooo delicious!

The other restaurant was "New Century" Vietnamese food on Kirkpatrick St. Syracuse. Went with a big bunch of foodies! Mike and Linda, Tim and Dani, Polar, Tom and Harry! A big group of interesting and fun friends who love to eat!
I learned much from them!
Most of us were there for the Pho Soup. A gigantic bowl of brothy deliciousness made with your choice of meat. You add the veggies, sauces and herbs that you like. At the end of the bowl, the broth that has marinated is just amazing!).

Also tried Vietnamese egg rolls and ginger chicken wings. One delightful find was Vietnamese Coffee. So thick, creamy and sweet. More like hot chocolate with a rocket fuel kick!

Oh MY. How DELICIOUS!!

I will be going back to both of these places again and again!

I found that I behaved in my "Bali" a bit more deliberate in my choice during the day. I thought about cooking in the morning for the evening, rather than coming home to it at night ravenous. When you cook with whole grains, it is more of plan ahead style that is helpful.

When I thought I wanted to read, I devoted myself totally to it or any other thing I wanted to do. I really tried to live IN THE MOMENT.

I learned a LOT about Buddhism and Hinduism as well as learned about Holy places and Sacred Temples from that area.

And about their Holy Men and Women

Very different, and yet fascinating.
Also, that these two religions do live peaceably together in certain parts of this big world.
That was comforting and encouraging to hear too...

Yes, I had my regular work to do. I'm also in the midst of several large projects for my business and home as well as at my different jobs.

No Matter! I'm trying to add some Zen Quality of NOW into my existence.

Went to Nirinjan Kaur's Kundalini Yoga Workshop and Chanting program and her music concert for afters last night as my Bali finale.

(Say that 5x fast. Bali Finale, Bali Finale, Bali Finale, Bali Finale, Bali Finale :)

It was very heart opening, enjoyable and totally different in Yoga training as well as music style. Think CHANTING. Think Chakras. Think of "OM" ......in a group for 2 hours.

It was fun to do it with my friend Christine too, who was also into it. Ok, and I admit, some of our Healthful Spiritual Outing had a Marguarita's name all over it :)

Here is one particularly enchanting meditation, to open and enliven the Kundalini energy. We did this mantra for about 10 minutes there.
Click these words to Check it out!
I found it to be totally addictive and it could've gone on longer for me.
Or maybe it did. I wasn't really aware of time....

As a musician, I also very much enjoyed this very different musical presentation, sitting cross legged in front of a microphone leading it. Very different. Very Spiritual.

This was the song that made me want to go see this group....Click here to listen.
We are all Spiritual.
We have to look upon all being as such.

Anyways, it was a week to enjoy my body, pampering myself, working thoughtfully, relaxing consciously with no guilt and enjoying life and my choices.

I hope your week was just as Grand!

This is as an idea was really interesting and I will try again in the future as a good experience to become aware of others' cultures.

A readiness to learn teaching experience of Art, Music, Food, Theology, Culture, Fashion and Environments!

Namaste. (which means "Salutations to you. I honor the Spirit with You.")

DIY~ Bali Retreat: Special Treat for Finale!

What could be more perfect to end my week of the "DIY~ Spiritual, Whole-y, SelfFILLness Bali Retreat" than with going to this event!

Kundalini Yoga Event and Concert Nov. 17th, 2013!

My friend and I just bought tickets to both the Workshop and the Concert, which coincidentally (? :) is the same day as my designated end to my wild hair idea for the Bali Staycation!

Coincidence?
I think NOT. :)

I first heard Nirinjan Kaur's music that came to me in a link from my Youtube channel. It was on the same page with Doreen Virtue's trip to Glastonbury. So, yah, I clicked on it. I guess the link came to magickally from something I signed up for on a Yoga binge :)

I LOVE this song. It is so meditative.

Give it a listen.

Nirinjan Kaur Singing "I Am" at Sat Nam Fest East 2013

Join Me? :)

$45. tickets. Get them now, or they'll be gone....

DIY~ Bali Retreat : Acquiring the materials

Hey Ho my friends and fellow virtual travelers!

Have you been thinking on the Bali Retreat Idea?

I have. I posted the elements yesterday that I wanted to include in my personal week's Quest.

So, now, I'm thinking on how to acquire them for little or no money. Remember, we can do this and draw it to ourselves, and make it happen if we really want it!

Here are some ideas that I've been amassing and implementing (shown in Parenthesis)

Juicing for breakfast  (have juicer, not afraid to use it! :)

Healthy meals eaten with focus (will feature more Whole Foods. "God Food" (if it grows...eat it... if not...don't)

Yoga (DVDs/Videos that I own or am ordering thru my Netflix or County Library card)

Nature walks (will make an effort to get to Beaver Lake and Baltimore Woods for a lovely fall walk during that week)

Listening to relaxing sounds (rounding up some Meditative music and Gregorian chant CDs. Also considering signing up for a Kundalini Yoga experience and concert on Nov. 17th. Have to get ticket yet!)

Playing music or drumming (easily done as a musician for me, but making some time for fun and not just practice)


Cleansing and pampering body techniques  (surfing online for home spa remedies)

Cleansing and pampering Spirit techniques  (Guided meditations, grounding and also going to watch some favorite movies, such as "Eat, Pray, Love" and "South Pacific" to get me in the Bali Mood!)

Swimming in turquoise water  (my work out of the blue offered its employees a "free week" at the YMCA coupon! I'm saving it for the week of Nov. 10-17 and will be able to go swimming! Also a 9am yoga class on that Saturday. I will stop in before the week noted and find out what all they offer!)

Sunshine (I already have a tanning membership. I need sunshine or else I suffer from SAD -Seasonal Affective Disorder. This week, I will up my dose a bit to go to the Tropics and imagine myself lying on the beach!)

Dancing- Yoga Body Movement (have some DVDs but I am going to make a selection and put it on my Spotify and dance at home daily that week for a bit!)

Fiiiiyaaaah  (an evening bonfire for a bit each nite in my firepit!)

Reading books and/or watching/listening to Positive Empowering lectures(have ordered MANY from the library and on Netflix)

Meditation (planning on starting my morning every day with this first thing for 10 minutes)

Disconnect from media (easier said than done, granted, but am getting my work email and only posting these blogs and will get right OFF when done)

Connecting more deeply to Inner Spirit/Intuition

Prayer

Vision board and Journaling/ Creative Expression

Hydrate (will increase my water intake)

Cool clothes/wraps/different fashion(taking more care about what I wear, and if I haven't worn something in awhile, I'm going to wear stuff I don't normally wear and feature fun stuff! Especially bright colors of the Tropics this week! Hot pinks! Turquoise! Yellow!)

A glass of good red wine savored.(ONE, Merlyn. ONE.)

Herbal Supplements 
For myself, I need more B vitamin (who doesn't?) I am also low on D. Natural green if possible.

Adventure- go someplace new. I'm thinking of the Art Museum to see some new exhibits.

and

REST/Good Sleep (bedtime of 10pm after a hot bath nightly) And naps if I can get them!

Just wanted to give you some ideas on how to implement!

How is your list coming along? Found some ingenious ways to add some tropical rest to your upcoming Retreat week?

DIY~ Bali Retreat Elements

Hey ho!

Been busy and need some downtime?  Me too. Time to refuel.

So, as in my last blog here, I put forth the idea of a "Do It Yourself Bali Spiritual Virtual Retreat."
Which basically is me (or you) imagining self in Bali at a Holistic Spiritual retreat and taking some of those elements and making it happen.


SIGH



Bali!

I am aiming for the target date of Nov.10 -17 that I can set aside for myself to disconnect and plug in. Granted, I still have to go to work, but my Intention is for it to be:
 a stay at home, turn within, pamper self, learning, empowering, fit growing time.
For ME.

For you, at your own place if you like. I'm supplying ideas here on what I'm doing on this my next fun wild hair!

SO,

my next step was to envision what things I would want to focus on, in order to do something like this "Staycation" at home.

If I were to go to Bali on a Holistic Spiritual Retreat, I imagine that I would experience:

Juicing for breakfast
Healthy meals eaten with focus
Yoga
Nature walks
Listening to relaxing sounds
Playing music or drumming
Cleansing and pampering body techniques
Cleansing and pampering Spirit techniques 
Swimming in turquoise water
Sunshine
Dancing- Yoga Body Movement
Fiiiiyaaaah
Reading books and/or watching/listening to Positive Empowering lectures
Meditation
Disconnect from media 
Prayer
Vision board and Journaling/ Creative Expression
Hydrate
Cool clothes/wraps/different fashion
A glass of good red wine savored.
Herbal Supplements (in whatever way is necessary for you) 
For myself, I need more B vitamin (who doesn't?) I am also low on D, and I would also have some natural green. I mean, afterall, I'm in BALI.  It too is medicinal for me. 
Adventure- go someplace new
and
REST/Good Sleep.


Yah, so those are my Must Haves on my list!

Now the next step is to figure out how to get all those awesome things on my Wish List, while planted here in CNY during the oncoming winter season.

I am working on these ideas, and coming up with some awesome ideas!

Will share more next time!

How are you coming on your list? :)

Leave me a comment and let me know!

In the meantime......

A friend sent me this wee meditation.

Soak in this picture right NOW:

"Warm breezes fingering their way threw your hair. Hearing in the winds a soft melodious voice singing so, so soft and lifting - calling, calling us to enter in this harmonious joining of earth, sun, water, and sky-basking in its beauty. Salty air from the ocean wafting into the nostrils and helping us to breath in more deeply then ever before and slowly letting it out... tasting the salt in the mouth ever-so-slightly. Coconut tree's dancing, swaying with hot sand beneath your feet, until you walk into the water, and lay down at the waters edge letting the sand embrace you... and the water lap over you in gentle waves. While watching the water birds fly above and swoop down swiftly into the ocean getting their fish. Clouds drifting languorously, sleepy, like a dream that envelopes you gently and gives a gentle kiss to let you know no harm will be done. Being in the sweet harmony of nature, love, and light."

DIY Bali Retreat~

Ok, so I saw a website from a Healer that is offering a week of Healthful, Spiritual Retreats to Bali.

Think on that.  A WEEK in BALI.
Yoga, sunshine, turquoise waters, nature walks, healthful food, lectures, meditation, reading books and naps in the shade.

Yah, I would so love that. I think you would too? But Bali has to wait a bit longer for me at this point, yet there's no reason why we can't make this a bit of a reality!

I'm offering to you, at no cost, (just some of your own time invested in yourself in your own life) a

"Do It Yourself Whole-Y SelfFILLness Spiritual Healthy Retreat!"

We may not be able to actually board a plane for Bali, 

yet we can BLOOM WHERE WE ARE PLANTED!

I have picked a target week.  

Sunday November 10 through Sunday November 17, 2013

It's before the busy holidays for us to Ground and Center ourselves. 

It is the Changing of the Seasons. Always a good time for detox and taking some time to adjust.

Yes, I still have to work. I am trying to plan it ANYWAYS.

I will take you on this Journey Quest with me, if you want to read about it...

or you can actually pack your Spiritual bags, do the exercises as I do and go on your own Journey!

So to catch you up to date, I will let you know what I'm doing now to prep myself for it.

You can jump in anytime and join me (and anyone else who wants the adventure)

Exercise #1

Clear your plate.

The time is now, to start removing obstacles and clearing that week of anything but the absolute necessity. If you have to work, do so! I do too. How'ere, there's a lot of shite that I don't "have" to do, but end up doing. I'm using my time now till the November 10th date to get stuff done. Like clean my house, do the yard work, not schedule appointments for my target date and only commit to what is a "must do".

Exercise #2

Dream.

Imagine what a lovely Spiritual Healthy Retreat in Bali might mean to you, personally. Think of the elements that would: Inspire, Heal, Relax and Energize You. 

Make a List of all the things-whatever they are-and write them down. 

I will share my list with you tomorrow. 

Please feel free to share your list here as well.

In the meantime, I leave you with this song to get you started!

click this link to hear the song, "Bali Hai" from South Pacific! 

"...First Do No Harm"

"and it harm none,  do what ye will" is the Wiccan Rede.  It is a goodly statement and one that a role model worth following.

Harry & I watched one of the movies in my Netflix queue last night, called "...First Do No Harm". 
It reminded me of the Wiccan Rede as it applies to medicine and dealings in real life.

Meryl Streep played the role of a mother who becomes her child's advocate as he develops Epilepsy. This wonderfully balanced little boy starts having seizures and then it quickly develops into Grand Mal "episodes". The medical community takes them down the path of one drug and procedure after another, leading down a rabbit hole of confusion, more seizures, and bankruptcy for the family.

The mother does what ANY good mother would do. She starts researching and studying and ends up taking her child OUT of the medical system and into the world of Alternative cures with the "If-y" Ketogenic diet. Guess what happens?

He's CURED. And what is most amazing about this movie too, is that MANY of the supportive characters in the flick had also had Epilepsy and taken the Ketogenic diet and ALSO had been cured!

This movie really affected me.

Why?

Because I had Epilepsy.
Most of you may not know this, but when I was about 13 I started having "Petit Mal" episodes too.

I started having high fevers, walking blacking outs and having SEVERE migraines. I, too,  wound up at the hospital having several EEGs (electroencephalographs)  and I also had a Brain Scan (this was the early 70's and I was given nuclear medicine intravenously and laid out on a gurney with the top of my head touching a large metal x-ray device while lead aprons were laid out over my entire body from neck down). Pretty scary.

I was diagnosed with Petit Mall Epilepsy. They said it is "quite common in teenage girls". But that didn't help my psyche much. I was put on Dilantin and then Philantin (Dilantin and Phenobarbitol together).

Reading about it now, I just told Harry what it said about some of the side effects on this website: "You may have thoughts about suicide while taking Dilantin". 

Well, that explains a lot of my teenage angst and pits of despair, now doesn't it?

In my life to date, unbeknownst to me, I have emulated the Ketogenic Diet in my life by incorporating a Yoga diet, repeated fasting periods and also using the Atkins diet into my life at certain times of my life. Yes, I acted out in ways in my life that may have caused me harm. But also, in using my feelings and listening to my God given intuition, I have also medicated myself in ways that helped to heal me as well, and keep me on a path that was good for me.

I have been off medications for epilepsy for about 35 years. I didn't even know about this "Ketogenic Diet" at all, but have put elements of it, into my life and diet, off and on for many years!

This knowledge, and the info I found in my favorite book of health: 
"You Can Heal Your Life" , by Louise Hay has reinforced something amazing to me.

She has included this disease and it's underlying psychological impact and healing affirmation in her book as follows.

Epilepsy: 

Underlying reason: Running away from the self, family or from life.

Healing Affirmation: I am AT HOME in the Universe. I am safe and secure and understood.

In combining all this info, and recently delving into my past with my memoir writing, I have come to a GREAT TRUTH and conclusion.

My epilepsy came on shortly after a close neighbor in my community was put into jail for murdering children.
I now understand that I internalized my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in my way of dealing with this awful series of unfortunate events. You see, this serial killer, Arthur Shawcross, and I (and my family) had several interactions around this time, and yet I was somehow spared, I LIVED, and my family came out safe in the end, too.

The other 2 children and the many women he killed did not have such a happy ending.

I have been extremely blessed and protected.
I do not know why.
But believe me, I AM GRATEFUL.

So, all I can say to you folks out there, is this.
We are amazing human beings.
We are survivors.
We are able to internalize messages and if we are lucky enough to deal with them, we can grow from them.

What does not kill us makes us stronger.

I would say, First....and Last.....DO NO HARM. 


Catch this movie if you can.