Three bright yellow butterflies are dancing around the garden in front of me as I sit down to type this. There is another white one that is trying to get in on the action but the three yellow guys are pretty focused on sticking together. There are none of the huge black ones at the moment but I'm sure it won't be long till they make an appearance too. This garden is a butterfly heaven! I've just come out of an hour long energy healing session with Wayan and I feel AMAZING! Pasek is in the kitchen making my breakfast and all is right with my world. :-)
The last time I posted I'd just made arrangements for a crystal sound healing session. We spent almost 3 hours with AwaHoshi at her home here in Ubud (right across Monkey Forest Road from where we live). What an amazing experience it was! It started with her introducing us to the concept of crystals, a little about her personal (and work) history, and then we moved on to introducing ourselves with an explanation of where we get our love from. There were ten of us in total (including AwaHoshi and her assistant). At the same time as everyone was talking we all chose two cards....one from each of two different decks. Mine were Actualization and the other was card number 13. The Actualization (angel) card was all about the time being now to move to action on my goals. No matter what my dream I had only to set my intention and seize the day in pursuit of that goal. The picture on card 13 looked like either a glass of wine or a crown to me but the description that went along with that card was pretty powerful. It said that I am meant to be an influencer and that my psychic powers are aligned with my intuition so by trusting my intuition I will be in a powerful position as I move further in the direction of my destiny. Both were powerful cards for me as was the overall crystal sound experience.
Once the talking was finished we moved on to 10 minutes of group chanting. Our chant was designed to incite healing and the story behind the sanskrit words is about two horses who bring the sunrise and the sunset and there was something about honey in there too. Not sure if it was the colour of the horses or the shades of the sun at either end of it's day's journey but there was honey in there for sure. After the chanting it was time for the sound healing so we all lay down on our mats on her patio. I was at the edge of the patio so could see a mango tree reaching out to touch the railing beside me. There were birds singing and the breeze was blowing over us....it was the perfect setting for the music of the bowls that would soon follow.
AwaHoshi is masterful with the bowls and she had several lined up for that afternoons session. There were at least a dozen bowls of varying sizes and colours. Each bowl had its own tone and she had several different tools she used to play the bowls. Each tool adjusted the sound of whatever bowl it was used on. As the sound of the bowls began to envelope and resonate through each of us we quietly or silently cited our respective intentions. Those unique intentions would act as a "filter" for the sound to travel through thereby customizing the crystal energy for each of us. Now I know this may sound a little over the top for most of you but honestly....something really did happen and whether it's all in our heads or measurable scientific fact....either way is fine by me. :-). The premise is that our bodies are made up of 75% water and the sound of the crystals (just like the gongs in the pyramid) affects that water in our bodies. By setting a positive intention as the sound is travelling to and through us the water part of us is altered to be aligned with our intention. Quantum physics may not be for everyone but for me....it makes a lot of sense and the added bonus is that it feels really good too! :-)
By the end of my time on AwaHoshi's patio I left feeling empowered to move to action and in my book....that alone was worth the 350,000 IDR ($35) I'd paid! As we were leaving the crystal healing AwaHoshi explained that it was important that each of us go home and either soak in a salt water bath or at the very least shower and rub salt on our bodies paying particular attention to our joints and the inside of our wrists. For those of us who didn't have salt in our rooms she had a big bag of salt we could take from and so....I walked home with a handful of salt and a smile on my face.
Salt scrubbed, Showered, and re-dressed we were off to dinner at Bale Udung (tables over the lake) and once again....we had another wonderful meal. Whether its the good food or the great company....every meal we've had there has been memorable. By the time we got home that night we were all ready to fall into bed!
Yesterday Lynda and Barb set off on motor bikes (Barb was pretty nervous but she did it and lived to tell the tale) to go to yoga. Unfortunately the yoga studio was completely full and so they decided to skip yoga and walk instead. The day previous Lynda had been one of two in her class and so finding an overfull class this day was a shock! Perhaps the reason for so many more people is that the spirit festival starts this week so there are lots of new people in town for it. Lynda and Barb's walk took them along some rice fields, past Sedona Spa, and then down to a hotel that Lynda had visited a few days earlier. That hotel has a spa down a loooonnnng flight of stairs that "must be seen to be believed". I'm going to have to make the hike down to it as Lynda wouldn't even let Barb show us her photos as it's worth seeing it without knowing just what you'll find there. Soon.....but we've said "soon" for so many things and as we move closer and closer to departure the time frames are getting tighter and tighter!
While Lynda and Barb were off exploring that spa Alison and I had a nice leisurely walk in town. We spent a little time enjoying the latest work done to the ogoh ogoh at the soccer field. There are now two of them sitting there waiting for the day before Nyepi and from the look of them they're completely finished. They are soooo impressive and we're all getting very excited to see the parade of ogoh ogohs the evening before silent day. Alison and I also found a fantastic new place to have lunch yesterday....Alison was wanting to try some raw food and Soma was the place that could fill that bill. We had a fantastic meal! Not all of mine was raw but everything was delicious and organic plant based food is their focus so in addition to delicious it was also healthy. :-). By the time we wandered back home it was almost 5 pm and before much time had passed our patio had become the gathering place. Lynda and Barb were here first, then Alison and I joined them. A few minutes later Ketut and Pasek stopped by. Then Jati wandered in and sat down. Next it was Julie on her way home from a Texas style chili cook off...yep....it was fast becoming a party! Soon enough though the hunger struck again (it had been a few hours since lunch after all) and so Lynda, Barb, Alison, Jati, and I were off and headed in the direction of Who's Who where Jati's friend Rihanna (from Tazmania) joined us for dinner. It was another wonderful meal! There is no shortage of amazing places to eat here! Again....by the time we got home everyone was ready to fall into bed. And.....for the first time in a very very long time I had to set my alarm as I'd made an appointment with Wayan (a balian and energy healer) to come to my room at 8 a.m.
After a short night....I think I was worried I wouldn't hear the alarm.....I was up and ready for my session with Wayan. Lynda headed out to have breakfast with Barb. The two Ketut's and Pasek's son, Made, were off to the police station in search of criminal record checks that they need to have for the cruise ship course they're taking. I waited on my patio.....not knowing what this energy healing would look like and excited to experience it for the first time.
Ketut arrived and started by explaining exactly what he would do. He told me he would poke between my toes and that if it hurt to just wait till it stopped. He told me he would touch me at my chakra points and that if anything felt hot or cold to not worry....it would pass. He told me that afterward I might feel a little light-headed and that if my mind had felt full before it would be as though all my thoughts had vanished. And now that I'm sitting here after the fact I would say that I feel incredibly relaxed and very very grateful for the experience.
After Wayan had described the process he went in to bless my room. That blessing took about 10 minutes and consisted of putting out offerings, lighting incense (6 sticks), a holy water blessing (water sprinkled using a flower), and a lot of prayers. Next he turned the blessing to me. First he sprinkled me (top of head) with holy water via that same flower, then he dripped water from the flower into my cupped hands which I had to drink (3 times), then there were three more times of water into my hands via the flower that I washed over the top of my head. After that I sat on the end of the bed and he held the incense under each of my hands and then each of my feet. Next he drew invisible symbols on the backs of each of my hands and the top of each of my feet with his finger. He then explained that the symbols were representative of the earth, a symbol that stands for whatever god you believe in and three more than represent Vishnu, shiwa, and Brama, (water, fire, and air I think it was).
Once that was all complete he had me lay on the bed and he began with the pinching between the toes of the right foot. Nothing at the first one but at the second there was a definite pain. He held that and used his energy to my benefit until it began to subside at which time he moved to the back of my right knee. He poked a couple of spots before he hit the one that caused me pain which again he held until it began to subside. Then he moved on to my left foot. This time it was the third toe that caused me to hit the roof. Seriously, this was 10X more painful than the other foot had been! He held it for a very long time before he moved to the back of my left knee where the digging around for a painful spot began. Once he was finished with my feet and the back of my knees he moved on to holding both my feet at the same time as he was chanting and even though I'm NEVER cold....my feet felt cold in his hands! His hands were so warm! He held on to my feet for quite a long time (at least 5 minutes) before moving on to my knees where there was a repeat with the chanting and laying of hands for another 5 minutes or so. From there he was on to my belly which is where I had the most amazing experience. I could feel nerves twitching down just the right side of my body for much of the time that he was on my belly and for part of the time I could clearly see light! My eyes were closed and it felt like someone was shining a flashlight in front of my closed eyes. (But before you say it....both his hands were on my belly and there was no one else in the room). I could seriously feel the energy pulsing from his hands.....even though the entire experience was really good....this was my favourite part. From my belly he moved up to my chest and then up to my throat. After that it was between my eyebrows and then to the top of my head. He stayed on the top of my head for what seemed like a really long time too and the top of my head was the most pressure I'd felt at any of the stops.
Once he was finished on my head...he was all done and checked how I was feeling. I felt GREAT! I asked him what that had been between my toes on my left foot though and he replied that it was my circulation that was blocked. Interestingly, I do have problems with circulation. I asked him if the next time I get restless legs if I could pinch between those toes and it would go away...he said I could but that he wasn't just pinching...he was sending his energy too. And so of course....pinching my toes alone likely would not do it. For anyone who has ever suffered from RLS you'll understand when I say that I might give it a try anyway just in case it helps a little. :-)
So here it is....almost noon and I'm getting hungry again so it must almost be time to go in search of some lunch. Lynda left a few minutes ago for some pool time at Cendana. Barb is reading her book on her patio. Alison is at a cooking class and I'm going to head in to do my Monday yoga/tai chi routine. By the time I'm finished that it will be 1:00 when I'm scheduled to meet Barb. We're going to head up to Cendana too so we can sit overlooking the rice fields and have some lunch after which we're heading for a reflexology appointment. Hopefully Alison will be back in time to join us at Cendana too. Doubtful that she will want any lunch though as I'm pretty certain they will have eaten all the food they cooked in their class! I am sure though that she will want to join Barb and I for reflexology though as she is a fan of that self-care practice!
Who knows what tonight will bring.....you'll have to read the next post to find out about the rest of our day..... till next time,
L & L
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