Bali, Indonesia: Retreat SUP Bliss (October 2013)

At the beginning of every yoga class, it’s recommended that you set an intention. This intention can be what you want to get out of the time in the class, out of the day, or even a greater goal. I’ve been doing moderate yoga for about 7 years and I never really took this ritual seriously until this last year. Clearly I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last year, which includes my current life changes, but I’ve also been trying to focus on both the big picture and the current moment… setting intentions. I now use the first 2 minutes of each yoga class to focus on one thing in that class such as feeling stronger in a challenging position, taking a pose to a more advance level or even making an extra effort to keep my mind on the mat instead of wandering off while trying to balance on one leg with my arm going some other way. Long story short, this works and I think it’s important to take a moment to focus on your immediate mental and physical state for even just 30 minutes a couple times a week in addition to your life direction.

I’ve never attended a retreat before, but I always imagined them being a mix of vacation and summer camp. The week in Bali was spent at a paddleboard and yoga retreat hosted by Paddleboard Bliss. I’ve been a big fan of Bliss since I started renting paddleboards from them a year or so ago, so when I saw they were doing a retreat in Bali smack in the middle of my SE Asia adventure it was too meant to be to pass up.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect since it was the first time Bliss had put on a retreat in Bali, but it turned out to be the best way to approach the week. Vacation/summer camp ended up being a pretty accurate description in the best way possible. It was a great group and both the planned and spontaneous activities all worked out to be an appropriately blissful week.

At the beginning of each yoga session during the week I continued to set my immediate intention, but I also wanted to set one for the week. My brother and I had been doing a lot of moving around and planning for the few weeks leading up, and even though we had a schedule in Bali, I wanted to focus on stillness. Spending the week in a calm state whether it was during my down time, while doing yoga on a floating paddleboard or spending time in a taxi on a curvy road. Even with a lot of physical movement, finding stillness in some way can completely change your state of being.

I feel like I did a pretty good job accomplishing my intention. Even during the more physical activities such as paddleboard surfing, I found myself catching waves (or even just feeling stable while standing) when I would still my mind and focus on the immediate moment. It turned out to be a great week, and I feel very fortunate to have shared the Bali bliss with such a wonderful group of people I now call friends.