Balinese and Eastern Lessons

As I've been incorporating yoga, mindfulness, and movement into my private practice and public teaching, the lessons experienced in Bali and instilled in my during my time there have been frequently bubbling up to the surface of my thoughts. Even though the experience was in July 2024, I often lately find myself returning to that time, nearly 2 years later.

I feel I was given a special opportunity to pursue my first 200 hour RYT yoga training in Ubud, where studying the history and philosophy inspired the many of us practicing on our individual journeys. Finding a balance between striving and allowing physical and mental freedom towards self-realization with less "burdens" of harmful patterns, the past and feelings from experiences or future concerns gradually spiraled up to be viewed or even addressed when safely able. In our yogic journey, we were taught how our relationship with others and the world is related to the relationship with ourselves, and how learning is also a form of remembering. If this is believed as so, one would naturally find themselves on a path towards self exploration and healing, often in contemplating the past, in an attempt to spread that understanding outward, manifesting positive relationships with others.

In Ubud, the study of yoga as the "yoking" or unification or the body and mind, extending to the world and the self, was amplified by the local Balinese spirituality. There was a duality described as an understanding of ourselves to further our love of one another, which became more apparent in the exploration of the Balinese practices of "hope," when even sharing a smile towards one another was an example of finding health within ourselves and praying for that to be given outwardly. The "Aum" that was collectively said in meditations as a means of calling in the oldest natural sound to reunite us to the earth and divine, lead to the practice of non-harmful actions, words, and thoughts towards ourselves and others. The height of this understanding, to me, was a discussion with Balinese spiritual leaders in Ubud who described the "non-reaction" or mercy they attempt to allow when another is hurtful to them because they understand the struggle is within the other choosing the harm.

Although no one leaves this world unscarred, the attempt to combine the colors of peace (white,) knowledge (yellow,) love (red,) bravery (black,) and freedom (green) into one's life was deeply beautiful and serene. The dichotomy of my time in Ubud with the modern world was blazingly apparent in the airport returning from Bali, when a woman struggling with her luggage was socially viewed by the public as defiant and obstinate, yet one could witness those practicing patience and kindness in visibly showing her mercy and privacy.

Maintaining and protecting the gentleness towards ourselves and others that I observed and experienced while in Bali is increasingly challenging in this modern world of pushing and striving, yet I still work on the intention towards this practice each day. The smile of the Balinese says with me, reminding me to wish for and behave in a healthy manner towards myself and others at each opportunity, especially when my human nature attempts to persuade me otherwise.