My Personal Bali Healing Journey
When people ask about my journey to Escape Haven, it has really been a journey enabled by healing. Escape Haven was born from a deep desire to support women all over the world who needed to take time out to heal, de-stress and reconnect. I knew how essential this was after suffering myself from burn out and all of the telltale symptoms that come along with being overworked and under rested.
From Burnout to Bliss
Prior to Escape Haven, I was busy climbing the corporate ladder. My days revolved around impossible deadlines and meeting high expectations. There was part of me that thrived in this environment, yet, that level of work is not sustainable and of course, I crashed.
My burnout led me to Bali where I started on my very first healing journey. Here in the ‘island of the Gods’ I discovered what it really meant to slow down, to put myself first and to be ok with simply being and not doing. I discovered yoga and meditation, I surrendered to blissful spa treatments and I nourished my body with quality sleep, wholesome food and plenty of time to simply rest and recover.
Escape Haven was born from this awakening and from my own deep desire to support other women on a similar journey. I wanted to be able to offer women a safe haven of luxury, comfort and indulgence where they could let their barriers down and feel safe, nurtured and cared for.
The Next Healing Chapter
A life-threatening diagnosis….
Of course, my own healing journey didn’t end there! What I’ve found in life is that we often face many obstacles (or opportunities) that instigate new healing journeys. For me, the next chapter of healing really started with a diagnosis for a life threatening illness- Bacterial Meningitis weeks after I gave birth to my first daughter. This launched a year-long healing journey for me that primarily consisted of reiki healing, Balinese healing, the ocean, Meditation and Yin Yoga.
Calling in my soul mate…
Of course as we all know, healing isn’t just physical. Much of our healing is emotional and is about facing deep core beliefs or wounds that we have developed and held onto, often for a very long time. For me, my limiting beliefs were sabotaging me from finding deep love and happiness in a romantic relationship. It wasnt that I simply wasn’t meeting the ‘right’ men, instead, I knew that there was something much deeper at play.
I used Theta Healing to address these limiting beliefs around commitment and self worth that were holding me back, as well as a beautiful Balinese Letting Go Ceremony, coupled with manifestation meditations and a regular journaling practice.
Of course, very soon after, my soulmate appeared and I knew it from the moment we unexpectedly met (that’s a whole other story!)
Falling pregnant naturally in my 40’s…
When Trent and I met, we were both in our forties yet we knew we wanted to have children. I knew that it could be more challenging for us at this stage in our lives, so I turned to Ayurveda and their ancient remedies, rituals and lifestyle routines that have been used for centuries in India and the world over. Prior to conceiving both of our daughters, I was at an Ayurveda retreat enjoying plenty of these traditional therapies and following a very Ayurvedic lifestyle with yoga, meditation, deep rest and healing wholefoods.
I attribute having our two daughters naturally in my mid forties to Ayurveda, and this was what inspired me to launch the Ayurveda retreat at Escape Haven, which is now our most popular retreat package. Many women who have joined us on the Ayurveda package have also had similar experiences to my own, and while we never suggest Ayurveda to be a miracle for fertility, I personally believe its healing powers- for both body, mind and spirit- are immense.
Thriving through the global pandemic…
More recently over the past two years, I have reached into my ‘healing toolkit’ over and over again to survive, and more essentially, to thrive, through the years of the pandemic. Whilst most Bali businesses closed their doors to ‘wait it out’ I knew that this was the time that our global female community needed support the most.
It was an honour inviting women to join us on our virtual retreats, healing programs and accredited trainings and sharing all of the healing tools and rituals that have been my saving grace for the last two decades. I was able to witness the power they had for women who were really in need of that mental, physical and emotional support.
Meeting the healing needs of our global female community
Coming off the back of the pandemic when we finally opened our Bali retreat doors again to international guests, we sent out a survey to discover how your needs, priorities and goals may have shifted and what had changed for you over the last two years.
The results of the survey shocked me, to say the least. Over 500 women replied to the survey and what was most evident was that: mental wellbeing was the biggest priority (well above physical wellness), women had undergone incredible change and displacement through the pandemic, and the greatest focus was on healing, relaxation, de-stress and reconnection.
So, with my own healing experience and wisdom, aligned with the obvious needs, goals and desires of our female community, it is an honour to now launch our brand new Bali Healing Retreat.
Introducing: Our Bali Healing Retreat
After living and running a wellness business in Bali for almost 15 years now, I have been privileged to meet some of Bali’s very best healers. Bali is, of course, a healing island. It is an epicentre for transformation and wellbeing. Not only are there many gifted traditional Balinese healers here, talented and intuitive therapists from all over the world are drawn to come and work and live in Bali to offer their healing services to those who come to the island searching for answers, remedies or release.
Over 10,000 women have joined us on a luxury Bali retreat and many of them have been on their own healing journey. Of course, many women join us without even thinking about the healing or transformational nature of a wellness retreat, and are then blown away by the deep level of healing and transformation that occurs!
Perhaps due to my own story, we welcome many women who are suffering from burnout, just as I was. Many women join us grappling with stress, anxiety, frustration, lack of sleep, digestive issues- all of the trappings that come with a busy ‘successful’ modern lifestyle.
Why a Healing Retreat is for EVERY woman
As women we are very good at masking the deeper whispers from our soul. Oftentimes, instead of facing the root cause, we load more onto our plates- we work longer hours, we sign up for PTA committees, we fill our social calendars and in our rare moments of down time we zone out with a glass of wine and Netflix. We believe that our role is to keep on going, keep carrying the load, keep being the nurturers and the supporters and we hold tight to that badge of honour that seemingly comes with being busy.
We ALL need time to unwind and rejuvenate. What I’ve learned more than anything else is that we can’t pour from an empty cup. When our own wellbeing suffers, so do our relationships, our families, our work, our commitments, our dreams.
When we place ourselves at the bottom of the to-do list, it becomes increasingly hard for anything else on that list to get done.
What I see time and time again on retreat is that taking this time out, experiencing healing therapies, surrendering to unlimiting spa, enjoying gourmet meals cooked for you, doing daily yoga and meditation and adopting a slower pace where your needs are being taken care of is nothing short of life changing.
One Week Is All It Takes
I always say ‘one week is all it takes.’ It’s not that one week cures all (that would be nice!) Instead, it opens your eyes to how good you can really feel. It elicits a transformation- physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually that you cannot turn a blind eye too. It reestablishes your values. It firmly grounds your self worth. It reminds you of all you are deserving of and what is truly important.
Healing is a part of every retreat week. However, the new Bali Healing Retreat takes you on a much deeper journey. I’m sharing with you my own personal go-to healing modalities that I know work. I have been utilising these therapies and working with these practitioners closely for many years and I trust them implicitly. I know that feeling safe is such a huge factor in being able to let our guard down and fully surrender- which is what is needed for a healing journey to be truly effective.
The Bali Healing Retreat is for all women as I truly believe we all have deeper issues and trauma that hold us back from living fully and thriving in wellness.
What I’ve come to learn is that you can do all the hot yoga, drink all the green smoothies, adopt that keto diet and do a weekly spin class and not feel or see any positive results. Why? Because you’re not treating the real root cause of what needs healing. Much of the wellness world offers (expensive!) bandaid solutions that don’t meet your actual needs to really thrive.
What I Know For Certain About Healing
While healing may require us to press pause, we don’t lose time. We gain so much more. That pause to heal means you can press play and live fully again. A Healing Retreat is for you if are suffering from stress, anxiety, are overworked, suffering from insomnia, fatigue, weight gain or have simply lost your zest and passion for life. It’s for you if you are suffering grief, unable to let go of the past, feeling limited by your own mental chatter, have lost direction in life or lost that important connection to your inner self. It’s for you if you want to feel a deep level of peace, tranquillity and contentedness, if you want to feel energised, clear and enlivened, and if you are ready to step up courageously and say farewell to the past in order to embrace your next chapter.
I have no idea where I would be today if I didn’t put my own healing first.
I know for sure I wouldn’t be living in Bali with my soulmate and two daughters running a successful and globally awarded wellness business. It’s fair to say that healing is a trusted friend of mine and has been the greatest enabler for my 40’s being the happiest and most successful decade of my life.
So I ask you, where could you be if you too decided to prioritise your own healing journey?
Are you ready for healing and transformation?
Our new Bali Healing Retreat is an invitation for you to come and experience all the benefits of a luxury women’s wellness retreat plus all of the healing and holistic modalities that are curated to support you to thrive- mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
If you’d like to chat to me about this package or have any questions at all, I’m available via email here.
I would be honoured to support you on your own Bali healing journey. We’ve recently opened up our package experience to include a grief and loss retreat – holding space.
