Transformational Talks, Tools and… Trust

This blog article is about the amazing abundance of transformational talks and tools that are available throughout the program of the BaliSpirit Festival, how to navigate your way through those choices and the importance of trust.

One of the things that makes the BaliSpirit Festival stand out, is the incredible selection of sessions on the schedule. The high quality and diversity of speakers, presenters and musicians turns the program into an alluring, abundant, all-you-can-eat menu for the soul.

An All-You-Can-Eat Menu For The Soul

There are so many possibilities for inspiration, transformation, healing and movement for mind, body and soul. It makes you want to split into at least five versions of yourself, so you can go off in different directions and attend them all. But of course, we need to stay embodied. So how do you decide when it all sounds so alluring? Of course, by letting (Bali) spirit guide you.

It’s that (Bali) magic, that makes you meet the right people at the right moment. Someone telling you about this amazing facilitator they met, who just happens to give a workshop that afternoon. Or another person randomly reminds you that it’s important to actually take breaks to integrate, especially when fomo hits (fomo = fear of missing out). Based on a true story, ahem. Since there are so many sessions that feed the soul, we also need to digest     them. No matter how much the mind wants to see it all, do it all and know it all, in the end our bodies know what’s best for us at each moment.

You Can Only Connect The Dots Looking Backward

Looking back now, I realize that the first few days of the festival were mainly about movement. Dancing, stretching, shaking out the old, in order to make room for the new. Again, this is one of the ways in which the BaliSpirit magic works. In the moment you simply follow the flow (intuition, spirit, guidance) but in the end, you see how it actually all fits into a greater picture and plan. Just like Steve Jobs said in his amazing commencement speech at Stanford University:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future”

It’s like that at the BaliSpirit Festival, which is like a magically magnified version of life. In other words, everything that happens at the BaliSpirit Festival is most likely a zoomed-in version of what’s going on in your daily life, internally or externally, in-tune or improvable.

So one important element we need at the festival as well as in life is trust. Exactly what was served to me on the Spirit schedule on the fourth and fifth day.

The Alchemy of Love

On the morning of the fourth day, I overslept, and told myself to trust that the two workshops I missed were not meant for me at that moment. So I rushed towards the ‘Alchemy of Love’ workshop and made it there in time, only to find out that the workshop was moved to another location… and then delayed. Ahh. Surrender. And the reminder to trust divine timing. During the festival there were two occasions where I had to hurry towards a workshop, and on both occasions they turned out to be delayed. Got the message, Universe.

Arriving at the new location of the ‘Alchemy of Love’ workshop, I admittedly recognized the voice of resistance as it whispered inside my head ‘this better be worth the wait’. Thankfully it turned out perfect, plus resistance happened to be a theme of this workshop, led by Silvia Mordini.

Silvia is a long-time yoga teacher and ‘happiness coach’ who lives in Bali for several months of the year. She shared a lot of relatable information and inspiration in order to:

“Open the petals of our lotus heart, in order to receive and release love” 
~Silvia Mordini

What touched me most was the love vibration that Silvia transmitted while she was talking. As well as the beautiful connection created between us participants within a short span of time. In one of the exercises, we had to share one thing we didn’t want others to know about us. In my case, I didn’t want people to know about the fear that I have regarding connecting with others. A part of me feared that if someone knew this, they would think there is something wrong with me. But the beauty was that the moment I shared about it, there was connection, on a deep level.

Such a beautiful reminder to dive into our fears instead of twisting ourselves into all shades of shapes around them. Silvia reminded us that while we are in Bali (or of course at any given moment) we have the opportunity to:

“Dive deeply, towards the stem of the lotus” ~Silvia Mordini

We sure did during the workshop, and at the end of it, all resistance had been alchemized into appreciation, and indeed, Love.

Takeaway: So much! Below I will share some of the practical tips that Silvia shared in order to maintain balance so that we can keep our lotus/ hearts open towards ourselves and others. You can receive the full description and all tips at this link shared by Silvia. So here are three of them:

• Calm Your Criticism – we are often so hard on ourselves and beating ourselves up with all sorts of ‘shoulds’. Silvia recommends replacing our ‘shoulds’ with ‘coulds’. 

• Stop Blamestorming – instead of blaming outwardly, close the petals of the lotus flower and turn within, towards the calm in the center of the storm. 
• Fill Your Tank Before it’s Empty – Just as we fill our car with gas before the tank is empty, we also need to fill our inner energy tank before we’re exhausted, for instance by resting before we’re tired, breathing before we’re overwhelmed.

Creating Crystal Clarity

To be honest, for this workshop it was the title that really pulled me in: ‘Develop Your Ultimate Dream ~ Clarity Workshop’. Clarity and dreams are two themes that can always use a little more attention, so off I went.

Thankfully it turned out a truly perfect choice. The workshop was clear-cut and connective, interactive and inspirational. The greatest part of the workshop consisted in writing down our answers to a set of questions that were given to us by Obed Abbo, the workshop leader from The Netherlands (like myself, always nice to hear a familiar accent). These questions were designed to give us guidance with regards to our passion, which is a part of the Passion Compass process which Obed developed. In order to see all the questions, you can download the free e-book from his website.

And so, after answering a couple of questions, we were asked to put down our pen, find a person close to us, and read out our answers to them. Ok… I turned towards my neighbor, who turned out to be one of the supersweet volunteers who had helped me with a question earlier. She was from Java and had the most infectious laugh. Which was perfect, because one of the questions was related to what makes you happy. We shared about our common love for sunshine, nature and time spent with friends. I also shared about my love for puppies and little children, and seriously in the days following this workshop, I saw little children and puppies everywhere. The magic of manifestation.

In the next round of questions, we dove one level deeper and became more specific, answering questions related to our deeds and needs and next steps. Then, turning towards a different neighbor, we shared away again. I faced another volunteer, this time from Germany. She seemed to be in her early twenties and had the beautiful vision of starting a conscious community. It was so touching to see that at her age she was already so clear about her vision for her life and for the world.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality” 
~Yoko Ono

And even after the workshop, we ran into each other again twice during the festival, connected by the beautiful bond which was created during the workshop. How heart-warming is it that ‘simply’ sharing your dreams can create such a sense of connection? I can definitely recommend trying this with someone in your life. It takes… trust… but the reward is so worth it.

Takeway: Journaling about questions regarding our passions can take us on an inner vision quest towards more clarity about ourselves, our dreams, our lives. Sharing it with someone else, strengthens the commitment towards this dream and the connection towards the other person. Whenever we take one step towards our dream, the next will become clear. All we need is… trust.

Sacred Chocolate Cacao Ceremony

The day ended in a magical way with a special and sacred cacao ceremony. I had heard that this ceremony was not to be missed, and looking back I now understand why. Words are somewhat insufficient to describe the deep experience offered by this ceremony leading up to an ecstatic evening.

The word ‘sacred’ comes closest to describing the setting of the ceremony. From the beginning, when the space was opened, leading up to the ceremonial intention-setting, honoring the four directions according to Shamanic tradition, and blowing our prayers into our cacao cup. The rest of the evening unfolded according to everyone’s exact needs. Whether dancing wildly or curling up cozily to the amazing live and DJ music of this ceremony brought by Jemmita, Matiu Te Huki, Raio, Minük, Giselle, and Temple Step.

“We are all here to support each other, we have each other’s heart”

Article by Nicky de Koning, Spiritual Business Coach, Supporting Soulful Entrepreneurs to Shine Online at www.nickydekoning.com