Dear Friends,
Our 3rd Power With Grace Retreat
It was a jet lagged and delirious adventure traveling across the world from SFO (San Francisco, California) to DPS (Bali, Indonesia), but boy was it worth it.
Everyone booked their own flights this time, some staying longer beforehand, some staying longer afterwards and some just going the length of the retreat. Over half the group met up for a few days in Singapore before the retreat even started, thanks to Nicole Bailey, who organized a high tea and a sunset boat cruise together!
Click on any of the images below and it will open up to an Instagram video reel or photo slideshow of our highlights from that day!
Day 1 Video: Welcome To The Family
This was our first night at Soulshine Bali with 43 wonderful women! We were greeted with a welcome drink and a beautiful flower offering before checking into our rooms.
We officially kicked off Day 1 with our group dinner at the Stay Human restaurant, followed by our Welcome circle in the Panorama Shala around an incredible flower mandala. We introduced ourselves and shared our intentions for the week before heading to bed (then… some of us went swimming 😉).
Day 2 Video: Break Up With Everything
Our first full day together was packed with a morning meditation, breakout groups, corework and Stop Drop and Dance class before some free time.
Then in the afternoon we learned how to plant rice in the 700 year old fields at Soulshine, followed by a group water slide and then a cultural dinner with Kecak dancers!
Nothing more powerful than literally standing in the mud to connect with nature, taking a time out and listening to what our hearts need to let to go of, and sharing all these new cultural experiences with other wonderful women.
Day 2 Photos: CAK CAK CAK CAK CAK CAK
You'll understand when you swipe to the the last photo!
Day 3 Video: Have A Little Faith
We took a full-day excursion on this day to visit two temples in Bali. The first was Gunung Kawi, an ancient temple with huge shrines of the King’s family carved into a rock wall. The second was Tirta Empul, where we were able to experience the powerful holy water purification ritual.
Both temples gave us an opportunity to cleanse our minds and souls, and experience spiritual renewal.In the afternoon, we returned to Soulshine for a sunset yoga session, followed by a group dinner. Love learning about the Balinese culture and history!
Day 3 Photos: Hands Up To The Sky
A magical dip (many times) and prayer!
Day 4 Video: Good To Be Alive Today
Togetherness is the perfect description of our retreat. We are connected through our love of dancing and wellness, but each person brings so much more than just that. Open hearts, vulnerable sharing, true compassion, genuine kindness and love and acceptance are the deeper threads that make this group extra special.
April 29th was a whole day birthday celebration for Angela Hart, starting with a birthday song and cheesecake for breakfast, dancing to Angela’s favorite songs for a Stop Drop and Dance class, journaling and magical poetry writing, a full day at a white sand beach (had to slo mo and see every single face!), and dancing through the night in the Togetherness Lounge!
Day 4 Photos: Good Day For A Good Day
It was a good day to have a good day.
Shoutout to Angela's husband, Chris, who surprised Angela for her birthday with a rose petal message on her bed (plus a huge bouquet and cake at dinner) when she came home from the beach!
Day 5 Video: How We Living
This is the moment when you bump into the one and only Sara Agah Franti getting off of a motorcycle at 7 months pregnant and get to personally hand her our The Power With Grace baby onesie gift!
Today was another big excursion day visiting two waterfalls: Tegenungan and then Taman Sari, where some of our dancers got to swim! Afterwards we spent the afternoon shopping and exploring the downtown Ubud art market, a big hit for everyone to get souvenirs, buy dresses, get massages, and eat local food!
After returning to Soulshine later in the day, we had a yoga session, followed by some more shopping at the Artisan Fair, and dinner and dancing!
Day 5 Photos: Brighter Day
It's a brighter day with these women!
Day 6 Video: Be Who You Are
Today was a relaxing staycation at Soulshine, with morning meditation, journaling, breakout groups, corework and Stop Drop and Dance class before an afternoon of free time for massages, shopping, napping, conversations and lounging by the pool.
Our afternoon was extra special with a Balinese immersion experience where we were dressed in beautiful sarongs and custom handmade Kebayas. We learned more about the Balinese culture and traditions, including how to make a canang, or the daily prayer offering palm-leaf baskets filled with different colored flowers for each direction and an incense stick, and then finished with an authentic Balinese dance class.
It was so admirable to see how much presence, intention and prayer goes into daily Balinese rituals and traditions. Inspirational!
Day 6 Photos: Love Will Find A Way
A daily offering of gratitude and respect.
Day 7 Video: Follow Your Heart
Our last day of the retreat was extra special because we had a surprise visit from Sara Agah Franti, who spoke with us about the vision and creation of Soulshine. It was such an honor to spend some time with Sara and hear her inspirational story.
Thank you also to Agung Dharma Putra for organizing a special video shoot during our Stop Drop and Dance class with the owner of Soulshine, Tom Sebastian, featuring our unique The Power With Grace community at Soulshine, “a playground for our soul!”
After small group sessions, we ended the morning activities by going down the slide together just like our first day! Except this time… in our full workout clothes!
In the evening, we concluded the week with our retreat tradition of wearing all-white outfits and taking group photos, followed by a Balinese fire ceremony where we wrote down on palm leaves our burdens to let go of and our wishes as we return to our regular lives.
Om Avighanam Astu Namo Sidham means: “Hopefully, there is no obstacle for me to start something good.”
We sang karaoke, danced until we were sweaty, went down the slide for the 3rd time (in our dresses!), then it was time to say goodbye and get ready for all our different flights the next morning.
Day 7 Photos: Meet Me When The Sun Goes Down
It’s all in the details.
You can feel the Frantis’ love and positivity embedded everywhere into Soulshine, and it completely matched our vibe. Just perfection!
Final Video: Life Reminds Us We're Alive
One of my biggest takeaways from Bali was learning why there were so many black and white checkered cloths around trees, statues, temples and clothing, often with a sash of red.
In our culture, we often think of our struggles and sadness as “negative” or “bad luck,” and we react by becoming angry, pushing away pain, hiding our hurt, judging ourselves, and hurting more than we need to.
In Balinese culture, they view darkness as a necessary balance to lightness, and the two come hand in hand in harmony. With sadness, happiness will come. With evil, good will prevail. With sorrow, joy will emerge. We cannot know happiness without the sadness.
Therefore, the checkered patterns symbolize that “Life is a Dance,” a dance of acceptance between the dark and the light in our lives, and embracing both with love. And the red is a thread of spirituality, of hope, of prayer and of faith that ties it all together.
In this video, I wanted to highlight every dancer that trusted me on this journey to Bali. All 43 women who came on this retreat followed their hearts to pause their busy lives and responsibilities, and say YES to connection, YES to vulnerability, YES to learning about another culture, YES to nature’s healing and YES to self-care.
What an incredible experience we now share in our hearts. Thank you Soulshine Bali for an incredible home away from home, and thank you to my wonderful dance sisters.
I am deeply grateful.
Love,
Grace
PS Hope to see you this week for our regular class schedule (Tu / Th / Sa 9:30am Dance and Wed 9:30am Strength & Stretch)!
PPS Apologies for being one week behind - next week I will recap our events from this past week: Marsha Cellar, Gina Daly, and Tanya Burdick's birthday classes plus last Saturday's Marin Foster Care Association Dance-a-thon Fundraiser!
