Painting and Healing in Bali

THE FINAL DAYS OF FLORA BOWLEY’S WORKSHOP:

Our Flora Bowley Bloom True Ubud workshop has come to an end… at least this chapter of it. Part of the group is continuing on with Nicole Lawrence for the extension week – a decision I’m very glad I made. Originally, we were only 2 signed up, but 4 others have now joined. I already know it will be a great week.

The last few days with Flora were wonderful – I’m not saying they were always easy. After all, I brought myself to the process, and so I was bound to come up with challenges (internal and external). On Saturday morning, Flora even said to me “this really isn’t about formulas or systematic steps, Dominique. Just throw all that out and play – have fun!” I can easily do that in my own studio when in the flow of exploration and connection. Here, however, I had really wanted to try out (and succeed) at using whites and colours at the same time with the sponge brush in a way that would keep those colours bright. This year has been all about whites (and drawing, of course)! I’m so not into pastels though. When I tried this technique during Flora’s e-course, despite watching her videos over and over, I kept getting washed-out colours and painting the fence. Anyhow, Flora was right. I was being too systematic again. I wanted to do it right, when in fact, there are no mistakes in this process. So I lightened up a bit, and kept at it. I even got her to show me exactly how much white and colour she puts on her brush at the same time. Just watching her for 1 minute on my canvas helped a lot. I definitely learn by watching. Sure, it took a few more layers as I kept covering all the whites up again with my usual vivid colours, rendering the lotus 2-dimensional once more (vs. having it pop out a bit from the canvas). By the time our morning together was done, I was quite happy with this piece. I had chosen a very simple design so I could focus on my goal – not think about composition or anything else. I’m glad I pursued it. I’ll admit though, I had a bit of a hard time just playing and having fun (the heat didn’t help, but I took care of myself).

• canvas 1: continued from previous days

My other two canvases are still very much in progress and I’ll continue them in my other 2 workshops.This second canvas garnered a class cheer because Flora finally saw me go totally free and loose.  In her opinion, it’s finished.  In mine, there’s a long way to go.

• canvas 2:  continued

• canvas 3: new and also still in progress

I know I’ll be transforming this one completely…

Many participants had works still in progress at the end of the day, but we lined them all up and spent time honouring them and their creators before breaking for lunch. You might see some similarities in the styles, but it was beautiful to also see the uniqueness of everyone’s voice. That is also one of the themes we’ve explored this week. It’s not about painting like Flora. It’s about learning to be free in our expression and to find our own voice. Having painted for 20 years, mostly self-taught and without paying much attention to other artists’ work, I feel I’ve already developed my own voice. This year of education, however, is like taking singing lessons so that I can fine tune and expand on my skills. After I get back to Canada, though, I feel like exploring on my own again – without so much focus on what’s happening out there in the art world. I want my art to continue being an expression of my own unique voice as I communicate with Spirit –  that will evolve as I go even deeper into my own artistic and spiritual practice. Yay!

• Class’s finished works and works in progress:
  

I only had my iPhone and the sun was so bright, it was hard to see what I was taking pictures of on the screen. I’m afraid I don’t have everyone’s work, but this gives you a great idea of what we’ve been up to.  Many worked extra time during our breaks and evenings, and so you’ll see that many are indeed beautifully complete.

• My favourite:

I must say, it was truly inspirational to watch Liane Worth work. This was the first time she had used a figure on a painting (one of my goals).  Her final pieces truly moved me – took my breath away a few times.  At one point, I thought (didn’t say!) “No! you’ve taken away what I liked” and then the next time I turned to look, it was even more stunning than before.  Nice reminder!  If I had a home and was in the market to buy work, I would add these 2 pieces to my collection.

Flora’s piece:
Of course it was always great to see Flora work.  She too went through an array of emotions and worked her painting through the awkward teenager phase.  She was very open about this as she was about the whole process.  She’s a great teacher.  In the end, she was very happy with it and it was purchased by one of the participants.  Perfect!

PITTA OUT OF BALANCE – Ayurvedic Consultation:

As for letting go and just playing – I have my good days and days when I require a bit more self-love to allow that to happen. I found out that this is very much a trait of my Pitta constitution, which is currently way out of balance. Right after our morning of painting, I took advantage of our proximity to Amrta Siddhi Ayurvedic Health Centre – right across the street from Swasti Eco Cottages. People come from all over to be treated here over a period of 3-10 days. A few people from the group had reported good results for various ills. I had already heard a lot about this traditional Indian medicine – one of the oldest in the world. In fact, I trust its foundation on a complete understanding of the human being.

For over an hour, the young doctor from India questioned me and looked at my tongue, my pulse, and my eyes. The main reason I went was for my eczema, which in the last year has seriously affected my hands and in the last 6 months had spread all down my legs for the first time in my life. As many practitioners of various kinds have told me, I have too much fire in my body. I’d heard some say it was like I had a volcano inside and if I only treat the skin in one area, the volcano will find another place to errupt.  In the Ayurveda system, I’m mostly a Pitta (fire) dosha, with a bit of Vata (air, space) – these describe the forces that help a person function since birth. The latter is all about movement (no doubt my love of variety and travel).  When in balance, the former is all about transformation, organization, leadership (I recognize myself in that). People with pita are usually of medium build, have sensitive skin, and dislike being told what to do. When out of whack, as mine is, some of the results are skin issues, irritation, and an excessive need for control (yup, guilty). This imbalance affects the whole endocrine and hormonal system – digestion, metabolism, and energy production.

The Ayrurveda system addresses these imbalances through various natural medicine, as well as lifestyle and diet changes. It turns out that I’m already doing many things that are in line with my constitution – a relief after so many years of focusing on my health and lifestyle. Obviously, however, more changes are required. I’ve got enough medicine – 6 kinds to take before/after meals, and before bedtime – to last a month. I also have a list of do’s and don’t’s in terms of diet for my particular constitution. Can you guess what the worst dietary thing is for a Ptita? Dried, salty, deep fried things … so much for being a chipaholic…  The strangest thing on the list of things to avoid for me was brown rice. Pittas should eat white rice, not brown. Now that goes against what I’ve learned and practiced, almost daily, for the past couple of decades. I’ll certainly give it a try to see if it makes a difference. On the plus side, Pittas should never fast and should satisfy their healthy appetites (yay!), but should eat their last meals before sundown (a bit tougher at certain times of the year).  I could go on, but I won’t. All this to say that I’ve taken both my astrology and angel card readings to heart when I was advised to take care of my health this month and pamper my body with what it need. It’s all about balance.

The fascinating thing for me is the reinforcement of how much our minds and bodies are linked when it comes to health. I’ve gotten used to the fact that what we think and feel affects our physical health. Today was about recognizing how our physical imbalances can affect our ways of being in the world – my excessive need for systems and control at times (what Flora commented on that same morning) can simply be a result of an imbalance in my Ptita constitution. Interesting, eh?

HEALING SPRINGS

There’s been a lot of focus on healing here in Bali. A week of peace at the ashram, self-care and spa treatments at Swasti, etc. Thursday’s group visit to a sacred healing spring was certainly one of the highlights in that area. In fact, I think this might be one of the highlights of my trip to Bali. It was very powerful. We were asked to set out on our afternoon with an intention. As our convoy traveled past the nearly deserted streets of tourist shops and rice fields and up into the mountain, the sky got darker and darker. By the time we arrived, it was pouring rain. Most got out of their dry clothes in the parking and wrapped their required sarong around their bathing suits for the long walk down the stairs to the various stations of this sacred Hindu healing spring. First, we arrived at the 3 fountains of the 3 main Hindu gods – Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva. We prayed and poured water over our heads with our right hands.

Down another long series of tall steps, we arrived at the second site, where we knelt or sat on our shoes with our offering and burning incense in front of us. We then said 5 prayers, the first and last with our hands in prayer position at the third eye. For the other 3, we held one of the flowers in our hands. I was always last, with my camera in hand, so I managed to take a few pictures of every stage before joining the group.  This was bit challenging with my umbrella and stuff, but there was something magical about being there in the rain. An extra blessing.  Plus I could much better avoid heat exhaustion or sun stroke that way, so I was very grateful.

The last station was the sacred spring. First you walked bare foot along the rocks to the first spring (more like a waterfall). You put your face forward and let the forceful water release any negative spirits or obstacles from your life. Then, still holding onto your prayers and intentions, you leaned back on the rocks of the second spring and welcomed the healing powers of these waters. This was followed by a brief ceremony where some of the sacred water is offered to you to sweep over your head or drink and then sprinkled on you. We then placed a bit of rice on our third eye and on our throats.

In addition to praying for loved one and unconditional love for the whole world, I focused on a very special intention / prayer for my own life. When under the springs, I had a very deep “it shall be so” feeling – a huge release that extended from this lifetime into past ones. I was moved to tears and also to great joy. I also witnessed some of the locals being very affected by the ritual – similar to what I’ve seen on TV with some of the evangelists. Powerful indeed!

The nice thing about this place is that it was only rediscovered by the masses about 5 years ago, although it has been used since ancient times. We came at a quiet time – even better. I was told it wouldn’t be so quiet on a full moon. One of our guides, whom I recognized from the tooth filing ceremony, kept me company as I slowly made my way up the very long series of high steps back to the group. We chatted and I took pictures – catching my breath. I can walk on flat land for hours, but I’ve never been great with hills and steps. Perhaps when I get my Pitta into balance, that will change. Anyhow, he had heard about the place, but had never gone before. He said he would definitely take his family there now. There are several water temples in Bali – I’m scheduled to visit another one with my last group. These, however, are often very crowded with both locals and tourists. I’m so glad Nicole brought us here. It was an opportunity of a lifetime.

DRIVE-BY-SHOOTING – redefining the words

On our way back, our driver generously made a few quick stops so we could take pictures from the window and got out once to photograph the statue.  Mostly, however, I experimented some more with shooting from the window as we drove by, often quite quickly. The results are super grainy, but certainly good enough for viewing here. Those that were too blurry, I used an artistic filter on them, which was fun to play with. Plus, even if none had worked out, for me this was total play time. I have so much fun with the camera!

I always find out so much during our drives.  For example, large gatherings are not only temple ceremonies, but cock fights.  There’s a huge gambling problem here too – some men sell their land to gamble on the fights.  I also finally figured out what it is they sell in the bottles in front of convenience stores – I thought it was alcohol, but it’s gas for the motorbikes – sold by the bottle and refilled on the spot.  Another bad bit of news is that this miracle rice that allows for 3 crops a year is genetically modified to the point that rats don’t recognize it as rice and leave it alone when it’s in storage.  One unfortunate result, Nicole told us, is the increase in asthma in children and women dying in childbirth because of hemorrhaging.  I guess the higher prices at Swasti’s organic restaurant were well worth it…

LAUGHTER YOGA

Right as we got out of the car, a friend and I decided to go check if the Ayurvedic doctor took credit cards.  On our way there, however, we walked into Ambarashram, thinking that was the clinic, and found out that there was a laughter yoga class that had started 20 minutes earlier – perfect since one of my lifetime goals is to laugh more.  We decided to join, but thought it wise to use the facilities before laughing too much.  By the time we joined the 200 Balinese behind the ashram in the garden, they had already finished the laughter part (figures !).  I didn’t know this, however.  As I walked in, 2 men quickly made space and I sat on the grass between their mats.  I was so impressed by the turnout and gazed at all the bronze sculptures of inspirational leaders around the open-air garden: Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Mandela, and many more I didn’t know.  After the mini-lecture, which I didn’t understand, of course, but gave me a chance to simply take everything in, we did about 10 minutes of dancing, followed by about 45 minutes of yoga.  It was so sweet. I recognized most of the positions, but when I couldn’t see the leader or see what my neighbours were doing, the man on the left would tap me and make signs to help me understand what to do.  He was thoroughly astonished to see that I could do the full lotus position and alerted his friends to the fact – a bit embarrassing, but i was happy.  What I liked the most were all the poses that had me gazing up at the beautiful whispy white clouds in the sky – in those moments, I was alone with the Heavens and tears came to my eyes from the beauty of the whole experience.  This was a perfect way to follow up my time at the sacred healing springs.  Balinese people are truly welcoming.  They didn’t make me feel strange at all, even if, by the end, I was the only white person in the crowd.  I’m certainly open to such spontaneous blessings in my life.

BLOOM TRUE CLOSING CEREMONY

At 5pm on Saturday, our group gathered back in our painting area for a final sharing circle. This was a lovely group of women and Flora, Rachel, and Nicole did a fantastic job with everything. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one of Flora’s painting workshops (online or in person) to anyone at any level – total beginners to professionals.

At 7pm, we met at the restaurant for a delicious traditional Balinese feast, which was to be eaten with our hands.  I found out that the kitchen staff had been in full transition this past week, explaining some of the inconsistencies we experienced.  The new chef and his team certainly did a great job on our final night here.  We were also entertained with dance performances by very  talented local children (7 years old and up) and presentations by the staff. Some of these folks had been working hard in the gardens, kitchen, rooms, etc.  all day, so what a feat it was to then have to entertain us until past 10pm.

We saw most of the group this morning at breakfast and made our goodbyes, knowing we’ll meet again in our Facebook group.  I’m now ready for chapter 3 of my Bali experience.  I’m very grateful to everyone at Swasti Eco Cottages and every beautiful individual that formed our group – being here was a real blessing!