Okay, I survived a 3-day juice cleanse in Bali. Sure, I was hungry sometimes but it was worth it!! I feel amazing!! My bloated belly is gone, my skin is clearing up and I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Now, I must return to solid food. Slowly but surely.
I start day 3 with an early morning Hatha Yoga class – after taking my herbs and litre of water of course. I really love starting my day with fitness so this was a great way to commence my final detox day. Hatha offers a good mix of poses; relaxing and challenging. After the 90 minute class, I’m feeling great but looking forward to some nutrients. I hike up the twenty-some stairs to the cafe for my green breakfast.
I really love the routine and ease of rocking up to the counter, handing over my vouchers and having a green juice, coconut water and wheat grass shot delivered to me. And if this could happen every day, I reckon I could stay on this detox system. Detoxing at home is way harder when you are the one who has to provide all the healthy stuff.
I don’t have much time to linger though. At 10am, I’m off to another sauna session. Armed with magazines and a water bottle, I enter the sweat box in my birthday suit. It’s truly for one person only so when I lay down, only my back has room on the bench seat, which forces my legs up the wall. Hey, I’m actually doing yoga in here!!! Not sure why I bothered to bring reading material. It’s too hot to read. By the end of my 30 minutes, I’m drenched in my own sweat. Good pouring, detoxing beads. A cool shower revives my mind and body before my next appointment.
I meet Levi, the astrologer, in a cabana near the guest house. He’s been working on my birth chart and is now ready to reveal my secrets. I’ve had my chart done before by Jo Tracey who lives in Sydney (and totally recommend her!), but I felt I needed a refresher. Levi pointed out several things that helped me understand my personality and life’s intent. What I really loved about this reading was the list of key words I made during the reading: consistency, sustainable, ENJOY, time, present, less, Earth, rigid, responsible, control – CONTROL LESS.
I do have a need to try to control every minute of my life (and others’) so this was a big slap in the face to hear from a complete stranger (hahaha – not really, eh? He knew things about me that I didn’t even want to know!!). My biggest take away from the session is this: ENJOY EVERY MOMENT.
And I’m trying to follow through on this notion. It seems like a simple suggestion but for me, it’s not easy. I’ve been attempting to “live in the NOW” for several years but I don’t excel at it. Practise makes perfect?
The rest of my afternoon is lazy and easy. I drink heaps of water and finish my prescribed liquids before a 6pm Restorative Yoga class. I’ve done lots of restorative yoga before but this class was quite different. Hard even. Outside of the warm up and closing Shavasana, the class consisted of only 5 poses that were held for up to 10 minutes each!! Ouch! I was regretting not committing to daily yoga. My body is just not up to long holds.
I finish day 3 with an evening stroll around Ubud town. Shop owners are even too tired or lazy to lure me into their place so after a quick hour out, I return to the guest house for an evening enema. I haven’t mastered it yet but as least I’m giving it a go.
I go to bed planning tomorrow’s “breaking the fast” menu. It’s amazing how the mind insists on thinking about food even when I feel totally fine, well even, without solids. Tomorrow I shall murder a pineapple.
When I arrive in Ubud, Bali the sun is high. It warms my back as I walk the long alleyway to the Yoga Barn where I will spend the next four nights.
It’s only 10 am and my room is not ready so I leave my bag at reception and head out in search of a few healthy cafes I have listed in my notebook.
Lucky for me, I come across Clear Cafe, a stunning eatery a 15 minute (or so) walk away. ( I posted a review about it here.) Continue reading
The view from my table (well, when I stand up)
On my only food friendly day in Ubud, I wonder the streets in search of a healthy cafe. I have a list of potentials and ask a local man to point me in the direction of one within walking.
‘This one too far,’ he says as he points to the notebook in my hands, ‘you need taxi. Don’t know this one’, as he points to another but then, ‘ahh, Soma is not far.’
‘I can walk there?’
‘Yes, not far you can walk,’ he says as he moves his right hand in the direction of the cafe.
So, I turn right from the Yoga Barn’s alley and onto Jilan Raya Pengosekan.
It’s mid-morning and relatively quiet. I love how the shopkeepers do not harass me nearly as much as they do in Kuta.
Shops are close together, piled up on each other it seems. I keep my eyes open for Soma as I walk and take it all in.
Just when I thought I may have missed it, I spot the sign for Clear Cafe. This one’s on my list and I remember a positive review from another blogger so I decide to go in.
Kai Chronicles 