bali silence day Archives - Bisma Cottages Ubud

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Restore your Balance at Bali Spirit Festival

13/03/2019/in Blog /by webmaster

Known as one of the largest and best yoga festivals in all of Asia, BaliSpirit Festival returns to Ubud this 24-31 March 2019 for its 12th edition.

More than just a festival, this 8-day experience includes everything from yoga to meditation, dance, breath work, healing and authentic relating – the BaliSpirit Festival is a space of transformation, exploration, connection and community.

The Theme
This year’s theme is ‘Restore the Balance’: as world-renowned teachers share their workshops and wisdom with you to offer new paths to inner harmony, balance and collective well-being, you come back to the simplicity of soul-to-soul connections, make new friends, embrace new ideas and start to embody what balance truly means.

Freshly recharged, connected to the earth, you become part of a new reality which is creating a healthy and vibrant planet, restored and balanced!

The Experience
The festival hosts talents from all over the world to bring an alchemy of sound, healing and movement to life! Surrounded by Bali’s lush green rice fields and jungle patches, the festival venue will be at The Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, a 15-minute drive from Ubud. Here you are invited to take part in yoga classes, organic markets, musical performances, holistic healing workshops and much more with over 150 presenters taking part and guiding the way.

There is a huge range of classes, workshops and group sessions from all kinds of practices. Be it Jivamukti Yoga, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha or Kundalini, or one of the more eclectic workshops such as Shamanic Flow Yoga, Laughter Yoga, Cacao Ceremonies, Sound Baths or Ecstatic Dance, rest assured that you’ll rediscover your love for moving the body in unison with others in a completely new way!

Fuelled by fresh coconut water, nutritional meals and high vibrational organic foods from the island available at the festival, this unforgettable week is going to leave you supercharged and inspired in all the good ways.

At night, a world of music awakens on the main stage with world sounds, performers, poets, dancers and singers sharing their vibes.

Melasti – Bali Islands Purification

04/03/2019/in Blog /by webmaster

Usually around 3 days before Nyepi is the Melasti Ceremony. During this ceremony village communities travel together from their village to closest source of holy water. For some this may be a holy spring or river but for many it is to the sea. Thousands of Balinese people dressed in white formal ceremony attire, walk in the procession. Some carrying umbrellas, some playing the Balinese gamelan traditional music, some carry the casket that has the villages prized articles inside.

The aim of Melasti Ceremony is to remove impurities, of a village. At the beach, river, lake or holy spring the casks and items in which ancestral spirits reside are laid down. Here the priest will pray and chant his mantras, flicking holy water, his flower and ringing his prayer bell. Around him, worshippers join in prayer.

Why the beach or holy spring? Water is a cleansing element in Balinese Hindu belief, thus, at the sea, all can be purified. Both positive and negative elements are brought here to be cleansed, as in the Balinese belief of opposing forces are equally important for balance in the world. So during Melasti Ceremony, both people and the world around them are purified, cleansed of bad thoughts, deeds and negative influences.

As you can imagine the ceremony causes traffic ‘ issues ‘ given that many main roads are blocked for quite a while. So plan your day carefully during Melasti, but we highly recommend you try and find a viewing place such as a café with a good street view. This procession is the commencement of Nyepi rituals and is an amazing sight. We get goosebumps every year 🙏

Nyepi Day – March 7th 2019

19/02/2019/in Blog /by webmaster

Nyepi is Bali’s “Day of Silence” that this year is Thursday March 7^th 2019.. It is a Hindu celebration mainly in Bali. Nyepi Day is a day of silence, fasting and meditation for the Balinese. The evening prior there is a parade of Ogoh Ogoh (paper mache monsters) in every village to scare aware the evil spirits. The monsters represent all objects, people or anything that can disrupt human life. Observed from 6.a.m until 6.a.m next morning, Nyepi is silent so the bad spirits scared aware the night before edo not return. It is also a day reserved for self reflection. The main restrictions are no lightning fire (and light must be keep low), no working, no entertainment or pleasure no traveling and for some no talking or eating at all.

The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali and its usual bustling streets are empty. There is little or no noise from TV or Radios and few sign of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the pecalang, traditional security who patrol the street to ensure the prohibitions are being followed. Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu Holiday, non Hindu residents and tourists are not exempt from restrictions. Although they are free to do as they wish inside their hotel, no one is allowed on to the beaches or streets and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The Exception granted are for emergency vehicles responding to life threatening conditions and women about give to birth.

On day after Nyepi, known as Ngembak Geni (Relighting the fire), Social activity picks up again quickly, as families and friends gather to ask forgiveness from one another, and to perform certain religious ritual together. Fires and electricity are allowed again, and cooking of food resumes.

If you are already staying in Bali on the Day of Silence, enjoy the relaxing time. Nyepi is definitely something different and original and you cannot experience it anywhere else in the world!