Bali & Beyond - My late '17 newsletter for you!

I'm writing this to you sitting on the lovely open terrace of The Elephant café in Ubud, Bali, drinking an impossible-coloured natural Dragonfruit and Mango smoothie.

A light breeze is slightly cooling the tropic heat and humidity, and below me is Ubud's green river gorge where rainforest trees and coconut palms grow to dizzying heights, draped and connected by a web of vines.

Today is the end of an important 10-day festival for the Balinese, called Galungan & Kuningan. The spirits of ancestors, who are said to have come down to their former homes for the 10 days, now are leaving. Dancing mythical good luck creatures called 'Barongs', each with a troop of kids playing traditional music, have been on the street every day to scare away bad spirits from the houses.

Everywhere this morning the Balinese are dressed in their best sarongs to visit the temples with offerings for the spirits. All the temples, shrines, and even the cars and bikes have offerings hanging on them to protect the family for the year to come. And yellow rice is made and offered in gratitude for life, health, wealth received this year.

I love being here now, it's a great reminder for us of us the take time to rebalance our lives, to make space for what is 'good' for us and let go what is not helping us, and most importantly to feel gratitude for the all that we are experiencing.

This month I'm in Bali for balance too. My last two months in the UK and Europe was very busy. So many people wanted to book in before I went away that I had a Clinic or Private Intensive on most days. It was fulfilling and exciting, but everything needs balance, which for me is some slow time here. Time for writing and the final filming for the Online course on Love that I'm creating (see more details below), to run a few Private Intensives in this magical place, and to have some slow time out for myself.

Then at the end of November, I am heading south to Australia for 6 weeks to see my family, friends and clients there, and enjoy some time on Australias beautiful, wild, white sand beaches.

I'll then be returning north in mid January - fully refreshed, excited for the new year to come, and with my first online course ready to share with you…

I want to talk on this because Bali inspires self-care. Traditionally it's been called Paradise Island though it's definitely more complex than that. But the key thing is that whatever is happening there, even with the tourism, these are people who understand slow time, time with their families, they move through life with grace and ease, and when you talk to them they really connect with you.
And they have the most beautiful spas I've been to anywhere in the world. A reflection of how they value caring for themselves.

After my few days here I am feeling revived, and even more importantly, it has given me the space to step back from the rush and endless details of running a business, and one's life in general, to explore possibilities for an expanding my vision for the new year to come.

You might not have time for a break at the moment, with end of year busy-ness coming up and common family pressures. Yet there are many self-care things that you can still do that will only take a few minutes and they can turn your whole day around.

These self care moments are really important at this time of the year when people are often doing everything for everybody else, and can end up stressed and depleted so that after Christmas all you need is a holiday, but it may not be happening if you in Europe where its only a short break.

In our society we're taught from when we're really young that everybody and everything else should come first before our needs, but then we're trying to fulfil and take care of these with our cup only half full this becomes totally exhausting. Your mind can become foggier, your energy will drop down. Everything is more of a struggle, and it's like you're feeling behind all the time. So, instead, the best solution for this is to basically turn it all in your head and put yourself first for some of each day.

I was reminded of this when I was on the flight over from England. They tell you every time you get on a plane "put your own oxygen masks on before you help any others" and it's a great example of what we need to do in self-care, of actually putting ourselves first. Our whole programming is that it's selfish if you take care of you first. Yet it's not selfish. Self-ish-ness is actually a beautiful thing in its true form - if you're taking care of yourself, as then you do have something to share. It is the reverse of how we look at that word in English.

So, it's absolutely important to do the things that nourish you. You may need to explore what these are, and then you've got to plan time for them. There'll be some things that you've include daily, weekly, others monthly and yearly. Just take some time, to sit, explore and make a note of what they can be for you - it could be taking time to meditate, to relax, to exercise everyday, to join a club, be creative, to write, to take a relaxing break every year, maybe go somewhere new, somewhere exciting.

There are things in life we can delegate. We can delegate care for our house, we can delegate things at work, childcare, ironing, cleaning but we cannot delegate self-care. It's the experience of doing it that benefits us. It's time out, it's time for us. It's nourishment. So it often goes to the end of the list because we have to do it ourselves and then we don't make the time. But the benefit is, if you start to change your life and put this into your life and really make it your top priority, everything will get easier, your mind will get clearer. You'll feel happier, more relaxed, and you'll enjoy your family and friends even more.

Now there are many types of self-care.
The first one, of course, is slow time, relaxed time, time with no mobile phone time, less plans. Taking a little time out of your busier life. You may have to plan it, and then to make sure you take it. And it might be 15 minutes - you might just go for a stroll, sit in the garden, by the fire, go and relax in nature, but whatever do make time so it's not rushed and it is true 'downtime'.

Next one is pampering - and as you do things that pamper and relax you this helps you bring your awareness back into your body, and when you do that your mind relaxes, and you have more energy so everything starts to improve. So you could have a relaxing treatment, you could have some type of session, swap a foot massage with friend or give yourself one. An Epsom salt bath is a great thing to do because it relaxes all the muscles and it balances the energetic system. You could relax in your garden, have a walk, or sit by the fire. So start to think about what the ones are for you.

Another one, of course, is exercise: walking, dancing, singing, swimming, going to the gym, joining a club, athletics, getting inspired by the Olympics. Think about something that you'd love to do so that your body feels alive and physical because as you care for your physical body then your energy will improve and your well being will too – your endorphins will kick off.

Connecting with nature is so key. A park is a great start and if you can, get out into the forest or a wilderness. The sea is even better. All these wild places are even better. It's really interesting, I read recently that some research showing that ADHD and similar problems can be treated if kids spent unstructured time just playing in the woods, the bush (and adults are no different). They did some surveys in Scandinavia where they do this and the kids are much more relaxed.

And take a holiday. You know those things, holidays, we may not get many a year but when you take them, make sure they're ones that really nourish you. They could be simple as you go away to the next town for a night or the seaside and just give yourself a break, to having some time out overseas, or in another country. As (the poet) Rumi said "Travel brings power and love back into your life". So make sure that you do make space for it.

If we don't' care for ourselves we become stressed and then although we may physically be at work we're not. We may physically be with our family and friends, we're often not really there; we start to pull back, we are overloaded.

Instead, make the time to start to see what you need for your self-care. Make it a priority. Start with a little time every day, every week, every month, every year for the big and little things. And the difference will be enormous! You'll feel nourished, fulfilled, relaxed. Put these things on your calendar and make them the most important thing and everything else will become easier....Enjoy!

CAN YOU HELP ME?

I'ld love to hear what topics you would like me cover in future Vlogs!

In my video and written blogs I am always trying to include new and interesting topics for you but I don't know all the things that interest you, I would love your suggestions...

Plus as I will be in Bali, Australia, and the UK over the next 3 months so you can even suggest where you would like it filmed - and if at all possible I will try and take you there!

HOW?....Just email me Click Here, or message me on FaceBook.

I would look forward to seeing your suggestions!

Would you like a FREE Preview of my upcoming online course?

Yes, after a crashed computer that lost a months writing, and a few other delays, my first on-line is almost here!

It is called -

"Fall in Love with Your Life - Easy steps to de-clutter your heart & thoughts in 30 days"

While here in Bali I will be filming the videos for this course, and in Australia I will be writing the modules and recording all the extras bonuses it will include.

Does this interest you?

Would you like a FREE PREVIEW of this online course?

Is your answer is YES?

Then CLICK HERE, put 'Free Love Course Preview' in your email subject. And I will rush your Free Preview to you in December - as soon as its ready.

Plus - you can help me with feedback if you would like? ...Your suggestions could end up improving the final version even more!

Thanks!

Bali has some of the most beautiful, and the most natural spas, hidden away in forests and rice paddy fields, where they use traditional recipes of locally gathered plants, spices and flowers to help relax and restore your body.
This recipe for Lulur gentle scrub is from the 17th century royal palaces of Bali. I'm sharing it here so wherever you are, you too can pamper your body like the Balinese do.

Our skin is the largest organ in our body, it connected to our lungs and in Chinese medicine is seen as the 'outer lung' that also breathes. It needs to be at its healthiest for our lungs to work at their best.Normally our outer layer of skin sheds every 28 days but with other factors it often slows down, and our body can no longer breath and stay energised as well. This is why gentle scrubs like this can revitalise our whole body.

Lulur Scrub Ingredients-
• 1 cup rice flour - (you can put rice in a grinder to create this). Rice is said to soften the skin and have anti-aging properties.
• 2 Tbsp turmeric powder - it calms and smooths the skin, and has anti-imflammatory properties.

• 2 Tbsp ginger powder - ginger helps the blood flow, promotes skin circulation so helps your skin to glow.
• Optional extra - add a few drops of Ylang Ylang essential oil if you have some. It helps the lymph system to detoxify.

How to use:
• Put one handful of the mix in a bowl, mix with some full fat yogurt or milk into a paste. (Organic if you can.)
• Rub the paste all over your skin, in a circular motion, from hands and feet towards heart – and then relax! You'll need to leave it on your skin for 10 minutes. So stay warm and play music, daydream, enjoy some slow time.
• Then wash the Lulur off the scrub off with warm water. Try this daily for a week and see how glowing your body is by the end.

Some Inspiring Quotes I have been enjoying recently:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life and don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become." - Steve Jobs

"Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank" - Ben Irwin

"When you do things from your soul,  you feel a river moving in you, a joy."   ~ Rumi

....my take on these is - enjoy every day of your fullest, whatever comes. Take risks. Live outside your comfort zone. And share all the glorious breath-taking uniqueness of who you are with your whole world!

I hope you have a wonderful last few months of the year, and if there is anything you feel you have not fully done this year that important for you...don't wait, take some time, or a leap, and do it for yourself!

I look forward to connecting with you somewhere on my travels, online, or in the new year, and hearing all you have been up to.

Please feel free to message me any time to ask questions, or just to say hello.

With love,

Cassandra Punita x

Transformation Specialist for Professionals
Senior AcuEnergetics® Practitioner - UK | EU | Bali | Australia
www.healingthedeep.com

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