CALL it a digital detox, search for mindfulness or most recently coined “self betterment”, Glass went on the search for new attitudes this summer, and to discover an alternate approach to living well, or quite simply, just plain living.
Sakti Dining Room at Fivelements Healing Center. Photograph: Djuna Ivereigh
Bali has always been the country rich in its heritage and humbled by it’s engrained and practiced traditions. It’s here I heard about Fivelements. By their account a “healing, harmony and wellness retreat”, and a place that sounded like the peace I was searching for to reset my perspective on my hectic city life.
Massage at Fivelements. Photograph: Djuna Ivereigh
Taking the form of a traditional spa, Fivelements offered all the luxury amenties you could imagine, while being neatly nestled deeply in the Balinese jungle. Private hot tubs with mood-enhancing light settings, a river so close that every slush created a natural musical playlist, lush greenery and smiling friendly staff, all combined to create a very personal intimate setting. Then for the finer touches, an award winning raw food vegan restaurant that approached every dish with michellin worthy attention, the impressive bamboo architecture, including two giant yoga halls designed to encourage a continuous energy flow, and the traditional Balinese healing of Wayan or Putu origins.
A massage at Fivelements. Photograph: Djuna Ivereigh
What struck most prominently was the invitation to consider the everyday in a different way, from the sounds of nature surrounding you and filling every moment with an orchestral accompaniment, to the appreciation in both visual and taste experience of the food we eat and how it makes us feel. I found myself effortlessly atuned to a new energy and openness to consider alternative wellness treatments.
The most remarkable of experiences which attracts the majority of visitors to Fivelements was the Chakra-balancing ritual or Panca Mahabhuta with Pak Wayan. A 90-minute healing ritual during which local healer Pak Wayan applied techniques handed down through generations, clearing away unhealthy energy in your body, originating from emotional, mental burdens and physical ailments.
Some of the delicious food at the Fivelements Spa. Photograph: Djuna Ivereigh
For those quite like myself, unfamiliar with a “massage” that involves no touch, your forced into a state of openness, to consider, believe and concentrate on the possibilities of this alternate method of healing. Previous visitors at Fivelements have described overwhelming emotional release conjured by such a ritual, followed by emotional harmony and relief from tension and anxiety and the disappearance of muscular pain.
The exterior of the spa. Photograph: Djuna Ivereigh
My journey lead to appreciation. Of considering what it means to heal, not only through conventional definitions of eliminating a pain or ailment, but to also take responsibility for the state of our own minds, and our control over this. Fivelements provides an experience to reconnect; with nature, spirtuality and our own classifications of true well being. Aside from being one of Asia’s best spa retreats, it should also be celebrated as a destination for self-being, betterment and re-connection.
by Kim Ing
Fivelements, Puri Ahimsa Banjar Baturning, Mambal, Bali, Indonesia 80352
contact@fivelements.org
Tel +62 361 469 260
Tel +62 361 469 206
Tel +62 821 46587975
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