Bali Travel News

Spiritual yoga tourism is now becoming a world trend. Why? Some say that by practising yoga one can relieve stress. While, some also believe that yoga is managed of delivering spiritual bliss. And others believe if they come up with essential values in this life happiness will come having been deeply involved in yoga.

Whatever their reason is, Ann Barros, a US national, believes that yoga can heal the physical illness she suffers from. “Prior to learning yoga, I had an aspiration to become a US professional ballerina,” she said to Bali Travel News while adding that such aspiration failed when she knew that she suffered from scoliosis (abnormal lateral curvature of the spine).

Then in 1976, she learned yoga under guidance of BKS Iyengar. She first knew him from her younger sister that has learned yoga earlier than her from BKS Iyengar in India. She told her about spinal straitening through yoga. By the influence of yoga ‘asanas’ her scoliosis totally recovered. So did joint disorder and other illnesses. “It was a surprising finding,” she said.

Other than scoliosis and joint disorder, in accordance with her research, yoga also relieves stress. Stress is disturbance that can result in various illnesses and yoga is one of alternatives to resolve them. “I will mention respectively the illnesses often caused by stress, namely headache, insomnia, asthma, depression, digestive system and excretion disorder, apart from other illnesses,” she pointed out. During the menopause, stress can also causes a condition named “pstosis” (disorders on urethral vessel or uterus). By practising yoga in reversed or semi-reversed style, blood circulation will be reversed, hormonal balance occurs and muscles of urethral vessel will be tightly stretched. “For men that undergo constriction on foot muscles or prostatic disorders can also recover by this position,” she said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Except for being renowned as the Island of the Gods, Bali is also frequently considered the last paradise by foreign travellers, probably including you who are now spending pleasurable luxury holiday in Bali. This epithet is indeed logic and not excessive as wherever visitors go during the island excursion will easily encounter a pura or sanctum for the Balinese.

Every nook and cranny of Bali, ranging from coastal territory to mountaintop occur grandiose temples and at all times hold earnest ritual procession, either in large or small scale. During the Galungan and Kuningan feast day, at the beginning of Jan for instance, atmosphere of temples and other holy places are extremely exceptional. Other than embellishing its edifices with colourful fabric paraphernalia, they are also festooned with ceniga (ornament made of young coconut leaf) portraying distinctive philosophical meaning. At temple’s middle courtyard are set up a couple of parasols, umbul-umbul, pennants and spears. In the meantime, at the outermost is erected a pair of penjor (decorated bamboo pole) representing the tribute of land crops and prosperity graced by Sang Hyang Widhi, the Almighty God.

Every single temple has its own piodalan or temple festival in compliance with wariga almanac system in Bali. On the temple festival, the Balinese from all villages throng to perform worship to such temples and invoke safety. Procession of devotees on departing to temple and ritual series comes to be an immensely appealing spectacle. If you make a holiday in Bali, see the Balinese worshipping earnestly and hold the ritual from early morning to late night assuredly give new and unique experience to you. Exuberant ambience of the ritual and socio-religious activity of the Balinese comparably describes the atmosphere of the kingdom of heaven so then Bali is identical to the island of the gods.

Read the rest of this entry »