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BALI RETREAT

THE EMBODIED BREATH

A 7 day immersion exploring
Intimacy, Nourishment & Belonging

BALI RETREAT

THE EMBODIED BREATH

OCT 11-17, 2025
Sidemen, Bali

        Set in the tranquil village of Sidemen, this retreat is a rare opportunity for us to let go of the pressures and distractions of our day-to-day lives and turn towards the nourishing wisdom of the Dharma.

 

        This retreat will support you in finding, clarity, inspiration and confidence in the subtle processes of a grounded spiritual life. The heart of our work is to open towards a deeper relationship with the essential foundation and innate intelligence of our lives.

 

        Each day is an opportunity to rest a little deeper into the intimate terrain of our bodies, hearts and minds, gathering in and integrating the sometimes fragmented impulses in our lives into an easeful and cohesive wholeness.

An invitation to rest down and

find nourishment in the simple elegance of embodied living, uncontrived, open, and natural.

Image by Florian GIORGIO

THE RETREAT

THE EMBODIED BREATH

Intimacy, Nourishment & Belonging

​

This retreat is an invitation into a more intimate, relational way of practicing—a way of being that reconnects you with the subtle intelligence of breath, feeling, and mind.

​

At its core, yoga—and all true spiritual practice—is about intimacy.
Intimacy with our bodies, our breath, our hearts and minds.
And ultimately, with the open, spacious ground of awareness itself.

​

Many of the struggles we face arise from a sense of disconnection—from ourselves, from others, and from the living world. This retreat offers a space to return to wholeness, to reweave the threads of inner coherence, and to rest into, and be nourished by a deeper sense of belonging.

​

Together, we’ll explore what it means to relate intimately with life as it moves through us and as us—

and how this internal alignment opens the way for a deeper intimacy with the world around us.

 

Our week together will centre around three core themes:
Intimacy, Nourishment, and Belonging.

We’ll explore these through daily practices of:

​

  • Embodied movement and restorative asana

  • Breathwork and Pranayama

  • Meditation and mantra

  • Dharma talks and shared inquiry


  • The breath—our most intimate thread of connection—will be central.

  • ​

To cultivate a relationship with Pranayama is to enter into an ongoing dialogue with the living current of life itself. It is a subtle, transformative, and profoundly intimate journey.

​

This retreat will be physically gentle yet internally rich—a soul-nourishing space to deepen your practice, expand your inner capacity, and rediscover the wisdom and coherence that lives within you.

Image by wahyu pratama

Pranayama is the intimate process of apprenticing ourselves to the rich and subtle intelligence of life

Image by Geio Tischler
Image by Deny Napitupulu

Some themes we will cover

  • Grounding and embodiment

  • Prana as nourishment

  • Safety and belonging

  • The role of gravity in breathing.

  • The feeling of mind

  • Trauma and the breath

  • Yoga psychology

  • Developmental psychology 

  • Understanding the interplay of Energy and Mind

  • Trusting the natural intelligence of life.

Daily Schedule

06:45 am   Meditation and Pranayama

07:30 am   Asana and Embodied Movement

09:00 am   Breakfast

10:30 am   Dharma Talk, Inquiry and Meditation

12:00 pm   Lunch and Break

04:00 pm   Restoratives, Yoga Nidra, and Pranayama

05:30 pm   Meditation

06:00 pm   Finish

06:30 pm   Dinner 

07:30 pm   Evening Meditation (optional)​

Image by Ruben Hutabarat
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The opportunity to attend one of Paul’s events is an opportunity for me to deepen my practice and embody the ancient teachings of Yoga. Paul’s amazing wisdom and depth of knowledge allows me to release into his care and let go of all pretensions and expectations.

Paul has a wonderful way of making each student feel special and valued and allows them to ‘start where they are at’.

​As a Yoga Teacher myself, attending Paul’s retreats are part of my ongoing personal development and teacher training as I find I learn so much from him and my fellow retreat participants. I give Paul’s retreats my highest recommendation.

Gina Macaulay, Owner/ Director of Yogahara

What students say

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THE LOCATION

Sidemen - Bali

​​This quiet corner of Bali is rich in authentic nature and culture. Spending time here is an immersive

experience as the community is steeped in a traditional way of life and their connection to nature is intact. 

Accommodation

Lovely spacious rooms overlooking the valley 

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Single Room

$2350

or

Early bird price

$2050

Before May 30th

​

​​Shared Room

$1990

or

Early bird price

$1750

Before May 30th

​​

 

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​What's Included

​

  • 6 Nights Accommodation

  • Airport Pick Up 

  • Breakfast & Lunch. (not Dinner)

  • 1.hour Balinese Massage

  • All Teachings 

​Not Included

​

  • Flights

  • Visa

  • Travel Insurance

  • Airport drop off

  • Evening meal

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Image by Geio Tischler

Bali Travel Info

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

​

  • Visa - Visa on Arrival (VOA) - 500.000 IDR ($50)

  • Passport valid for over 6months

  • Return flight

About Paul Wooden

About Paul Wooden

Paul has been practicing and studying yoga and meditation for 40 years and teaching for 35 years.

He draws from his experience in many different styles and traditions and, through a practical understanding of their underlying unifying principles, weaves together a cohesive and integrated approach to yoga.

 

Paul is a unique voice in the world of yoga. He has a way of bringing the sometimes abstract teaching of yoga into ordinary language making them accessible and workable in our lives.

​

For Paul, yoga is first and foremost a relational process, with technique being a way to serve a deepening and more intimate relationship with ongoing moment to moment reality of our lives.

 

Working with Paul is an invitation to the deeper dimensions of practice. His particular way of working opens us to the sensitivity and receptivity necessary for the subtler inner practices. He has been running retreats for over 2 decades and finds them fertile ground for real transformation.

 

He continues to study the inexhaustible richness of the wisdom traditions and complements these studies with a more contemporary understanding of the human condition, including developmental psychology, integral theory and trauma work (somatic experiencing) which seeks to help uncover and release the binding patterns of trauma in the body.

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