BALI RETREAT
A 9-DAY TRANSFORMATIVE IMMERSION IN PRANAYAMA & YOGA PSYCHOLOGY
The Untamed Path LIVING AT THE SPIRITUAL FRONTIER
March 23-31, 2025
North Bali
The heart of our work is to open towards a deeper relationship with the essential foundation
and innate intelligence of our lives.
Set in the sublime tranquility of North West Bali, the Untamed Path 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.
This retreat is a rare invitation to rest down and
find nourishment in the simple elegance of embodied living, uncontrived, open, and natural.
THE RETREAT
This retreat is designed specifically to open you to a more intimate relational orientation in your practice and to give you the tools and support you need to expand your understanding of the transformative power of the breath and the intimate interface of breath, feeling and mind.
Pranayama and Yoga Psychology | We will explore the delicate ongoing dance between energy, feeling and mind and gain a practical understanding of how these elements interact with each other. Prana, or life energy is accessed through feeling, and the practice of Pranayama expands and refines our capacity for feeling.
A refined sensibility to feeling is a gateway to the deeper dimensions of yoga and life. Cultivating a relationship with Pranayama is cultivating a relationship with the living current of life itself. It is a profoundly intimate affair.
We will balance a clear conceptual understanding of yoga psychology and the more contemporary insights of developmental psychology on the one hand, with the intimate encounters discovered within the rich and subtle terrain of our very own hearts and minds.
Unearthing Essential Nourishment | Three core elements of our inquiry will be: Contact (sparsa), Intimacy and Nourishment. What is contact? What is intimacy? What is nourishment? These are essential elements for a genuinely integrated and sustained transformation.
We will explore these through: daily practice of embodied movement, pranayama, meditation, restoratives, mantra along with daily dharma talks and shared inquiry into the nourishing process of an embodied spiritual life.
This retreat will be physically gentle, yet internally rich as we embark of an intimate, soul nourishing exploration of the inner dimensions or yoga and life.
Join us for a regenerative and transformational retreat experience in this quiet corner of Bali.
Nyepi
This retreat is running through the incredible Balinese celebration of Nyepi. Nyepi is the Balinese Day of Silence, a unique and sacred Hindu holiday celebrated primarily on the Indonesian island of Bali. It marks the Balinese New Year,
Unlike other New Year celebrations, Nyepi is observed with a day of complete stillness, introspection, and fasting. During Nyepi, the entire island comes to a standstill. The day is dedicated to self-reflection and meditation. No work, travel, entertainment, or even lighting of fires is allowed. The streets are empty, businesses are closed, and even the airport shuts down. The goal is to create a peaceful atmosphere where people can connect with their inner selves and the divine, cleansing themselves spiritually for the year ahead.
Nyepi and the day of silence is preceded by a lively parade called "Ogoh-Ogoh," where large, colorful effigies representing evil spirits are carried through the streets and engage in symbolic battle of good and evil with the locals and then ceremonially burned, symbolizing the cleansing of negative energies. This is quite unique and spectacular event and, yes, we will make sure we are there to witness it.
The following day, known as "Ngembak Geni," marks the end of the silence, and life returns to normal with people seeking forgiveness from one another and beginning the new year with renewed spirits.
The retreat falls on Nyepi and the day of silence. We will devote the day to complete silence, reflection and meditation.
Some themes we will cover
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Grounding and embodiment
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Prana as nourishment
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Safety and belonging
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The role of gravity in breathing.
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The feeling of mind
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Trauma and the breath
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Yoga psychology
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Developmental psychology
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Understanding the interplay of Energy and Mind
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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)
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
THE LOCATION
SUMBERKIMA HILL
Gerokgak, Buleleng Regency
North West 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. Learn about them and learn from them in Sumberkima Hill
Book Retreat
Book your spot and join us in lovely Sumberkima Hill.
EARLY BIRD RATES until November 30, 2024
Sumberkima has a host of accommodation options.
For this retreat, we have picked bespoke one-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom villas.
You can choose a private room or share rooms in these villas.
All rooms having their own ensuite bathrooms.
EARLY BIRD RATES until November 30, 2025
What's Included
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8 Nights Accommodation
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Airport Pick Up / Shuttle from Ubud
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All meals (3 meals/day)
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1.5-hour Balinese Massage
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All Teachings (3x daily)
Not Included
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Flights
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Visa
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Travel Insurance
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Airport drop-off
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Other activities / excursions
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Other massages / spa treatments
Bali Travel Info
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
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Visa - Visa on Arrival (VOA) - 500.000 IDR ($50)
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PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION NO LONGER NEEDED
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.
