Help me to help others

Hi everyone,

I am writing to ask your help with my dreams that I will go through one step at a time.

I have written a childrens book which teaches Western children of the simple values in life that many of the Balinese children still have in their lives. It is an adventure story too. It is about a little Balinese boy called Nyoman, who shares his daily life and his adventure of climbing a big volcano with his friend Ketut.

I needed an illustrator for the book. I was searching for one but then I saw some amazing art that the Bali Street Kid Orphanage (Yayasan Kasih Peduli Anak or YKPA) had done. This orphanage keeps kids off the streets in Bali and saves them from begging and prostitution. They have about 30 kids in the orphanage ranging from 4 - 16 yrs old.

I thought that they would be perfect to do the illustrations.

We have been working on the project for over a year now.

The kids get alot of pleasure to draw and one day to see their own art in a book will be inspiring to them.

We are nearly there with the paintings however I need now more professional artists for the portraits of the faces of characters and continuity of the book.

I will donate 50% the books profits to this amazing orphanage. I feel that the book will bring self value to the kids rather than just monetary value and yet the orphanage relies on donations to put the kids through school and for their room and food.

The remainder of the profits I want to head to India and do volunteeer work in orphanages and hospitals.

I need your help to launch this book, to help the kids at YKPA. At this point I need help with graphic design and photographing the illustrations. Hopefully a world wide publisher will take it on.

About me :

My life has been so enriched in so many ways.

I have never been an ambitious person that needed to have lots of money, or big houses or cars.

At this point today I have a few dreams. They are not for myself. I wish I had the selfish gene that would get a thrill out of shopping or buying a nice piece of furniture. I just don't.

I have one dream only and that is to be of service to others.

At the same time I am a creative person and I have a million things I want to do to help the environment, help children, help poor people or just help people in general.

I am studying right now for my Bachelor of Applied Social Science majoring in Counselling and soon I will add a degree in Community Services.

I am living in Bali at present. I have lived here for almost 27 years. I see so many changes and I feel there are many sectors in society that need help.

Please contribute and help me to help others,

Thanking you,

Many blessings

Nirmala

Ps. The donate button is at the top of this page :)

Whoever contributes to the book will receieve a credit mention in the published edition. Please inform me how much you have contributed to my email yogileslie@yahoo.com.

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Crossing to the Other Side

My ex partner dropped dead unexpectantly of a heart attack two weeks ago.

Through a shamanic experience all I can say is that I crossed to the other side.
I met my expartner. I saw exactly what happens when you die and what type of state you can stay in if you are not careful.
I can say this and only this.
To cultivate self love in this lifetime and right action through your love that can extend to others is the only thing that matters in this life. LOVE. Lift away any guilt or shame or disgrace.

You take that with you when you go and it doesn't help !! Take the love you have with you...with love you can literally move mountains!!

The Best websites on Bali and Indonesia

I love surfing the web.
I love the feeling it gives me to find a great site that is giving me what I need.
I suppose this is relative for everyone.
We get online and let our fingertips lead us to where we want to go or sometimes we stumble upon suprises and we like what we see.
Maybe the internet is like life. We lead it or it takes us. Where am I going with this?

Well, I have found a gem of a website and I bookmarked it straight away. The site is called 'baliblog.com' .
The site related to my love of Bali and all the information that I need to live here. I use it as a selfish tool too. I have so many friends calling me, coming to Bali and asking me loads of questions about it. Instead of speaking long distance for hours, I just say.."hey guys, I could tell you alot about Bali but it's probably easier if you go to 'baliblog.com'. You get up to date information there' ". And we are both satisfied!
It's true...Baliblog.com will tell you everything you need to know about Bali, real estate, tours, things to do, things not to do, travel tips, accomodation, flights. It basically covers EVERYTHING ON BALI.
I suggest you join the forum. It is set up for those that are new to Bali and another section for those expats living in Bali. I get alot of good info here and I see what's the latest events and learn alot from the responses to peoples questions.

It seems too that Barrie, (writer and blog director for Baliblog.com) is genuinely interested in people's requests and will answer many questions in the forum which gives a more of a personal touch to the website and a homely feel.

So yes..that's the best website on Bali. http://www.baliblog.com/


Also, if you are travelling around Indonesia and need an online travel guide...this website is the one : http://www.indonesialogue.com/ . It has everything you need to know for your upcoming trip to Indonesia - where to go and how to get there and what to do while you're here.
It has really opened up my eyes to places I never knew existed in Indonesia and I feel safe in knowing that I am getting real data and experiences.

So those two for me are the best travel sites on Indonesia.
Happy surfing!!

Nirmala xoxox

PS. this week http://www.spiritofshanti.com/ is featured in Baliblog along with http://www.shankarisbaliretreat.com/ home of the Balian Yoga Center

Remote surfing village opens first yoga center in West Bali

The combination of yoga and surfing is a growing worldwide trend. Surfers across the globe in almost every coastal town are starting to do yoga.

Balian, a small village in the western province of Bali, Indonesia , has been an attraction among surfers for many years. 75% of Balian's visitors are surfers and 25% are tourists exploring Bali.
Seeing that a venue was missing where surfers and tourists could do yoga in Balian, Shankari from Shankari's Bali Retreat decided to open the first and only yoga studio in the area, the 'Balian Yoga Center.'
Situated on a lush and tropical resort with 14 bungalows, and three swimming pools, the surrounds of the Balian Yoga Center have an unforgettable spiritual ambiance.

Big surfing names of today such as Slater, Curren and Lopez all believe that yoga contributes to their flexibility, strength and stamina on the waves. Some surfers say a session of yoga feels similar as to having a couple of hours in the waves. Yoga and surfing share the same timelessness. They both strengthen and cleanse the human energy system. Each tones the body and relaxes the mind.

Warm ups before hitting the waves these days is not just a few push ups and hand to toes stretches. Most surfers will now do 'salutes to the sun' (a famous sequence of yoga postures) before getting into the ocean.
'I can never go into the water without doing a sun salutation first. I won't have a good surf if I don't it' says Piedro from Brazil, a visiting surfer to Balian. Yoga videos for surfers, yoga books for surfers are all part of the increasing awareness that these two strangely juxtaposed fitness activities work hand in hand.

Besides the good surfing waves, sunbathing on the beautiful palm fringed black sand beaches, and walking around the magnificent countryside, the daily yoga classes have now become an added attraction to the Balian list of 'things to do'. In between swell time, the surfers can come and iron out their tired limbs. Yoga is also a great way for non surfing partners to have a bit of social activity in the area as well.


The classes are given by Western certified teachers assuring a safe and professional yoga experience.
"We have a true cross section of people coming to classes" says Nirmala Mayi from Australia, who teaches at the retreat, "but mainly surfers and their mates or girlfriends. Surfers really appreciate a good stretch after a long session in the waves."
Nirmala explains how yoga makes the body more flexible and supple. It calms the mind and balances the nervous system and improves overall circulation.


The Balian Yoga Center brings to your surfing holiday a great mix of the benefits of both yoga and surfing.
If you ever travel to Balian, take advantage of what's on offer at the Balian Yoga Centre. A definite must if you go to the area to surf! And what's more, it might improve your 'barrel ability!'

Full Moon in Balian , Bali

Becoming one with nature aligns you to your own inner nature.
In our busy schedules we sometimes forget to look up to the moon.To check if it's waxing or waning. Forgetting to see it's shining beauty. When we see the moon we are reminded that there is a higher purpose to life. We see in a sense how small we are and at the same time how significant we are.
And here we are worrying about love, what happened, the endless dramas, bills and basic survival. There is something much greater out there than we can ever fathom. Or is it inside? Ask yourself this question.
Life is a celebration.
Nature celebrates all the time just being itself. Why can't we? Even just for a few moments a day. Just STOP and BE!
Take a few moments to look up at the majestic moon. Open your arms wide to the moons giving energy or sit with your back against a big tree on a full moon night and breathe. Let the moon realign your inner self with that of nature. Let nature show you how necessary you are. Let nature breathe it's healing powers into you.
The Balinese are right on track in their day to day lives with the natural calender of the moon. Simple rituals on Full Moon and Black Moon take precedence over any business time schedules. Everything stops on Full Moon and Black Moon...this is the time when the Balinese spend hours making flower offerings and they gather in the temples to pay devotions to nature's energies in which we have no control over.
Yesterday not even my yoga class had priority..No yoga on Full Moon or Black Moon. So I dressed up in my kebaya (Indonesian traditional dress) and sarong and sash and joined Shankari's staff at the temple in the garden grounds. We prayed for peace for all the planet.
What would happen in the whole of Wall St. stopped in devotion to the moon twice a month? I wonder.
I wrote this a while back:

I captured the moonlight

streaming thru the door

I blew out the candle

of the world I knew before

I threw away knowledge

I threw away striving to be

and ran out to find

the glistening sea

It was there I found beauty

It was there I found love

O joyous moon

O twinkling star

O space eternal

in me

as above

If you want to get more in contact with your natural calender, here is a couple of great sites:

http://www.free-daily-affirmation.com/new-moon-check/new-moon-check-of-abundance.html


and


http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon/



Blessings from Balian Beach, Bali, Indonesia


Nirmala Mayi

Media vs Me

Television? News? CNN? BBC? Internet news feeds?


I have been in Indonesia for over two months now. We have a television room in the palace here at Shankari's with cable TV and I hardly go there or ever turn it on.

Before this I was living in Australia and like the USA, TV is so part of the day to day culture there.

Most living rooms are designed with the sofas pointing to the television as the focal point. And we listen and watch. Sure it's great sometimes to sit with the family and enjoy a good show but every ten minutes, some news update will come on and tell us about suffering or a failing economy or tax rises or some disaster in a foreign place.

What feelings do these evoke? Helplessness, powerlessness, anger, jealousy, avarice, hopelessness or does it make you numb because you see it so often?

I watched the BBC the other night for twenty minutes and I had to turn it off. It felt like I was being bombarded by negativity, control, manipulation. I felt helpless as I watched thousands of bodies still alive under rubble from earthquakes in China, I felt mistrusting of the democrats fight to to the top to become the leader of USA, I felt anger at knowing that there are pedophiles roaming the earth exploiting innocent children, I felt injustice to see people starving and yet I saw celebrities that could do so much more with their wealth. So what did I do then with all these uncomfortable feelings? I switched to watch 'Friends' where the world is always rosy and nothing can ever go wrong! It's probably one of the contributing factors to why those shows are so popular! People just want to switch off.

Is it right to watch all this horror on the news and just sit there and say 'that's all happening somewhere else. I am not involved, I'm just watching the news honey..I'll be at the dinner table in a minute' or is it right for me to turn off the TV and ignore what's happening to my brothers on the planet and turn on 'Friends'? You tell me..

Next time you watch the news, use it as a meditation
and look at your feelings and see what each scene does in your body. What feelings does it evoke? Where in your body do you feel what you feel? What emotions have been evoked? What does your intuition tell you? Can you believe it? Are you mistrusting? Do you believe? Why don't you?
You'll probably have so many feelings that you might think again about watching the 6 o'clock news!

Television is a great medium to look at how the world thrives on drama and runs with it.
I think if we do watch it and feel helpless..go out and reach out to the person next to you and help them. If you do feel mistrust, go pick up the phone and call someone you do trust. If you feel anger, pray for the power to forgive. If you feel injustice, go to someone to tell them you care.

Or maybe we could just turn off the television and talk and get to know each other? Opening ourselves and listening to another. Or how about sitting in silence? Sometimes being completely still with a loved one says so much more than any words.
Wow..an alien concept in this world of striving and comparison.

I found a great game called 'The Art of Conversation'. If you are a bit rusty at starting a conversation, this game can really help. Inspired by an ex rockstar, the game was created by holding cards with intimate questions to ask the people joining the game. The object of the game is to have a meaningful connection with another human being through conversation.

Trying not to be manipulated by the media is a zen meditation. If you do watch the box, try to watch yourself at the same time!!

Blessings all xxoxo

Releasing Old Patterns

Sometimes I think I have a handle on emotions and at other times they take control.

Sometimes I think I can be on top of everything, confident and free and then maybe a
certain event or person can spark off something in me where I act from an old pattern.

Maybe from a childhood neglect or a continuum of influences that I once had to deal with.
When those moments come, I may or may not act out and most times if I do the results are
more destructive than productive and it happens in an unconscious manner.

I say to myself later 'If only I could have just caught myself and walked outside and did some breathing or just dissociated from the event instead of speaking my mind coming from fear and not love".They are so boring the 'if onlys'. The damage is done and it's too late.

The more I exert control over my body and mind, through yoga and meditation, the less and less these experiences happen to me. My family happens to be very reactive and explosive. I have watched scenes and events throughout my childhood that other I would say 90% of other families would never experience. These were the tools I learned to cope. These are the lessons I learned as a child. I don't blame anyone. It was just a dynamic and it is not their fault.

So finding a way to break free from all this craziness was a necessary and intelligent component needed in order to cope and live a so called 'normal' day to day life where I can derive simple pleasures without having to be so emotional about everything.

Yoga and meditation help me to become aware of the mind and how far you can run with a story. It helps me to catch myself before I become reactive and just take a few deep breaths and relax. Calling friends can help too. Sometimes just picking up the phone and reaching out is
a huge act of self love. Praying as well. Sometimes it's too much to handle things on your own.

The happiness that I receive from knowing that everything starts with me gives me such a feeling of freedom.

No one is responsible for my happiness.

I can start a brand new life from this very minute.