So many things to do in Bali!!! Sight seeing, walking around rice paddies, the market, eating amazing food, yoga, and.., SPAS! Like thousa...

Relax in Bali

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So many things to do in Bali!!! Sight seeing, walking around rice paddies, the market, eating amazing food, yoga, and.., SPAS! Like thousands of them!

In reality they do use the name “spa” very loosely and they all vary in quality and services.
In Ubud if you walk for 10 mins in one of the main streets, let’s say on monkey forest road, you will probably end up with 25 brochures from all the places handing their price lists for massages, mani, pedi, hair cut, waxing, and so so so so many other services. The prices vary greatly and you can get an hour massage for as low as $5-$6! or you can get a pretty good bikini wax for $6! haha

One day I decided to go with my friend Jessie to a “spa” right next door to our homestay. The spa consisted of two massage tables separated by curtains and two ladies. 
I am super picky with cleanliness and this place didn’t look like they cared much about it. I don’t even think they changed the sarong that they used with the person before me… Ahhh!!! 

 I think I was kind of freaking out inside because it was dirty and not up to my standards like AT ALL! Then, I started breathing and thinking about an exercise I had to do in group therapy where the therapist asked the group to interview our close friends and asked them some very personal and revealing questions about what they thought of me. One of the questions I asked my best friends was “What keeps you from connecting with me more deeply” and 3 out of my 4 friends said that I have very high standards for everything and that they feel pressured to meet my high standards and that I also have a very black and white mindset. After hearing that I thought about it and they are right, I have such high standards for myself and the way I act that over the years these standards have evolve and have been reflected onto other people and have affected my relationships.  On the bright side, my high standards have also helped me a great deal, I always give 120% on everything (except exercising! haha) and I make sure that everything and everybody around me is taken care of and it actually makes me happy to know that in a small way I am making other people’s life easier. I do also see that this behavioral pattern is tied up with control and me always wanting to have control over things because I am extremely uncomfortable with the unknown. So there I was in the massage table, that was probably dirty, extremely uncomfortable about to get a Balinese massage!!

Oh my! I should have googled what a Balinese massage was before getting one. I like a lot of pressure when I get massages but this one was a little over the top. It all started by the woman jumping on the table and using her elbows all over my body! This was far from being relaxing, and she was massaging parts that shouldn’t be massaged! Then she started putting oil on my tummy and I just had to stop her… I didn’t want any internal bleeding! So she went back to my shoulders and neck. After an hour of uncomfortable touching I have learned my lesson: 1. never ever have a Balinese massage, 2. Go to a proper spa!

Now… the proper Spa… Bali Botanica recommended by my friend Charlotte!
I booked a massage, a body scrub, and a facial… 3 hours in the spa sounds like heaven to me :)

"Wellcome"

I arrived to the spa and the lady let me know that I booked a Balinese massage! This was before I knew what a Balinese massage was so I changed it to a relaxing one instead.
Heaven :)

The treatment started with a very nice and relaxing massage. I love how here in Indonesia under the table they put a basket of flowers so when you lay face down you get to see them instead of the floor.

After my 65 minutes massage came the scrub. I picked coffee so the masseuse scrub it all over and let it sit for 5 minutes then she poured blended papaya all over my body as a moisturizer! It was soooo nice!

Blended Papaya and coffee scrub!

Then came the flower bath which was soooo good.



Ended with a facial and all of this for only $35!!!!
When I came out a woman asked what I had since I looked "glowing and so relaxed!" haha I think I'm ready to move to Bali!


Yoga Yoga Yoga
There are literally hundreds of different studios in Ubud and you will constantly see people walking with their yoga mat around town.
A friend had recommended yoga barn so I went to check it out! 

 It is one of the most "expensive"  studios at $10.19 for drop in classes and they offer different packages including unlimited classes for a month for almost $200.. Ouch!


The yoga barn makes you feel like you are in the middle of a jungle. There are huge coconut trees, bananas trees, and bamboo trees all over it. Super relaxing!



I took two restorative yoga classes and they were super! After so much walking it was nice to go to a relaxing class. 
In my first restorative yoga class the teacher made us hold poses for a very long time, we were in one pose for 25 mins… I think I felt asleep!
The second class had a different teacher who kept saying things like “take a sweet delicious breath” or “delicious honey breathing”… I could barely keep a straight face!

 Anyway... when in Bali one must do yoga... Namaste!



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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com