Life

What: Holistic spiritual and body massage

Where: Fivelements, Bali

The experience: It’s tempting to make an Eat, Pray, Love reference here, but that would trivialise the sacred and mystical healing powers of Balinese culture. At Fivelements, the spa adopts a holistic approach to healing so that physical, emotional and spiritual issues are all addressed.

The Balinese principle of Sekala-Niskala holds that we all live equally in two worlds: the seen or conscious world, Sekala, and the unseen or psychic world, Niskala. During healing treatments at Fivelements, Balinese healers engage the help of the higher divine source.

Pak Dewa Made is one such healer whose gift has been handed down through generations, and his holistic massage includes a combination of meditation, deep bodywork and prana energy.

Never before in all our spa experiences have we had to be ‘attuned’ to our practitioner’s energy. Before a single finger was laid upon us, Pak Dewa Made asked permission to access our aura, linking ours to his. Thus began a transfer of energy.

If you wanted to be technical about it, this intuitive healing practice combines energy work with Shiatsu-style acupressure and Balinese massage. But it is more than that. Pak Dewa first scans and clears the body of energy imbalances and weaknesses, making sure to relieve stress points, and helps to create energetic harmony by charging depleted areas with prana (universal life-force or energy which flows in and around the body).

The session continues with a full body relaxation massage using Pak Dewa’s family’s own secret herbal oil blend, passed down from his grandfather. Finally, the ritual closes with a healing tea offering, which we, feeling slightly dazed yet infinitely lighter, managed to imbibe. Whether you’re a believer or no, it’s worth experiencing the power of this healing touch for yourself.

Fivelements, Puri Ahimsa Banjar Baturning, Mambal, Bali, Indonesia. Tel +62 361 469 260

This article first appeared in the April 2018 issue of UNRESERVED.