Happiness Hive Podcast Episode 74 - Catherine Bowyer - Reflections From Bali
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[00:00:00] (Intro) Hi, welcome to the Happiness Hive podcast. I'm Catherine Bowyer, and I am completely fascinated by people and what motivates them. I've spent the past three and a half decades specializing in mindset and human behaviour, and I've helped thousands of people to create happy and amazing lives. And now I am super excited to be chatting with women from around the world who I have secret, and to be honest, not so secret crushes on. They're women who inspire me. I'm intrigued as to how they do life and what makes them tick. I want to find out their magic formula that makes them who they are. And at the end of the episode, I'd love for you to say, I'd like a little bit of what she's having. The conversations are real and raw. They're full of passion, inspiration, and lots of fun and nothing is off limits. So grab yourself a cuppa or pop on your trackie and go for a walk and join us for today's chat. There may just be that pearl of wisdom you need to hear. So let's shimmy on over and get started.[00:01:00]
[00:01:00] Hey, gorgeous. I am so excited for this episode of the podcast. It's my reflections from the recent trip that I've had to Bali with the family and also my little personal DIY retreat. And I'm still in that blissful bubble, of the energy of what that time away has been like. And I wanna share that with you so you can also pick up the vibes.
[00:01:36] But just to share with you, a lot of people when I've chatted about the, the holiday that I had and following me along socials really wanted to find out about what, what we really got up to. So I'm gonna share that with you. And I'm not exactly sure where this will kind of go. I'm unpacking it in real time, so I'm unpacking it with you.
[00:01:59] So [00:02:00] thanks for, thanks for being there and holding the space for me. And if you wanna find out more about what I did, comment in wherever you're listening to the, the podcast, follow me on socials, the Happiness Hive. More than I would love, love, love to, to share with you.
[00:02:17] So we, Bali's never really been a dream destination of mine. Sorry, Bali. But it wasn't till maybe about five or six years ago when my daughter said, Mum, would you like to come away for a week with me to Bali?
[00:02:33] And I'm like. Oh, mm. I'd love to go away for a week with you. I'm not sure Bali would be my destination of choice, but it's close to Australia. It was relatively cheap back then, and I thought, wow, what a beautiful experience to spend a week with my daughter in Bali. So we did it and we had a really amazing really beautiful experience there.
[00:02:59] [00:03:00] And I really started to fall in love with Bali. We didn't see a lot of it in all honesty, but I fell in love. We went to Ubud and Sanur, which is on the East Coast, and we hired drivers and went around and just love, love, loved it. So it was a beautiful experience.
[00:03:17] John and I were due to go there, early covid time and that all got cancelled and never eventuated. So we decided as a family that we would go because the kids are both out of home. John and I are in that phase of life as empty nesters, and we weren't all getting together for Christmas, but I said, how about if we spend our Christmas in Bali early January instead? And of course the kids jumped on that because who wouldn't pass up an opportunity for their parents to take them to Bali for Christmas?
[00:03:54] And it was also for John and I to be able to catch up on that trip that we'd missed out on. [00:04:00] So this was our first overseas trip for, for quite some time. I think the last one was 2018 when we went on a family trip to Mexico and Las Vegas. That was so cool.
[00:04:11] So anyway, we went to Bali and we had the most amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing time there. So we went as a family for a week and then Henry and I, Henry's, my son stayed on for an extra week and we did our own little personal DIY retreat. So originally we were all going to just go for a week and then come back again. And the opportunity, Henry and I grabbed that we would stay on for an extra week.
[00:04:41] So we changed flights and, and did stuff, which is important part of the story. So just that little bit might not, it might seem insignificant. It's a big part of what happens to us as a family. So we went away for a week and we went to Ubud for a couple of days. [00:05:00] And that was lovely. We had a, a private villa with a beautiful pool, and we got to hang out there and we got to do some really lovely things.
[00:05:09] Then we went and spent, the rest of the week at Sanur, which is again on the east coast. So by the coast, I'm a coastal. Like I love, love. If you haven't worked that out by now, I am a beach baby. So we spent the, the rest of the time at the, the beach, and then Henry and I went back to Ubud.
[00:05:28] So when we're in Ubud, what we do on family holidays and we spend a lot of, we, we have fairly significant holidays, when we're traveling together and, and my kids Henry's 26, Ellie's 28, we have significant holidays and we each, on our holidays, have a day where we are the boss of the day and we choose the theme for the day, and we get to do, we, we get to be the boss of the day.
[00:05:54] We make the decisions, we organize the activities, and others just have to do what we say. [00:06:00] So that's really nice. When we're away for a week together, there's four days where we are doing what the others are organizing. And then the other days we all just chip in. And actually I probably end up organizing those.
[00:06:11] But, so when we were in Ubud, it started out with John's day. And John's Day. John's a woodworking teacher and he also works with kids and does jewelry making with kids. And he's a industrial arts, like he's a manual do it kind of guy. And so he organized for us when we were in Ubud, a silver making class, and we went to the Ubud Silver Smiths and we got to each make a ring.
[00:06:43] There's some images on social media around that. And it was beautiful because we got, we, we had to walk all through these rice patties and it was kind of up in the back of Ubud and it was just a beautiful experience to even get there. And then we got to choose designs for our [00:07:00] rings. And so we got to design our rings.
[00:07:02] We could use it on designs that were. That, that were there, but we, we got to modify those. And they, you know, really the, the guys at the Silver Smithing, they did most of the work, but they, they guided us. Oh, John did his, like John was right in and he knew what to do. But, the rest of us were kind of just like, yeah, yeah, just show us what to do.
[00:07:24] But anyway, that's, if you can see that square, for those of you that are listening you won't see it. But if you're watching on YouTube, my ring is the square rectangular one that I got to make. And it was a beautiful experience. It's kind of a asymmetrical ring that wraps around my finger, but it doesn't join in the middle. Have a look. Have a look on the, on the video and you can see it.
[00:07:49] And it was really interesting watching our personalities as we were making the rings. I'm not great with like, I get bored with if I have to do anything too detailed or [00:08:00] intricate. It's just like, yeah, no, I'm bored with that now. So I luckily went pretty quickly and we were able to make these rings pretty quickly and, but all the intricate stuff, that's where I got my guy to help me do it and whereas John loved getting in and doing all that nitty gritty intricate stuff, so interesting. Just our little personalities.
[00:08:19] So that was a beautiful experience that John had for us as a get in and make some jewelry to, to remember. So when we each wear our rings, it's very much about an anchoring in point of what that holiday and that experience was about.
[00:08:34] Then it was my day and mine is always anything kind of spiritual or woo woo. So I organized for us to go to one of the local, traditional healers. And the guy that happened to be was the son of Ketut that was in Eat, Pray, Love. And he did palm readings for us and then did a blessing for us. [00:09:00] And it was really beautiful. I went first in the reading, he said, I'm gonna have a, you know, long, prosperous life.
[00:09:05] I'm gonna live till I'm ninety-one, I'm going to everything's gonna be beautiful and wonderful. And I'm just going, oh my God, this sounds amazing. And then John went next and I heard John's and it was just like, yep, long prosperous life. You're gonna live to ninety-one, you're gonna blah, blah, blah. And then he did Ellie's and it's like, yep, long prosperous life, you're gonna live to ninety-one.
[00:09:24] And then Henry's, I think Henry's gonna live to ninety-three or something. So it was interesting, you know, it was, it was interesting. I'm not sure how much. Anyway, that was interesting. But the blessing was beautiful. We had a, a Balinese blessing, a spiritual blessing for our family, for each of us, but for our family.
[00:09:40] And that just felt so, oh, scrumptious. So scrumptious. I, I love that. And we were gonna go to a water temple as part of my day as well, but it happened to be, we were in Ubud in the wet season. And funny, this water temple, it was pouring rain and we didn't wanna get out and in the pouring rain, but it was super crowded where we were going, and [00:10:00] it just, the vibes didn't feel like what we wanted. So my day was about the spiritual healer, which was cool.
[00:10:06] And then Ellie had her day was bloody surfing lessons and we went across to Seminyak and we went surfing. And it was really interesting, like she's a surfer chick, she lives down the coast and she's she's a relatively good surfer. The rest of us, no.But we got in and we had a crack and it was hard work. Like it was actually hard work. And John and I are going, oh my God, like we need to so get so much fitter. But I got to stand up on the board and ride a wave, actually ride a couple of waves and it was just a beautiful, I think Elle got, I think she loved seeing that I was able to get in, Dad and I, John and I were able to get in and give it a go. So that was fun.
[00:10:54] And then Henry's day was we hired a driver and we went out for the day and we went [00:11:00] down to Uluwatu and it eventuated him watching the sunset at Uluwatu. And we went to all these just different beautiful places. And then we ended up just in this infinity pool overlooking the ocean, just for the afternoon.
[00:11:18] And he's, Henry always has a white theme to his days. So we wore white at the end of the, the day overlooking Uluwatu. And it was just so special and beautiful. So, so we have a theme day on our holidays and it's interesting how it really shows our personalities of what we what we like and what we're into.
[00:11:39] And there's another thing like the white day that, that got me a little bit unstuck because when I said to you before about that, Henry and I were on we changed our flights to come back later. Just wrapping back a little bit about our trip there, we live in Canberra and there's no direct flights to to Indonesia from Canberra.
[00:11:58] So we either have to fly [00:12:00] to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne for connecting flights. And we got a travel agent to organise our flights. And we ended up, our flights were through Melbourne. And this is a really weird-ass thing that the flights from Canberra to Melbourne to Indonesia. Henry lives in Melbourne. But it was almost gonna cost us an extra thousand dollars for him to fly directly from Melbourne than it was for him to fly from Canberra to Melbourne to Indonesia. Now I know that that sounds weird. So he drove to Canberra, which is a six hour, seven hour drive to fly from Canberra back to Melbourne, to then to Indonesia.
[00:12:39] But that's, you know, a thousand bucks we, sorry, Henry. That's, yeah. Anyway, anyway, a little a side note. So early morning start 4:00 AM start to get our flight to Melbourne and then there was gonna be like a two hour wait and then our international flight and then we'd get into Bali in the afternoon.
[00:12:56] So everything was, seemed really seamless and fine when we got to [00:13:00] Melbourne, had our brekkie and Elle. Elle's not a morning person, I'm a morning person. 4:00 AM was fine for me. 4:00 AM was not really fine for Elle. So she was, yeah, she was, she was just starting to wake up when we got to Melbourne.
[00:13:15] And when we got there they said, oh. Your flight's been delayed by two hours and we're going, oh, really? Like now we're gonna have to hang around just for two hours and we're hanging around. And then this announcement came over when we're in the boarding lounge and they said the flight's been delayed because of, you know, flow-on effects because there's bad weather in Australia. Flow-on effect of flights, that's why the original flight was delayed. The flight from Melbourne to Indonesia has been affected and it needs to, something to do with fuel. And they were asking for five volunteers to offload from that flight to go on. They didn't even say, they said, we just need five people to choose [00:14:00] to volunteer not to be on this flight, so we're gonna have enough fuel to get to Indonesia.
[00:14:05] And if nobody, puts their hands up. We are going to choose the people at random based on fair class. So lowest fair class will be bumped. And I'm just going, well, that does not, my stomach was starting to turn going, oh my gosh, who's gonna volunteer? And oh my gosh, those poor people that just get selected at random to be bumped from a flight. Like, how terrible is that going to be?
[00:14:33] And I was starting to go into like, oh my gosh, the poor people, but that won't be us because we did not pay the cheapest flights for the, the flights were pretty expensive, in all honesty to, to get from what they were a couple of years ago. And I'm just going, that won't be us. So we're hanging around and there was people going up to the counter to find out what the rules were. And I'm like, looks like five people have nominated. No, guess what bloody happened.
[00:14:55] Over the announcement? They go went, nobody's nominated. So we're [00:15:00] choosing five people at random and the names are Mary Smith, Joe Jones, Blahdy blah, Catherine Bowyer, Henry Bowyer. What the beep? What the absolute beep. I just, my heart just dropped. Couldn't even fucking say our name properly, but my heart just dropped and I'm going, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Our family. Our family sticks together. So I went up miss reaction mode and went up to the counter and said that you can't do that because the rest of us. The two of them we have to be in Bali, blah, blah, blah. And they said, well, too bad. Like it was at random. And I'm saying, well, how come Henry and I and not the other two?
[00:15:45] Like, why is that? And they said, well, you were on separate bookings. Big mistake. So when we booked our flights, 'cause Henry and I changed ours, bloody, the travel agent put us on different bookings. So they split us. And also here [00:16:00] I am thinking we smarty pants and going with on board. Cabin luggage only, that was easy for them to bump two of us.
[00:16:07] So anyway, my good loving family, John and Ellie, they said, well, if they're being bumped, we will too. And the airline said, yep, sure. Fucking fuckers. Sorry, excuse my language. I I don't wanna drop those F bombs. So anyway, they said, you'll be on a flight that they just sat us down, said, we'll get back to you later.
[00:16:28] We'll let you know we're going, what's happening. So all these people, there was hundreds of people on that flight, and we are sitting there as the poor people that have been bumped and they're all staring and looking, and I'm just like, mm mm mm mm. But anyway, I just went with, there's some reason behind this.
[00:16:43] And so we waited and then it was probably ages like the airline, we were just a number to them and they weren't rude, but they certainly didn't, they weren't very kind or caring. And we'd been sitting there and then they just came up quick. You've gotta come with us. [00:17:00] We've gotta organize you on the next flight.
[00:17:02] We said, well, what's happening? And they said, we don't know. We'll just take you down to the check-in and get you on the next. Look, we'll just see what's gonna happen. So, vacuum of information. And we went and when we're trying to get back there, like Henry didn't have his passport. And then we just went into panic mode because his passport, he'd lost his passport.
[00:17:24] So this is in, you know, day one, day zero of our holidays and he'd lost his passport. And we, we, we, what had happened was when he'd gone to the bathroom while we were waiting for the delayed flight, he'd left his passport on the seat. So I, as a good mum, put it in my handbag. When we had got whisked away, I'd forgotten that I'd done that. And anyway, he's looking for it and he, his panic mode and I had it for him anyway, so that was a bit funny.
[00:17:54] So the airline, they whisked us through, and long story short, they, what we had to do was then get on a [00:18:00] flight to Adelaide and then fly from Adelaide to Indonesia. But the flight from Melbourne to Adelaide wasn't gonna be for another five hours.
[00:18:07] And it was just like, oh my God. So we waited around the airport, we waited at that departure gate. And it just didn't board like the five hours had come up and they said, oh, it's been delayed by half an hour. We're just like, what? And then it's, and then they just stopped announcing, but it kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed.
[00:18:25] But they stopped announcing that it was being delayed 'cause people were getting angry about it. And we are just going, no way. We are not getting bumped from another flight. Like, not us, not the Bowyers. And when I checked with the, the, the chick at the desk, she said, don't worry. She said half this flight that's going to Adelaide from Melbourne, they're on that Bali flight, so they're gonna wait for you.
[00:18:47] So just relax, going near whatever. And so when we were waiting so it was, we are getting tired, remember 4:00 AM start. And this was. I think it was about five P.M. that was still in [00:19:00] Melbourne airport. And we're just going, and while we're sitting around, we came up with this new game to play. So we have on our holidays, our special day, but we came up with this new, to keep ourselves from being too bored was a point system.
[00:19:16] And the point system is, you got points for doing dumb stuff. Like you, and we're just inventing these points. So you got points if you lost your passport, so Henry or you had to look for your passport. Or if I had to ask if everybody had their passport. Every time I asked about having a passport, people got a point.
[00:19:35] You got a point for saying silly things. You got points for like doing dumb stuff. You got points. If you spilled food on your clothes, you got points. And then we just kind, it kept inventing these things. If you cry, I mean, if you nearly cry, you'd get a certain number of points. If you do cry, you get big points.
[00:19:54] And the idea of this game was the lowest, the lowest points was gonna be the winner. [00:20:00] So we had been to this point system that was really, really funny throughout the holidays that just keep carrying and carrying.
[00:20:06] And that first day, our points, everybody had high points. Like Elle had made this really funny comment when she was coming from the, the first flight from Canberra to Melbourne, and she just went straight to sleep on the plane. And then she made this comment going, oh my gosh, that landing was so smooth. It didn't even feel like anything, that was still flying, we hadn't even landed yet. And when we got there, she'd getting our first lot of food, she'd dropped half of it on the floor and then started crying. And anyway, so the point system was really, really funny.
[00:20:37] I, one of the things that was my downfall, I was the loser. I, the, the idea of the point system was to have the lowest points. I had the highest points at the end of the holiday, so I lost. And do you know what my downfall was? It was the day that we went to the rice terraces, and it was after really heavy rain.
[00:20:59] And it was, the place [00:21:00] was beautiful, but it was really steep and slippery. And I wear multifocal glasses. And when I was going up and down these frigging terraces, it just sent me into this weird, weird vertigo where I couldn't, kind of my head, my brain and my body just weren't calibrating. So when I was walking, it just felt so weird.
[00:21:24] So I had to get John, to walk in front of me and I would just rest my hands on his shoulders. And I was wearing, I was wearing white that day and I had this white skirt that kept getting caught when I was trying to walk. And it was just hard work. And then we got to the end of it and I was holding back these tears and I thought, I don't want the family to see me because I'm gonna get points.
[00:21:46] And anyway, we got up to the top, we'd finished. It was hot, it was sweaty. I was just emotional. And the family just went, oh my God. Mum's crying. And I just went, oh, no. And anyway, I got [00:22:00] like crying caused big, big points. And then later that day, I'd spilled my food on my white dress, my white skirt. And so spilling food, you scored points, but filling, spilling food on white actually caused higher points.
[00:22:15] So crying and spilling food, and I wore a lot of white while we're away. And Henry, the little rotter got low points because one of the part of the game was that if you did a kind, something kind for somebody else. You, it was minus points. So Henry had this little spray stuff in his bag, a stain remover that every time I spilt food on my white clothes, he would gimme the stain remover.
[00:22:41] My points would go up and his would go down and I'm going, but I do kind things every day for everybody and they didn't get recognized. And one of the other point system was that if the rest of the family gangs up on you, you get points. And so here I am trying to justify my kind acts, and [00:23:00] then they would gang up on me and I would get more points. So anyway, it was a funny, a funny, funny in the points. Sorry, I'm going way, way too long.
[00:23:06] So we had a beautiful family trip and when, when John and Ellie left and came back home, it was sad. I felt very sad. And the time, it was almost like we were time travelers that week felt like it was a month. It just was such a beautiful experience.
[00:23:26] And for those of you that know me, family is a core pillar of me living my best life. And having that week with the family just filled our cups like you would not believe. It was amazing. So Elli and John ended up heading home and then Henry and I ventured off onto the next part of our adventure.
[00:23:47] And this for me was so profound. And so, oh my gosh. Sorry, I've spent a lot of time already talking about the first bit. This will maybe be a [00:24:00] bit, little bit of a longer episode. The next part, this personal DIY retreat was just beautiful, beautiful. Beyond more than I could possibly have even imagined. So incredible.
[00:24:14] So what I had done is I'd looked for, I got some recommendations of different things that we could do while we were away, and I sort of mapped out a little bit of a, a plan for us. But some of the the activities that I wanted to do, they weren't available. They were booked out, they just, it wasn't happening. So I had kind of organized some things and then I was a bit disappointed thinking, oh my gosh, we're not gonna be able to do this other stuff, but it just worked out perfectly. I'm so glad those extra things fell through because what we did for that extra week was per perfect. It was just perfect.
[00:24:53] So, so what did we do? We went back to Ubud and we had a different we stayed in a different villa [00:25:00] and we each had, it was kind of like a bit more indoor outdoor living. It was more centrally in Ubud and you had to walk through probably, I dunno, it felt like about. 10 kilometers, but it was probably about 200 meters where there was a rice patty on one side and there was a path.
[00:25:18] And then the, the villas, which had their outdoory bits were on the other side. So you had to walk down this path. And every day I just held my breath and just had to walk like I was, just a power walker because we heard all these niggly like animals and creatures in the rice patty and Henry said to me, I think it was on the first day, he said, oh my god, Mum, I've seen a snake. Keep, go, hurry up and keep going. I'm like, oh my God, Henry, don't tell me you've seen a snake. That's, snakes are my, I have an absolute phobia of snakes. And he said, yep, snake quick. Get going, get going. I'm like, holy hell.
[00:25:52] So anyway, we got into the the villa, the indoor element of it was the [00:26:00] loungy area was outdoors around the pool. And then we each had our own Henry and I had our own bedrooms that then had a a door, and we each had our private bathroom, but the bathroom was indoor outdoor as well. So it was, look, when we first looked at it, we're going, oh, how nice, how beautiful this feels so great. But after the bloody snake and the all the creepy crawlies in the rice field and now villas in the rice field, I just had this paranoia that the snakes were gonna get into my bathroom, or there's gonna be frogs in the toilet, or lizards. There was geckos and it was just like every time I went into that bathroom, I made sure the toilet seat was down. So no creepy crawlies could get into that. And I don't know about you ladies, but I have old lady bladder, so I have to get up and pee in the middle of the night. And I just had this fear that there would be a something greeting me. So that was something every time.
[00:26:50] But anyway, other than that, the villa was beautiful. So we stayed there. And then, so the, the first day we were back in Ubud, we went and I had [00:27:00] organized a tarot reading for Henry and I with the gorgeous Talis and Talis was recommended by, another friend. So thank you very much. And we went, we met Talis at a little vegan coffee shop, juice bar because her place where she does the readings is up in the back of down all these lanes and alleyways. And it was just beautiful to get there. And we had the reading and it was mind-blowing.
[00:27:32] I went first and Henry went for a little wander around and I don't know, Talis, she's she's an Canadian who's lived in Australia and now living in Ubud. She went there on a holiday and wasn't able to come home during Covid, so has decided now to live there. And she did the beautiful Tarot spread. Really, really comprehensive. And if people are familiar with Tarot, [00:28:00] I'll, I'll give you some insight. If not, I'll still give you some insight into it, that the reading oh, the reading was just so powerful, so powerful and reaffirming for me and about what this year's going to be and the energy for me was just so beautifully reaffirming.
[00:28:20] The key things that came out of that was the Queen of Cups, who is all about emotions. She is very strongly present in my life, is me. And the thing that I need more of to let go of in this life is the kind of the barriers and protections that I've put up over the many years to protect my, my heart from hurt.
[00:28:46] So this year is really about letting go of the residual protection that's still there, Barriers there. So the, the King of Cups came in and it's about mastering emotions. So that there was a lot of symmetry in my [00:29:00] reading. A lot of the major Akana cards and the high higher cards came up. So that was one about the emotions.
[00:29:09] And then the thing for me to bring in more of this year is the Queen of Swords. And the Queen of Swords is about really showing up authentically and stepping into my power and not being so worried about what people will think that it's about really embracing unapologetically being who I am.
[00:29:37] Now that really resonates and a lot of you listening might think that I'm already unapologetically who I am. Yes. But there's still a lot of curation around that. So the energy of the Queen of Swords was about really bringing that energy in for the year which is cool. And then as I go around the reading that we had, there was a beautiful. Talis [00:30:00] actually said that about the relationships and especially my relationship with John, she said she hasn't seen, in a reading where it's been two people that are meant to be together.
[00:30:10] As much as John and I are that we had, excuse me, both the emperor and the empress and there was also a king and queen, I can't remember if it was Pentacles or Wands in there. And she said, sure, there've been some I can pick up that there have been some challenges, but you guys you both give each other what the other needs and you get from the other what you need.
[00:30:31] And she said that we are, oh, I'm, it was just beautiful that we, our relationship is a really very special one. And do you know, John and I are chalk and cheese. We are chalk and cheese, but we work and we work, really well. And she said the next, this year is just gonna unfold. So amazing for us. And it's all about she picked up about the move to the coast, our sea change, [00:31:00] and she said that that will absolutely happen.
[00:31:03] And the second part of the year is really about John and I, enjoying all the fruits of our labor. So that's exciting. Love it. Love it. And then just moving a little bit further around the reading that she did, there was so much more there. She said, did, did this part about mind, body, and spirit and my mind, she said, you have a busy mind, Catherine. It's about keeping yourself engaged but not burnt out. And it's like, yep, no shit. Also about that learning. She said that it's about really tapping in and using what I've learned. Body, she said, my body's really strong. There's no ailments that she picks up. She said, I can always be more vital, have more vital energy if I choose to.
[00:31:47] And she said, that will happen pretty quickly. And then she paused and she said, when it comes to spirit, and she just took this long, deep pause and I'm like, oh, what does that mean? And she said [00:32:00] that I'm a highly spiritual being and I know that. And she said, but what will eventuate this year is sharing more from that space. And she said it's also about she sees in my work there will be a lot more of that spirituality that shows up in my work and then collaborating with others around that. And do you know what, that's a part of me that, I mean, I have a very, very strong, deep spiritual practice, but it's a, been a, you know, I, I share snippets of that, but it's been a very private practice as well. She said that it's really what I'm here to do is to share more. And then she went back to the Queen of Swords and she said, channeling her energy to really show up unapologetically who you are and that spirituality is a big, big part of it. So that is so [00:33:00] exciting, and if even me sharing this with you now is probably something I wouldn't have done even, you know, a year ago or six months ago. So.
[00:33:10] The, the reading and Henry's reading was beautiful as well, that Talis picked up a lot about Henry and his energy and what's going on for him, and it was really great and affirming for Henry to hear that from somebody that knows nothing about him, knows nothing about him, and the things that she could pick up through the, the cards and her intuition were just beautiful. And she really picked up about his energy, Henry's studying social work, and he goes into his placement in this year, his first placement, and he'll be working with homeless people in Melbourne and Talis picked up that this placement is gonna be very, very heavy on his heart, that he's gonna be great at it, but it's about that protection for his heart, as well and just the energy environments that are gonna be best for Henry. So that was beautiful.
[00:33:59] So [00:34:00] anyway, we did the, we had, that was such a beautiful foundation for our little DIY retreat. We went and had the gorgeous, there's a lot of vegan places in Bali, and we had this beautiful vegan lunch and then later that afternoon. We went to a place called Pyramids of Chi, and those of you that have been to Bali before will be familiar with Pyramids of Chi and thank you for the, the, the people that recommended for us to go there. And it just coincided that they were having a new moon ceremony on the evening after we'd had our tarot reading.
[00:34:32] And New Moon, the energy is all about releasing and letting go and setting intentions for what you want. And Henry and I went into this space and it was beautiful. There was a group, there was probably about 40 people at this ceremony and the energy of the group was great and we were led through a ceremony about connecting with the energy and the elements of the four [00:35:00] winds; north, south, east and west.
[00:35:02] And I'll be really honest, I can't remember a lot of the energy. I think it was, might have been the south energy where the coyote is part of it and a playful energy. And that really resonated with me. Oh actually that really resonated with me. Just a quick little side note. Our family point system, you, you got points taken off if you could make John laugh. John has this really chuckly like Muttley from Wacky Races and if you got him to chuckle like that and to wheeze it was really good. So I, there was just a few dumb things that I did, but it really made John laugh, and then I realized that that's how I could reduce some of my points by making him laugh.
[00:35:47] So I would kind of do la-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, all these things. So anyway, that just, I digress. The pyramids of Chi, the new moon ceremony where we tapped into the energy. But that playful energy [00:36:00] really, really resonated with me, that lightness. So we had the new moon ceremony and we got to burn stuff. We got to set our intentions of what we wanted to release and what we wanted to bring in. And it was so beautiful having that reading with Talis earlier in the day because that set the scene for what we could do at that, what we could release at that new moon ceremony. And we then had a sound healing, like a, an hour of sound healing afterwards in these pyramids of, it just resonated through our bodies and it was just so amazing.
[00:36:36] So we could have finished our little DIY retreat then and felt very, very, healed. But we didn't. We the next day we had a bio magnetism and sound healing with Costanza, who Talis had [00:37:00] recommended and Costanza came to our villa riding up on her scooter with her crystal bowls, her drums, and all the other sound bits and pieces and her magnets that she placed on our bodies.
[00:37:12] And she, just on the beds in our room, she did a scan of our bodies just intuitively about what we needed and then was able to place the magnets. I really don't fully understand this modality, but I'm being drawn to find out more. That it was about recalibrating or calibrating the energy in our body, and so she placed the magnets around our body and did the sound healing.
[00:37:39] I love, like, I love, that's something else I wanna be able to to do is learn how to do sound healings. That's something really resonates with me. And so we did this and I, I don't have any aches or pains in my body, so there was nothing specific to work on for me. It was more or less I said it's just an energetic alignment and [00:38:00] during that healing, oh my God. And you can, if you want to find out the real time processing of it, go to Instagram and or Facebook Happiness Hive and check out my, I think it was a Live that I did on it, or a recording or something. It caught me in the moment after that healing. It was amazing.
[00:38:22] But I felt my body have this real energetic cleanse and then my hands, the energy, I can feel it now. I'm a, I'm a Reiki master as well, so I'm used to the energy in my hands. But the energy that just radiated out through my hands during that healing, it was just like they were on fire. And then I did this really my hands. Became really strong and my arms were really upright and upright and they kind of levitated from my body.
[00:38:52] And Costanza said that she was observing me and she knew that I was doing some processing, so she didn't wanna interfere with that. But what was [00:39:00] happening was, it's like my soul left my physical body and there was this energetic clearing of my physical body. Oh, that happened first. And then when my hands went into this space of uprightness, what it was was my soul left my body and my hands were just holding my soul.
[00:39:20] And that's when my physical body got it clean. And then my soul got an energetic clean while it was out of my body. And then it just snapped. It's like it just snapped back into my body and I felt, I felt so alive and clear. I felt clear. I felt cleansed of stuff. So having the Tarot with Talis the day before, then the new Moon Ceremony to release and let go of stuff, and then that bio magnetism and sound healing, it was a cleansing. [00:40:00]
[00:40:00] And I came out of the room and Henry said, oh my God, Mum, you look like you are this vibrant, vibrant light. And I just went, oh, that's how I feel. And he had his healing and he had a very different experience and he came out going, oh, I'm not sure if it worked because I didn't experience what you did. And I said, no, no, no, no. That's not how this is done. That we each have our own experiences and spirit energy. We receive what we need to receive. And he said, all I felt was, kind of this nothingness and I could feel it in my body, but I didn't, I didn't have any, it was kind of nothingness. And he said, so it, I don't think it worked.
[00:40:48] Then later that evening when he just said, oh my God, he said, I felt, I this nothingness. He said, my mind is always constantly busy [00:41:00] and there's a whole lot of self-talk. He said during that, healing session, he said, my mind was quiet and I wasn't in that busyness. He said, that is what I needed. And I said, ta-da. We got what we each needed and we're each at very different points of life and evolution and our spiritual journeys and you know, what we need and what we receive.
[00:41:30] But he got exactly what and when he got that kind of aha moment, he said ah, and all this ripple effect of it said, that was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
[00:41:40] So we could have finished our personal DIY retreat then, but no. The next day we went and saw a Balinese, traditional Balinese healer that Talis had recommended for us.
[00:41:54] And it was very, it's, if you can get in and see him, you can, or if you can't, you [00:42:00] just, it's all very much a, just when he's available. So messaged him and he said, yep, sure, I'm free. Come on over. And we sat with him and he had a different way of picking up our energy. He had a piece of paper, he wanted to know our birth dates, but he had a piece of paper and he just scribbled on the piece of paper.
[00:42:20] And it was almost like Tyler from Hollywood Medium. But he just scribbled the energy the, the scribbled. And he said, that represents our energy and both our energies were really, really strong. And really he said that we are both here as teachers and guides and healers. And the real message from him was almost exactly what Talis had said in the Tarot reading.
[00:42:47] And what had come out of our other therapies that we'd had as well is that we need to just really embrace who we are. The key messages from him were, [00:43:00] to love ourselves and accept ourselves and to tap into our power and to share. Both Henry and I are here to share our wisdom. And he said and he said, that's come through really strongly with me.
[00:43:17] And that came through really strongly with Talis as well. It's about, I'm here to share. I'm here as a teacher. I'm here as a guide, and I'm also here as a healer. And teacher and guide I, Yep. I can see that. And I have stepped into that power. The healer stuff is still new ish, new-ish, for me, and it's just how does that unfold and what does that look like?
[00:43:49] So he said water is really important for me. Our family, and that came out through Talis as well. Like in my reading there was lots of cups, which is about water. [00:44:00] And she said the Bali water is particularly important for our family and particularly important for me. And so she had given us the name of a water temple to go to.
[00:44:09] Now we didn't get to go to one when the whole family was together. And that just energy didn't feel right. The one that Talis had given us name from, name for, she said it's not as, as touristy. But when we went and saw the Balinese healer, he said, I'll give you the, you need to go into the water temple and cleanse, and get blessings.
[00:44:31] And he gave us the name of a temple, that we went to straight after and it was probably an hour's drive. So we hired a, a driver and it was, and then we were scheduled to go back to Pyramids of Chi that afternoon for another sound healing. And we went to the water temple. Oh my God, I'm gonna cry now.
[00:44:58] That was probably one of the [00:45:00] most profound experiences that I have ever had, and I've had some really profound experiences. But there was something, there was something. That happened that was so magical. And I'm not gonna tell you where the water temple is like, only because I don't want it to become super touristy.
[00:45:20] If you private message me, I might. But we went there and we had a, a private, guide that took us through the, the temple and there was different points and he, he showed us the areas that, and what each of the water elements was for and what the kind of, the blessings you give at each one and you get from each one.
[00:45:47] And we got to go in, like some of them are for the Bali locals and people whose that is their home temple. Some of it the tourists are allowed to, to [00:46:00] go to. And it just, the energy of being there was amazing. And going into the water, it was just like, fuck. I can't even, I didn't even do a real time processing of this because I would just wanted to bottle the feeling of it.
[00:46:19] But, and it's interesting, it wasn't very busy, but when we got there, there was a group of people in the, in the, in the water temple. But when it was Henry's and my turn, it was just the two of us. And what we did was at each fountain, each station, you would give thanks three times and then you would get blessings three times.
[00:46:41] And we were able to give thanks, based on the healings that we had done leading up to this and the blessings that we received. Just magnified what we, sorry, I'm just in teary mode. It was just so deep and profound. [00:47:00] It just really cleared away so many layers of so many things that were kind of peeling away over the last few days anyway.
[00:47:10] And that I've been working on for, I would say, lifetimes. I just felt so much of that just get washed away. And the gratitude and the thanks and the love was just so, oh, I, I can't even put words around that, but it was so deep and Henry and I got to do that together. And then when we got out, I think there's a picture just captured of me just crying and Henry said, oh my God, are you okay? And I said, these are happy, happy, happy, happy tears. It's just the depth of love that I feel, oh my God, I, sorry I didn't think I would still be, anyway. I'm glad that's there. That's a, that's an absolute [00:48:00] bottle moment.
[00:48:01] So we did that healing and then we got in the car to drive an hour back to the Pyramids of Chi.
[00:48:10] And this time the sound healing was a light sound vibration. And what it was, you were on waterbeds in the, the Pyramid temples, you're on waterbeds and the strobe lights you would close your eyes, but there would be strobe lights. And the vibrations were kind of wired into the waterbed. And it was this whole body immersion.
[00:48:36] And it was the, sorry, it was the fucking bomb. It. I loved the loudness of the music. I loved the lights. And what I saw was a lot of white and turquoise light and it just anchored in my body, loved being on that [00:49:00] waterbed. If you could have turned that sound up even louder for me it was a full body immersion of what we had experienced in four days. Like, I think it was three or four days. And it was amazing. Henry found it a little bit overwhelming. He had to put his eye mask on because the lights were just a bit too stroby. It was like being at this dance party for your body. And I think, 'cause I had had huge, huge, huge shifts. This was just, kind of just, oh fuck. It was amazing.
[00:49:39] And then, we had dinner at Pyramids of Chi and there was just the food tasted. It was like an explosion fuck. So anyway, we did that and that was kind of our little DIY retreat. The next day was just a day where we hung at the [00:50:00] villa and we processed what was, we just hung there and just shared our experiences and our insights, and we just allowed what had happened to integrate.
[00:50:13] And then the next day, I think we came home. We, we wandered through Ubud Villa and streets and, just experience. It was like we were floating. It was like we were floating. I felt like I was floating. I still feel like I'm floating from that. And it'll be interesting how that, that all unfolds and what people. Do you know what? I'm not even, it will just unfold how it needs to unfold.
[00:50:39] One of the things that Talis said to me about our moving, like this year's a big year. This year is a huge year, but I feel like it's really coming into, really coming into who I am and when we're at the coast, she said, you won't even know yourself there.
[00:50:56] And I said, I have this vision that I will run, you know, a retreat center. [00:51:00] And she said, Catherine, you have so many possibilities. The message that's coming through really strongly is not even to plan what you're going to do there, allow it to unfold and you have so many possibilities that, that the possibilities will present themselves to you.
[00:51:18] So I'm just sitting in what that could be. And when at the end of her reading, she said, I normally, go through and there's some sort of action that people need to, to take, to do things. Since you said Catherine, you just need to be who you are. Channel the queen of swords and just unapologetically be who you are.
[00:51:42] There's no, no thing that you need to do. You just need to be, and I, I was reflecting on, I guess, the key things that I've taken away from, you know, the, the, the holiday family holiday and the lead up was beautiful and [00:52:00] it's really helped our family, you know, to just deepen our connections with each other. From the little personal DIY retreat, the things that I got out of that were to really love my truth, to really love who I am, to live my truth. So that's to really be who I am and to share my truth. So that's to share more of who I am, and I'll be really interesting, interested to see how that unfolds. I'll be really interested. I'm not it'll just unfold as how it needs to unfold, but I feel that there has been a very, very deep, profound
[00:52:56] connection. I say [00:53:00] shift, but I think it's coming home, and I talk about this, about helping people, other women to come home to who they are.
[00:53:09] I really feel that I'm coming home to who I am, and that's such a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful feeling. I wanna share more of that with others. So one of the things that I had a dream many years ago, and John and I did a little bit of a, a trip to Cambodia where I was looking at running programs in Cambodia with women.
[00:53:37] And that didn't eventuate for a whole lot of reasons, but I feel that I will be, there is something about Bali that I will be, bringing women to experience their own profound shifts. And I've already lined up some, just really repeating, you know, something very similar, the little retreat that, that Henry and I [00:54:00] did and sharing that experience with others.
[00:54:01] So John and I have got it on our bucket list that we will, go back to Bali and really scope stuff out, and I can see that that will be part of what I do. But if you're interested, let me know. Let me know. I I reckon we can do it. Absolutely. So, so cool. So anyway, that, that is longer than I was anticipating that to be, but, if you're still here, thanks.
[00:54:26] Thank you for holding space for me and thank you for being interested in my journey and thank you for being part of the Happiness Hive community. And I would love for that to be even more wide reaching.
[00:54:45] So if you feel up to it, you know, pop a comment, share, follow along, rate review. Whatever the things are that you can do to help get this podcast into the ears of other, other women who you think might [00:55:00] be interested. Gosh, I'm still, I'm in such a high, so thank you, gorgeous hugs and deep, deep, deep happiness to you.
[00:55:12] Can you have deep happiness, big hugs, big happiness, lots of love, and I'll see you in another podcast. Love you. Bye.
[00:55:23] Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed the episode. You can spread the love by sharing it with a friend so she can have a little bit of what we had today. And don't forget to rate and review, so we can get it into as many hearts and ears as possible. You can keep the conversation going over on my socials at The Happiness Hive. And if you'd like more high vibe happiness in your life, come and join me in our community of inspired and motivated women, where you'll have everything that you need to be truly happy and bounce out of bed every day, living and loving your best and most beautiful life. [00:56:00] To find out more, pop over to the Happiness Hive website and click on the link Working with Catherine. Until next time, big hugs and happiness.
