Transcend the Ordinary

Wake Up in Bali Women's spiritual retreats are life–enhancing, upscale, and designed with a personal touch. A fascinating cultural experience that offers the opportunity to develop perspective, wholeness and friendships. Come Experience Cultural immersion, balinese spa, adventure and meditation in the exotic and magical village of Ubud, the setting of Elizabeth's Eat Pray Love in Bali.

Your traveling companions will be other women that also have a passion for intelligent and soulful experiences. It is not just a get-away, it’s a get together that will connect you to a community of new friends. We limit our women's retreat groups to no more than fourteen people to ensure a profound learning and bonding experience.

Trust me, by the end of this ten day celebratory trip, you will be a part of the “Inspiring Women's Club” with new friends that will last a lifetime. There is power in a gathering of women; together we are going places and we are making things possible.

You will be offered an authentic cultural experience that will expand your world view and inspire your creativity. Full of living colorful images, though cultural immersion you’ll return home with amazing stories to share, a smile on your face, and fresh enthusiasm for life. Cultural immersion at its best.

Together with our local Balinese staff, artists, and friends, you’ll enjoy authentic cultural connections and off-the-beaten-path experiences. Synchronicity abounds as we visit hospitable villages and discover unexpected treasures. The energy in Bali is unique, offering soulful nourishment as nature is imposed on life, not man on nature. An unforgettable cultural experience in a tropical paradise as written about in Elizabeth Gilbert's Book Eat Pray love in Bali.

We call our formal program “Reflections.” It is a relaxed on hour time we all spend together in the mornings. Our “Reflections” are carried further in open conversation over dinner. They are designed to expand your brain and open your heart. With time for reflection, we can make wiser choices about what matters and to that which gives meaning to our lives. Participants leave these sessions feeling stronger, wiser, and encouraged.

We will share many adventures, here are a few:

• Wake up to exotic birds singing in a natural tropical paradise.
• Revive yourself with Balinese Spa; a pampering massage of essential oils.
• Jump on a boat and idle away a day at the beach on a small tropical island.
• Make a piece of sterling silver jewelry of your own design with our silver smith.
• Wear your new sarong, and offer incense and flower petals in prayer at the temple.
  
• Trek off the beaten path to an organic restaurant amidst the beauty of the rice fields.
  
• Explore the villages where Julia Roberts just shot the scenes for the movie Eat Pray Love Bali.
  
• Journey into remote artisan villages and participate in an authentic village ceremony. A  unique cultural experience to remember for a life time.
  
• Discover “Our Little Girl:” she lives in a village, off the beaten path, and is left out of education because of the caste system. Together we can make a difference in her life.
  
• Be inspired by many art forms- vibrantly alive in the form of painting, carving, beading, weaving, acting, dancing, and music.
  
• Lunch and learn about local Balinese cooking at the famous ”School of Fragrant Rice."
  
• Bargain with the vendors for a handcrafted treasure in the local market.
  
• Immerse yourself in the culture with gamelan music, drumming, and mystical fire dances.
  
• Get to know personally many of our special Balinese staff, artists and friends.
  
  
  

International cuisine with a twist

We’ll be eating at a wide variety of international restaurants. Balinese food is a fresh delicious Asian fusion and reminiscent of Thai food. We’ll eat at special restaurants hidden in exotic beautiful environments. You can certainly order Western food, but the Balinese cook flavors with coconut and spices such as fresh ginger and tamarind in a wood-fired oven fueled by bamboo. Food in Bali is safe, healthy, and largely all organic. It’s a vegetarians dream come true. You’ll come back feeling healthier and hooked by the fresh flavors of Bali.

Balinese Spa

There is no more beautiful place on earth to rejuvenate and indulge in Balinese spa treatments. You will be pampered at several of the most decadent spas imaginable using centuries old Balinese massage techniques. All spa treatments are natural, using only natural herbs and essential oils. You will have four such spa day experiences with each massage lasting for ninety luxurious minutes of treatment. As an option, you can choose facials or reflexology.

Bali is a place for transformation, and this extraordinary ten day journey is full of meaning and other- worldliness. It’s time to come home to yourself.

About us

Wake Up in Bali is a division of Sterling Ideas, Inc., specializing in experiential journeys to explore culture and self.

Our mission is to inspire, empower, enlighten, and enrich your life through cultural experience and cultural immersion. We do this by blending elements of authentic Balinese culture with an exotic women's spiritual retreat experience. Wake-Up is non-traditional (not a tour), offering very personalized small group experiences. In maintaining small groups, we can more deeply explore the mind and heart connections that we cultivate knowing one another. We believe that the spiritual dimension does not depend on any particular religious system. We have been coming to Bali for many years and now have an office in Ubud, The the real setting for the book Eat Pray Love Bali. Our connections are both local Balinese and American expatriates. Wake in Bali's women's spiritual retreats are life enhancing, upscale, and a transformative learning experience. Our morning “Reflections” open the soul and evolve the mind with new wisdom. We intend to exceed your expectations with off the beaten path experiences around the world.

About Sterling

My first trip to Bali was ten years ago now. Surrounded by exquisite nature and Balinese enchantment, my heart kept calling me back. After many trips, I now have a part- time office in the village of Ubud. I’m convinced that the adventures we have turn us into something new and different. On returning from my last trip to Asia, I entered my home in Atlanta and said to myself, “My, who lives here?”

My first trip to Bali was ten years ago now. Surrounded by its exquisite tropical nature and Balinese enchantment, my heart kept calling me back, so that after many trips, I now have a part time office in the village of Ubud. I’m convinced that the adventures we have, turn us into something new and different.

I’ve made a vow to grow by inviting wisdom into my life with a ‘beginner’s mind’; and have found some truths must penetrate into one’s consciousness over time. I am both a woman and a child. This realization makes me proud and embarrassed. As Edith Ann expresses, “Growing up can take a lifetime.”
Vocationally, I have done many things, largely entrepreneurial. I let myself be drawn into developing innovative ideas, odd creations, and unusual challenges. Always, I see that the new ideas are grounded in my values and an intuitive calling about what is next. Perhaps like yours, my journey on this planet has taken marvelous twists and convoluted turns. My interest is largely in positive psychology, the unconscious processes of renewal, and the creative personality.

I’m a passionate explorer of inner and outer nature and a devotee to hearing God. I work with dreams, see auras, and try to walk in prayer. I hope to give courage, to stand for something, and to create miracles in myself and others. I am a fearless traveler and love to explore cultures where I don’t speak the language. I have been blessed to have lived and traveled into many parts of the world. I have always tried to delve deeply into life’s mysteries and in my blueprint, embedded in my genes, is the desire to help others and evolve myself. I am dedicated to sharing the laughter, joy, and creativity that we carry within, and look forward opening this truly life enhancing experience to you.

Click here to see Sterling's Bio.

Check out Sterling's blog www.theauthenticjourney.blogspot.com

My youngest son, Chris, is co-founder and administrator of Wake Up in Bali. Chris is a world traveler, a classical musician, a wise old soul and loves Bali as much as I do. He’s a blessing to anyone he meets. Cultural immersion has always been his favorite way to explore the world. 

You’ll be thrilled with our support staff in Bali. All are bright, gentle English speaking Balinese. Each come from different villages and we are blessed to know their families and children.

Ketut, who you will love and adore, is our mother figure and in charge of local logistics. Ruslan is our cultural expert and also an artist. Gusti is in charge of transportation and will be greeting you at the airport with a big smile. Narendra is our local color advisor and shipping agent. (If you so happen to find a ten ton door you want shipped back, ask him.) Jasi is an expert in natural herbs and a Balinese spa and massage expert.

Our Give Back program: We hope to be a positive catalyst in helping break the cycle of poverty in Bali with the goal of supporting a child’s education. As we are out and about, each retreat group will be on the lookout for a little girl to sponsor. There are many children, but our little girl will be intuitively selected out of love. We can offer her strength and she will give us inspiration… a small offering for a world in desperate need of compassion. Wake Up in Bali embraces the idea that we can be continually engaged in a quest of reaching out beyond ourselves.

As my love affair with Bali grew, it wasn’t long before I was invited by Balinese friends to the remote villages of the island. The birds are singing and the brooks are babbling, but then I realized hidden in the dazzle of this beauty is a very strong caste system. It is in these remote places where the traditional rice workers and underground artisans live. The regions are left out of the tourist trade and sometimes have no electricity.
On numerous occasions I’d bump into adorable barefoot little girls. Shy and inquisitive, they would follow us in our walk and take our hearts away. I soon discovered these children’s parents were not able to pay for the “public” school system and usually dropped out by the 3rd grade. They do not just drop out… they simultaneously are dropped into a certain future of manual labor and poverty.
We want to help by empowering one child at a time with the life of possibility.

Please click here to download and print out the Wake Up in Bali registration.