Birthday Reflections - Bali 2025

Last week was my 40th birthday. I knew that I wanted to do something big to celebrate. No birthday party, no dinner, a big trip just for me. The Universe really does take care of us and earlier this year I saw that an acquaintance of mine would be hosting a yoga retreat in Bali the exact week of my birthday. It felt like it was meant to be, so I took the leap, and spent the most money I ever have on a trip for myself. 

I didn’t know a lot about Bali, mostly what I’ve seen on IG stories or from the book Eat Pray Love. I took some time at the airport to read about its history, but nothing in writing could ever explain what this place feels like. 

I was grateful to have the structure of a yoga retreat. We stayed at an incredible 5 star property called Soulshine with twice daily yoga practices. The women leading this retreat were absolutely incredible. Everyday we had the option to do our own thing, or participate in an activity that would provide incredible opportunities to see Bali. 

In a single week we managed to rent scooters and explore Ubud, get our readings and lucky numbers done by a priest, visit the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, witness live wood carvings, be purified in the Taman Beji Griya Waterfall (a highlight of the trip), go to the monkey forest, and climb to the top of Mt. Batur at 3:30am to watch the sunrise.

Between all these adventures we had incredible drivers who were more then happy to answer all of our questions about their culture and lifestyle. Everyday families make up to 50 offerings (coconut leaves filled with flowers and other items of importance/value). They leave them around their home, outside of their jobs, in their cars - all to show gratitude and appreciation for the gifts that life has given to them. I did not expect how financially poor Bali would be (some workers only making $10 a day) but you would never know this by the way that they live. Everything is intentional and with purpose. They treasure family and community, and carve out huge chunks of their daily lives to make time for each other. 

It’s almost impossible to not be self-reflective in a place like this. During my purification ceremony, we had a wonderful guide who explained about all the deities carved into the stone of the waterfall/cave system. We gave each one an offering and took a moment to pray/meditate and give thanks for everything in our lives. We could also ask for strength or wisdom to the ones we felt called too. At one point we were able to scream into the waterfall, allowing it to take all of our negative energy. We were then encouraged to laugh and dance afterward in order to bring in positivity and good energy after leaving the negative behind. I found this experience to be the most powerful of our entire week. 

And then of course, there was the Monkey Forest where all my dreams of meeting monkey’s came true. 

On our final night, we had a traditional Balinese culinary experience complete with live music and dancers. The group arranged for me to have a cake and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to welcome my 4th decade into this world. It was the perfect culmination of our week together and the celebration of such a big birthday for me.

So now that I’m back, what did I take away from Bali? Well, for one, I really enjoyed not being on my phone so much. I gave myself a digital detox from work and Instagram and find myself really resenting these apps now that I’m home. I no longer want to waste endless time scrolling for no reason, it actually seems to really bother me now. I journaled and reflected everyday, and found that I couldn’t really hide from myself anymore. A theme for me was “letting go of control” and “presence.” I find in my day to day life, I tend to have all these tools to escape and I’ve been wanting to find ways to be more present with myself, my life, and the world around me. I really want to let go of trying to control those things - because that control I feel I have is really just an illusion. What I can do is manifest, and act as though the life I want is the one I’m already living. 

Before the trip, even a year before, I wanted to do something big for this birthday in order to “process” my aging and how I was feeling about it. What is interesting is that this issue really didn’t come up for me this week. Perhaps because I’ve already been thinking I’m 40 for a couple months now, or maybe it’s because it wasn’t as big of an issue as I thought. At no point did I think about, “my life is half over,” which is the thought that had been haunting me for months prior. I was just present and enjoyed every opportunity given to me to explore Bali and to explore myself. 

I feel so grateful for this retreat in so many ways. Our hosts and teachers were absolutely incredible, the other participants were just as committed as I was, and we got to revel in the beauty of Bali for a week together. I can’t say that all yoga retreats are this profound, but I do really see the benefit of intentionally stepping away from your life for a week and dedicating the time to being healthy, present, and self reflective.

I hope to carry these revelations moving forward and always keep a piece of Bali close to my heart. 

As always, I would love to hear from you! Have you ever done a yoga retreat or a trip similar? What did you take away from it? Feel free to comment below or send me a message at stacylbrogan@gmail.com.