Unexpected Advice From A Balinese High Priestess

Have you ever done a water ceremony?

(I realize that you’re seven words into this email and probably like… “Celinne, WTF are you talking about”)

But stay with me… I will explain, and it shall be worth it 🙌🏻

Over the holidays, I decided to take a little break and drive over to Ubud. For those of you unfamiliar with Bali, this is *the* famous Eat, Pray, Love village where Julia Roberts got all her spiritual healing and now burned-out Westerners run to whenever they need to realign their chakras or talk to their spirit animals.

I joke, I joke. If you know anything about me, you know I’m super into that stuff 😂.

Point being – whether you’re into it or not, this place is AMAZING for slowing down, taking a rest, and getting your healing on.

On a whim, I texted my shaman and asked her for activity recommendations (figured it’d be more interesting than TripAdvisor).

And boy, was I right… she sent me to a local Balinese high priestess to perform a sacred water ceremony.

Now before I give you the punchline, let’s get clear on what that is.

A water ceremony is a traditional ritual performed here in Bali by holy men or women, to cleanse the aura, purify our emotional body from any traumas, and let go of negative energy.

So, I go to this priestess’ home, and I’m taken into her temple, where she greeted me and asks me a few questions about how I’ve been feeling and what’s going on in my life.

Between you and me, my life has been hectic this past month in a way I haven’t enjoyed. I’ve been busier than normal given the holiday season and focusing on building out the operations side of my business, which – for a creative soul like me – has been a strenuous learning curve.

The high priestess starts the ceremony, first chanting in an ancient Balinese language as her assistant repeatedly rings a loud bell. Things start getting intense, fast. Even though I don’t understand what she’s saying, I can tell she’s in a deep trance and channeling some serious energy.

Before I know it, she’s pouring cold-ass water from the top of my head. We’re not talking those little sprinkles of holy water that priests throw at you in church. This was a bucket full, which shocked me to my senses.

And you know what? Something shifted.

As she continued drenching me with ladles of water (this went on for about 20 minutes), my mind shut off completely as I started taking deep gasps for air and reconnecting to the sadness and frustration I’d been downplaying for weeks.

By the end, I was sobbing. It was such a release.

As I stood by the temple, shivering in the sun like a drenched cat, the priestess gave me the opportunity to ask questions.

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I asked her, “What can you see, that I’m not seeing?”

She sat calmly looking into my eyes, hands delicately resting over her crossed legs. She was soft in nature, but her gaze was penetrating.

Slowly, she brought two fingers to her heart space, and responded: “Your soul needs more food.”

Her words somersaulted from her heart into mine.

She continued, “Did you see your gasps for air? That was your heart, asking for more aliveness. Give it more food. More time for yourself, more space, more beauty. Let yourself just be, and feel.”

I mean… wow.

I recently wrote a post on Instagram about how I didn’t meet many of my 2021 goals, and how I realized that this was because I’d spent too much time focusing on the wrong things.

There was too much emphasis on the “shoulds”, and not enough on my heart’s desires.

So, this year, my words for the year are wealth, joy, and enchantment.

Because the priestess was right. My soul does need more food.

And while I’ve built everything I could have dreamed of in the material world – a successful business, a recognized brand, a beautiful dream life here in Bali – what is really near and dear to my heart are things that you cannot measure or put a price tag on, such as:

Getting more deeply connected with my loved ones, my partner, my clients, and my audience.

Enjoying myself and having fun while I get to create cool stuff in my business ventures.

Being in alignment with my deeper Soul’s purpose, and contributing to the world from that space.

This is the path that I’m committing to this coming year – the path with heart.

So answer me this…

What are you looking to create more in 2022, that you may have disconnected from in the past year?

And what does that look like for you?

Wishing you an amazing, joy-filled, soulful upcoming year…