Maa Saraswati
SACRED WATERS
Come meet us at the waters' edge to embody creativity and unleash your eminent power
through nature, song and ritual
6-day intensive with Suzanne Sterling
25-30 May 2024
Ubud, BALI
embodying creativity to liberate our human potential
Do you yearn to be in a place where the sacred is embedded in daily life? Are you ready to shed old skins and stories about yourself and reconnect with intention?
With Suzanne Sterling at the helm, come on a powerful journey into the art of ritual and sacred song as a way to tap into states of joy, creativity and connection, to cultivate, expand and heal.
In the land of living rituals and the power of its sacred waters, we shall embody, take refuge, pay homage and tap into the profound energy and symbolism associated to the elemental forces of Water and Fire, to release old patterns to open and unlock your sacred power.
Together we will deep dive into potent ancient and modern ritual practices, as well participate in ancient water rituals with local water Balinese Priestesses in the land of Dewi Danu, the Balinese goddess of the water, lakes, and rivers.
Designed for passionate healers, creatives, and activists who want to share their gifts with the world. The promise is of intuitive clarity, transformation of the mind, creative blossoming, and profound liberation and healing that will continue to percolate and impact all aspects of your life.
Suzanne Sterling
Global Teacher, Musician, Ritualist, Activist and Instigator of collective joy
Suzanne Sterling has been performing and teaching around the globe for over 25 years, creating ritual, training teachers and offering year–long Sacred Leadership training.
She is the founder of The Voice of Change method (VOC), a comprehensive system of releasing blocks to self-expression that weaves together a number of modalities including sound, story, movement, and ritual. The VOC journey holds at its center the understanding that we are all hard-wired for self-expression and can create a new vision for ourselves, and our world through art, creativity, and community. (Anti-oppression frame and is trauma-informed).
Since 2007 she has been training leaders in spiritual activism and social justice through her co-founded organization Off The Mat, Into the World (OTM). As director of OTM’s Seva Challenge, she has spent time in the US, India, Cambodia, Haiti, Ecuador and Africa working in community resilience.
Suzanne has been featured at hundreds of international festivals and conference centers including Yoga Journal, Omega, Esalen, Wanderlust, Kripalu, Symbiosis, Bhaktifest, Boom Festival and many more. She is an award-winning musician, having released 5 solo albums.
Basundari Property
Basundari (The Grace of Mother Earth) is a beautiful (4 Stars) boutique retreat property located in the village of Laplapan, 2km from Ubud’s town centre. Its chosen because its secluded and set amongst the jungle and rice fields and provides the perfect environment for sacred gatherings. The yoga shala is a big large open and wooden place space (65m2) situated among the gigantic bamboo trees near the river, so when it rains you can hear the waterfall cascading. The property accommodates 22 people in total, 11 unique double rooms with unique splendid rooms that each sleep 2 in single beds, each room with their own bathroom. The property also has two lovely pools for refreshing swims. One is an eternity pool with views of coconut palms and rice fields, while the other has a deck overlooking at trees and a 4 m high Buddha statue. There is also an infrared sauna, with hot rocks and an amazing view. The property is surrounded by beautiful jungle where which frogs, butterflies and geckos, dragonflies, ducks, chickens and lizards inhabit , which is – the place is truly magical. We have our own kitchen and cook on hand for all meals and a beautiful shared space to come together. This is a special oasis.
Why Ritual & Song? Acts of ritual motivate and move us into places sometimes hard to access. Sound and song vibrate our being and calibrates our collective past, present and future. Rituals allow for our primal impulses and emotions to have a channel for expression, to assist us to step out of our logical 3D reality and find deeper purpose and connection.
Connecting with the world amd nature in a sacred way through ritual is a powerful way for us to learn to see our place in it, and truly discover that our actions and our words matter. When we live and embody our truth, we can better speak truth to power. When we honour our voice, we remember that our words matter, and from there we can stand for what matters most to us in the world. When we give permission to our innate creativity, we can be both powerfully effective and visionary.
Why Water & Fire? Deep diving into the elements of Water & Fire and their purifying strengths washes away what is no longer necessary, reflecting back to us a new vision. Water and Fire are often paired together in ritual across cultures, as they combine the forces of the feminine (water) and the masculine (fire) ) and they hold significant symbolism and relevance in transformational work due to their inherent qualities of purification.
Water assists with shedding, cleansing and self-purification and it is related to the Svadisthan (sacral chakra), which transforms shame into creativity and self-expression. It is also a carrier of our emotions and unconscious and so when we purify within, we are equally purifying outwardly. It represents the fluidity of change, adaptability, and the power of surrender.
Fire, on the other hand, represents passion, energy, and transformation itself. Fire is yoked with blood and life–force, and activity in motion; across cultures, stories were told around fires. Fire is also highly purifying and protective and helps with driving back our shadow. It embodies the power of creation and destruction, symbolizing the burning away of the old to make way for the new. In serves as a catalyst to encouraging us to face our fears, break through limitations.