Exploring Bali the spiritual way: everything you need to know!

Use this guide to plan your spiritual trip to Bali

Bali is a volcanic island; it is a transformative portal that still retains its Hindu tradition and culture. One of the most beautiful and aesthetic places in the world, there is a reason that this island attracts so many spiritual seekers, those in need of healing and of course, tourists and travellers.

But so many people MISS the spiritual side of Bali entirely.

They think Bali is about partying in Seminyak, doing a touristy waterfall and that’s the end of it. But Bali is sooooo much more! So much.

Let me first tell you about how I landed up in Bali in 2017, discovering this spiritual hub for myself by accident and the main places + things you should know about when planning your trip!

This has been a long requested article and honesty, I should have published this 4 years ago but here we are. No time like the present right? (After all, I am always living in the present moment which is why sometimes I forget 4 years have passed. Lmao).

One of the many beautiful waterfalls in Bali, paradise.

In 2017, I got my first proper camera. It was a Sony a6, and I decided that I wanted to take content creation seriously. After all, if I could travel the world and just make content for a living, that would be a dream. A dream that I fulfilled.

I reached Bali after a one week trip across Java. The first day I landed in Jakarta, I had no idea where I was actually going. Yes, I book hotels now - but at that time, I literally just boarded a flight and that was my life. When I got off at Jakarta airport, no one spoke English. So I opened my laptop and saw some places I had listed down.

Bandung looked nice, with rice fields.

“Bandung?” I asked around, and some of the locals gestured to a van. Seemed like the van was correct, and there I found myself travelling with 4 local Indonesian men who couldn’t speak word of English, with no internet. Just another day in the life of Wandering Kamya.

“How far is Bandung?” I asked the driver, next to whom I was sitting. He would just make some gestures with his hands, and I genuinely had no idea how many hours it would take. But I had trust, trust in the universe that solo travel lifted me into.

Upon reaching Bandung, I quickly found internet, a hostel, some food and continued my travels across Java. Visited the ruins of Hindu temples, Mount Bromo, various places in between. Most of my trip in Java had been sleeping on buses so when I landed in Canggu, Bali for the first time I WAS SO FUCKING HAPPY.

Canggu, the LA of South East Asia. The hub of the influencer community, content creators everywhere, aesthetic Instagrammable cafes and all the healthy vegetarian food I could ask for. Of course, Canggu has changed now. It’s not the same. But at the time I stayed for a month. Explored the hidden islands around Nusa Pendia (which again was completely unknown at the time), Ubud and wherever the wind took me.

Fast forward now to 2024 (has it really been that long guys?) - which is 7 years later (my inner being is gasping). I’ve discovered SO much about Bali. Lived for months in its thriving spiritual community, attended all kinds of ceremonies, workshops, explored the length and breadth of the island and that’s still not even 5% of what the island has to offer.

So let’s talk about it.

First, a bit of rambling about the island of Bali.

And next places to go and what to do.

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The spiritual side of Bali: ancient and modern

A little bit of ancient paradise

Starting with the ancient side, Bali is a Hindu island. Every morning, you will see the Balinese Hindus putting Canang Sari or offerings of rice, flowers and agarbattis outside their doorway. EVERY HOUSE IN BALI HAS A TEMPLE! Yes! They have entire temple premises in each Balinese Hindu house, which has managed to retain its indigenous identity despite Islamic invasion across Indonesia.

Balinese Hindus worship the ancestors, a lot. Each village also has 3 temples for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva along with a Devi (Goddess) temple.

The island of Bali is home to so many Hindu temples, the largest one being Pura Besakih which was established by Rishi Markandey. I will be listing out some of the main temples in the next section.

Note that Bali has retained it’s close ritual of nature worship, and the two volcanoes on the island Mount Agung and Mount Batur are worshipped as sacred. They even conduct rituals INSIDE the volcano too!

You should absolutely know that Bali is called ‘Tirtha Ganga’ or island of the sacred waters. The main water temple being Pura Tirtha Empul and the Balinese priests doing many ceremonies with water healing in its more hidden temples and springs.

Bali is a blessed place, the Island of the Gods for a reason. The energy of this island is pure abundance; it is as deeply transformative as it is healing.

Bali, a global spiritual hub

People cringe when they hear the name ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ but there is a reason that Bali has grown to be the global hub of the conscious spiritual community. In the cultural centre of Ubud, you will find dozens of yoga centres, all kinds of healing, workshops and ceremonies that you can ever imagine. Continuously flowing Kombucha, Cacao and all manner of healthy items. And probably the highest concentration of vegan restaurants in South East Asia if not the world. Now, I’m not a vegan because I am purely vegetarian - and always will be.

But one of the best things about this spiritual hub is to be honest, the people. Bali changed my life. It was in 2018 that I became acquainted with shamanic cultures and healing modalities. Bali was my connect to Peru, where I went in 2019 to sit with Ayahuasca. I’ve met so many beautiful souls in this island, experienced so many things I cannot describe and am just incredibly grateful.

Bali is easily my favourite place for healing (along with Koh Phangan in Thailand), when I really just need to be in a safe and supportive space around people that understand me and the ability to be free and return to my own self love.

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Where to go and what to do!

Starting with the ancient side, Balinese temples

1. Tirtha Empul Water Temple:
   
   A must visit temple that contains multiple water springs in which you bathe and cleanse yourself. This temple has typical Chola empire (Tamil Hindu) architecture. If you go behind the springs you can see the entire temple with water kund.
   
   Be sure to get a local Balinese priest here to guide you as not all the springs are meant to be bathed under! They will help you with the Canang Sari and ask you for dakshina or donation after the rituals so be sure to carry cash.
   

2. Pura Besakih, the Mother temple
   
   This is Bali’s oldest and largest temple complex, established by Rishi Markandey, Hindu Rishi from India (at the time the whole of South East Asia was Akhand Bharat before Islamic and Christian invasion).
   
   Besakih comes from Vasuki Naag. At the entrance you see Kauravas and Pandavas, you see temples for the four different varnas or ancestral lineage communities. There is a Kshatriya temple at the very base of the temple. Every single Hindu community in Bali has their own temple. There are many temples just for specific families who worship their ancestors here.
   
   This temple has 7 levels, the top most being called Kailash. This is truly a mesmerising experience to explore these temples, be sure to take a guide.

   
   

   

   Me with my Bali retreat participants in May 2024, outside the Pura Besakih temple. Stay tuned for my upcoming trips!

   
   

3. Ulan Danu Beratan Temple
   
   One of the most picturesque temples in Bali that is Instagram’s favourite, also beautiful for sunrise. This temple is situated in North Bali and makes a good stop if you are venturing to North Bali’s waterfalls.
   

4. Taman Beji Griya Waterfall and Temple

   
   How can this list be complete without one temple and waterfall combination that Bali is so famous for. A more secluded and lesser known temple where many rituals take place.

Since this is a short article AND being a solo traveller for 7 years I love when people do their own exploration, getting lost in order to get find. Allow the flow of the island to take you where you need to be (with safety and good education). Because even in the spiritual space there are a lot of scams and hazards. That’s for another article. But on the whole Bali is very safe and you should do self exploration.

There are soooo many others temples, such as Tanah Lot temple, Saraswati temple in Ubud, temples in South Bali and Uluwatu. These above ones I would not miss.

The new age spiritual community across Bali

Since the majority of the spiritual community is located in Ubud, I’ll be focusing on that - though there are also good yoga centres and community in Canggu and Uluwatu.

Peaceful day at the Yoga Barn, one of Bali's best Yoga centres and full of thriving community

Yoga centres in Ubud

1. The Yoga Barn
   
   Easily the largest and most happening Yoga centre in the whole of Ubud, the home of the Bali Spirit Festival and the most diverse array of spiritual workshops and healing experiences. They have a great community of students, teachers, healers, explorers and two different cafes where you can sit and eat healthy food.
   

2. Radiantly Alive
   
   This is one of my favourite places, again a thriving community, though smaller in premises compared to the Yoga Barn, I find some of their workshops more unique. Everything from Yoga to Qi Going, longer learning immersions and workshops.
   

3. Alchemy Yoga Centre
   
   Situated along with Alchemy vegan cafe, another wonderful place to do yoga and access a range of workshops and experiences; their yoga classes are themed around the five elements with a beautiful venue.

There are so many others, at least dozens more. But to avoid confusion, this is more than enough to start with - and you can explore the range of other places too.

Me in Bali around 2019, sitting in ceremony, eating smoothie bowls and enjoying life

Activities to do in Ubud

1. Take Yoga classes
   
   Everything from Yin Yoga to Vinayasa, Hatha Yoga and innovative combinations of movement, breathing, sound and healing methods. You will find everything in Bali. Though not everything is authentic - there are a lot of very good centres and teachers.
   

2. Spiritual workshops
   
   It’s not possible to describe everything here, but consider this your circus wonderland for all things inner discovery, healing and spirituality. Womb healing, inner child healing, shadow work, manifestation, tarot, crystal healing, energy work, astrology, movement, everything. I’ve been duped a lot in this community too, so be sure to try and verify authenticity.
   

3. Sound healing
   
   Please don’t leave Ubud before doing at least one sound healing. Available in the range of yoga centres like the Yoga Barn but also Pyramids of Chi who have literally built an entire pyramid just for sound healing. Tune in, drop out.
   

4. Kirtan
   
   Ubud is famous for it’s frequent kirtan gatherings. Stay tuned in the different cafes and yoga centres, and ask people in the community for updates. One of my favourite people are the Hanuman Project who are based in Bali. Don’t miss their Kirtans if they have an event.
   

5. Cacao ceremonies
   
   Cacao was worshipped by the ancient Mayans, Incas and Aztecs as a sacred plant offered to the Gods and consumed in ceremony. Cacao aids heart expansion, healing and elevates one to a higher frequency. Cacao ceremony is one of those typical new age spiritual things that can sometimes be totally inauthentic but is actually super elevating and wonderful if you find a good one. Cacao is now a part of my daily life, you can read about the benefits of ceremonial cacao over here
   

6. Ecstatic dance

   
   This is basically a rave without drugs. Well, a different kind - most usually cacao, blue lotus or any spiritual plant that takes you into the zone. Or the endogenously produced DMT in your pineal gland through holotropic breathing. Yes, that’s a thing. I love ecstatic dance, although I can’t say I love it more than the madness of the psychedelic trance world - this is a more healing orientated experience where you are more conscious of your movement and the space is held in order to move energy through your vessel and access higher states of being. Find ecstatic dance in the Yoga Barn, Alchemy and many other places.
   

7. Shamanic healing methods
   
   This deserves a mention given that there is so much on offer here. The first time I sat in a Hapeh ceremony (legal Amazonian ceremony), was in Koh Phangan in Thailand, which was life changing in multiple ways. I’ve also sat in multiple Kambo ceremonies which a legal purifying frog medicine (frog venom? lol) - used by the Amazonian tribes for purification and one of the strongest purgatives (it makes you vomit) but shields against severe sickness. It also helps to clear dense trauma and karmas from the energetic field. I need another article on shamanic healing modalities but one thing to know is PLEASE VERIFY AUTHENTICTY based on the multiple community recommendations and trust worthy people in the new age community; not the culturally appropriating, extractive vultures and people who call themselves shamans after sitting with Ayahuasca twice :) so, yes, don’t be naive. But shamanic healing modalities are something that have had a fundamental impact on my life transformation in ways I can’t describe.

Wonderful kirtan band, The Hanuman Project. Though this is on a stage, the majority of weekly kirtan happen in smaller community spaces. Taken from their Facebook, find them @thehanumanproject on Instagram!

Vegan / vegetarian cafes and community

1. Sayuri Healing Foods
   
   A nice community cafe located in the centre of Ubud, fully vegan, with a ton of vegan deserts, live music every evening as well as workshops and wonderful serve and people. You can also find spiritual products like palo Santo and sage here in their small shop.

2. Zest
   
   Easily one of the most upmarket vegan places in Ubud, and the most aesthetic. A vegan plant based restaurant with the adjacent Tea Temple, with some of the world’s best teas. One of my favourites and also just the mention of Zest makes me miss the vegan chocolate mouse. Please universe.
   

3. Usada Bali
   
   This place has healthy Indonesia Vedic cuisine, very wholesome and healthy meals. I wouldn't recommend their workshops all that much as I did find some hyper liberal anti-India, anti-national views there. However what is very good is this place also organises authentic experiences with Balinese priests and water blessing rituals.

4. Yoga Barn cafe
   
   As mentioned above.
   

5. Seeds of Life cafe
   

   In a little street called Jalan Hanuman, along with a ton of other restaurants - once again full of healthy food and tiny Chinese medicine tonic and tea place inside the cafe.

Bali has the best healthy food on the planet.

So that’s all from me! Hope you loved this tiny guide to get you started and if you are planning a trip I WISH YOU AN INCREDIBLE TRIP! We’ll talk about tripping in another article, but this is all for now.

If you wish to book personal consultations with me please select from my Calendly link. I would love to guide you in your healing and integration journey based on my 13+ years of spiritual pathway and 7+ years of travelling to make it easy for you.

Aum Swastiastu.

Love and light and blessings to you.