Today, Aurélien Millot tells us about the Shambali center, a wellness hub offering holistic retreats for a stay focused on reconnecting with one's inner and outer Self.

Shambali is a wellness center whose subtle hub is the person, and whose sphere of influence extends everywhere. Indeed, our mission is to ensure that one finds oneself again, recenters, in order to reconnect with one's deeper Self and become more receptive, vibrating with life: the environment, nature, people… This is our goal—ensuring that our guests aspire to inner and outer harmony in this magical place, but most importantly, that they leave with an abundance of tools to reactivate these beautiful vibrations in their daily lives and learn how to better manage them.

Shambali for a Holistic Retreat

Shambali thus fulfills a long-held dream: offering holistic retreats of 5 to 10 days that allow our guests to give birth to themselves. Why and in what way? What does "holistic" mean—a term often heard in rather esoteric circles? Yet our approach is quite grounded, rooted in reconnection with nature and one's own nature: the term comes from "holos," meaning "whole."

Indeed, our programs are designed to be intense and rich. They integrate a significant number of parameters and disciplines to guide our travelers on their path, awakening them to new perceptions and spheres of consciousness. It is holistic in that the teaching is woven with a subtle thread connecting the different activities, recognizing that things are interwoven and resonate with one another.

We offer approximately twenty disciplines, establishing connections and bridges between them, introducing:

• Meditation
• Kundalini Yoga
• Pilates
• Qi Gong
• Reiki
• Sound therapy
• Holotropic breathwork
• Self-hypnosis
• Ecstatic dance

The goal is to broaden these fields of vision, action, and interest. We consistently apply a three-part learning framework (TIP): theoretical, intuitive, and practical—and beyond that, scientific, artistic, and somewhat spiritual—allowing each person to open the doors they wish to. We respect everyone's pace and convictions.

In an idyllic setting, guests will be invited to find themselves through an inner journey. Our mission is therefore to offer them a maximum of paths to take, hence the breadth of our activities, as some will resonate more than others. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, or to the dome or "Home." We should note that most retreats are conducted in English-speaking settings, though we often strive to remember the universal language of the heart.

It is about rediscovering one's true nature at the heart of nature: our place in it, in respect and harmony, relearning certain essentials, recovering sight for certain beauties and sensitivities we have often lost. We will discover the practice of mindfulness by becoming more anchored in the present moment—a true gift—activating our five senses (and from there developing the sixth) to perceive life's essence. We will embark on a quest for the inner child that often slumbers within us and enables us to dream and marvel at the magnificence of life.

Why Bali?

Shambali is naturally the contraction and fusion of Shambala and Bali. Bali sits on the equator and is in a sense at the center of our world, ideal for teaching the middle way, a good balance and equilibrium of life. Furthermore, this island is located on a particular telluric zone brimming with very strong energy. Moreover, it offers the very best of Mother Nature—incredible and paradisiacal fauna and flora, as well as a wonderfully mild climate year-round with gentle extremes.

"Shambala," which literally means "place of peaceful happiness" in Sanskrit, appears in a number of beliefs and legends. The "myth" suggests that Shambala is not a physical place, not a nation or state, but rather a state of mind. Shambala exists within each of us—a kind of inner harmony enabling access to outer harmony. It is a imaginary place, mythic and mystical, which one approaches not with the eyes but more with the heart. It is a sort of paradise that cannot be exclusively terrestrial, and by that fact is also celestial.

Elif Shafak said: "No matter who we are or where we live, deep down, we all feel incomplete. It is like having lost something and feeling the need to find it again. What is this 'something'? Most of us will never discover it. And among those who do, even rarer are those who venture in search of it."

I personally set out in search of this "something" nearly 40 years ago. Travel was my path for 20 years, visiting nearly 70 countries, drawing inspiration from the greatest treasures of humanity's world heritage. I had considerable difficulty at first grasping it in the sense of understanding it, then preserving it, and even more so explaining it to others and mastering it. Also because this "something" can only be real if it is shared. Today, through this collective project, we are able to teach the greatest number what this famous "something" might be—that which is missing for most of humanity…

Heartily yours,

Aurélien Millot