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Samdhana Mindful Living, Wongaya Gede, Kintamani (2025)

27/09/2025

About Alicia…

“I began teaching group exercise at 15, and in my 20s shifted to yoga. Over 30 years ago, it wasn’t the postures that drew me in-I was already athletic and strong. What captivated me was the meditation, the philosophy, and the quiet, graceful glow my teachers radiated.

Calling my work “Alicia Yoga” never resonated. I’ve always preferred collectives and collaborations. When I discovered the meaning of Samdhana-to put together, to integrate, to bring into harmony-I knew I had found the essence of yoga for me, and what I (and our growing team) hope to share.

My teaching style is fun, caring, intentional-and sometimes challenging. Real practice isn’t about perfection but embodiment. It’s about connecting the parts of ourselves and noticing how that connection ripples outward-into our relationships, communities, and the world.

This is how I live yoga off the mat too. My parents were deeply humanitarian, and their example shaped me. Giving back, being grateful, and taking responsibility for those with less has always been part of my path. Samdhana grew from this impulse: to carry yoga beyond the mat and into the world.

At Samdhana, we often start with the body-exploring ease and discomfort, strength and restriction, balance and resilience. As strength and mobility grow, and as breath retrains the nervous system, the practice touches physiology, psyche, and spirit. We embody connection more deeply, and it ripples outward into belonging, purpose, and renewed care for the world.

This is our focus on training world-class teachers:

* Body: Balance strength with mobility, stability with ease.
* Nervous system: Use breath to regulate and restore.
* Mind: Examine thoughts and beliefs with curiosity and compassion.
* Heart: Learn where to soften, release, and embrace forgiveness.
* Spirit: Practice the 8 Limbs, live consciously, and walk the path of dharma.

Yoga is never separate from how we live. It’s the weaving of awareness into daily life and the reminder that everything is connected.

At Samdhana, this is what we stand for: doing the inner work so we can live with clarity, purpose, and compassion-and from there, serve the world.”

25/09/2025

Yes, Samdhana is emerging,
a rebirthing, if you will.
 We’ve been fairly quiet the last ten months, but silence is not absence. It’s the ground from which creativity, care, and responsibility emerge.

We’ve been relaxing, observing, listening, playing, creating and manifesting.

Creative juices flow when you pause and give it time and space.

From this pause comes our emergence: new offerings in 2026, rooted in sustainable movement, mindfulness, and care for body, mind, and planet.

What we’ve created is meant to be experienced, lived, taught, shared, and practiced…
with you!

And our team is growing and the enthusiasm is infectious!

Swipe to see what’s unfolding: our latest offerings, our ethos, and what we stand and live for.

And so it is.
We are here,
and we invite you
to walk with us
into this next chapter.

16/09/2025

Journey Into Stillness: Mindfulness Retreat Training
March 13–24, 2026 
If you’re feeling called to step back from the noise of daily life and reconnect with clarity, presence, and a deeper sense of Love, then join us for this immersive retreat designed to take your practice—and teaching—to the next level.

Our 10-day retreat takes place during Nyepi, the Balinese New Year, a sacred time when the entire island pauses.

That means 👇

No lights, no traffic, no work, no noise, even the airport closes -
just stillness.

The only sounds you’ll enjoy are the living rhythms of nature: birdsong, geckos, frogs, and the occasional rooster!

We’ll spend four days preparing the mind and body for stillness, followed by three full days in complete silence, and end with three days of integration. This is an experiential training that combines short lectures on mindfulness, philosophy, and the neuroscience of awareness with daily practices of meditation, breathwork, movement, and myofascial release. These modalities will build resilience, support your nervous system, nourish your lymphatics, and build capacity for deep rest and clear seeing. Daily Q&A will help you integrate the work and apply it in your own life and teaching.

Our setting is wondrously held by the natural world - rainforest, rice fields, and the soundscape of wild Bali - where Nature is your greatest teacher.

Sometimes the most direct way to reconnect with your own true nature is by immersing fully in nature itself.

Bonuses:

* Includes our full Online Mindfulness Course (valued at $295) for FREE
* $200 early bird discount when paid in full by November 15, 2025
* Open to teachers and non-teachers alike
* Yoga Alliance accredited – 100 hours

This retreat is an invitation to pause, to come back to your own inner rhythm, and to remember what matters most. 
Come for personal practice.
Leave with tools to support others.
 If not now, when? 🤔

Our local team on the ground awaits your humble presence.

DM us for more details. We are nearly half full already!

26/07/2025

What a privilege to know these very talented ladies!

If you love the ocean, sunshine, and yoga and want to expand your repertoire for teaching, then SUP YOGA ticks off all the boxes!

and are offering another 2-day course where you get to learn water safety, class set up, how to stay balanced on a floating surface, and much more. It’s a whole other kind of movement practice that fires up all those deep stabilizer muscles and feels oh so good, not to mention it’s super fun!

Dates: Aug 30-31
Location: Bali

DM for more details.
And see you on the beach!

16/06/2025

Excuse the goggle marks all over my face. Just had a lovely 1 km swim! 🏊 😊

I love everything I teach and share with clients, patients and students. And when I think about it, I guess I just love empowering others to take control over their health and wellbeing with simple, effective tools that ACTUALLY WORK to calm and soothe the nervous system, increase energy and focus, keep you regular, and wake up in A.W.E. at this most incredible journey we call LIFE.

LIFE is for living. We often let the tough moments weigh (and wear) us down, so much so that we stop living.

Not over here.
I don’t buy it.
I don’t entertain it for a second.
I live and am happy to live and am grateful to be alive in this wondrous body, with this fantastic breathing mechanism that keeps me moving along until that very last exhalation.

Use it before you lose it.
Look at all the things going right in your life.
There are plenty of people who have it much worse.

And hopefully we will see you online for some simple, zero cost tools that will make it easier for you to enjoy life and this precious gift of body and breath.

P.S. that last bit got cut off! As always a portion of the proceeds goes to charity because, well, in my world, I like spreading the message that we can take care of ourselves and others all at the same time. 😊🙏🏼💕🤷‍♀️

29/05/2025

When things get stuck in the body (stress, emotions, food, etc,) it will present with signs of Qi stagnation which often looks like:

*Physical tension and tightness (neck, shoulders, back, hips, etc)
*Digestive discomfort (bloating, irregular stools, acid reflux)
*Emotional imbalances (frustration, irritability, sadness)
*Pain that moves around
*Menstrual irregularities (PMS, cramps, clots)
*Shallow or irregular breathing (Qi stuck in the chest or diaphragm)
*Feeling stuck or frustrated in life

Left unresolved, it can lead to:

*A build up of heat (red tip on the tongue, restlessness, insomnia, irritability, skin issues
*Blood stagnation (clots, dark or purplish tongue, sharp pains, headaches)
*Damp accumulation: (when the Spleen (digestive organ) is weak Qi stagnation holds on to excess moisture leading to a greasy tongue coating, loose or sticky stools, brain fog, a sense of heaviness)
*Organ dysfunction (long term stagnation weakens the Liver (which ensures the smooth flow of Qi throughout the body), the Heart (affecting sleep and emotions), and the Spleen (which is in charge of digestion and energy levels)

Do whatever it takes to move the Qi:

*Movement: All forms promote circulation
*Cupping and Acupuncture
*Breath work and meditation to calm the mind
*Process your issues via therapy or writing
*Herbal teas that move Qi like chai spices, dandelion, chamomile, peppermint

Whether we are talking about stress or emotional upset or food….take it in, process, assimilate it, then let go and eliminate what doesn’t serve you. This is the key to good health.

23/04/2025

Honoring Mother Earth today and every day with…

Gratitude
Reverence
Respect
Humility
And a deep deep Love.

We come from Nature
So honoring Her is honoring our deepest Self.

There’s so much we can learn when we observe Nature,
So much we can learn about ourselves.
Much like watching human relationships at play.

Nature has a power that can create and destroy.
And so do we.
She is our mirror.

Which is quite relevant in this year’s theme, “Our Power, Our Planet”.

Where we place our attention and our choices can either sustainably create or tragically destroy.

Where is your attention and power these days ?

14/03/2025

In yogic philosophy, there is a reason why Patanjali presented the first sutra as Atha yogānuśāsanam, or, “Now the teachings of yoga begin”.

It’s a grand invitation, really. How sweet is that?
And we’re all invited!

“Let’s begin. Now”.

Not later.
Not when life is perfect.
Not when we feel “spiritual.”
Not when the mind is silent.
Not when the mind obsesses outta control.

We begin now.
Right where we are.
Wherever we are.
No matter how messy or beautiful.

The path of yoga is NOT about escaping life, nor is it about achieving some perfect state of mind. It is about turning toward life fully, with an awake and open heart, meeting each moment as it is-whether that moment is joy, sorrow, doubt, or stillness. In the midst of it all, can we watch and observe our breath, our thoughts, and how we move in our response to life?

This is where we begin. Over and over and over again.

As each day passes and we witness what seems like accelerated chaos in politics, the stock market, social etiquette, and everyday human functioning……..

I invite myself to begin again.
Now.
Not later.
Not when life and politics and society are perfect.
Not when I feel “spiritual.”
Not when my mind is silent.

But now,
in meeting what life has to offer me right now.
THAT is the ultimate, “living my best life”.

26/02/2025

MOVEMENT.
BREATH.
STILLNESS.
…our guiding forces.

MOVEMENT.

It isn’t just physical. It’s also mental and emotional. Journaling, dialoguing, remaining curious, inquisitive and engaged- these are all forms of movement, of activism, of “skillful action”.

BREATH.

Aah, Spirit-in-motion.

Hidden in every inspiration and expiration lies the blueprint of your life experience. Stories of trauma, stories of triumph, and everything in between influence your breathing patterns and wire/rewire your nervous system, shape your thoughts, moods and emotions, and influence your beliefs.

Becoming more embodied with your personal breathing mechanism is an act of intimacy that only you can develop and fully understand. It is at the very heart of practice.

STILLNESS.

It isn’t just an absence of movement, but a fullness of PRESENCE.

Stillness creates space. It is the pause between breaths, the quiet between thoughts, the moment when the body softens its grasp and the mind no longer rushes to fill the silence.

Stillness is not empty—it is very much alive. A fertile void where awareness deepens, where tension unravels, where we learn to listen.

Stillness is where body-mind-spirit converge into vast space and endless possibilities.

It’s where clarity resides. When we stop grasping, clarity arises. Like a lake settling after a storm, stillness allows the sediment of distraction to sink, revealing the quiet truth beneath.

Clarity is not something we chase; it’s what remains when we stop running. In stillness, we see—patterns, habits, the spaces where we hold, the places where we hide. We see not only what is, but what is possible.

From stillness, action is no longer reactive but intentional.

Thought is no longer scattered but precise.

Movement is no longer habitual but awake.

In a world that demands constant doing, stillness becomes the most radical practice. It is the ground from which all conscious action arises. It is where we remember who we are before the world told us who to be.

Stillness is the foundation of movement, the wellspring of wisdom, the meeting place of all that we are.

And, what are we?

(Excerpt from my latest creation)

😊🧘‍♂️ 🧠 🫁 💜 ☮️ 🌎

31/12/2024

Happy Holidays to our global, Samdhana family!

We took a pause from social media this month as our socials/website were recently compromised, but we will be back in the New Year!

Until then, try out one of our favorite Tibetan proverbs that can be quite useful during the holidays 😊:

“The secret to living well and longer is:

Eat half,
Walk double,
Laugh triple and
Love without measure. “

This is indeed our secret to living mindfully.

We wish all of you much love, health, and happiness in the New Year.

See you soon!

💕🙏🏼 😊

04/09/2024

Raise your hand if you’re a feel-good ju**ie? 🙋🏽‍♀️

So so many students love moving their bodies and feeling stronger, more supple, calmer and more grounded. But when the initial calm wears off, they’re back to feeling jaded, reactive, and generally unaware of their thoughts, words, and actions. For them, the magic is what happens on the mat when they devote an hour to paying attention.

The mindfulness on the mat doesn’t necessarily translate to off the mat or into the world, however.

The exciting news is that Yoga and mindfulness permeate every facet of life and human interaction. The “moving” on a mat is metaphorical to the moving through life in the context of everyday relationships, working at a job, waiting in the peak of traffic, dealing with the loss of a loved one, and so on. They’re really two sides of the same (awareness) coin.

This is why I love the practice and you will, too, if you’ve never gone beyond the mat practice.

Everyday, we have the opportunity to become more wakeful in our efforts to
understand our bodies,
become more intimate with our hearts,
and make friends with our minds.

We practice the Yamas and niyamas,
the ethics and inner work,
which help to define the parameters of relationship.

We cannot fully understand ourselves or the world
when we don’t care enough to put in the time for self-practice,
when we get consumed by life and all the happenings,

the social media
the echo chambers

that reinforce what we want to hear to be true. It’s actually so antithetical to Yoga!

Ultimately, when all is said and done, you are left with only

this body
this breath
this heart
this mind.

Spend your time wisely and tend to your own, spiritual garden.

Sow the seeds of awareness through self-compassion and kindness.

Sit with discomfort and trust that your breath, that thing that keeps you alive, will anchor you to this impermanent world of nothingness and everything-ness all at once.

01/09/2024

In case you were wondering…

You were gifted this beautiful, one-of-a-kind human form.

Every contour of your flesh and bones
Is a gift, a blessing from the Universe.

There is no space a self-hate
that inspires you to alter your appearance,

Either adding on
or subtracting
from.

No matter how often you change the color
or size.
No matter how much filler,
staples
plugs
botox
or silicone
are used.

Only you can find that deep Love and appreciation that says
“I am beauty and grace incarnate”.

It comes from
eyes that sparkle with tenderness
lips that speak words of kindness,
smiles that evoke joy,
ears that listen with deep compassion

This is what makes YOU beautiful.

Of course,
take care of yourself.

Eat healthy and well,
move your body
take slow, deep breaths
go out into nature
Connect with the trees
rivers and lakes
birds and furry critters

laugh
and play.

A playful spirit is one to be savored.

Beauty and grace incarnate.

Samdhana Mindful Living

27/09/2025

25/09/2025

16/09/2025

26/07/2025

16/06/2025

29/05/2025

23/04/2025

14/03/2025

26/02/2025

31/12/2024

04/09/2024

01/09/2024

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