It’s been a hot minute, and life has been getting hot, hot, hot. Well, lifewise… not exactly weatherwise. It’s still a profusely rainy season here with storms practically every other day. It was a different January than I was used to….rainstorms are quite different than snowstorms. Which would you choose?
At the end of December I moved into a new villa in Bali near all the action. And by action, I mean closer to more cute cafes. This villa was shared with 6 other people, and it was a great opportunity to meet some people from all over the world. My travel buddy Kaija and I befriended a Canadian, a Russian and 4 Jakartans that were rotating in and out of the villa. That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke….but in all seriousness, we all got along swimmingly. Like dim sum and walks on the beach together swimmingly.
Even with an 8pm curfew, I realize that my life here is vastly different than life back in the states. I’m grateful to be going out to cafes and getting to hang with friends. Corona has impacted Bali, but not to the extent that the US has suffered. I recognize how hard it must be to have limited luxuries and a constant lingering worry. Yet, I share my journey and adventures to hopefully give a glimmer of optimism that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if we keep striving toward it.
This past month, two great friends that I have made here in Bali went back to Australia. So, January consisted of a lot of goodbye parties and shindigs.
It was the first time I truly experienced how transient living abroad can be. You meet people you connect with, and then a few days, weeks, or months later their plans diverge from yours.
As I get more comfortable diving within and fueling my own internal fire, I find that I become grateful for every meaningful encounter no matter the length. I believe you meet people for a reason and you call in certain experiences and conversations to guide you on your path.
Every day I am grateful that I keep meeting phenomenal people who fill me with immense joy. One of my fears that kept me up at night before going abroad was that I wasn’t going to make any friends and that all of my friendships were going to be superficial.
Hah, it’s funny what our brains worry about sometimes because wow, that is far from the truth. I have met people from all over the world here who have become my abroad family.
Have you been feeling frustrated with your life unable to find anything to be grateful for lately?
Are you ready to learn all about gratitude in order to find more joy and raise your vibration?
In this FREE Attitude of Gratitude Masterclass, you'll learn how to fully utilize the power of gratitude in order to bring more fulfillment into your life.
You'll leave feeling calm, peaceful and connected to yourself in just 45 minutes!
Besides combating the rain storms and 8pm curfew, January consisted of a whole lot of entrepreneuring. I was working on this new website, which will fully launch soon.
However, my pride and joy of the month lies in my FREE 5-Day Yoga Challenge. If you haven’t signed up for it yet, you can do so here. If you have signed up for it, I would love to know how it’s going!
I did take a mental break and headed to the wilderness in the North of Bali where I stayed in a tent and glamped. You know when you have moments of pure bliss where time just stops? I had so many of those on this trip.
With three other friends, we explored the vastly breathtaking Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, a waterfall and some hot springs in a green golf-cart-like buggy. It was pouring down rain, yet we were singing at the top of our lungs in the hot springs hearing our voices echoing around us.
We did a small meditation under the waterfall taking in all of the sensations.
We played cards until 2AM, pretended to have lip-syncs like we were in Rupaul’s Drag Race and overall had ourselves what I would consider a traditional slumber party as if we were in some lakehouse in the midwest.
Do you feel like your negative thoughts are controlling your life?
Are you ready to finally find peace and joy in your life?
Learn the fundamental tools to change your neural pathways to live a more joyous, liberating and satisfying life in a group cohort that will hold you accountable toward your goals.
Let's figure out your goals together and see if this is a great fit for you. Book a call for a FREE Goal Setting Session.
Okay, let's take a second to go back to all of those cute cafes in this new area that I moved to. Y'all I was eating well this month. Lots of vegan food and variety! As a huge foodie, my stomach and my heart were happy.
There is a very fresh Nordic restaurant where the food had such a high vibration. They had a menu full of delicious food where you can pick 3-5 small separate items to create your whole meal. Since I love food so much, I love restaurants that give you a little sampling of everything, so this restaurant called Copenhagen has made it to my Top 10 Favorite restaurants in Bali. This will have to be another blog post in it of itself because I have a lot to say about Bali cafes.
The biggest thing I’ve realized this month is that you are your own gatekeeper. Having a strong sense of self allows you to decide what information, people, and experiences come through your gates. For example, if someone told me that playing rugby would cure all of my problems, I wouldn’t necessarily blindly give up everything to go play rugby. I would maybe consider it…but I wouldn’t doubt everything that I already have going on in my life.
I used to do this. Someone would tell me something, and I would take their word as the gospel questioning my whole life’s existence.
Now, I don’t let others’ opinions and experiences make me question my own. Think of it this way: if you’ve ever been the admin of a Facebook group, you know that you can approve people’s posts before it goes into the group. This is what it feels like. Everything that people say, I sit with it, see if it works for me and then approve or decline it based on if it feels relevant to me. I’m no longer allowing others with stronger opinions take over the reins of my boat. I’m in charge of who I spend time with, what thoughts I let linger, and what advice I take on.
I am the captain of my ship. I am my own gatekeeper, & it feels pretty damn good.
I hope you’re having a lovely February so far. It’s already been simultaneously hectic and relaxing. Oh, the dichotomy of life.
As always, thank you for reading. I welcome any and all feedback and would love to hear about your month.
Until next time!
Xo,
Nikki
Are you wanting to tap into your body and mind by practicing yoga but have no idea where to start?
I’ve made it easy for you to learn the basics of yoga poses in 5 short days.
For 5 days, you'll receive an email with 3 videos on how to do basic yoga poses. Then, you can practice those poses with a 15-minute sequence that combines them all.
On day 5, celebrate with a 30-minute yoga flow!
The best way to ease into yoga. Perfect for beginners.
Copyright © 2025 Clarity with Nikki. All rights reserved.
.jpg)
.jpg)
