22 TRAVEL+LEISURE | APRIL / MAY 2020
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F IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE a child, then how
many people does it take to raise a mama?
I’m contemplating this when I should be
watching my breath. It’s early morning in Bali and
I’m sitting in a yoga shala trying to let go of some of
the frazzlement of motherhood and stay present in a
meditation practice... but the thought keeps
creeping in. Maybe over the next five days, on my first retreat
for moms, I’ll find the answer—or at least learn not to follow
the thought down the rabbit hole when trying to be present
with each inhale and exhale.
Less than a dozen of us have come to Desa Seni, a
rustic-chic, eco-friendly village resort in the beachside town
of Canggu, for Raising Happy & Healthy Mamas, an
opportunity for moms to invest in themselves, recharge and
take a step back from motherhood and family life to
reconnect with themselves.
Carmela Fleury, who leads the retreat, refers to herself as
“the village crazy mama” but the motivation that brought her
to the point of developing these retreats is far from cuckoo.
She’s a certified Wayfinder Master Coach, a certified holistic
health coach, an Embodied Flow yoga teacher, and a yin-yoga
teacher, studying toward the Insight Yoga Certification with
Sarah Powers. She’s also a mom of two “short-crazies” as she
affectionately calls them, so she’s right in the thick of
child-raising, too. Over the years she’s been building up her
arsenal of “women who do cool shit” and collaborating with
them on retreats like this and workshops, but also just
creating the opportunity for them to share their stories.
Some of the moms on this latest getaway arrive with
babies propped on their hips while their barefoot toddlers
jump along the stone paths. Others are kid-free for a week
and have already secured a lounger by the pool, luxuriating in
being able to read a magazine uninterrupted. The next five
days are scheduled with yin yoga, workshops, dinner dates,
long lunches, surfing and spa-ing, but we’re reminded that allare optional. Babysitters have been arranged so that the
moms with children have some downtime for the activities—
even though kids are always welcome. In fact, even the
resort’s friendly old dog takes part when he wants. One day
he plods in during our yin-yoga practice and curls into me as
I’m reclined on my mat.
We meet in the mornings for meditation and yoga in the
shala, and stretch out on the polished wooden floors beneath
a thatched roof, surrounded by overgrown palms whose
fronds reach into the space. Breakfast is taken in silence and
we keep our words to ourselves until the first workshop of
the day. It’s awkward in the beginning. I feel the need to
make small talk but the quiet time is supposed to be a gift,
given that most of us have frantic, loud mornings at home.
The breakfasts, like all the meals at Desa Seni, are
plentiful and nourishing. The resort has organic gardens
spread throughout the grounds and most of the items on our
plate have a short commute. My typical cold cereal is
replaced one day by poached eggs atop a bed of perfectly
spiced quinoa mixed with raisins and shredded carrots, a
chickpea-and-sweet-potato mash and sliced avocado; anotherClockwise from
left: Yoga class;
artsy vision
boarding;
Carmela's
mommy retreat
in Seattle.