Sactum: Bali Retreat
April 22nd - April 26th, 2026 • Nyuh Kuning Village, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
So many of us pour ourselves into others, only to discover that in the process, we slip away from ourselves. We know how to care, to give, to hold—but forget what it feels like to be deeply at home in our own life. We miss the quiet beauty of what is already here. We long to love fully without losing ourselves in the tide of responsibility.
This retreat, led by Associate Professor Amy Finlay-Jones, is an invitation to return to both: to awaken to the life you are already living, and to rediscover the art of loving others in a way that also honours your own being.
Over four days in Nyuh Kuning, you’ll be guided through evidence-based practices of compassion and mindful awareness, interwoven with cultural encounters that remind us that relationship is always both inward and outward—self and other, giving and receiving, rooted and flowing.
Between seasons, within self
Drawing on compassion-based and somatic therapies, contemplative practice, and respectful engagement with local healing traditions, our work together explores how to meet yourself with kindness, how to soften the inner voice of criticism, and how to offer love outward without abandoning yourself. These are practices that do not separate inner and outer, but allow both to deepen together.
April in Bali marks peralihan musim, the turning of seasons. It is a time when the rains subside, the air clears, and the land begins again. This natural transition echoes the inner movement of this retreat: a shift from absence to presence, from over-extension to balance, from habit to choice.
This is an invitation to pause, to awaken to the life that is already yours, and to enter relationship—within yourself, with others, and with the world around you—in a way that sustains rather than depletes.
What to expect
What your days will look like
Mornings begin with optional yoga or somatic movement, followed by breakfast with local ingredients.
After you gather for compassion-focused sessions blending psychological frameworks with contemplative practice.
Midday brings creative and cultural workshops—pottery using local clay or natural dyeing with gathered plants.
Afternoons offer unstructured time for poolside rest, walks through the natural environment, optional individual sessions, journaling, or quiet reading.
Late afternoons may include guided walks exploring traditional practices or artisan visits, and social reflection to support integration.
Evenings feature communal meals with regional cuisine, followed by optional sessions like sound healing or contemplative practices.
Your Daily Experience
Mindful Compassion Training
Led by Associate Professor Amy Finlay-Jones, these sessions draw on compassion-focused and mindfulness-based approaches that are both clinically grounded and personally transformative. Rather than abstract ideas, you will be guided into practices that help you wake up to the life you already have—to notice the textures of your days, the quiet beauty that often goes unseen, the moments of connection that can so easily slip past.
We will also explore how compassion can reshape relationship—how to love with a steadier heart, to offer care without erasing yourself in the process. Through guided reflections and evidence-based methods, you’ll learn to soften cycles of self-criticism and perfectionism, while building the capacity to remain connected both to yourself and to those you love.
Somatic Approaches
Compassion deepens when it is felt in the body. Each day you will be supported by practices that bring you home to yourself—breathwork to settle and enliven, yoga to open space in body and mind, massage to soften places of holding. These are not simply techniques but ways of inhabiting presence, of remembering that relationship begins in the body we live in.
As you breathe, move, and release, you’ll discover how the body itself can teach compassion: how grounding makes space for clarity, how softening allows connection, how balance in your own system opens new possibilities for relationship with others. Together, these practices create an embodied foundation for inner work, so that compassion is not just understood, but lived.
Movement & Meditation
Each day begins and ends with practices that bring you home to yourself—gentle yoga to open the body, meditation to steady the mind, and simple rhythms of breath to anchor the nervous system. Adapted for all bodies and levels of experience, these sessions invite you to experience movement as a form of listening inward, and meditation as a way of inhabiting the life you are already living.
Cultural Learning
Guided by local knowledge holders, you’ll encounter Balinese traditions through shared practice and authentic exchange. In offerings, ceremonies, and community life, care is expressed in ways that connect the everyday with the sacred. These moments of learning open a wider understanding of relationship—how compassion can be lived as a rhythm that binds self, other, and community.
Integration & Application
Insight takes root when given space. Dedicated time will be set aside to reflect, to shape your own practices of compassion, and to imagine how these can continue when you return home. You’ll receive written materials that weave together research and lived wisdom, offering practical pathways for bringing compassion into daily routines and relationships. The retreat becomes a seed, unfolding into a more tender and intentional way of being.
Your Expert Facilitator and Host
Dr. Amy Finlay-Jones
Amy is a psychologist, researcher, and meditation teacher specialising in compassion-focused practice. Her work bridges science and contemplative tradition, drawing on two decades of experience in mental health, mindfulness, and human connection research.
Amy's teaching is informed by her own experience of illness and healing, her creative and contemplative practice, and her deep interest in how compassion can sustain both personal wellbeing and collective flourishing.
In facilitation, Amy brings a grounded presence and a capacity to hold spaces of both tenderness and transformation. Her approach emphasises accessibility and authenticity —supporting participants to reconnect with themselves and with what gives life meaning.
Amy holds an Associate Professorship and a PhD in Clinical Psychology, and is lead editor of the Handbook of Self-Compassion. Her research investigates the effects of compassion training on health and wellbeing.
Amy is a certified facilitator of Compassion Cultivation Training (Stanford University) and Mindful Self-Compassion, bringing over a decade of experience delivering compassion-based approaches in clinical, community, and organizational settings.
She is the founder of Kindful through which she develops programs that integrate evidence-based approaches with contemplative practice.
A note from Amy
Self-compassion is about relating to ourselves with patience, wisdom, understanding and kindness. It is about uncovering and strengthening these qualities in ourselves and learning how to apply them during the times when it feels the hardest.
It is the practice of slowing down to take time to listen to what is in our own hearts and bodies. Self-compassion involves the courage to look at where we turn away from our pain and where we shut down on ourselves.
Years of studying and practising self-compassion has taught me that self-compassion is at the core of our capacity to heal. Yet self-compassion is not something that can simply be understood intellectually. It must be practised, felt and deeply embodied if we are to truly benefit from it. This practice is personal yet is greatly enhanced by community.
On this profoundly nurturing retreat, we will take the time to experience and embody a very different way of relating to ourselves - one that is inherently wise, compassionate, and oriented to genuine caring.
I hope you will join us.
Suites & Rates
A 10% Early Bird discount applies to all bookings made prior to November 30th, 2025
Pool Suites
Each suite has a king bed + daybed, private bathroom, and private pool. USD$2400 per person triple share | USD$2800 per person twin share | USD$3200 single occupancy.
Deluxe Suites
Each suite has a king bed and private bathroom. These suites have a separate living space or terrace and can accommodate an extra guest on a single bed. USD$1800 per person triple share | USD$2200 per person twin share | USD$2600 single occupancy.
Superior Suites
Each suite has queen bed and private bathroom. One single bed can be added. USD$1400 per person triple share | USD$1800 per person twin share | USD$2200 single occupancy.
Standard Suites
Each suite has a queen bed and private bathroom. All suites have beautiful garden views. One single can be added to some rooms. USD$1200 per person triple share | USD$1600 per person twin share | USD$2000 single occupancy. *Almost SOLD OUT*
Frequently Asked Questions
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This retreat is for anyone who seeks time to reconnect with themselves, explore compassion, creativity, and landscape, and experience renewal in community.
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Each day blends contemplative practice, creative workshops with local artists, gentle movement, nourishing shared meals, and generous time for rest and reflection.
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Yes — programs are paced with spaciousness so you can integrate insights, journal, or simply enjoy the surroundings.
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Not at all. While prior experience can be helpful, it is absolutely not required. The retreat is designed to welcome both beginners and those with existing practices.
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There will be between 10 and 16 participants, ensuring an intimate and supportive group environment.
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This retreat is not a therapeutic intervention and does not replace therapy or mental health care. Participants are responsible for their own wellbeing and mental health during the retreat.
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The retreat and materials will be conducted in English. However, we welcome the expression of all languages during our retreats.
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The group will be diverse, inclusive, and welcoming — participants range in background, profession, age, and identity, united by curiosity and openness to self-growth.
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Before the retreat, you will be provided with information, materials, and the hosts are available for questions. After the retreat, they will share follow-up resources to help you continue your practice and integration at home.
