Yoga Retreat

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We hosted a 24 day yoga training retreat at Jiwa Damai organized by School Yoga Insitute, it was a most interesting and intense experience.

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About 30 young people training day after day, getting up at 6 am to Meditate, then doing their Yoga postures, getting lectures about anatomy and sutras and much more. Our kitchen was working high speed, providing the vegetarian cuisine and many smoothies and of course, fresh coconut juice.

It was a pleasure to see so many young people learning and exploring themselves through this training. They will be back next year and are very much welcome.

Moringa: The Miracle Tree

Have you heard about the miracle tree? The tree that can provide your body with a multitude of vitamins and is great for improving your overall health? The name of this super tree is the Moringa, and quite a few of them are growing in the gardens at Jiwa Damai. The moringa is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India, but widely cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas. With its potent health benefits, it’s quite miraculous that moringa trees grow in subtropical areas, where malnutrition is most prevalent. This tree is one of the world’s most useful plants and can save millions of lives!

The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, being a significant source of B vitamins, vitamin C, provitamin A as beta-carotene, vitamin K, manganesium and protein, among other essential nutrients. Moringa leaves have seven times the Vitamin C of oranges, four times the calcium of milk, four times the vitamin A of carrots, three times the potassium of bananas, and two times the protein of yogurt. It really is a miracle tree!

In addition to the rich nutritive value of the leaves, moringa seeds can be used as a quick and simple method for cleaning dirty river water. Studies show that this simple method of filtering not only diminishes water pollution but also harmful bacteria. Powdered moringa seeds adhere to the solids in dirty water and then sink to the bottom, leaving clear, clean water behind. This treatment also removes 90-99% of bacteria.

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Jiwa Damai retreat center will soon utilize this amazing super food by making moringa seed powder from the trees growing in our organic garden. Moringa powder can be used for cooking or simply sprinkled on top of a salad for an extra dose of health. It won’t be long before our guests and volunteers will be able to feel for themselves all the great benefits of the moringa tree. Let’s see how it works!

Composting with Effective Microorganisms

Our volunteer Anthony - happy while making new layer of compost.

In our organic garden you can find a special place next to the river where we are generating our own compost under the shade of a bamboo roof. The compost, a nutritious mix of brown and green was watered with Effective Microorganisms (EM). The resulting compost provides essential nutrition to the plants in our organic garden.Compost provides live nutrition for the earth, and takes care garden waste like leaves, cuttings, and grass. It becomes a living soil that grows healthy plants and keep away pests. The location should be a shady place out of the sun. To build compost, we layer dry, brown organic material, which is full of carbon, and green material which is full of nitrogen. Here at Jiwa Damai we use additional microorganisms to break down the compost: EM – effective microorganisms, developed in Japan. EM is mixed with the water in a 1:10 ratio and applied on each layer .All this is covered with cardboard, banana leaves, or old carpet to keep the temperature high. Keep the pile controlled. You can check heat and moisture by putting your hand inside the compost. It should not be too wet nor too dry, and can reach up to 60 degrees. At Jiwa Damai, in a tropical climate, the compost will be ready in two months. Is there any danger we should be aware of? Getting addicted :) Because when you work with making soil it is a rewarding thing. It makes you very happy when you have your own soil. Turning all this waste product into really fertile good garden soil is like magic. And it gives you gigantic lettuces.

The Art of Learning by Doing

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Permaculture in Practice - The Art of Learning by Doing 6th - 30th January 2014

Jiwa Damai encourages a combination of theory and hands on practice in a supportive environment as an important approach to learning and growing. Our internships offer the possibility to design and actualize a project, either as a group or on an individual basis. Our interns receive expert support and guidance while being given the chance to take responsibility for their own learning outcomes.

At this time we are offering places for up to 6 interns to take part in a one-off group permaculture, aquaculture design project, facilitated by our in-house permaculture design trainer Stephanie Garvin.  The project will involve designing and implementing an aquaculture project, including building a chinampa system, a technique used in Latin America by the Incas to successfully grow food in wetland areas.  We have several swamp areas at Jiwa Damai which lend themselves ideally for such a project. To our knowledge it is the first of its kind to be implemented in Bali. It is an exciting pilot project.

This project includes free theory sessions on permaculture design for chinampa systems.

Following this internship the we offer a Permaculture through the Heart course www.jiwadamai.net/education-activities/

Our offering The Art of Learning by Doing is open for people interested in permaculture, sustainable food production and environmental conservation. No previous permaculture knowledge or experience is needed. We also invite Permaculture Design Certificate holders desiring to expand their practical knowledge and design skills. Participants need to be in good health and physical condition since the project will involve manual work in a tropical environment.

Skills that participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice during this internship include:- Permaculture design methodologies Assessing needs and yields Building a stable, productive ecological system Nutrient recycling Using local and on site resources Water management Aquaculture systems Creating energy efficient systems Planning for diversity and habitat creation Using edge effects to increase yield Teamwork and task management Plant propagation techniques Soil building and composting

For more details or information, or to apply for a place on this internship programme, please contact us at info@jiwadamai.net or using the contact form attached.

Optional Extras We can provide on-site, basic accommodation and meals at Jiwa Damai Retreat Centre and Organic Garden at a discounted rate.

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Love story

"They say there is something magnetic about Jiwa Damai, well, we certainly found some magnetism! A magical place where magical things began to happen and this is just the beginning". Justin Pelzer, Astrophysicist, from the US merged paths with Lavida Rose, Creative Consciousness Facilitator, from Australia in the nature-scape retreat of Jiwa Damai in December 2012, a year later on the solstice they will marry, in celebration of love and life itself! "Discovering what it means to amplify energies, and then inviting them to continue to grow by embracing a simple, yes"

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Aligning with the Heart of the Earth

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Building a new pond at Jiwa Damai

Our volunteer Shoshi from the US and our intern Andreas from Germany are working close to our parking lot on developing a new pond on our premise. They were digging very hard and now they are preparing the pond lining which should prevent the water from being re-absorbed into the earth.

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For that purpose a lining of newspapers and green banana leaves are left for a few days. Then this is covered with earth  tightly compressed on top. The underlying layer will then create a water resistant lining.

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Building a natural pond by using the old Russian method of 'gleying': 

The different steps:

- Dig the pond and compact the soil really well.

- Clear the pond of stones and rocks.

- Cover the bottom and sides with a thick layer of organic material (fresh grass cuttings and bananas leaves) and waste paper

- Spread out EM all over to add the bacterias which are necessary for the process

- Add a layer of soil and press down firmly all over.

- The soil keeps out the air and allows a biological process known as ‘gleying’ to take place (its an anaerobic process)

We shall see how well that works. Lets hope for the best ;-)

Internships for international students

We are offering individual internships to national and international students and post graduates in various fields. 

We at JiwaDamai, (LaguDamai Foundation) are an Educational Institution which offers trainings, internships and practica to international and national students and graduates.

The fields can be bio-agriculture, permaculture (including construction, sustainable energy, fish and pond maintenance etc), psychology, marketing, hospitality, alternative health care, environmental research and much more. The actual application of the project in a practical setting is an important part of the internship.

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Usually this setting is at JiwaDamai permaculture and retreat center located just twenty minutes outside of Ubud in the district of Mambal.  The lush surroundings of the retreat center include a diverse array of Flora and Fauna that make it an ideal environment for students to be exposed to many different learning opportunities. The cross cultural interaction and tropical climate will give an extra dimension to any internship undertaken with us. Students will have access to local and/or international experts  in their respective fields.

To apply please contact us at:info@jiwadamai.net

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Coconut Shells

At Jiwa Damai we are using a special way to place our coconut shells around the base of our plants. Since we are producing our coconut oil form our own coconut trees , the shells are available and we are using them for several purposes. During the rainy season they can collect some of the water with their inner softer hairy material thus allowing to keep some water away form the plants.

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The second reason is to have them soak up the water we are distributing in the dry season  around the fields. They will hold the water longer for the plants to feed .

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Last but not least when they decompose they will make an excellent nutrition to be added to the soil. On some plants we are just setting them directly around the root of the plants.

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A Balinese Wedding

Ketut Badung, our head gardener at Jiwa Damai invited the whole team and our volunteers to join him at his village in his compound to attend the wedding of his nephew.

Ketut in front of the altar

The altar in the background with all the Balinese offerings is made completely our of pork. This was prepared by the whole village and will also be eaten by the village later.

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The headdresses of the bride and the groom weigh about 5 kg each.

The clots are very beautiful and elaborate.

Guests come and go all day to bring gifts, mostly some money in an envelope to support the expenses.

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This was a wonderful event to witness and a beautiful opportunity to experience Balinese culture.

Terima Kasi!