A 'soul writing' retreat in Thailand's Chiang Rai converts a cynic

Certified cynic Payal Dhar braves a 'soul writing' retreat and is left quite surprised by the results

Once upon a time, a card-carrying sceptic of all things spiritual was afflicted with writer’s block. So they packed their bags and set off to a faraway land — namely, to the Museflower Retreat & Spa in Chiang Rai, Thailand — in search of their mojo. Now, anyone who’s met this sceptic will testify that they wouldn’t go near anything with “soul” in its title. But tempt the writer with a story and there’s no telling what boundaries they may end up pushing.

The Soul Bliss Writing Retreat is a six-day annual event at Museflower. This eco-resort is located, for all intents and purposes, in the middle of nowhere — about half an hour outside gentle, sleepy Chiang Rai, set amid a tropical jungle bursting with life, with only a two-kilometre dirt road for access. Sprawled across an 11-acre estate, Museflower’s Himalayan salt-water swimming pool, the lakeside Pavilion hall, a floating deck with recliners, a kitchen that puts out delicious lacto-/ovo-vegetarian meal spreads three times a day, a spa complex with a herbal sauna and mineral bath, and a private room with my own sit-out is exactly what I’d imagined the writing retreat of my dreams to be like. Except for the humidity, and the snails and caterpillars, that is. In other words, long before our writing group congregated that first evening for our introductory soul-writing activity, Museflower already had me in its thrall.

“Soul writing” is a technique developed by the British author Sarah Walton to “awaken your intuition and imagination” — think of it as main-lining your nascent creativity using a variety of meditation techniques and some tried-and-tested writing tools. Walton, along with Tania Ho, Museflower’s owner and a wellness practitioner, were our facilitators. My writing companions ranged in age from their 30s to 60s, and came from the UK, Germany and Turkey, all with different writing goals, and all with little idea of what the next few days were going to bring.

Spoiler alert: the sessions turned out to be surprisingly stimulating. Yes, there were moments when I was required to mute my inner cynic, but the bottom line was an unprecedented reaffirmation of my own methods. At one level, it comes down to a matter of terminology: what Sarah calls “finding your soul voice”, I call “being a pantser”, a shorthand for flying by the seat of my pants instead of the detailed plotting many novelists prefer. In my fiction, I like to set my characters free to direct their stories, and if things fall into place automatically, I know I am on the right track. When I sifted out what did not work for me at the retreat, I was left with the knowledge that I am an intuitive writer who waits for the story rather than pre-determining how it should unfold. On the one hand that seems incongruous as I’m the opposite of spontaneous; on the other, it makes perfect sense as I always rebel against structure.

We congregated twice each day, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. On certain days there were evening sessions too — one inner dance meditation which I missed thanks to deadlines (freelancers have no off days), and one bonfire night where we consigned our metaphoric shackles to the flames.

Most of the sessions began with various opening-up exercises to get in touch with our “souls”. The first session was a simple guided meditation to set our intentions — a slow relaxation to filter away distractions and focus on what each one of us wanted to achieve. Afterwards, we had to complete the sentence, “My soul intention is…” Since I could not get myself to write that, I wrote “sole” instead and it still made sense. That small subversion was a reminder that it was up to me to make the retreat work for me.

Over the next few days, we went on a number of inner journeys to find our secret sanctuaries, find our shamanic spirit animals (got nothing, sorry!), meet our spirit guides, look into our “heart’s oceans”, and even create our personal writing shrines. No, I did not turn into a believer. However, my experience of hypnotherapy helped me attain deep relaxation states. In one of these guided “journeys” we received a gift from our imaginations — mine was a wooden box that I couldn’t open. I decided it would contain all the ideas I haven’t written yet. I can live with that.

There was one aspect of the retreat that left me deeply uncomfortable, a discomfort that I voiced too. While there were repeated exhortations about how the “soul” emphasises the shrines we created for our creative selves, and that the chanting (of a phrase that was apparently a Sanskrit mantra, though I had my doubts) were all “secular”, they were in fact not. It smelled very strongly of Orientalism. The interpreting of Eastern religious and cultural motifs as secular by outsiders is, at best, simplistic, and at worst, an appropriation.

So, the writer lived happily ever after? Now that wouldn’t do—after all, we writers of fiction thrive on conflict and angst, don’t we?

Balms for body and soul in Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai is often mistaken for its more famous cousin Chiang Mai, though travellers looking for a quiet getaway are more likely to find it in this northern town in Golden Triangle region of Thailand.
 

Museflower offers three-, five- and seven-night yoga and spa retreats, as well as design-your-own packages. Prices include meals, yoga/spa sessions, and access to retreat facilities. Food is sourced from their organic and aquaponic farm, and you’re free to take a dip in the lake if the swimming pool is too tame. From THB 1,930/night (packages available); musefloweretreat.com
 

Need something wilder but without compromising on luxury? Phu Chaisai Mountain Resort is set deep in 800 acres of forest. Stay in bamboo cottages, with no televisions to distract from the mountain-scape and call of the wild. Organic food, with locally sourced coffee and fish, and various spa therapies are at your disposal. From THB 2,855/night; phu-chaisai.com/en/
 

For unbridled luxury, check out The Legend Chiang Rai Boutique River Resort & Spa, with authentic Thai architecture, hand-plastered walls, and local art. A riverside pool, open-air spa with traditional massages, private dining options, cooking classes, and more. From THB 2,800/night; thelegend-chiangrai.com/en

Course info
 

Museflower Retreat & Spa: musefloweretreat.com

Sarah Walton and Soul Writing: soulwriting.co

Cost: THB 40,790 onwards, inclusive of three meals; workshop and meditation sessions; one 60-minute signature massage; access to sauna and mineral bath; and all taxes