female.com.au

Interview with Zoë Watson

Question: What inspired you to create the Bliss Sanctuary for Women?

Zoë Watson: My background career wise has always been high-pressure and my whole focus has always been on career. Three and a half years ago, I had a car accident and had to slow down, quite a bit, because of chronic back pain and migraines – I needed a lot more days off than I had ever taken, before. My life became that little bit more difficult and at the time I had moved to Sydney which had been full on and it had been very difficult in terms of the GFC hitting the media and I wasn’t enjoying my time, at all and I thought ‘there has to be something a bit more to life- my career is going well, I’m earning great money – everything is going well, but I don’t feel like there is a lot of peace’.

Question: Was it difficult changing your career, completely?

Zoë Watson: Yes (laughing)! I moved back to Adelaide after Sydney and I opened a sales office for the Australian Traffic Network which went really well, last year, even though I was really sick. I was walking away from a lot of money, but it came to the point were I thought ‘something has to change in my life’. I wasn’t happy and I came to the conclusion that I was going to take a holiday to Bali and I wasn’t going to know how long I would be gone, I felt so much freedom as soon as I decided that. A massive weight came off my shoulders and all of sudden these ideas started coming and of course there had been the Eat, Pray, Love book not that long prior and I’d read the book and didn’t like it because I thought ‘who has the time and money to go and gallivant around the world for nine months?’ One thing the book did do, is open my eyes to the fact that it is okay to not be a career woman or a stay-at-home mum – you don’t have to fit into a box but you can seek the freedom that works for you. I hadn’t felt peacefully, healthy or happy with where I was in life.

I came up with the idea of Bliss Sanctuary for Women and I began researching and couldn’t find anything that was similar, nothing for people travelling alone or with a couple of friends. When I travelled, personally, I found it annoying that I had to pay twice as much for a room that you don’t share with anyone and it’s annoying to sit by a pool where there are a lot of kids around and you’ve got no idea when you book a resort if there will be kids there, or not. Sometimes you need to take your man and sometimes you don’t. I wanted to create this ‘sanctuary’ because there are a lot of ‘retreats’ around which are regimented with what they do whereas with my sanctuary it’s about getting away.

Bliss: Perfect happiness; extreme joy. Heaven, paradise. Peace, serenity, euphoria
Sanctuary: Refuge, place to hide, be safe

What we wanted to do at Bliss Sanctuary for Women is to create a place for women to come and have their needs met where they can meet other woman and de-stress.

Question: Why is it important to you that Bliss Sanctuary for Women was designed around Feng Shui principles?

Zoë Watson: I didn’t go overboard with Feng Shui but it is important to have nice air flow throughout the place and a lot of places, in Bali, are built that way to keep in mind the cost of air conditioning. Even to do yoga and to feel comfortable it is important to have the sanctuary near the ocean and have a lot of air flow as well as a really good feel. Everywhere I have always lived, I have made sure that I designed the area around Feng Shui principles, I never go overboard, but it is always in the back of my mind when I am designing something.

Question: How important is the yoga and mediation aspect of Bliss Sanctuary for Women?

Zoë Watson: It is up to each guest to determine how they wish to find their own bliss, so to speak. For some people the yoga will be completely unimportant and they won’t even do it and the same with the mediation and others will want to do it, every day. I have actually teamed up with a local yoga place and we take our guests there to do yoga, rather than do it at the retreat. I want the guests to feel that when they are away they can focus on the yoga and what that does to the mind, body and soul.

I also do psychic readings and if people have a need I will include that in the reading and we can work with that during mediation.

There are guests who don’t want to have anything to do with the mediation or yoga and that’s totally fine with us, because that is the difference between a sanctuary and a retreat.

Question: Who would you recommend visits Bliss Sanctuary for Women?

Zoë Watson: Any women – anyone who needs a break and needs to get away from anything that they’ve been doing. I have had people aged in their early 20’s to late 50’s at this stage who have been here or have booked in. I have found some ladies are coming with their Mum, which is nice. Mum’s are leaving the kids behind and coming as well as career women who need a break. The Bliss Sanctuary for Women is for any woman who wants to travel and have a really relaxing break.

Question: What types of packages does Bliss Sanctuary for Women offer?

Zoë Watson: I have a few packages, I have an Eat, Pray, Love package which is the most popular package and it is one that people can really relate to because it is not overboard. Most of the guests do not want to be doing activities, all the time, but they can if they want to with other packages.

For example, the Eat, Pray, Love package is described here: and visits Ubud as seen in the film where you have the option of riding a bicycle and have a palm reading. Included in the package is also a visit to Wayan the renowned healer, visited in the movie.

For more about Bliss Sanctuary for Women packages, please see: Bliss Packages

Question: What is the average cost for a Bliss Sanctuary for Women stay?

Zoë Watson: Most packages are 5-7 days and nights, it is days and nights because most flights back to Australia are quite funny hours and I don’t want people to feel like they need to leave their room at midday and their flight isn’t until midnight; it is important they have the ultimate experience the whole time they are here.

The prices are from around $1,750 if you are twin share, with a friend for the basic package which includes all food within the sanctuary, all yoga, mediation, massage and a personal driver incase they want to go out; the basic package is inclusive of basically everything except alcohol. If you are in a room on your own, for the week, its $2,500 for all inclusive. If you are choosing a package which generally includes three activities it is $2,900, for one.