We Went to Erykah Badu and Desa Potato Head’s Wellness Festival

“My name is Erykah Badu and I’m a cold motherfucker.”

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It’s 6:30 am on the rooftop of Desa Potato Head and a crowd of yogis, writers, singers, dancers, reiki healers, crystal experts, and at least two corporate lawyers sit cross-legged on plush yoga mats. Locals and tourists have gathered here for Merasa, a 7-day wellness festival co-curated by Grammy-Award winning singer, songwriter, and doula Erykah Badu .

“I am amazing today. We’re going out and it’s going to be great.”

Badu is leading the group through a sunrise meditation. Aura readings, intuitive movement classes, Balinese astrology sessions, and nipple castings (yes) are a sample of the other activations on Merasa’s playbill. The festival kicks off with an eagerly awaited performance by Badu herself.

“I invite everyone to stand up and do your own silent two-minute meditation. For setting your day program, programming your mood, taking in nutrients,” Badu says slowly. A quartet plays a medley on Indonesian bonangs while waves crash against Bali’s Seminyak shoreline. “I know that it’s gonna be a great day. I know it is.”

And with this closing sentence, Badu summarizes the mission statement of Merasa: an invitation to tap into your own silence.

WELLNESS FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE

• MERASA: 7 DAYS OF REGENERATION
• KLYMAX, A PURPOSE-DRIVEN NIGHTCLUB
• DEFINING WELLNESS WITH ERYKAH BADU
• OUR REVIEW OF DESA POTATO HEAD BALI

MERASA: 7 DAYS OF REGENERATION

Merasa, an Indonesian word that translates to feel, is a week-long program that invites participants to name their anxieties instead of swatting them away. The itinerary is built under Potato Head’s Wellness Director Kim Herben in collaboration with Badu. Additional collaborators like NOTEP , Fa’ Pawaka , and KT The Arch Degree are revered practitioners in their field. Guests receive itineraries tailored to them but are invited to join as many sessions as they’d like.

Here is my coursework. Daily sunrise rituals, an eco-somatic poetry workshop led by Shannon May Powell , yoga guided by Zeenea Latifa to live electronic sounds, a music-led meditation with Bruno Sitton , and a panel about Balinese cosmology and the healing elements of water with Tjok Gde Kerthyasa . Badu, a certified life and death doula, participates in a dialogue about eastern and western death rituals that I can’t attend but am sad to miss.

Light vibration therapy led by NOTEP is a standout. You lie on a waterbed equipped with vibrational speakers while an overhead light show stimulates your third eye. I end the hour with an eloquent “what the fuck?” because I’m pretty sure I just spent 60 minutes hallucinating.

I also meet with Medinna Laxmy of Gems of a Moonchild . Yes, I’m given a crash course on crystals, and yes, I go into it with skepticism, but this feels more like therapy than talking about rocks. I’m given a pouch full of lapiz, citrine, and rose quartz and realize I might actually use them.

The thread weaving each practice together is an emphasis on breath. Deep inhales — hold 1, 2, 3 — deep exhales — let go 1, 2, 3. It might all be placebo but I have to say, it works. It’s the calmest I feel in a very long time.

KLYMAX, A PURPOSE-DRIVEN NIGHTCLUB

The duality of light and dark is a cornerstone of Balinese culture, and Potato Head caters to creatives craving tranquility and vibrant nightlife — both are integral to the essence of Merasa. Light, meet dark.

Klymax, a “purpose-driven” nightclub, exemplifies intentional design. The space was concepted from the ground-up in collaboration with DJ Harvey, and boasts state-of-the-art sound that’s acoustically treated to manage errant frequencies. Music is loud, but conversations are still possible. The floors are engineered with a bounce to keep your feet comfortable after hours of dancing. Notably absent are tables and bottle service; everyone shares the same open dance floor.

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Following Badu’s concert on opening night, DJ Harvey hosts an after party at Klymax. Merasa attendees are encouraged to join, and it’s a subtle reminder that wellness is not the absence of a late night out.

DEFINING WELLNESS WITH ERYKAH BADU

As my time at Merasa comes to a close, I start to panic that the inner peace I’ve felt will disappear the moment I step off the tarmac and speed walk through JFK’s Terminal 4. It’s easy to feel good on vacation.

“The retreat is not wellness,” Badu reassures me over a cup of hot tea. Her signature top hat grazes the tops of her lashes. “It could be the discernment between the words that you decide to let come into your mind. It’s making sure you keep your boundaries when you say you’re going to do something. It’s telling somebody how you really feel. That’s wellness.” Morning rituals and consistency, according to Badu, are key.

I tell her this approach feels attainable in a setting like Potato Head, where bills and emails and rush hour seem distant, but how can that feeling transcend the shores of Seminyak and make its way into the average person’s life? Surely she has bad days, and I want to know how she navigates them.

“Breathwork,” Badu says without hesitation. “If I’m not in a great mood, nine times out of 10, it means my heart rate is fast and my breathing is shallow. I’m thinking about something that I have to do, or something I didn’t. When I can recognize my breath, I can sit down and regulate it. It’s really the only thing that I have.”

I unpack my crystals and slip them under my pillow. Quartz for energy, citrine for clarity, and lapiz for communication. Jury’s out on if they’re placebo; the breathing works wonders though.

“Yoga is not wellness. Meditation is not wellness,” Badu tells a crowd of concertgoers on opening night. “It’s the desire to be well.”

OUR REVIEW OF DESA POTATO HEAD BALI

The five-star Desa Potato Head sits comfortably on The World’s Best 50 Hotels list and entices yogis, clubheads, and culture seekers. Guests who missed Merasa but are seeking a wellness retreat needn’t worry; a handful of Merasa’s regenerative sessions, like light vibration therapy, Balinese healing, and sunrise meditation, are available year-round.

This property doesn’t earn its stripes for what it is — hotel, art exhibit, beach club, sustainability center — but rather for embracing what it is not. Desa Potato Head is not a classic luxury resort like the others lining Bali’s shores. This is not an exclusive club for the elite. That’s what makes it fun.

There are 225 guest rooms and six on-site restaurants. Dome is a standout, acting as a library and co-working space during the day and an inventive foodie’s paradise at night. (It’s called Dome because of its shape; it looks like a restaurant frequented by aliens and we mean that respectfully). The Desa is also a reflection of Seminyak’s creative spirit. Art exhibits like a bamboo sculpture titled “ The Womb” by Indonesian artist Nano Uhero are scattered around the village.

A wall of jewel-toned flip-flops washed up on Seminyak’s shores are a nod to Potato Head’s carbon-neutral “Good Times, Do Good” ethos, embodied by an on-site sustainability center cheekily named The Sweet Potato Lab. Amenities and furniture are crafted from recycled materials on-site, and visitors can explore the lab to see sustainability efforts in action.

Final thoughts? We think everyone should spend time at the potato factory for food, fun, and contemplation. Rates start at $261 per night , making it more affordable than most of its company on The World’s Best 50 Hotels list .

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