Level 1 · Longevity BasicsLongevity BasicsPurpose, breath and movement — the roots of a long, well-lived life. For Ketut, this is where longevity truly begins.
Live Beyond · A Healer on the Quest
Ketut Arsana
Balinese healer & yoga master Founder of Kundalini Tantra Yoga · Ubud Bodyworks · Ubud, Bali
Master Ketut Arsana is a Balinese healer and yoga master — founder of Kundalini Tantra Yoga and of Ubud Bodyworks and the Omham Retreat in Ubud, Bali. A healer since childhood, he traces his path to near-death experiences at eight and a long line of ancestral healers before him.
He began yoga at eleven and has never stopped — more than fifty years of practice across Hatha, Ashtanga, Iyengar and beyond, which he eventually distilled into his own living form. He built his ashram from nothing, teaching himself painting, sculpture, building and gardening along the way, and today guides students from Bali to Japan and Australia.
His teaching braids yoga, breath, movement and Balinese spiritual tradition into something simple: move and breathe, flow and heal. He is as likely to teach through music and dance as through a pose — because, he says, flowing is healing.
For Ketut, longevity is less about how long than how. The real question, he asks, is why we live at all — and whether we've found our purpose and our happiness. Without that, he says, the years don't matter; with it, a life becomes whole.
We met Master Ketut in Ubud — the spiritual heart of Bali — at the ashram he built from nothing. Sitting on the grass among the temple stones, we talked about yoga, healing, breath and, above all, purpose: why we live at all, and how to live it fully.
Ubud
Bali
The centre of the island — where the divine, he says, feels close.
The ashram
His life's dream
Built from nothing over a lifetime — now a place he teaches students his path.
Yoga & breath
The practice
Move and breathe, flow and dance — for Ketut, flowing is healing.
"Why do we have a life? That is the most important thing to understand — why you have a life, and for what."
— Master Ketut Arsana, at his ashram in Ubud
On the quest
Moments in Ubud
Father, son & the masterAlek with Master Ketut, UbudIn conversationMarek & Master Ketut, UbudThe interviewUbud, Bali
In his words
Move, breathe, be well
"Just move and breathe. Don't overthink it. When you see me, I never stop moving."
Master Ketut Arsana · Ubud, Bali
Everyone wants to find happiness in their life. How happy you are — that is the goal of life.
Master Ketut Arsana
In yoga the focus is moving and breathing. Move and breathe, move and breathe — don't worry about the pose. The pose comes after.
Master Ketut Arsana
The nature gives you love because you send the love. That, too, is yoga.
Master Ketut Arsana
You need to have a dream in your life. Whatever you truly hold in your mind — that will happen.
Master Ketut Arsana
In his own words
Straight from the interview
From our conversation at his ashram in Ubud — how Ketut sees a life well lived, how he teaches the body to heal, and the example he hopes to leave behind.
His view: purpose first
For Ketut, the length of a life matters far less than its meaning. The first thing to understand, he says, is why you are here at all — and to find your happiness within it.
"It's not about long or short. At least you have a goal in your life."
Ubud · from the interview
How he heals: move & breathe
People are afraid of pain and of movement, he says, so he teaches gently — with music, dance and flow. Straighten the muscle and the oxygen flows; the breath, not the pose, does the healing.
"Flow and dance and move — we're not scared, we're happy to move, and then we get healthy."
Ubud · from the interview
His wish for the journey
Like his ancestors before him, Ketut wants to be a living example — to keep giving, keep teaching, and never stop inspiring the people around him, for as long as he lives.
"Don't stop giving the inspiration. I make myself an example to them."
The video interview is coming. Recorded interviews go live after the launch of the film & series Live Beyond.
Selected passages from our interview with Master Ketut Arsana — at his ashram in Ubud, Bali. Lightly edited for readability.
On what longevity really means
Marek Piotrowski"Some people say longevity is about how long we live, others how healthy — but it's also the way you live. What's your attitude to it?"
Ketut Arsana"You ask about life. Life is so important. So why do we have a life? That is the most important thing to understand — why you have a life, and for what. You are part of the planet. It's not only how long you live; you also need to understand how healthy you are. But the real point is: what is the goal in your life? What do you want to do with it? That's what matters — not long or short. And everyone has to find happiness in their life. How happy you are — that is the goal of life."
On breath and movement
Ketut Arsana"Don't stop doing yoga in your life. When you stretch the muscle, the oxygen flows — because in yoga the focus is moving and breathing. Move and breathe, move and breathe. That's why you don't care about the pose; the pose comes after. More oxygen flows to your blood, to your muscle, and the muscle stays longer, not fragile. A baby breathes from the tummy; getting old, we breathe from the lung, and less oxygen flows. So bring it back — breathe from the tummy. That's how life starts."
On being a healer
Ketut Arsana"I've been a healer since I was a kid — eight years old — and I started yoga at eleven. All my life is yoga. You can be a healer, not just a masseuse: the technique you learn from the mind, but the power, the energy, you practise through the spiritual — yoga, breathing, meditation, praying. That's how you become like a generator of energy, and how you can help people."
On the ashram, and dreams
Ketut Arsana"I built the ashram — it's like the dream of my life. Since I was a kid I dreamed of an ashram. I had no money, no house — how could I build it? But you need to have a dream in your life. Whatever you truly hold in your mind will happen; God will bless you. So I never stopped — building, gardening, painting, sculpture — until I saw my dream come true."
On living as an example
Ketut Arsana"The ashram is where I share my knowledge, like my ancestors did before me. Then my life means something for the people — to give them an example of a complete life. Not everyone likes yoga; some start with meditation, some with fasting. Everyone is different. But don't stop giving the inspiration. Even until I die — maybe they follow ten percent, twenty percent; that's okay. I make myself an example to them."
More passages from the full interview will be published here.
Continue the quest
More minds on the quest
Master Ketut lives at Longevity Basics on the Longevity Map — purpose, breath and movement. Here are others on the quest, and the full cast of 100+.
