Wanderlusting - My yoga festival experience.
As the morning light seeped through my window, I knew that I was running late. My phone had died over night and I woke up naturally at 7:45am – exactly 15 minutes prior to the 1st yoga class I had scheduled for the much anticipated Wanderlust Festival taking place in Austin.This festival has gone on in Colorado, Vermont, and California, and now, it was being offered right in my own backyard, in downtown Austin. It’s a full 3-day event but due to other scheduling conflicts, I only purchased a 1-day pass to attend on Sunday.I knew I wasn’t going to make my 8am yoga class with Seane Corn, so I jumped onto my online scheduler and made some shifts. I hopped on my bike, headed for downtown, excited for my 1st class of the day – 10am Hot Vinyasa Flow with Leah Cullis.Leah is a Certified Baptiste Yoga Teacher 500-hour RYT and teaches Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. She brings vitality, openness and connection to her classes, as she encourages you to find your edge.She guided us through a flow class, emphasizing a foundation of steady, full breath and gratitude. She believes that practice is about deepening into your body and into the moment, and generating new possibilities and power on and off the mat.Hell yes! I totally loved her class! It was an 1 ½ hours of ass-kicking yoga that left me sweaty, stretched, and feeling stronger and more powerful than when I originally stepped on the mat.Right from Leah’s class, I headed downstairs for another Vinyasa Flow class with Seane Corn. I’ve known of and admired Sean Corne for some time, since I first heard a lecture from her during my time studing at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
“To truly understand what it is to be in the light, you have to also understand what it is to be in the shadow. Because it is one thing to hold the light within myself, but how can I hold the space for another being when they are in their shadow and still love them? And not judge them? I am only going to judge them if I am still judging me.”
Seane’s class was SO.MUCH.FUN – she turned up the hits from the 70’s and 80’s and we flowed and sang together for 1 ½ hours. ½ way into the class, she encouraged us to jump off our mats and dance. Dance, in anyway that felt right, that felt freeing, that felt like your form of expression. I danced, hopped, and skipped around the room with a ridiculous smile on my face – seeping gratitude and joy from every ounce of my body.
When doing yoga, I feel strong, I feel centered, I feel calm.
It’s a beautiful place to immerse yourself in and I come out feeling renewed and revived – yoga, what a beautiful practice.
"Yoga means to unite. Its translation is "to come together and make whole." It asserts that everything and everyone is connected and that there is no separation between heaven and earth, matter and consciousness, mind and body, male and female or you and I. Yoga recognizes that we are all one, all divine. If it is understood that there is no separation between the mind and body, then everything you think, feel or experience will have an affect on your cellular tissue. Your body remembers everything, and your health is often a reflection of your attitudes and perspectives. Negative or shadow emotions like rage, fear, unresolved grief and jealousy manifest as tension when repressed. Tension, stress and anxiety affect the immune, hormonal and neurological systems and can leave you vulnerable to disease, illness and even depression. When you don't feel well, body or mind, you can more easily withdraw, get reactive and judgmental; all qualities that separate you from yourself and from each other. It is through yoga, spiritual practice and emotional processing skills that you are provided tools to help you understand and embrace your circumstances, emotions and life in a more holistic way." Read more HERE.With my body strengthed and muscles worked after 3 straight hours of yoga, I headed back upstairs for a Chanting 101 – Bhakti Yoga.Bhaki yoga is a spiritual path described in Hindu philosophy which fosters love of, faith in, and surrender to God. It supports the practice of realizing God within yourself, and involves chanting as opposed to physical movements like many other forms of yoga.Janet Stone was the instructor and her personal yoga journey began in 1996 when she traveled to India, the birthplace of her grandfather, where she met an inspired yogi and became dedicated to a conscious evolution through yoga. She blends a wealth of knowledge and experience to create a unique, vigorous-yet-sumptuous approach to Vinyasa yoga that melds awareness with movement, breath, heart, and humor.As the group chanted together, we united our voices and joined in a stream of consciousness and devotion that has been flowing for centuries. A simple reminder that we are not as separate as we think we are. When we offer the vibration that starts in our center into the hum of our community, we directly give and receive the divine essence.
"Yoga taught me that adopting a spiritual life doesn't mean I will be exempt from pain or loss. You will all get hurt, your hearts will get broken, and people you love will die. That's life. All your experiences can provide invaluable opportunities for growth if you stay open to seeing them from a new perspective. For each of you, there will be certain lessons that must be learned in order to open your heart to love and empathy. Some of the lessons will be elegant; some will bring you to our knees in devastation. They will all be necessary."
Leah, Seane, and Janet were all phenomenal teachers, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for sharing their practice with me.And I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for allowing me to share my practice with you.Peace, Love & Light to all.