I come from a background where I took my first yoga class 10 years and am currently less than 2 months away from becoming a yoga teacher, myself. Yoga is a very important part of my life. This festival only added to my love for this beautiful way of life. Over the course of the main Thursday-Sunday festival, participants had the opportunity to go to workshops, lectures, presentations, meditations, and other classes. These varied in theme from physical alignment to psychic/intuitive practice to Ayurvedic health to so much more. At the end of the conference, I honestly drove home with my head swirling with so much new information. As my husband was taught in the marine corps, everyone has a tool for you and it is up to you to decide which are useful for you. At this conference, I was given an abundance of tools from all presenters and participants I met. I am so excited for these next few weeks and months where I will now be able to sort out the tools. I will pick out a few at a time that I want to focus on sharpening and really allowing to integrate into my life.
The festival began on Thursday night with a medley of presenters at the Amplify session around the theme of "Release." We learned of the energy vortex around Sedona, of the story of Ganesh (the patron saint of yoga), received techniques on releasing part of the brain that make you struggle unnecessarily, and the night finished off with some devotional chanting. Each subsequent day included a period of time to gather and explore various topics. Friday was about "Gathering", Saturday was on "Integration", and on Sunday morning, we had a special world peace meditation led by a monk. These were usually held in a panel discussion-like setting and were amazing opportunities to hear wisdom from a variety of experts.
Though this was my first Yoga Festival, one of the reactions I heard from almost all returning yogis was that they were thrilled all the events were at the same hotel property this year. I can definitely understand why this makes such a huge difference. The days were filled with various classes, workshops, and lectures that participants could take. With all these being at the same location, it was easy to transition in between classes in the allotted time. These classes were absolutely the best part of the festival for me. Participants could register for classes ahead of time. These classes ranged anywhere from a movement class to a psychic development to Ayurveda health. By the end of the weekend, my mind was absolutely swirling with new information and ways of viewing the world.
Now for a a few experiences in various categories:
An Experience that Made the Weekend Memorable
This would definitely be the sunrise yoga classes each morning. I went to 2/3 of these practices at 6:00 am. I came with a jacket, a scarf, and wool socks. Even though it was obviously spring, mornings were so cold that we could see our breath and there was frost on the grass each morning. The first morning (Friday) had over 50 attendees. Each morning thereafter lessened, with there being 12 on Saturday and 6 (plus the instructor) by the end of the practice on Sunday. It was a unique experience to be queued to keep our hands in our pockets during Warrior 1 rather than raising them upwards. Though it was cold, it was worthwhile and memorable! I can't wait to do sunrise yoga practices in the true summer, though!
An Experience Completely Individual to Me
There were a few times on the weekend that the class I actually signed up for was different than the class I thought I signed up for based on the title of the class. One such class was called "Developing Your Intuitive Gifts." I thought this would be a class about developing talents that are unique to you so that you can fill your dharma, or your life's duty. This class actually taught by a Psychic and was about the spiritual gifts such as clairvoyance. It was my first experience with hearing from this type of subject at all. The most interesting part for me was in hearing about how she first found out that she had these gifts stronger than many people. Well this story continued later that day in a different venue when I was standing by the vendor tables while I was waiting for a class to start. I happened to notice that this one particular table was about another Psychic. It included several stones, books he had written, and advertisement for classes he was planning. Having just heard the story of the presenter, I asked him to tell me his story of how he first began to develop his intuitive gifts. He told me the short story and ended up giving me a copy of his book with the full story entitled Seeing Through Spiritual Eyes: A Memoir of Intuitive by Tom Jacobs. I hold this experience very dear to my and am excited to read it and learn more about the psychic realms. To learn more about him, visit his website here.
The Most Unique Style of Yoga I Came Across
This is another instance of my reading the wrong thing into the title of a class. I was interested to take BREAKasana because I thought it would be some sort of exciting break from the rest of the festival. Really, it was break-dance-styled-yoga. Though it was pretty tiring, it was a fun new adventure to try something so different. The exciting part was getting to see two yoga break dance performances that very evening back in the main ballroom. Coming from a dance background, this was absolutely thrilling to see.
My Favorite Class of the Weekend
For me, this would be the "Yoga In Action" class taught by the motivational speaker India Lee and Dr, Melody Moore, the founder of the Embody Love Movement, which is about helping women improve self image. In this class, we made ourselves very vulnerable as we discovered various truths about the participants. We went through various exercises and eventually had a meditation where we were asked what about the world makes you most mad? This was the last class of the weekend for me and it was a perfect finale for me with my mind so swirling with health, peace, and happiness. Knowing I would soon be going straight back to normal life, I wanted to find out a way to make sure I was different from having attended the festival during the weekend. This was the exact question I needed. I can make a difference in the world. I can be a force for good. And having to pinpoint exactly which parts of the world make me most angry is the key to focusing my energy on the thing that matters most to me.
I would highly recommend this event. What you put into it is what you will get out of it. As I came in wanting to receive direction and purpose for my life as I will soon graduate from my yoga teacher training, I received an abundance that can be considered life changing. If you are on a budget and wish to attend this festival in 2017, there are two ways to receive cheaper tickets. Firstly, you can purchase "early-bird" tickets for the cheapest price for the week. If you plan on attending the full 10 day program including Post Traumatic Stress Training, use the keyword "heartstorm" when checking out. Finally, if you sign up to be an Angel and work a total of 15 hours you can get a greatly reduced ticket price ($77 for the main weekend in 2016). Check out the facebook page for Sedona Yoga Festival or the website http://sedonayogafestival.com/ for more details!
Comment below with your unique experiences from the festival!
No comments:
Post a Comment