Out of the Chateau grounds and right on the black top pavement for five minutes then another right at the first road past two lakes and a farm house on a crushed limestone path. Another right and I’m following a seldom used dirt road with and occasional paint mark signifying a public right of way. The way leads to narrow paved lane and I take a right paralleling cornfields until I reach a busier D road where I cross onto an overgrown short grass farm path and beyond.
I’ve been running on my memory of last year’s walks amidst an area known as the Solonge in the Loir Valley of France. When I came to the next intersection I wasn’t sure which way to go but I pushed on with a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right. I didn’t remember the vicious Rottweiler and German Sheppard, barely being held back by a short wire fence, so I retraced my steps, via a nice variation, back to the European Yoga Festival at the Chateau.
After nine days of setup duties I am now free to do as I please during the Festival. I’m under no obligation until August 3 when I’ll need to put in another 3 days to help clean things up. During the day there are many workshops and gatherings but after my time of lots of work and communal living with the setup crew I’m more inclined to do whatever I want during the festival.
This morning after my run I made a 25 minute walk into the village of Mur de Solonge. I had to wait in line behind Yoga teachers and Turban clad gurus, at the Bolangerie, who were doing a good job of cleaning the place out of Croissant and Pan Chocolate. I had to wait even longer at the bar, behind more Yoga pros, for a Coffee that is now suspiciously more expensive than last week.
I’m now back on a running routine of 4 to 8 miles almost everyday. My interest in running seems to have sparked once again and the area around the Yoga Festival is excellent for it. Terrain is mostly flat and full of quiet roads, paths, and trails. I’m now getting to know the area quite well and am able to come up with some really nice loops.
Aside running I’ve been quite happy to hang out with a good old friend by the name of Corwin. We’ve been friends for around 27 years and went to college together. He’s been practicing Yoga for approximately 15 years with a keen interest in Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini is the primary form of Yoga at the Festival. Although Corwin has attended countless events in America he has never been to an event in Europe. When I decided to return to the setup crew I extended an invitation for him to join me. He took advantage of the opportunity and arrived 3 days ago. I scouted out a prime campsite for him on a quiet end of the Chateau Lake. We’ve already spent many hours there engaged in philosophical conversation while catching up in general.
This year’s festival is a big one and it’s expected to be the biggest yet. My main interest is in the 3 day meditation intensive. Other than that I’m not particularly attracted to much but I really should give a couple of workshops a try.
For me the Yoga festival is about something different. Naturally the nice campsite, access to the chateau grounds, free festival admission with meals included is a nice work exchange but that is not the main reason for my participation.
As someone who pretty much does what he wants when he wants to all the time I think it’s important to step out of that world to see where I’m at when it comes to living and working with others. My time with the setup crew revolves around a schedule dictated by a supervisor. All meals are communal and no one eats until everyone is together and a simple prayer of Satnam is repeated 3 times. It’s very different from my regular day to day lifestyle.
This year has gone quite well. Better than last year. I’m much more relaxed and usually pretty patient with it all. Once again the group is a really a great bunch of diverse people with approximately half of the team returning from last year. I’m totally fine and content with the work and in some ways find it nice to not have to make many decisions because a structure makes decisions for me. In a lot of ways I’m a loner at heart but aside of a tendency to be a little self absorbed at times I think I do well working in most groups. I have to say my favorite part of this whole festival will most likely be the first week when it was just us set folks, the Chateau grounds all to ourselves, sharing food between work duties and laughing every chance we get. I guess you could call it a form of Karma Yoga. Most of all, it's been fun.
Right now the grounds are packed with over 2,000 people camped everywhere and close to each other. I’ve got a good spot by the lake on the edge where loud meets quiet. I thought I’d move when the festival started but the tents that moved in around me are occupied by reasonable quiet campers so I’m staying put.
As far the crowd is concerned it’s made up of mostly Germans and a good percentage of Spanish. The rest are Europeans and a very small number of Americans. I don’t feel much drawn to, or, a part of the crowd. It’s probably because I haven’t participated with the 4:30 am Sahdna and various workshops throughout the day. My disconnected feeling will more than likely change after the 3 day meditation intensive with an expected 1500 or so attendees.
I’ll continue my life here until around August 5th or 6th then I’ll spend a few days traveling with Corwin until he has to catch a flight back to the States. Between now in then I’ll keep up the daily run, mingle amidst new faces, and wait my turn behind Yoga Masters sneaking off to the village for coffee and croissant.
On a completely different and much sadder note I received an email yesterday on the passing of Mark Fraser, a running club friend who was very active with The Bayou City Road Runners in my hometown, Houston, Texas. I remember many animated conversations with Mark who was always full of witty creative energy. He encouraged me to pursue my interest in writing as I admired his accomplishments as a writer. He was truly a unique individual and a real fixture in the running community. Such a shock. He was always the picture of Perfect Health and so full of life. A very young fifty something. I haven’t heard what the cause of death was but I assume it was sudden. While running this morning I thought of him a lot. Life is such a gift and no one knows how much time they have. He will be greatly missed. So hard to believe. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
The photo above was taken in the morning from my camp behind the Chateau.
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