Yoga Festival - It's a Wrap!

After nearly 3 weeks of camping next to a pond behind a French Chateau in the Loire Valley for the European Yoga festival I’m once again on the move. By time I left yesterday morning (Friday) I was really ready to leave. Working and attending the festival was a good experience but a bit too long and time consuming so I’m not sure I’d do it again. It’s quite a lot of time and effort in exchange for what you get. However, I spent virtually no money as all meals were taking care of and I didn’t have to pay for anything. As I’ve said in past posts the set up team was a great bunch of people. It was a nice diverse group and everyone got along well. Overall it was a positive experience and I’m glad I took advantage of the opportunity.

As far as the festival goes it’s quite a unique event. Over two thousand people show up from all over the world to live and do Yoga together for a week and everything goes off well more or less. The Chateau grounds got kind of cramped at times but no one appeared to mind as most everyone was quite patient. Ironically the least patient attendees seemed to be teachers, organizers, and the like.

For me, my overall interest in Yoga remains lukewarm but being in a festival environment was interesting to say the least. Things started before the sun rose and continued until after the sun set. There’s a heavy Sikh religious influence to a large portion of what went on at the festival, however, much of it has been adapted to western interpretations. Many of the mantras and chants are composed with contemporary music. There was a Sikh Gudwara set up on the grounds which is like a church for Sikhs that appeared to practice a more traditional approach towards Sikhism. The festival music and mantras sounded kind of nice at first but after awhile I tired of repetitiveness of the same words being used in most every song. I just don’t know how many more “Wahe Guru’s” I can take right now.

In some ways it seems kind of odd how some westerners adapt to life as a Sikh in a western world while wearing some variation of traditional garb. Some western female Sikhs wear turbans which is something I never saw in India. Apparently western Sikh woman started wearing turbans during the 1970’s women’s lib movement after confronting Yogi Bhajan why women couldn’t wear turbans. He resisted in allowing it but eventually gave into the idea. In my opinion some woman look downright silly with a turban while some look ok. I much prefer the look of a long haired woman wearing a shawl. It’s far more attractive and authentic.

Anyway, I could go on with Yoga Festival comments but the bottom line is that, although long and not really my thing, I’m happy that I did something different and was part of a team making it happen. I think the affects of “White Tantric” meditation and the overall experience will likely work on me in a positive fashion as I take time to reflect. This all goes without saying that most everyone I talked to really enjoyed the event and found it to be something very special. I guess it all depends on the individual and what their really into. Now it’s time to get back into something I’m really into and that’s walking/hiking.