I have been doing yoga for about four years and I love it, not in the "I get to buy fancy tights from Lululemon and impress people at parties with my ability to do a handstand on my dog" type of way (I still can't technically do a handstand).
But in the way that I get a moment of mental quiet during my week to connect spiritually and find some love for my ever so klutzy and anxiety-ridden body. And not that any approach is better or worse, I think yoga can be whatever you want it to be, this is just my version.
Yoga has also provided a look at how I respond to pain, which I have learned is a pretty, raw view of not only my response to physical pain but all pain.
Sounds fun, huh? I never expected this from something as simple as yoga, but I have used my practice to realize many areas for growth in my life and I am so grateful for that.
Given all these benefits, I was interested in finding ways to explore yoga further,so I started researching different retreats and festivals.
Luckily, my little sis is also into yoga, so she accompanied me on the trip and we got in some much needed bonding time.
I landed on the
Hanuman Festival
because it seemed like a smaller event, but still had expert instructors and it was held in the beautiful setting of Boulder, Colorado.
There was also a music component to the festival, so at night there were concerts from like-minded musicians, including one of my favorites, Trevor Hall.
The festival was very well organized and it had the intimate feel I was hoping for. The instructors were very diverse and largely unknown to me. This made choosing the classes before the festival, somewhat difficult, but I enjoyed all of my selections in the end.
I will definitely be back in the future and think this is a really great festival for all levels of yogis.
I luckily made my sis and I these fun bags to tote our yoga mats and personal items around, because there
was a lot of walking involved. I used
this pattern, but would recommend using a heavy fabric.
For my bag the fabric I chose was a quilted fabric (top bag of photo below), but my sister's was a standard weight and I had to end up sewing in padding.