Heyyy Guys! We are so honored to have Felicia Tomasko, the editor-in-chief of the esteemed magazine LA Yoga, liveblogging about her experience at the much-talked-about Wanderlust Yoga & Music Festival this weekend! Take it away, Felicia!
During a Sunday afternoon free class beneath the gondola rising up and down the hill, John Friend lovingly encouraged several hundred yogis into every pose from down dog to partner-supported handstands to heart-opening backbends.
It was hot in the midday sun, espeically considering the class was being held at an atitute of 6,000 feet and the current temp is 88 degrees (but it feels hotter for sure). Good thing Luna Bars is handing out lemon zest-flavored lip balm to protect the lips from the chapping effect of the dry air. And, the festival organizers have thought about the water issue when it comes to holding a yoga festival at a ski area in the summer. Klean Kanteen is in full force with a booth and even Wanderlust-imprinted bottles (although this correspondent is proudly carrying a drihti Kleen Kanteen…you know where to get yours). And, there’s an abundance of free filtered water stations outside every yoga classroom to provide refills. If you do want to buy a disposable bottle, the Wanderlust brand bottles are compostable. Usually, this sounds more like a good idea than it actually is, but every trash station has trash, recycling…and composting stations so cups and bottles labeled compostable aren’t just wishful green thinking. All of this meant that there was plenty of water on hand and nothing dampened the joy of the crowd practicing on the mountain. Some people were lucky enough to find shade beneath the pine trees, although the hilly ground under those trees made for some challening triangle and tree poses.
While the clear blue skies make for great overhead inspiration, not all of the yoga classes this weekend have been held in the great outdoors. I attened a morning class with Schulyer Grant, director of the Kula Yoga Project in New York City, and one of the festival’s producers. The intermediate/advanced class was certainly advertised correctly and I even got to try a new pose (for me): half-lotus bakasana, which I did without falling over. The person next to me even made it up into half-lotus sirsasana from there, more gracefully than I even thought about. But yoga is about the practice and the intention, not the shape. And how can you not love the intention when everyone is smiling around you?
