My favourite festival, Wanderlust, has come to Australia for the first time! I was beyond excited to attend and celebrate in my hometown Melbourne yesterday.
WAN•DER•LUST
[n] a strong or irresistible desire to
Travel • Practice Yoga • Listen to Music
Eat Well • Be Green • Appreciate Art
and create a community around mindful living
For me this festival is an adventure into the body, mind and soul.
It is the ultimate in biophilia – ‘the instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems’. Practicing yoga in nature, in the open air, and in this case – under palm trees, on the grass, next to the ocean = PURE BLISS.
I was so lucky to attend Wanderlust last year in Whistler, BC (check out my post here). And then I got to do it all over again yesterday! Frolicking around St Kilda south beach with my lululemon buddies I practiced yoga, listened to inspiring speak easies, danced, ate delicious nutritious food, meditated and met amazing like-minded people that shared in the beautiful energy. Talk about a hard days work!
Attending a yoga class at Wanderlust is more like attending a yoga workshop. It’s like school, you get such great insight, demostrations, and knowledge that you leave with a completely deepened practice. So many classes I’ve been to lately have been a great stretch, a great way to sweat, but I haven’t necessarily learned anything. There are a lot of great yoga instructors, but it’s rare to find a great teacher – be that teaching me physical asanas, or ancient yoga philosophy.
After a green smoothie and a little munch on some raw protein balls, I headed into Duncan Peak’s master yin class . Wow – talk about hip opening! I have a love-hate relationship with yin yoga; LOVE – that I can just let go, relax, melt into poses and really stretch the connective tissue at a fascia level. HATE – the uncomfortable pressure that builds and builds when you hold a pose for up to 5mins. The real struggle, as with all yoga, is the mind. Trying to quieten my mind when it’s screaming at me to stop, or to pull out of a pose when it gets too sore, now that’s where yoga begins. But the rush of release that’s experienced when you finally exit the pose is unlike anything else. I think I actually walked differently out of that class. Definite yoga high.
“Breathe through it and release anything that doesn’t serve you.”
Amy Ippoliti’s class was an eye-opener. All about hamstrings, hips and lower backs – her focus on the lumbar spine and pelvis blew my mind – basically that we need to ‘stick out our bums’ when in downward dog (and in many other poses too). It went against everything I’ve ever been taught, and it was liberating for my hamstrings. She also said that Australia has the shortest downward dogs she’s ever seen! (*Note to self, next time on the mat take your arms out another foot forward in your dog. This creates more length in the spine and allows your sit bones to open.) She got us into poses I’ve never attempted before, by breaking them down into a step-by-step process. But the best part? She was real, she was authentic, she made us laugh – causing numerous giggles across our mats.
I’m so excited that Australia now has access to create an inspiring hub of yoga, health and mindfulness. Bringing the community together in such a fun, positive and enlightening environment can only lead to good things.
My hamstrings are feeling it today, but boy do I have a happy heart from such a beautiful day.
Namaste. The divine in me honours the divine in you.
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