(#47) 5 Reasons to Attend Your Next Yoga Festival, Intentional Living Insights & Upcoming Events

Join your host Rae as she shares insights from the Intentional Living Magazine Summer Release Party and five compelling reasons to attend your next yoga festival. In this episode, discover how yoga festivals can boost your wellness journey by fostering community connection, igniting inspiration, and enhancing self-care practices.

Tune in to learn:

• How attending a yoga festival can deepen your practice and support intentional living
• The top 5 benefits of joining yoga festivals - from rejuvenation to personal growth
• Rae’s firsthand experiences at the summer release party and key takeaways
• Exciting upcoming yoga events that you won’t want to miss

Whether you’re a seasoned yogi or just exploring mindful living, this episode offers practical tips and inspiring reasons to mark your calendar for your next yoga festival!

Since this episode originally aired, some links may be outdated or events may have passed. Want current updates and access to the free 15+ breathwork practice resource library? → Sign up for the Somatic Healing Newsletter here!

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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.

Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Radiant Life Podcast . I'm your host , rae , the Somatic Coach , and I'm here to support you in healing your past , living in the present and creating your future so that you can become the most centered , embodied and happiest version of yourself . Each week , I'll be bringing you episodes to help you navigate life's challenges , ease stress and tension and learn more about holistic healing , spirituality and wellness . If you're interested in becoming the best version of yourself so that you can live the life of your dreams , then you're in the right place . Subscribe to the podcast and the monthly newsletter and follow me on Instagram and TikTok to know when new episodes are released each week . I am so happy that you've landed here . Let's dive in . Welcome back to the podcast . If you are new here , I'm Rae . I'm a somatic coach and breathwork facilitator , and if you aren't new here , welcome back . I'm so glad that you're tuning into today's episode . Last week , I missed an episode or posting an episode , I should say because I didn't plan that well and then I got super overwhelmed . So thank you for coming back after a week off . I love recording these episodes for you and , believe it or not , we're almost a year of the podcast . I really can't believe it , and I'm recording this episode in the middle of June . So we are about halfway through the year and I will be checking in on my personal goals , on my business goals . I haven't really set goals for the podcast . It's kind of just this like fun creative outlet for me , but maybe I will . I'll just be checking in on that . But this month's masterclass of the month is a mid-year check-in , so if you're wanting to experience kind of a guided process around how your 2024 is going already , I love reflecting , I love looking ahead and this masterclass will have journaling , breath work , meditation . So definitely check it out if that interests you .

Speaker 1 2:14

So last week I went to the city for the intentional living magazine summer release party and it was absolutely so amazing . I had so much fun , went up for dinner after with my husband . The event itself was beautiful . They had a fun little wine tasting , beautiful decor , we got some gift bags and it was just really inspiring for me to be with a group of women that were all kind of on this path of entrepreneurship and creating businesses and I was just really grateful to be in the room and I got to be in my first magazine , which is absolutely wild , definitely a bucket list moment for me and when I do my reflection practice , I'll see that on there . I probably wrote I think I wrote be in two magazines as like my five-year goal plan . So the fact that it happened this year is pretty cool and we'll see when I check in on those goals , kind of like where it falls .

Speaker 1 3:22

And another bucket list moment for me is happening this summer , so I started my breathwork journey at a yoga festival in Vermont in 2016 . I had never heard of breathwork before outside , of course , of like a yoga class , like you know , mindful breathing or something but this is really where I discovered the practice of breathwork , like the breathwork that I teach Fast forward to today . I'm now teaching my first class at a festival with one of my best friends , katie . She's also the one that came with me to the first festival I went to in Vermont in 2016 , and we'll be teaching together in Vermont yoga fest . And it is such a full circle moment for us because last year we were there as attendees . This year we're teaching . I discovered all of my breathwork journey at a yoga festival and our class that we're teaching is called tuning into spirit , somatic breathwork and intuitive writing , and it's on friday at one o'clock of the festival weekend . So we'll also be teaching this class if you're not going to Vermont , and even if you are , we'll also be teaching it on Friday , june 28th , at 7 30 in the local area in Linbrook for the people that live in the tri-state area . So I'll leave all that info for you in the show notes .

Speaker 1 4:51

But that leads us to today's episode . So I want to share with you all about yoga festivals in general and why I love them so much , and just tell a few stories of the experiences that I've had at them and how transformational they've been for me . So , to kick things off , what you can expect if you plan to attend a yoga festival is , of course , they're all so different and I do think each one of them has its own kind of like energy to it . But what's awesome is that you know anyone can go . I don't think you necessarily have to be like a yogi .

Speaker 1 5:30

I don't really practice that much physical asana , which is like the physical practices of yoga . I really lean towards breathwork , meditation , sound healing . You know all the things that I personally facilitate . I do love kundalini yoga , though . That is something that I'm really always drawn to and I've considered building that into my practice too , but one thing at a time , so they're all very different . Anyone can go , and I kind of view them as like a retreat .

Speaker 1 5:58

So what's really fun about these yoga festivals is that when you go to them they have a set schedule with all these different classes . And all the classes are so different and I'll talk a little bit about them in a minute . But it's so funny how the ones that I'm drawn to are all like very restorative . I love doing the yoga nidra , which is like sleep yoga , chakra meditations , kundalini yoga , sound healings , breath work , like nothing that I'm doing there is very like active . It's all like I feel like I'm just like in shavasana for like three days , but they're all such powerful classes and they're so different . So to summarize what I would say for my first point is that they're all different . Anyone can go . You don't have to be a yogi . There's so many classes outside of even yoga , or , of course , you can take all the yoga classes that you want , because they'll have that as well .

Speaker 1 6:49

The second thing I would love to share is that you will meet amazing people . I am still connected with all of the people that I've met over the years of going to yoga festivals since 2016 . So , whether it is like a practitioner or facilitator that I met or just another person in class , I'm still connected with so many people from going to festivals for just so many years , and what's so great is it really has helped me . For example , I found breathwork at a yoga festival in 2016 with this woman , erin Telford , and that's who I went on to become certified through . I have a few other certifications too , but if I didn't go to that yoga festival , I don't know when or where I would have met her , which is pretty cool . I also have another meditation teacher that I found at a yoga festival that I absolutely love , biet Simkin , and she's a little bit less accessible , but since meeting her at a yoga festival , I went into the city , I've done her meditations , I bought her book . There's just ways that it has helped me beyond the festival that carry on afterwards , and so , whether it's someone in class or a facilitator that you just really jive with , you'll end up meeting amazing people , which is really nice .

Speaker 1 8:08

And then the third thing that I would love to share is that you will absolutely learn something new about yourself and you will try new things . So , like I was mentioning before , the classes they're all so different and every festival will be different , but the ones that I've loved trying and I think are so cool . They have hula hooping classes . That's something that I've been very into in the past and I'm so excited because they'll actually have one at OM this year , so I'm totally taking it . They have a static dance . They'll have things like gut healing and just like very interesting topics that you can listen to people talk about . They'll have classes on spiritual guidance and connection and so so , so much more .

Speaker 1 8:53

So , even last year , when I attended Aum Yoga Festival , I had learned about channeling angels in one of the classes that I went to with this group called Sea Goddess , and they're based out of New Jersey , and then so I went to that festival in July of last year , and then I went to Hawaii in October and I had so many spiritual moments that I was able to understand more clearly because of the workshop that I attended when I was at OM last summer . So it's just these random connections and things that stick with you , but it's really cool to reflect and see it all come together , and my first yoga festival that I went to was in 2016 . It was called Wanderlust , and I was in a workshop where we did eye gazing for the first time . I had never heard of this , never done it before , and it's basically when you you line up your right eye with their right eye and you're very close . You're like inches apart from each other and you stare into each other's eye for an extended period of time . So it sounds maybe not as wild as it would be , but it was a absolutely wild experience .

Speaker 1 10:10

So in this workshop , we were led through a meditation where we walked through our time on earth , so from when we were conceived through to our how we anticipated that we die , and I basically ended up seeing my entire life on a big movie projector screen . So that in itself is like what ? What kind of experience is that ? That's so interesting and as this is happening , I'm literally outside , I'm in the mountains , I'm underneath this like big white tent , and then , after the meditation , you turn to the person next to you a complete stranger and you're a few inches away from each other's faces . Your right eye stares into their right eye for what I'm guessing was maybe five to ten minutes and I don't know . By the end of it , I was like bawling and I was just seeing this person's aura and I was seeing other people and it was just the absolute coolest experience of just being like in absolute presence with somebody else and being with their energy and just really having this experience of like namaste , basically Like we , I see you and me , you see me and you . It's just , it was just like the coolest experience . So , to summarize , it's definitely a different experience , maybe something I never would have experienced if I didn't go to this festival Definitely changed my perspective on life and that was just one workshop . So really , really cool experiences that you'll find at these things .

Speaker 1 11:45

And then the fourth thing that I will mention is that there is food . I don't know about you , but I'm a foodie . I love trying new things and there are always cool local vendors at these festivals all different food trucks , all different fresh produce , local restaurants , and even my husband and I had gone to Vermont last summer not to a festival , just to Vermont in general and I had the best ravioli I've ever had in the middle of Vermont . So you really never know , and I know Om Yoga Festival had a few food vendors last year that were pretty good . One was Jamaican , which was really cool and yeah , so they just have , like you'll try different foods . You'll be in a new place , you'll be able to connect with local vendors that are also passionate about what they cook and there's also usually like a vendor fair . So there's just people that are also passionate about what they cook and there's also usually like a vendor fair . So there's just people that are either facilitating at the festival or local to the festival , or some people travel in , actually but they'll be also like selling their products and you'll be able to just connect with really cool people that are also entrepreneurs .

Speaker 1 12:55

And then the last thing that I will mention is that there is live music , which is really cool . So there'll be live music . Sometimes at night , when all of the classes are done , they'll have live performers come and it's just like a cool vibe to be in . And then some of the classes , too , also have live performers . So you might attend a yoga class and there might be a band or somebody that's playing music while the class is going performers . So you might attend a yoga class and there might be a band or somebody that's playing music while the class is going on . So really , really cool .

Speaker 1 13:22

So , to summarize , every festival is different . Every festival will have a unique schedule . You'll be able to meet really cool people . You might connect with some facilitators that you stay connected with long term and really end up creating a lot of shifts in your life . You could learn something new about yourself . You could try new things that you've never done before . You could have transformational experiences , eat really good food and listen to amazing music .

Speaker 1 13:50

So I'm really excited for OM Yoga Festival this year . I'm so . It's so full circle that I'm teaching with one of my best friends , katie Kirchheim . I'll leave her information in the show notes as well , and if you want to come to Vermont , I'll leave my code that you can use at checkout . I think it saves you like 10% or something . I'll put that in the show notes and then , if you're not coming to Vermont but you want to experience our class , come hang out with us on Friday , june 28th . It's going to be an awesome experience .

Speaker 1 14:25

So thank you so much for tuning into today's episode . I love recording these for you . Shoot me a DM if you have any questions or if anything landed , and I hope you have an incredible rest of your week . I hope you have an incredible rest of your day and I will talk to you soon . Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode . If you are moved or inspired , please share with me by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts . It means the world to me and I am so appreciative for your support in helping my podcast grow . If we aren't already connected on social media , head over to Instagram and TikTok and follow me at Ray the Semantic Coach . Make sure you check out the show notes of today's episode for links to freebies , opportunities to work with me and ways we can stay connected outside of the podcast . I'm so happy that you're here and I can't wait to talk with you on our next episode of the Radiant Life Podcast .