I Went To Wanderlust And Didn't Do A Single Yoga Pose!
By Courtney Aldor
What happens when you go to a Yoga Festival but you’re too tired to roll out your mat? You have a blast!! A yoga festival veteran at this point, and lover of all things Wanderlust, I usually try to pack my schedule to practice with master teachers from across the country. Not this time. Overcommitted with work, travel, and personal goings-on, I scared myself when I finally pulled up at my Airbnb in Tahoe last week. Not only because I was surprised I got there in one piece, but I was so tired, I felt sick. And for a moment, I panicked. How could I come to cover the Wanderlust festival without doing any yoga? But then I took another look at the schedule….Yoga Nidra aka Yogic Sleep? Check. Inspiring lectures? Signed up for five. Self-massage and bodywork? Come to think of it, that’s exactly what I needed. Music? Hiking? Swimming with new friends? Art projects? By the end of the weekend, not only did I feel revitalized, but I felt awesome!
Laughing out loud to our lovely founder about not having done a single yoga class all weekend, she said, ‘Of course you did!’ And she was right. Because yoga is not just about stretching and moving your asana all over the mat. Yoga is a lifestyle, a discipline that leads to feeling healthy, balanced, and unified with everything around you, in whatever form that may take. Yoga is the music I danced to, the friends I made, the speakers who spoke to my heart. It was an oracle card reading, the gorgeous waterfall I jumped in with the friendly strangers who cheered me on, it was even the nap I took during Rod Stryker’s Yoga Nidra meditation.
And leave it up to the folks at Wanderlust with their insane gift for programming to have provided such a wide variety of exactly what I didn’t know I needed in the most beautiful of settings at Squaw. And not to mention, the beautiful and organized staff, and that super easy to use app so that even a zombie could find her way and have the weekend of her life.
Check out Wanderlust.com to find out about more events, including upcoming festivals in Whistler, BC (my fave place ever!) and Mont Tremblant, QC in August for an unforgettable, four-day retreat of everything that is truly yoga.
Lead Photo: Melissa Gayle
Gallery Photos: Melissa Gayle & Paige Shaw
