Namaskar Oct 2012

Festival
Yoga, Music & Magic in the Mountains
Frances Gairns
Krishna Das at Wanderlust
Festival Whistler
YYoga Northshore Elements’
Nico Luce
By winter Whistler is one of
the top ski resorts in North
America. By summer, it’s a
wilderness adventure
playground for mountain
bikers, runners, climbers, with
just enough spas, restaurants
and shops to keep the less
active partners very happy. The
permanent population is
10,000, but with its proximity
to Vancouver, this number can
increase tenfold for special
events or 15 cm plus powder
days.
There are just four small yoga
studios in Whistler. The oldest,
NeoAlpine Yoga (now part of
the YYoga group) was founded
about 13 years ago by Patrick
Creelman and Stephen
Thomas. Initially Whistler
seems an unlikely venue for a
Wanderlust Festival, but with
the large and enthusiastic yoga
community of Vancouver just
two hours down the road, it
becomes an obvious choice for
the first Wanderlust Festival
outside the US.
Wanderlust was created by
husband and wife Jeff Krasno
and Schuyler Grant, and Jeff ’s
business partner Sean Hoess. It
aims to bring together yoga
teachers, musical acts and DJs,
speakers, chefs and winemakers,
in settings of natural beauty.
left Chris Chavez
below Eoin Finn’s workshop is a
big bliss party
There are already Wanderlust Festivals in Vermont, Colorado and
California. As well as Wanderlust in the City events in Los Angeles,
New York and San Francisco.
The Greater Vancouver area has a population of about 2 million
people, is home to ubiquitous yoga brand lululemon, at least 100
yoga studios and an estimated 20,000 regular yoga practitioners.
Combine that with all the fitness centres offering yoga classes and
freelance teachers, and you’ve got a sizeable market of aspiring yogis
close by.
Teachers at the Whistler event (23 – 26 August 2012) were mostly
North American - headliners like Krishna Das, Baron Baptiste, Sean
Corne and local yoga teachers, like Whistlerite and former Hong
Kong-teacher Julia McCabe. While yoga asana classes are the
definitely the mainstay of the Festival, there’s also lots of fun and
alternative classes like hoola hoop, paddle board and slack line
balancing, mountain walks, live music, DJ music, lectures, debates,
meditation, food and wine!
For such a wide offering, I was surprised to find the ticketing
options quite limited - one, three or four-day passes only. Great for
single festival goers, but not so for a mother-of-two. It’s priced at
US$160 a day which includes up to three classes or activities, and
US$475 for all four days, which is about half the price of an average
Yoga Journal three-day conference pass. And compared with Asia
Yoga Conference, it’s a little bit less than their early bird price.
I started off at 8 am to the dulcet tones of Nico Luce. An
Argentinian who teaches at YYoga Northshore Elements in
Vancouver with wife Chloe. It was a mellow class, with music and
inspiring readings interspersed in the asana sequence. Nico’s
assistants were very attentive and generous to the needs of the class.
Immediately after, I attended Chris Chavez’ intermediate/advanced
class. A striking contrast to Nico’s gentle approach, but just as
rewarding. There was a live cellist on hand to accompany the intense
practice. We did a fun assisted handstand exercise which focussed
on pushing down through our arms to lift up to handstand from
Prasarita, rather than hopping up. A good reminder how much
strength that transition requires. And the third class I took was
with surfer/yogi Eoin Finn. A very well known and loved British
Columbia teacher. His class started with lots of free form
movement around the hall. He took us off our mats (shock,
horror) connecting with nature, imitating animals and water, before
segueing into a more traditional vinyasa practice. I thoroughly
enjoyed all three classes and would recommend all three teachers.
That connection to nature and the best of all things yogic
continued into the evening for me at an outdoor Krishna Das
concert. Sitting with Philippe on real grass under a clear night sky,
filled with more stars than you could count, our children running
around freely and happily, a community of like-minded people
chanting and swaying to the beautiful music – a magical moment
which I hope to hold in my heart long after I return to the city.
photo by Ali Kaukas
Frances is editor of Namaskar.
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