International Yoga Fest 2019
This is a couple of years late, but 2020 could pretty much be written off everyone's calendar of events. Then maybe I can be excused and only be considered one year late. At any rate, before 2021 IYF Online rolls around, I wanted to document my 2019 IYF experience.
This was my second participation in the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, India, and it did not disappoint. Some of my favorite presenters were participating as well, so I made sure to attend their workshops, notably: Anandra George's Sunrise "Nada Yoga Musical Meditation" on the Parmarth Niketan Aarti Ghat every morning from March 1-7th at 6:45am; Anand Mehrota's "Awaken Shiva", "Connect to the Cosmic Prana", "Awakening Kundalini", "Be Love, Radiate Love", and "Journey Through the Chakras"; Laura Plumb's "Vedic Mythology"; and Mert Guler's "Rumi's Love Meditation". Notable presenters that were new to me though not new to the international yogic stage: Seane Corn, Kia Miller, Saul David Raye, and Deepika Mehta.
I had only to cross the Ram Jula Bridge at 6:15 every morning to reach Parmarth Niketan Ashram as my hotel was at the foot of the bridge overlooking the Ganges River. A scenic room but the noisiest place I've ever stayed in with foot traffic and motorbikes crossing the bridge from 5am-11pm! The cacophony also included the market on the street below along with dogs barking... I contemplated moving but decided against it. The management assured me once the Lord Shiva celebrations were over, the noise would lessen. The positive aspect of being close to the festivities was that I could stay longer and participate in the Divine Ganga Aarti celebrations every evening from 6pm-7pm, have dinner in the ashram, and if I had any energy left, attend the late evening entertainment from 8pm-9pm. The negative aspect of staying until evening was having to cross a crowded bridge with wall to wall people, cows, and motor bikes pushing and shoving to make their way across. I'm sorry, but it just got to me when I began to feel the Ram Jula bridge 2 kilometers above the Ganges and spanning 750 feet, sway. I yelled at the motorbikes who were crossing the foot bridge to let the people go first. They stopped for a short while and then were guided off by some officials finally yelling at the motorbikes to go around to the other less crowded bridge at Lakshman Jula. A way to avoid all this is to just stay at Parmarth Niketan Ashram. Next time...
Another aspect of the festival that I experienced in 2019 as opposed to 2017 was the Sacred Sound Stage where musicians performed in a small room and the audience lined their mats next to each other to take in the magical sounds of Sanj Hall's "Gong Bath Healing Journey", Tilak Vishwas' "Krishna's Flute:Raga Sound Healing Experience", and Setsuo Miyashita's "Hindustani Classical Raga Concert". Usually performed in the afternoon after the morning's activities and a full lunch, the musicians understand when many fall asleep on their mats while listening and experiencing a deep opening of the body's spirit from the inside out.
I also have to mention the Spiritual Lecture Series IYF offers every day. It would be a shame to miss out on these talks and Satsangs (association with the highest Truth). March 3rd, "Shakti: Power of the Divine Feminine in a Yogic Life" and March 4th Satsang with H.H. Pujya Mooji were most memorable. I connected to the American Indigenous speakers who spoke about men being brought back into the circle and women needing to forgive. "Men carry the seed and women nurture that seed, so there can't be a separation between us." When Saul David Raye was asked what Shakti meant to him, he answered, "Shakti is the force that animates everything (the Power of life). As we each learn to relink to that force, it expands naturally." A Peruvian speaker mentioned how we have forgotten to listen in silence to our mothers and our elders. Women begin to weave to learn to prepare for life. We are weaving all the time, the memories. As well as being practical, weaving also becomes a therapeutic way to remember, to gather our thoughts and make sense of our lives.
I attended Pujya Mooji's Satsang in 2017 where I learned more about his background; in 2019 he focused on how to stay in the moment as this is often a question asked. I was impressed with the young boy under ten years old who sat patiently beside him for an hour, listening and learning from his wise words. A monkey also came to visit, clinging to the curtains behind Mooji. I thought for sure, the backdrop was going to come down right on top of our eminent speaker. Surprisingly, it didn't, and Mooji did not skip a beat. He spoke of how we are living in the idea of who we are, and we need to pay attention to our power to observe and to the environment of the observing place. As we move into the state of presence, we must observe with detachment. Life is about transcending. We will become more free as we discover that life takes care of life.
And that's it, the IYF 2019 in a nutshell. I hope to return this year 2021 Online and hope you can join us:
Places to Stay: Parmarth Niketan Ashram https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g580106-d754231-Reviews-Parmarth_Niketan_Ashram-Rishikesh_Dehradun_District_Uttarakhand.html
Places to Eat: Urban Sip (great coffee & view of the Ganges River, same side as Parmarth Niketan Ashram) https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g580106-d11622103-Reviews-Urban_Sip-Rishikesh_Dehradun_District_Uttarakhand.html
Madras Cafe (opposite Parmarth Niketan Ashram across the river) https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g580106-d1201991-Reviews-Madras_Cafe-Rishikesh_Dehradun_District_Uttarakhand.html
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