International Yoga Festival 2021 Online

International Yoga Festival 2021 Online March 7-14

Ok, not me in the photo, but if someone took a pic, this is what I'd look like, sort of...practicing yoga online with the International Yoga Festival. Like in-class, you can't always see the teacher in awkward positions, so you have to rely on a peek out of alignment or just through voice instruction. Luckily, the presenters at the IYF are all professional, so their instructions are clear and easy to follow, well sort of...

First of all, I was still feeling dizzy from what my doctor said was a side effect of my Pfizer vaccine taken two days ago. Later I found out I had contracted Vestibular Neuritis, but I digress. Despite my slight dizziness (at first, it later developed to a full blown infection), I rolled out my mat determined to get a good start on IYF 2021. Beforehand, I had to first make out a schedule for myself, transposing EST (Eastern Standard Time) to AST (Arab Standard Time) + 8 hours since I am in Kuwait these days. I watched the opening ceremony, which took me back in time when I attended IYF in Rishikesh in person in 2017 and 2019. I missed the crowds and I mean crowds of over 1,000 people, usually, who attend this popular yoga festival. I also missed the ambiance of Rishikesh; the meandering cows, the barking dogs, the mischievous monkeys, the vendors selling their ware, the incense filling the air, the cool early morning March wind blowing across Ram Jula Bridge, the swerving motorbikes weaving around pedestrians, Ma Ganga (Ganges River) fresh and clear swiftly flowing downstream from the Himalayas, the bright blue sky and the sun breaking through the Cumulus clouds... (sigh...)

However, on the plus side, since the festival was online and taped, I could participate in more of the classes at convenient times once they aired. My first class was with Gurmuk Kaur, which reminded me of my Osho Meditation classes, shake, shake, shake 'til you drop. I kept up with Gurmuk Kaur until the end when tilting the head down while lifting one leg in the cat/cow pose was too much for my dizzy spells to handle. Then I moved on to Anandra George's Kirtan chanting "Om Nama Shivaya" for 20 minutes. It wasn't the same as the sound meditation I experienced every morning on the ghat of Parmath Nikitan in previous IYFs when she plays her Tambura. Still, there is something very calming about her. I always enjoy her classes. Reverend Beckwith took me back to Folk Masses of the 70's when going to church was fun. He opened his presentation with Earth, Wind and Fire's "Fantasy" sung by The Agape International Youth Choir to set the tone for his talk on "Your Life's Purpose". Very inspirational.

The following days, I would tune into IYF in the mornings catching up on taped sessions I missed because they aired late evenings to early mornings AST the previous day. Then I'd catch the live sessions in the afternoons.

I tried Katie Happyy's Power Yoga and kept up for the most part. No Handstands nor Crow for me, but most of the other poses were fine. She tended to move very quickly, but overall it was a good work out. I meditated on the sounds of the jungles in Ubud, Bali with Punnu Wasu. It definitely sounded tropical and mesmerizing. Once in deep meditation lying in Savasana, I could see colors like a kaleidoscope phasing in and out, expanding and retracting. I wondered how I could get out of the trance. Then the music stopped abruptly. I gently pulled myself back to reality by wiggling my toes and fingers, stretching my arms above my head, turning to one side and propping myself back up to a seated position. My computer kept cutting off after an hour into each class for some reason. I would have to stop in the middle of the instruction to reset the session as most continued on for an hour and a half.

I enjoyed the variety of classes offered at the IYF 2021 Online: Lectures, Asana Practices, Kirtans, Meditations, Panel Discussions, Interviews...I was introduced to some new presenters, i.e., Gabriel Balzac, Beth Shaw, Jeffery Armstrong, Sheela Bringi & Brent Kuecker, Dr. Katy Jane, Nubia Texeira, Shiva Rea.., as well as the tried and true, i.e., Laura Plumb, Seane Corne, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Tommy Rosen, Kia Miller, Saul David Raye, Anand Mehrota, and Pujya Sri Mooji.

The only real issue I had is that I wished there was a more thorough explanation of the class in the information section aside from its title. Sometimes when I thought it would be an asana class, it was actually more of a lecture. I mentioned this to them in my review. There are still other classes I haven't tried yet.

In fact, the IYF has been extended through June 6, 2021, so if you are still interested in exploring yoga in all its glory, register for a plethora of yoga classes to choose from here: https://internationalyogafestival.org/register/