Spiritfest , taking place this weekend at the beautiful Mountain Shadows in Paarl, will offer a unique package of both spiritual retreat and a celebration of life with other people. MARIE-CLAIRE DE VILLIERS takes a closer look.
THE Spiritfest website is beautiful and I was intrigued to see something that looked like a cross between a trance party and a spiritual retreat. The event has yoga at its core, with more than 20 different instructors offering classes in all the different types of yoga. Meditation follows closely, as does dance, laughter classes, jamming groups and live music.
The array of yoga teachers include Anton Casciati, a kundalini yoga teacher and co-founder and Director of GuruRamDas. With a multi-disciplinary background, he is also known for his calming presence. Classes include acroyoga led by Marissa Dana, a “playful, interactive practice that blends the wisdom of yoga, the power of acrobatics, and the metta of Thai massage to form the foundation of a unique practice that cultivates trust, connection and fun!”.
Martin Combrinck, laughter class leader, trains laughter yoga leaders and presents seminars and workshops nationally and internationally. His passion for laughter, as a tool for transformation, has prompted him to breathe life into The Laughter Summit during 2014. Tamsin Sheeny facilitates individual vinyasa cleansing programs and lymphology workshops.
Classes on lifestyle and stress free living, among other topics, will be discussed.
Many musicians will perform, offering guided jams as well as performances to get people dancing. Acts include DJ Eppelsauce, the producer/composer/DJ who writes and performs inventive, uplifting soundtracks and beats.
Tribalneed is a strictly analog tribal/techno/ambient act using loops and an array of instruments like didgeridoo and synths. Wayne Ellis and Digital Llama will present audio visual organic projection and tree mapping.
Spiritfest is not a trance party, arts festival, or spiritual retreat. While being none of these, it undeniably includes aspects of all three – trance-like music, expression of arts, and spiritual guidance classes in different forms. The catch-22 in my mind is the fact that this is both a community celebration, with thousands of people attending, which nods to big music festivals, but also markets itself as a “retreat”.
Is it possible for us, as fallible and distractible humans soaked in our rushing modern world, to do both simultaneously? I would like to believe that the answer is yes.
The environment that Spiritfest aims to create is one that will be a welcome change for some and an unusual challenge for others – but none the less something different to what we are accustomed to.
Alchohol is not allowed and music and noise stop at 10pm. Food is organic, healthy, and includes every range of hippie diet you can imagine. A certain level of discipline is therefore required from attendees. However, laughter, wildness, crazy-spiritedness and dance are accepted and encouraged. Would the happy-crazy, alcohol and drug- laden festival teenagers survive, or thrive? I’m curious to see the ages present, and how younger ones might engage with the older (wiser?) ones.
Whatever the outcome, I do believe that this type of event is not only possible, but may just be an essential part of salvaging a sense of interconnected-spirituality and community with larger numbers for those of us who feel a little ruffled and disconnected.
Perhaps a welcome reminder that peace, wildness, and community can still happen in one place.
l Friday to Sunday, www.spirit fest.co.za