Namaste

On Sunday I went to Yoga festival in Ostrava and I wanted to write a post about it yesterday .. but it's really hard to describe it. I was looking forward to the festival since I bought the tickets, but I didn't know how amazing experience it will be in the end. Amazing atmosphere, positive energy, perfect mind detox, nice and helpfull peeople, great instructors, delicious food ...

photo source: facebook Yoga&Dance Festival

The program took place in four halls at the same time and the visitors could chose any class they prefer. For example you could go to one yoga class, then visit some lecture and spend the rest of the time in the vestibule surrounded by stands with tea, india fashion, raw sweets, books etc.

I was pretty suprised how different people visited the festivalů. There were people with fashionable sports clothes and iPhones and people with harem pants who looked like they were from a different world. But during the yoga classes, during the meditation and chanting - we were on the same wave. Nobody was starring at anyone else, everyone was just smilling and there was an amazing atmosphere.

I wanted to spend the time as actively as possible. First I went to a yoga teraphy with Jarmila Voženílková. It was slow, calm yoga class with relaxing mantra chanting and final reaxation. When I practice yoga at home, it's mainly about the physical activity. Chanting "Om" and other mantras was something absolutely new to me and it was a great feeling. When about fifty people in the hall starts chanting together with the instructor, there is so much vibration ... it's something indescribable.

The next point on my program was the class of Jivamukti with Jai Sugrim from New York. It was more dynamic and we were also chanting mantras, this time we chanted longer mantras in sanskrt ... and that was awesome. The lector starts chanting and the people repeat the mantra, and then they chant together with the instructor. It's interesting that when you hear the mantra for the first time, you have no idea what the words are and you don't understand them at all. But when you hear it for the third time you start chanting absolutely naturally. And suddenly you're connected to the energy in the hall, you don't think about anything at all and you just feel that moment.

The craziest experience was the Gibberish meditation with Petr Moczek. In the first part of the meditation (30 minutesú you stand with your eyes cloesd and you talk through one's hat. You say nonsensical syllables which helps you to "detox" your mind, or you can swear, scream, get rid of the anger you feel against yourself or against someone else. There are backround sounds - it's like sounds from some big marker or something like that, just people talking over each other. Due to this, participants don't hear each other. You actually don't hear yourself neither - you hear just kind of noise and sometimes you can hear some louder shouts. When the instructor turned on the background noise, people were looking at each other confusedly for a while before they closed eyes and started talking. In the beginning I was just mumbling and standing still. But in few minutes you just get into it and you start to gesticulate, swing your arms, shout, stomp and sware. 
After a half and hour all the sounds calm down and you sit down and meditate (with your eyes still closed). Due to the first part when you get rid of your emotions and thoughts, during the second part ... you have completely clearn mind. I have a lot of thought in my head all the time and I never have a clearn mind. But this time it really worked this time! When I sat down, my mind was completely clear and empty. Just silence and calm. It was very unusual feeling in today's hasty world.

Gibberish meditation can also remove emotional and communication blocks - which happened to me I think.  I feel more relaxed when I talk to someone, I'm calm when something fails ... 

After the Gibberish meditation I visited African dance class - but I came there almost in the end and I wasn't able to manage the steps so I gave it up and I went for a snack to the vestibul.

My own photo - Chai latte with raw cake ♥

And finally I joined the mantra playshop with Atmika Yani Noerren from Berlin. She explained us what mantra really is and then we chanted "om" and other mantras together with harmonium. There was incredible energy and it was just completely perfect.



It was an unforgettable experience and I highly recommend you to visit this festival too. I'm definitely comming next year again - this time I'd like to come for the whole weekend! NAMASTE ... ♥