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Beautiful People - The 2018 Devon Yoga Festival

When gathering with like-minded people, I am reminded of The Beatles lyric

How does it feel to be
One of the beautiful people (..)
What do you want to be
And have you travelled very far…

This year’s Devon Yoga Festival was the perfect occasion to reconnect with friends, and to meet new like-minded yoga practitioners from all over the UK and Europe.

Despite the vast and varied workshop programme, Duncan, James and Jules had planned for ample time between sessions for people to congregate in small groups, to have conversations about what they’d learned, retreats they’d been on and to sing, dance and chant together, and generally discuss new yoga variations and combinations, like Neurogenic, Ayurvedic, Kum Nye, and Acroyoga.

With three sessions to choose from at any given time, the festival didn’t rely on participants pre-booking sessions, but instead gave us the opportunity to spontaneously decide which class to join, depending on our disposition, curiosity and energy levels.

As well as the Asana, Nidra and Meditation classes, there were a scattering of special « knowledge workshops », like « Pain - is it all in the mind? », Samkhya Philosophy, and the Yogic Dance workshop to choose from. To attend a single workshop like one of these at home would cost a handsome amount, which made attending the festival great value for money.

Two or three workshop leaders and teachers travelled from afar, which made attending and gaining a lot of new knowledge from these workshops in a short period of time, and exercising the mind, as well as the body, extra special!

The evening Kirtan with Barry Elms, et al, on Saturday night, which people had raved about from previous festivals, provided a wonderful opportunity to come together as one big group in the Studio, to sing, chant and dance the night away.

The entire festival took place on Rill Estate, where we enjoyed superb views over the Dart Valley from its commanding position on Bigadon Hill. The sun shone the entire time and we ate out on the lawns in small groups, our plates of wholesome food balanced on our laps, enjoying the Prana and the tranquility of the green scenery.

This sixth not-for-profit yoga festival was once again meticulously organised by Duncan, James and Jules, raising a combined contribution of £9,985 for it’s two chosen charities The Ganja Prem and Glacier Trust.

The Festival was completely booked, the weather was perfect and the food was great - what more could a dedicated yogi ask for!

The DSOY team will have a break from organizing the summer festival in 2019, to concentrate on other key tasks, returning in July 2020.