By Mabel Pais

The Sedona Yoga Festival (SYF) celebrates its tenth anniversary with the theme, “EMERGE TO IMAGINE” leading the way to seek solutions that the yoga community can envision a peaceful, abundant, liberated, and equitable future for all. It aims at “true transformation.” The Fest takes place at Sedona, Arizona (SYF2023 -SedonaYogaFestival.com), April 27-30, 2023.

KIRTAN | KIDS YOGA | CEUS | EXCURSIONS | METAPHYSICS | ASTROLOGY | CONSCIOUS CONVERSATION | VENDORS | TRAUMA CONSCIOUS YOGA TRAINING | MEDITATION | MINDFULNESS | YOGA PHILOSOPHY | KRIYA | ASANA | SANGHA | ENERGY MEDICINE | AND MORE…

With its famed red rock landscape and energetic vortexes, Sedona offers a unique opportunity for true personal transformation — many visitors to Sedona say that the shifts they experience here stay with them for a lifetime. That’s why, in 2023, SYF will take place not only at world class performing arts facilities and retreat centers, and outside on stunning grounds, but also out on the land in the forests of Sedona that surround the small city. The Fest is offering what no other yoga festival can: An opportunity to practice and explore the eight limbs of yoga in this phenomenal landscape.

Participants gather in the morning for intention and group practice, and then disperse into the forest excursions, in-depth workshops, and active and accessible practices to nourish your soul and body. You’ll have a chance to choose from yoga, meditation, workshops, and other deep explorations with some of the community’s brightest lights — for what the Fest has always been known. Participants gather again in the evening for keynote addresses, panels, sacred chant, and celebration. There is no question that yoga in the west has an appropriation and diversity problem. Part of this is certainly the adulteration of the practice as merely physical — a result, perhaps, of the co-opting of yoga by white and wealthy practitioners during the 1990s and 2000s as its popularity exploded in the U.S. This was codified by sexualized imagery and contortionist asana, resulting in a public perception of yoga that was as far from its origin as Patanjali is from expensive leggings.

In recent years, there have been efforts to return yoga to its roots, led by South Asian and BIPOC community leaders and their white allies. Focusing on diversity and inclusion — and the sacred intent of the tradition — is nothing new for Heather Sanders, producer of the Sedona Yoga Festival (SYF). Over the past 10 years, SYF has continually provided a platform to elevate the Festival’s collective consciousness, by holding space and extending invitations to presenters from all corners of the yoga world. This year, however, Sanders is taking this dedication one step further with the creation of a programming team, made up of luminaries: Reggie Hubbard, Arundhati Baitmangalkar, Danni Pomplun, Indy Rishi Singh, Johanna Beekman, and Sanders.

Heather Sheree Sanders, festival producer, and co-founder says it is an event like no other. “The Sedona Yoga Festival aims to help provide the necessary tools to unleash your greatest potential through the practice of yoga. We pride ourselves in finding amazing teachers that are not always drawn to the festival circuit and curating a program unlike any other, where each attendee may plan their four-day experience from more than 150 offerings available on the schedule.” The festival has classes and offerings suitable for every level of practitioner, adds Sanders. “From absolute beginners to experienced teachers, we have cultivated an audience of deep seekers of yoga. The event is attended by yoga and overall wellness professionals who want to apply themselves to the study of yoga. Conferences such as this can gather great teachers and allow the studio goer to deepen their relationship with the full breadth of what the practice of yoga has to offer. It takes discipline to cultivate a mind, body, and soul that is at ease, but that peace is contagious.” But SYF offers more than personal transformation and its event planners recognize the power of the platform, taking seriously the responsibility of sharing the multitude of authentic yoga practices in a way that represents the diversity of its practitioners.

“SYF is laser-focused on representation because representation matters. If we truly want everyone to feel comfortable in exploring a yoga practice, we need to reveal the truth that people from all walks of life — all backgrounds, and races — are practicing, teaching, and benefitting from yoga,” said Sanders.

The event will be held April 27-30, 2023, and there are several ways to be involved in this beautifully crafted event. From the ability to attend, sponsor or take part as a vendor, Sanders hopes it will be a life-changing experience for all who participate in the festival. “Yoga facilitated deep healing and transformation for me personally, so it is no surprise that I took the lifelong practice of bringing people together in the fields of arts, sustainability and community and brought that to my passion for yoga. The powerful vortex landscape of Sedona amplifies the effects of the practice, especially when we all practice together over a series of days, and I expect it to be uplifting, inspiring, and revealing.”

KIDS YOGA

Sedona Yoga Festival is delighted to offer a full weekend of open-to-the-public yoga activities for kids ages 6-13.

Programming is scheduled to coincide with adult classes. So much fun to be had!  Acro yoga, yoga dance, music, art, and much more. By donation. Please note: Kids Yoga Instructors at Sedona Yoga Festival all have fingerprint clearance cards, so your children are in the best hands. The Festival authorities take the safety of children seriously. The staff and volunteers that run the SYF kids yoga program are experienced and professional.

MATERIALS REQUIRED

Mats and materials provided

Bring water and snacks

Friday – Saturday 8 am – 5 pm

Sunday 8 am – 5 pm

Classes are 1 hour long, supervision will be constant during open hours

Release forms are available on-site for parents

SYF – IMMERSION

Learn more at sedonayogafestival.com/immersions/?inf_contact_key=b748b62b5972523d028f607eb912f93f680f8914173f9191b1c0223e68310bb1

TRAUMA CONSCIOUS YOGA TRAINING

w/ Dr. Manmeet Kaur Rattu & Diana Cantú-Reyna, BSN, RN

This 20-hour yoga certification is a unique four-day immersive experience to develop a biological, heart-centered, and decolonial understanding of trauma, stress, and burnout. Surrounded by the gorgeous landscape of red rocks in Sedona, this program will offer participants insight and wisdom into cultivating trauma-conscious relationships within their communities. Through guided discussions, dynamic and interactive learning, movement, kirtan, and breathwork, attendees will walk away with an expanded awareness on how to best support personal and collective healing. This is an invitation for those seeking to lean into courageous and selfless service.

Objectives:

At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

Define trauma, stress, and the three states of arousal as described in polyvagal theory.

Identify and learn current practices in yoga therapies for trauma and stress. Identify and understand social justice in yoga (i.e., implicit bias, systemic trauma, cultural appropriation vs appreciation, etc,)

Define and learn strategies to better manage stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma with 10 practical tools for self-care.

Be able to integrate a trauma-conscious lifestyle.

TICKETS

For tickets to individual events or the entire festival, visit

eventbrite.com/e/sedona-yoga-festival-10th-anniversary-tickets-334648080417?discount=TRUSTTHEPROCESS&inf_contact_key=dbc5dc731b97b69a2fb9d9e1fd9027e4680f8914173f9191b1c0223e68310bb1

(Mabel Pais writes on Health & Wellness, Cuisine, Spirituality, Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment)