*sighhhhhhhhh*
This post. This post will be big. Usually when I write a blog post, I power through it spewing words onto the computer screen without thinking much. I hit spellcheck then give it a quick once over (sometimes I don't even re-read it at all), then click publish and walk away. That's how I roll. I know this post is going to need more than that. It will be rewritten, then probably left to sleep on, then revised, and then we'll see what happens. I really want to remember everything I can about my experience at the 2014 In Flow Festival
At first I thought about writing everything as it happened. Before I had even left and had been delayed by air mattress drama, thoughts were running through my brain about how I was going to explain said drama and how it all unfolded. Maybe even a whole post about how I discovered at the last minute that I couldn't blow up the air mattress I had bought with the pump I had borrowed, and the mad rush that followed trying to figure out what to do about it, right down the air mattress blow up race I had with my friend Monica right before leaving town. It was funny at the time, but was it really important? Or about how on the first night I ate the quinoa salad at dinner without thinking (because it looked so awesome), and then realized afterwards that I had consumed a sizeable portion of the only food that my stomach cannot tolerate, only to spend the rest of that evening feeling bloated and nauseous and not fully able to totally enjoy that night's events.
No, let's not remember those things entirely, though they are good for a laugh at this moment.
I want to remember the place, and the space, and the faces that mattered. The music, and the movement, and the feelings all of these things provoked. I'm not one for details, I'm not good at describing things, words are not my strength. But I really really don't want to forget how amazing I felt this past weekend.
I don't really need to go over what this weekend meant to me, I've been over that time and time again. It was my first weekend away in 6 years, that says enough. Leaving my children wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I thought I would feel more emotional about it, but when the time came they were all in good spirits, and I felt good knowing they were safe. My husband was showing that he was ready for the task of having them all weekend, and he seemed confident about it which was enough for me. When I left on Friday (2 hours later than I was hoping to leave), I felt good. I felt ready for an adventure.
The drive up was beautiful and peaceful, and I got to Wildenfree Farm in Gravenhurst in 1.5 hours exactly. I felt a sense of exhilaration as I drove in, not sure what to expect. It was absolutely beautiful, and welcoming. Our hosts had taken such care to make sure it was easy to find, with signs on the roads and also once we drove in, making it easy to know where to go and where to park.
I wish I could describe the setting, but like I said, I suck at descriptions. I also suck at taking pictures. But what pictures I did take, I will add.
I was nervous about this weekend for many reasons, but one of the biggest ones was that I didn't know anyone very well. I was familiar with many faces from the Toronto hoop community from the few workshops I had attended earlier this year, but I hadn't yet really talked to any of them yet, and I was feeling intimidated because I knew most of them already knew each other. I hadn't even been out of my van 2 minutes yet when the lady unpacking the car next to me introduced herself and made me feel included. I knew from that moment on that I would be fine.
I managed to sign in and meet a few more people, and find myself a site to set up my camp. I tried as hard as I could to look like I wasn't nervous, and that camping with strange people was something I did all the time. Let's be honest here, outdoorsy person I am not. I don't camp. It's not that I haven't camped (on the contrary I did a lot of camping as a kid), but I hadn't done it in a very long time. Oh and I am severely bug phobic. Yeah, that kind of makes I hard to love the outdoors. So I was worried that my being camping challenged would put a damper on the experience, but it turns out I fared just fine.
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| "The Grove" |
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| My sanctuary for the weekend |
I could give you a play by play of how the entire weekend unfolded, but like I said I'm not sure I want to write this post that way. I want to try and write about how it made me feel, and about how I made so many new friends and had so many breakthroughs both as a person and as a hooper.
I cannot imagine a more perfect weekend. If I had to pick one negative thing it would have been that I got eaten alive by bugs, but even then I don't consider it bad because it was a part of the experience, and the experience as a whole was amazing.
The place. Wildenfree Farm, home of Naoise and Greg, was the most beautiful setting for our weekend and we are so fortunate that they opened up their home and property to us. I have nothing to compare this year's In Flow to since I have never attended anything like it in the past, but I cannot imagine a better place to hold it. The house, the pond, the forests, the fields, it was all so stunning and they outdid themselves making sure it was comfortable for all of us.
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| The Orchard, where hammocks hung and we had opening circle |
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| View from the house - the pond, the fire pit, and where we ate our meals |
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| The gardens and the tent where the magic happened |
The people. I don't think I have ever met a warmer and more welcoming community that those in the hoop community. Every single person had a warm smile on their face and a big heart. And they were all so interesting. I loved hearing about their adventures and travels. Things I could only dream of doing and places I could only dream of visiting. Not that I have ever been a particularly free spirited individual, but I think that I see a bit of the old me in them, in their freedom. There was a time when I might have been more like that, but that was a long time ago. Still it was nice to be reminded of that.
The workshops. Fantastic. I learned so much, I grew so much as a hooper. Not just the hooping workshops either, the movement ones were just as amazing. Spandy Andy was so much fun, I only wish that I had felt a little better (damn quinoa) and could have enjoyed it more. He is such a bundle of energy ant it's hard not to feel happy when he is around and dancing. It's clear to see the guy loves to dance, and man can he dance! I managed to last through his workshop despite feeling awful because I didn't want to miss a thing (and really, lying in my tent in pain seemed like a worse idea than dancing through the pain), and then rocked out for a bit during the LED jam. My fiber optic hoop almost didn't make it to In Flow since I couldn't find the batteries for it, but luck smiled on me and I found them right before I walked out the door. It was the first time I really got to spin with it for a long period of time and it helped me temporarily forget that I had eaten quinoa for dinner.
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| LED jam - photo credit: Kevin Sue Chue Lam |
Elana's Grace in the Space workshop was fantastic as well. I felt really at home there, grace while dancing is something I feel I can do. I also loved the music Elana played, and I loved Elana herself. She was that first person who introduced herself, and I will always love her for that.
In the afternoon was Beth Lavinder's 3 hour intensive. What can I say about Beth other than she has become my single biggest inspiration in the hoop world. There's one thing I've said in previous posts, and that is that I often feel like the odd one out being a hooper and a mother. Beth made me feel so amazing about being both. Hearing that she also didn't start hooping until after she had her daughter, and seeing what a stunning hooper she is today, gives me so much hope that it's not too late for me to be not only the kind of hooper I want, but also the kind of mother I want to be and the kind of entrepreneur I want to be. She has shown me there is still time, still hope to be all I want. From now on whenever I get down about not being able to do as much as people without kids, I will think of her.
Her workshop was nothing short of fantastic as well, and I really enjoyed learning more about point hooping as well as some of the really cool breaks she taught us. Beth was such a joy to learn from and a joy to watch hoop. She was so graceful and stunning, and her style really resonated with me. She was also an absolutely lovely lady to talk to. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to spend time with her. I know that in the past when I took workshops with Baxter and Hoopalicious, I felt really intimidated by them and was afraid to talk them. It might have been the relaxed setting as well but I felt totally comfortable hooping with and chatting casually with Beth.
The evening's workshop was fire spinning with Tegan, and that was very exciting for me because I had never fire hooped before. We covered safety first which was very important, for obvious reasons, and then first I tried playing with one fire poi. I actually found that kind of weird since it was harder to control than a hoop, and one wrong swing could send it flying close to me. When my turn came to try the first hoop, I was nervous but I knew I had to do it. I would have been very disappointed with myself if I hadn't. It was actually not as scary as I thought, and I had a lot of fun. I feel like I was fairly cautious but I probably could have done a few more cool moves like isolations and other off body stuff, but I was trying to be safe. Mostly I kept the hoop on my body but even that was fun. Now I can say that I've done it, and I would also say that I'd do it again!
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| Spinning fire! Photo credit: Kevin Sue Chue Lam |
I was really looked forward to Morgan's twin workshop because twin hooping is something I've really started to get into lately, and I was hoping to learn some new tricks and moves I could do with my twins. I was actually surprised to see there wasn't that much she taught that I hadn't already taught myself, but I was also really happy about that as well. The only thing that was new to me was turning with the twins. I already know how to turn with them, but I do it in a different way and I liked learning that there is more than one way I can do it. I will have to practice the way that she showed us because it was tricky. I'm really starting to feel more comfortable twin hooping and am finding myself picking up my twins more and more often.
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| Twin workshop - Photo credit: Kevin Sue Chue Lam |
In the afternoon we started with Maryeve's Circus Style workshop, and that was a lot of fun but really challenging! I enjoyed trying to hoop on my feet, and there were a lot of cool acrobatic type moves that she taught us. I was surprised that I could almost do a few of them, because I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that kind of style since I am not flexible at all. It is something I am working on though, and maybe now that I've learned a bit of it I will try some more of those moves more often. Maryeve was so amazing to watch and I was in awe of some of the tricks she could do.
The final workshop on Sunday was Tessa's Balance and Toss workshop, and was probably the one I found the most challenging. I had tried some balance work back in February in Baxter's workshop, but I will admit I have never quite had the patience for it and so I haven't been practicing it. After seeing what Tessa can do I really want to practice more balance work. I would also like to work on my body rolls, and I think the balancing will help with that. On the In Flow website Tessa was described as an old soul, and I really saw that in her. She was quiet and sweet, and there was just something so amazing about her especially when she was balancing. It was a great way to finish off Sunday's workshops.
I loved each and every workshop and feel like I took a little bit from each one to incorporate into my own dance and practice. I feel like I've grown so much as a hooper from having the opportunity to work with each teacher and their different styles.
And what about the rest of the weekend? All the stuff that filled in the gaps? The food was amazing. Home cooked, local meals every day. I don't think I've ever eaten so well in my life. Aside from the quinoa mishap, my tummy was very happy.
We spent our free time hanging out, lounging around, hooping, swimming, and reading. There was a stunning little pond on the farm that most people loved swimming in. I just liked to admire it, since I'm not big on pond or lake swimming. It did look lovely though. I did take a trip to the cool outdoor shower that they hooked up for us, and I took a dip in the hot tub as well on Sunday night which was awesome.
Let's not forget the yoga! Every morning Mandala led us through yoga and it was certainly a most welcome start to the day.
Some other perks of the weekend included an RMT, and a photographer who was there to capture every moment. I definitely took advantage of both! At home I had been saying for months that I wanted to book a massage, and now finally with no kids to have to worry about, I made sure to book one with Anya while I was there. It was amazing. The photographer on site was Kevin Sue Chue Lam and he was busy the whole time taking pictures of all the events, but was also available for mini-private photo shoots and I took advantage of that as well. I have wanted some nice hooping pictures for some time and that seemed like the perfect opportunity to have some taken. Kevin did an awesome job and I'm so happy with the pictures. There are so many that I think I will do a separate post to share them.
Also, I survived the weekend of tent camping! How I was going to manage being outside for the whole weekend did cause a bit of anxiety for me leading up to the event, but I actually felt quite comfortable and at home in my tent and outdoors. My tent was my sanctuary when I wanted to be alone or escape from the bugs. I enjoyed sleeping in it even though my air mattress wasn't as nice as my comfy bed at home. I lay awake at night listening to the music coming from the tent where people were still dancing, or to the coyotes howling, until drifting off to sleep. I woke up happy and refreshed each morning. The bugs did bother me but I didn't have any traumatic bug experiences which made me feel more confident about camping outdoors again in the future.
Monday was home day and it rained. I made sure to get my tent down before the rain hit so I wasn't packing up in the rain. It almost seemed fitting to get a bit of rain on the last day, afterall we were lucky enough to have the most beautiful weather of the summer all weekend, and the rain kind of mirrored my feelings of having to leave. It cleared up after breakfast though and we had the most lovely circle to end off our weekend.
My weekend at In Flow was a huge milestone for me. It was my first weekend away from my family. It was the first time I truly spent that much time on myself, on my passion, on things that I love. It was the first time I got to spend a lot of time with other hoopers and really truly connect with them. It was also a huge confidence booster for me. I did get a lot of compliments on my hooping and my flow, and each kind word meant the world to me. I also felt great about myself when I realized how far I have come this year, and not just that but knowing I have taught myself so much of it as well.
I arrived home on Monday refreshed and excited to see my family. I looked at my children's faces and I felt like they had grown and changed so much in the three short days I was away. It was the longest I had every been away from them, and as much as I needed the break, I was overjoyed to see them.
I still can't believe it is over. Last weekend already feels like so long ago. I can't believe I took the chance and entered the Flowbot Award, I can't believe that I actually won, and I can't believe I got the opportunity to have this experience. It has certainly been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
I've written so many words here, and they do not do the whole experience of In Flow justice. I had so many better words running through my head the whole weekend, and the drive home (which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare after getting lost and getting stuck in traffic, but again one of the things not worth dwelling on). I don't have the gift of writing so many others have that pieces things together so beautifully. I can only really write as they come to me, and hope that after time has passed and I come back to read this, it will spark my memory and I can smile knowing what it felt like just to be there.
So many new friends, so many great memories.
And........
Exhale.....................
*sighhhhhhhhh*
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| New friends - Photo credit: Kevin Sue Chue Lam Check out here for more info about the In Flow Festival Check out here for more info about Kevin Sue Chue Lam Photography |
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