Never Rush Chai ☕

You know that feeling of discomfort in the comfort?

I put on my get shit done outfit while it was still dark out (Doc Martens and my bright orange Suk Workwear pants) and headed into the Western Sydney Conference Centre, for my first (but hopefully not last) Yoga & Wellness Festival. 

Disclaimer: I didn't organise the whole thing, gosh no way, massive collaborative effort from lots of people involved, and I was lucky enough to be co-organisers with Hayley from Embodied Breathwork who had already hosted it successfully for the first time the year before.

By 8:30am the vendors had bumped in and set up (thankful for those who showered me with kindness as I continued to realise that you can measure something 3 times and still be totally confused as why the table doesn't fit) and it was time for doors.

Now our guests rolled on in. A few hundred of them 😲

They breathed in deep, yoga'ed (is that even a word?), listened, workshopped, danced, drank (hot cacao), got high (on hot cacao, gosh what type of festival do you think this is?!), got books signed, shopped with local small businesses, made new friends and met up with old ones.

If anyone saw me on the day, I was at one point just simply pacing up and down trying to find a fire to put out.

There wasn't even smoke 💙

Soz not soz if you were expecting some juicy drama from the day. The best I can give you is that I drank my afternoon soy chai much too quickly and gave myself some uncomfortable bloating right before teaching a restorative yoga class.

One of my favourite parts of the day (other than catching up with heaps of old friends, meeting lots of incredible stallholders, and watching the facilitators share their craft)...

Getting a visit from these gremlins at the end of it all (it was my first night away from the little one!).

We went into the festival with no expectations but to just simply to serve to the best of our ability.

Thank you to everyone who attended for giving us that opportunity.

If you were there as a guest, vendor, or facilitator, please reply to this blog with feedback, regardless if it is wonderful or constructive. 

Annika xx

P.S. For women who are interested in learning more about Yoga and Ayurveda online, teacher & author Katie Rose (who hosted two workshops at the festival over the weekend) has a FREE online Women's Summit starting this Thursday. You can learn more by clicking here.

P.P.S Another popular facilitator at the festival over the weekend, Heidi from Hypnoga is offering a very special discount for her classes at the Nin Yoga Penrith Studio with a 50% discount for her weekend day retreats by using the code "WELLNESS". You can learn more by clicking here.