Bhakti Fest

I just returned from BhaktiFest in Joshua Tree near Palm Springs- a yogic shindig of 4 days of chanting, yoga classes, lectures and vendors. I was a bit doubtful about the wisdom of heading to the desert in summer and indeed it was hot... but the thunderstorm that dropped an inch of rain right before Krishna Das performed outside was the big shocker.. guess who had left their fly off their tent!

As the downpour unleashed its full fury, stage hands frantically tried to get instruments and electrical items off that stage that with its high pylons, was a definite attractor for lightening.... They made it... and we all piled into a smaller building and waited for them to set up again. By that time it was 11pm and I was ready for bed! So after one song from Krishna Das, I wearily slunk back to my somewhat wet tent and tried to find some dry blankets and get some sleep.

Not everyone else. The age demographic was mostly 20-35 and they all stayed up all night long, chanting, dancing and generally having a fine old time.

But that was not the what made me feel the most old. I swear some Hindu Deity picked the slimmest, trimmest, most gorgeous babes it could find up and down the west coast and plunked them all in the desert for this festival! Now under normal circumstances, I often feel relatively small compared to others wandering around the K street Mall. But here I felt clumsy, fat and old. And to make it worse, the yoga practices I attended consisted of what seemed like an infinite amount of cookie-cutter sun salutations that soon had me worn out in the heat and resting in child's pose whilst all around me continued to jump around. Very humbling. Not the practice for older joints for sure....

On a brighter front, I am now the proud owner of some very trendy new yoga pants - the kind that have a slit up the side and a skirt that covers a multitude of sins. At least I can look the part!

Seriously folks, there were some wonderful teachers there and I enjoyed the event immensely and may even speak there myself next year. But what was on offer was clearly aimed at the younger generation and myself and my traveling companion felt that gap in what appealed.

OK off to teach a class - in my hot new pants - more soon.....