2019 Interfusion Festival - Saturday

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I took just as many workshops during the second day of the Interfusion Festival as I did on the first day (read that blog post here).

Vinyasa Flow

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This was the perfect class to start the day. I regularly practice vinyasa yoga, so I felt very comfortable with it. The instructor, Kate Hishon, was very warm and welcoming, and she lit incense sticks to create a relaxing atmosphere for the class. She admitted that when she is teaching, a British or Australian accent seems to come out (she is American), and since she is studying German, that sometimes shows up in her speech, too (for example, she would say "goot" instead of "good"). I did not have any expectations for this class since I already practice yoga, so I think that helped me enjoy it more.

Acro Yoga Foundations

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This was a much better acro class than the one I took the day before. Brian Cruikshank and Maren Hill were the instructors, and my group actually got a lot of personal attention from them, which helped us with our technique and therefore allowed us to do a better job. One woman in my group had never done acro before, and she was very hesitant, but I was proud to see how well she did; I hope she was proud of herself for the strength she didn't know she had! Some of the moves were similar to the previous class, but others were new. And I definitely preferred the warm-up for this workshop; we did high kicks and squat jumps, exercises you would expect from this kind of class. I did leave early for a lunch break, but I enjoyed my hour of acro that day!

Here's a little taste of acro from the festival:

Conscious Sexuality: Sexual Empowerment

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This was the first workshop I had ever attended at Interfusion that was more discussion-based as opposed to participatory. Dr. Timaree Schmit was the teacher, and while she started off a little shy (or just without a lot of confidence), by the end she had gotten into her groove. She is a sex educator, not a sex therapist (she made that clear distinction, which I think was good). We covered a lot of topics, but here are my main take-aways from the class:

• In general, our society equates more experience to more value. For example, the more education or work experience you have, the more valuable you are (to your workplace, to society in general, etc.). BUT sex is the one realm in which more experience is seen as a bad thing, especially for women: you're seen as a slut and whore whom no man will want to marry because you've slept with many men. She gave the example of stomping on a $20 bill: even though it's dirty and been stepped on, you'd still want it, because it inherently has value (value that society has given to this piece of paper). We must remember that each of us has inherent value, and our experiences (sexual and otherwise) do not devalue us in any way. 
• She doesn't like the word "virginity" because the idea is a social construct. And she doesn't use the term "lose your virginity" because you haven't lost anything. Instead, she likes the phrase, "make your sexual debut." I have to say, I kind of like the sound of that. 
• We did an exercise where we wrote love letters to certain parts of our bodies (face, hands, stomach, butt, etc.). While I didn't do this part (I love all parts of my body already), I liked hearing what other people wrote. Someone said she started her letter to her face, "You are so beautiful," and then she started crying when she wrote that; her whole life people told her she was ugly, but now she is at the point in her life where she loves herself and won't let others put her down in that way. Another woman thanked her stomach in the letter; she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and after her double mastectomy, fat from her stomach was used to make new boobs for her. Someone else made the point that, even if we don't love our bodies, our bodies love us unconditionally: your body breathes for you, makes your heart beat, gets you from one place to another; I had never thought about that, and the idea was really moving. 
• She emphasized the need to speak clearly, candidly, and more openly about sex. She gave the example of how many nicknames we have for vagina or penis, but how an elbow is just an elbow; the elbow is not stigmatized or taboo in any way. And while she turned this into a discussion of how to talk about sex/touch to kids (which I have no interest in), she did tell a pretty funny story. When a friend of hers was little, she loved touching herself. One night at dinner (with guests there, mind you), she started masturbating at the table! But her mother calmly said, "We do not touch our vulvas at the dinner table." Dr. Schmit likes the story because 1. the mother said "we" as to not single out the daughter as the only one who does that sort of thing, 2. the mother used the anatomically correct term, and 3. the mother was giving context to the act, saying that while it isn't something to be done at the dinner table, there is a time and place for that. 
• She mentioned the book Sex at Dawn, which is about how sex for reproduction became sex for love, intimacy, and pleasure, and how all of that impacts our relationships. I'm definitely adding it to my Goodreads list! Throughout the workshop Dr. Schmit would throw in historical context to explain why modern Western society holds the views that it does, like how the idea of owning land and property turned into seeing women/wives as property. I appreciated those history lessons, and I liked the fact that she said we should be compassionate to our ancestors, as much as they messed up; these were people who didn't understand germ theory, which is so obvious today, so we must be fair to remember they didn't know about the things we know about today. 
• Someone in the class mentioned that you are your primary partner, and I liked that point. It's sort of like your body always being there for you: YOU are always there for you.

Conscious Sexuality: Touch and Emotion

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This workshop was led by Monique Darling and Peter Petersen. I LOVED the workshop I took with them during my first Interfusion Festival (read about it here), so I knew I wanted to take at least one with them this time around. Some parts were familiar, like eye gazing with a partner, but others were new.

We imagined some sort of intention that we wanted to set for the new year, and then "planted" it as if it were a seed. Then we danced around the "seed" using the elements: earth inspired grounded movements (I felt closest to this one; I am a Taurus, after all!), fire was fast and passionate, and air was light. Then we watered the seed with flowing movements, and continued this around the room, helping others' seeds grow. This turned into an ecstatic dance, with all of us jumping and moving every which way (which is a great release). This part of the workshop was more energetic than I had experienced in their previous classes.

Afterward, we partnered up with someone and sat cross-legged across from one another, knees touching. Then we touched each others chakras, from our foreheads down to our bellies (we did not go further down!). As social animals, we need to be touched by others, and when you can do so with a stranger in an environment where you feel safe and a sense of community, being touched feels so warm and peaceful. I happened to be paired with an older man, and I got the sense that he (and many of the other older people there) do not have that kind of personal contact in their day-to-day lives. It made me sad to think how some people aren't touched by someone for days, even weeks or longer. (I see friends and family all the time, so I get a hug almost every day.) I was glad that I could (hopefully) bring even a moment of joy and connection to those who may feel lonely on a regular basis.

I skipped the last part of the workshop; I'm still deciding whether I regret that or not. The exercise was to get into groups of three. One person would be in between the other two, and the two people on the sides would give compliments to the person in the middle (in different roles; for a few minutes they are parents, then they are your lover, etc.); they would say, "We're so proud of you" or "I've been waiting for you my whole life." That sounds really nice! I would have definitely loved being the person in the middle. But I was afraid to play the other roles, because I wondered if I could think of enough nice things to say, and I would feel bad if I just repeated everything from the first time again to the second person in the middle. So I guess I kind of chickened out, which is NOT the point of the Interfusion Festival; you're supposed to let go and try new things. But I'm also a little glad I left the class early, because I was hungry!

Listen to Monique and Peter talk about a similar festival that focuses on sexuality exclusively. It'll give you an idea about how I (and others) feel about Interfusion:

Random: I saw Peter from afar at the Caps hockey game just a few days later!

Fundamentals of Ayurveda

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This class was taught by Anjali Sunita, the woman who led the yoga class from my first day at the festival. As the founder of Baltimore Yoga Village, she teaches not only yoga but also offers ayurveda consultations and treatments. Ayurveda is the ancient holistic philosophy of India. I had heard of it, but honestly knew nothing about it, so I was very excited about this two-hour workshop.

Anjali started off by explaining the three different "doshas," or basic constitutions that one's health can fall under. The photo above has the break-down that she wrote out for us. The idea is that each of us falls under one of these categories, and those adjectives describe our digestive systems, our personalities, etc. The idea of ayurveda is to do different exercises or eat certain things to balance out your constitution. For example, "Vata" people may be thin and tiny in stature, so strong, sturdy food would be good for them. There are lots of dosha quizzes online; I happened to find this one, but I would think that quizzes with more questions would give you a more accurate result. I'm mostly pitta, which I think comes down to the fact that I like routine in my life and my good health (in general) stays the same.

We did several breathing exercises that would be balancing, too; sometimes we would breathe in one nostril and out the other, or hold our hands in a certain mudra (or position) while breathing. During one exercise, we breathed through our mouths while smiling really big, and after a few breaths, my mouth and teeth were so cold from the air; I could see how this would be helpful if you felt very hot (these exercises can also be done to to bring balance for just a particular moment). We also listened to music from "Ayurveda: the Art of Being," because different sounds or songs can fall under certain doshas, too. She recommended the book Ayurveda: the Science of Self Healing: a Practical Guide, which was written by Dr. Lad, who was Anjali's teacher. Definitely adding that to Goodreads as well!

I LOVED this workshop. I always enjoyed school (teacher's pet right here), so learning about new things always excites me. And ayurveda is something I could see myself wanting to learn more about and practice myself. Sometimes I wonder if I was from India in a past life: I took several Hinduism classes in college, I practice yoga regularly, and now I want to get into ayurveda!

Great day at Interfusion!