Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Interfusion Festival 2020: Friday

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This was my fourth Interfusion Festival (I wrote several blog posts about my previous experiences, but there are simply too many of them to try to include here!). I look forward to it every year, and this time was no exception!

My experience this time around had a rocky start, because I didn't know that the venue had changed! I never received any specific messaging about that! I feel like every email leading up to the festival should have started with "NEW LOCATION!" at the top of each message. And, since I am a "regular" of the festival, I would have thought I would have received a dedicated message about the change, since I clearly was used to a routine. So that was awkward arriving at the first hotel to see no one was there! Luckily the new location wasn't too far, and I only missed the first workshop. But not a good start to things!


Since I missed the Thai bodywork workshop, my first real workshop was an AcroYoga class with Kelly Marburger and Eric Sipes, both from AsanaRoots in Baltimore. Interfusion is the only place I ever practice AcroYoga (I've never been to a studio), so it was fun to play around with this again. The "throne" pose was new to me, and I was glad that I felt more and more comfortable basing as time went on. After the class, we all laid together in a "puddle" and did a big belly "ohm" together. It was great! (The video above features Kelly and Eric; skip to the 2:00 minute mark.)

I'm at the very bottom with my mouth hanging open. I hope I'm in the middle of "ohm" and not just sleeping!
Then I actually had a real lunch break! This time around, the festival offered a mix of 60-minute and 90-minute classes, with thirty-minute breaks in between. That was fantastic! It meant I had plenty of time to go to the restroom, have lunch, visit the vendors, etc. I never had to feel rushed. Bravo!

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My next workshop was probably my favorite of the entire festival. I LOVE Monique Darling and Peter Petersen (their "Foundations of Ecstasy" workshop in 2017 changed my world), so I immediately signed up for their "Intimacy Practices: The 5 Senses of Touch." This was like an ASMR video but in real life!  We all got into groups of three, and then we took turns being the receiver while the other two people engaged our five senses. For smell, tissues that had been sprayed with citrus and lavender essences were wafted across our faces. Our partners whispered in our ears for sound, and of course touch was with hands (or a rose that we were given). We were each given a piece of vegan chocolate for taste, and finally for sight, we danced for our partners so they could watch. I felt tingles all over; it felt SO good! And my male group partner was LOVING it; he was so squirmy! This workshop was such a high; I would definitely do it again!

This is the only professional picture from Interfusion that I'm in where I don't look like a complete idiot. I loved our trio!

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Next up was another AcroYoga class, but with a twist. Usually those classes are just about doing cool poses. But Jean-Jacques Gabriel uses AcroYoga as a type of therapy, almost like massage. Lifting the flyer could release tension and pressure in parts of the body, and then a healing touch could be used to help stretch and massage. I thought he was a great workshop leader, and I loved his perspective on this kind of healing art. I was paired with an older woman who had never done AcroYoga before, and she was having a hard time getting into the poses and was getting frustrated. But eventually I was able to show her some easier poses and some tips for helping to get in and out of positions, and she was finally able to fly! It's always hard to be partnered with someone new, but it was also fun and satisfying to help her get the experience she wanted.

Here is a video of Jean-Jacques doing some AcroYoga:



That rainbow swirl butt to the right is me!

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Then I took a Kundalini yoga class. Daniel Rahayel was the teacher, and he was a very good public speaker and meditation guide. We focused mostly on the "breath of fire," which is a very rapid breathing technique. I never really got the hang of it; we were supposed to do it for 30 minutes, but I could barely do it for a few seconds before gasping for air! So clearly I wasn't doing it right. The class was definitely more of a mediation rather than an active yoga session, so it wasn't really what I was looking for. Maybe Kundalini yoga just isn't for me.

I'm the one in blue near the back. My hands aren't up like everyone else, so clearly I wasn't listening!

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I took a class last year with Timaree Schmit, so when I saw she was coming back to the festival, I knew I wanted to work with her again. Her workshops are more lecture-based, which I like; they are very educational, and you get to learn more an expert. This class was called, "The Science of Sexuality, Desire and Relationships." I did learn some new things, like the fact that the categories of "homosexual" and "heterosexual" were not written down and acknowledged in a scientific way until 1868. She also talked about the Kinsey Scale, which I had heard of but didn't know too much about. But some of what she said were repeats of last time, like her tape/dollar bill metaphors. And unfortunately, when we broke into small discussion groups, an old boomer was with me and just took up most of the time talking about his own experiences (as old, white men are wont to do). So I didn't have as good of an experience this time, but I still think she's a wonderful resource and a great person to have at Interfusion.
Whew, and that was just day one!

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