Headstash

Headstash On The Road: Wanderlust Day 1

Staff writer Sarah Silvas chronicles her daily adventures at Wanderlust Colorado - a festival that combines yoga classes, world-class music, workshops, guest speakers, food, drink and more into a one-of-a-kind learning experience. For more information on Wanderlust, check out the event's official website.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

With Summer Camp, Wakarusa, Electric Forest and many other festivals already in the books having flown by this summer, Wanderlust Colorado arrived quicker than expected and is the type of festival you want to appreciate every second.

With a couple months of unpredictable weather, grueling camping and plenty of all-nighters under my belt, the coziness of a bed, restorative nature of yoga and friendship among an intimate gathering of people is just what I needed. Set within the beautiful ski resort of Copper Mountain, the festival literally just plopped right into the center of town.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

The CorePower Dome set up in a courtyard, the Solitude Tent was at the top of the ski lifts and shops were converted into coves for artists all while non-attendees went about their day shopping, eating and people watching the thousands of health-hungry Wanderlusters.

For most, Thursday got started early with workshops beginning 8:00 a.m. Word to the wise, get those more challenging classes in early on so you're not slaving through an advanced flow in the dead heat of a dry, Colorado afternoon. The early afternoon and morning was spent checking out the lay of the land and identifying all of the stages, tents and vendor booths.

The Lucy Booth was giving out free tote bags to everyone and each one had a number inside that only had one other pair. If you find your partner by the end of the weekend, then you win prizes, so it’s you’re reading this fellow number 296, hit me up!

Some notable highlights of the afternoon were the discovery of many free and accessible water outlets. Around every turn, there's free water just waiting for some festivarian to get hydrated. Genius! So many festivals lack in this area.

On the topic of basic needs, there were many food-sampling stations for "in between" substance. A couple favorites were the Luna Tent with their scrumptious, yet healthy, sweet tooth choices and the Lightlife veggie burgers. Both tents encouraged multiple samples per person and they certainly tied participants over while they rushed from one class to the next.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

Nearing 1:00 p.m., it was time to check out Seane Corn's, Everyday Miracles class at the Main Stage. She opened up the two-hour workshop with a couple personal stories from her own life that have led her to be thankful for life’s small and everyday miracles. Moving into the asana flow, the class worked through a solid warrior series while maintaining a beginner to intermediate level of difficulty. A great course to get the blood flowing for the weekend, Corn was well spoken and led the class with easy and precision. 

Later in the afternoon, Schuyler Grant led Hard Core/Soft Core: Vinyasa for Strength, Detoxification and Levitation, in the secluded Manduka's Nest room. Grant was accompanied by live musicians, Shaman's Dream, who exuded a very Eastern feel with worldly instruments. It was hard at times to focus on the poses during the yoga practice when the music was so captivating and beautiful. Grant's course definitely stepped it up a notch in difficulty level as inversions were approached, and some headstands resulted in accidental somersaults.

At one point, Grant shared that she was pushing the class to such an intense level so that when you took just some of the concepts she was sharing away, you're practice would become even that much better.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

One skill in particular that was a definite take-away was Grant's teachings on uddiyana bandha (the abdominal lock). By working to perfect this technique, challenging poses such as arm balances, twisting and backbends become safer and easier to achieve full expression. While not your traditional ab workout, I left the class relieved that there were no more physical challenges on the first day.

As night fell, everyone got in the mood more some music. The evening was kicked-off with Quixotic on the Main Stage with an opening ceremony. This theatrical act fuses awe-inspiring dancers and a rock-like orchestra to bring an untouchable performance to the festival circuit.

Truly a performance to be witnessed firsthand, it becomes a challenge to put into words how talented each and every one of the individuals that make up Quixotic is.

Wanderlust was a perfect setting for their breathtaking performance as everyone in attendance could fully appreciate the bodily movements and contortions of the dancers. While only 30 minutes long, this performance served as a teaser for Quixotic's full performance Friday night from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on the Main Stage.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

Closing out the night, Elephant Revival took to the Main Stage with their non-traditional folk and Americana sound. Outfitted with a washboard, banjo, upright bass, violin, guitar and some of the most entrancing voices in music today, Elephant Revival rallied the crowd.

Hitting on all levels of emotions with a broad range of contextual depth, the song, “Sing to the Mountain,” really resonated with the crowd. It was a downright dirty ditty with the violinist taking expectations to the next level for this dynamic acoustic group.

With feet stomping and hands clapping, we were sad to hear that Elephant Revival would be departing Friday morning to continue their tour. A solid 30-minute performance quenched our thirst for some filthy beats all the while leaving us plenty of time for rest.

While hitting the hay closer to 1:00 a.m. than sunrise at a festival is practically unheard of, the calling of an 8:00 a.m. meditation class had heads to pillows quicker than ever. Sleeping soundly while dreaming of lengthening limbs, opening minds and the sounds of Beats Antique and Gramatik was proof in itself that day one was an absolute success.

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

Photo Credit: Sarah Silvas

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Stay tuned for more updates from Copper Mountain, Colorado.