Buddhafield Festival — Andy’s recap
As many of you may already be aware, this summer has been a challenging time for me on the health front. My Heart Arrhythmia (Atrial Fibrillation) returned in May, a cardioversion procedure in June brought me back into normal rhythm, and I have been on a slow recovery journey since.
So, when I was invited back to Buddhafield Festival to teach a series of Yoga Workshops on Backbending, Yogic Breathing and Handstands, I was a little nervous that I would be able to manage. In the end the pull of Buddhafields - and the chance to spend time with wonderful people at this lovely festival - convinced me that I should go.
I first taught at Buddhafields 10 years ago, and it is a truly lovely, very relaxed small festival run by Buddhists of the Triratna Buddhist order. The concept of a ‘Buddhafield’, or ‘Buddhafields’, originates in the Mahayana Buddhist Sutras. In these Sutras, ‘Buddhafields’ are planes of perfect beauty created by the compassionate action of a Buddha. As such, they are an environment in which all conditions are perfectly conducive to spiritual practice and in which to gain Enlightenment.
Being a ‘Buddhafield’, there are of course many Buddhist Workshops, Ceremonies, Dharma talks and Meditations at the festival, but there’s also a wide range of other activities available. There is a lot of Yoga, music, dance, singing, Healing Fields, talks, kids activities and a huge range of interesting, wild and imaginative (dare I say Whacky) workshops!
The Yoga team gets to camp together at the festival and one of the great joys of this festival is hanging out and talking Yoga with a truly wonderful group of excellent teachers. The team were led by the lovely Tim and Lulu who fostered a wonderful sense of community - of Sangha - within the team, assisted by Sharadi and Ruth who provided Dharma input to our meetings. Teaching can be quite an isolating experience, and I found it so nourishing and restorative to share and spend time in the company of these wonderful teachers.
My teaching experience was wonderful, with familiar faces from previous years returning to attend my 90 minute workshops, and attendance building up over the 3 days to a packed out tent of over 60 people for my Handstanding workshop. Teaching in a tent in a field is always interesting and challenging as the ground is uneven and sloping. The invitation gave me the opportunity to develop some new workshop material, so watch this space for workshops coming to Ashtanga Yoga Hastings in the autumn!
The week I spent at Buddhafield was just what I needed. It gave me a chance to step away from the day job - to rest and relax, read, write, create, socialise with old friends and new, and to teach Yoga to large groups in a very different context.
A fabulous and enriching experience all round - I highly recommend checking out their festival next year. Maybe see you there…
Andy x
Buddhafield Sangha - Rachel, Joey Miles, Amy Hughes, Rose, Andy, Norman Blair, Camilla.
