It may have been Labor Day Weekend, but at the first ever Wild Smile event, we celebrated withplay! At Evolvefest, a family-friendly yoga and music festival held in Pennsylvania, a troop of cheerful and creative kids and parents gathered on a sweltering Saturday afternoon to connect, get centered and get on down. Since it was 90 degrees outside, we started with cooling breaths: the breath of joy and sitali pranayama. After the breath of joy, Libby said she felt like “running outside and spinning in circles forever!”
With every stretch, we practiced finding the “love” in “evolve” … moving around the room like a school of fish, supporting each other as we grew into a circled forest of tall trees on a breezy mountain, and helping each other relax muscles sore from camping out for the weekend with partner stretches and yoga poses.
After closing the yoga class by making a sun-shaped HuMandala with our fingers and toes, we jumped up and moved into dance party mode, skipping and leaping around the room with colorful scarves.
The main stage at Evolvefest. Photo courtesy of David Bryson.
It takes a closely-knit family to bravely reveal their inner baby dragons…
A HuMandala (thanks to my friend Daniel for inventing and sharing these cooperatively-created, temporary works of art!)
I am another you