Some of my most irritable moments accompany the departures and arrivals of the adventures I continuously crave. It never seems easy to just get out the damn door, and the entrance to the destination doesn’t swing open very smoothly either.
Add the shit I am carrying with me, yeah, like on me and in me, it weighs me down — leaving no room for the wonder, no space for inspiration. Oh, yeah, and bye bye to happy bowels.
So as it was with my arrival to Wanderlust, an event that is designed to evoke illuminate various pathways of physical and mental clarity — the affirmations of moving, breathing, living. But there I was at Wanderlust, feeling and projecting “bad vibrations” (defined as such just a few hours later by sound healer Jeannine Dietz).
From the soles of my feet to the center of my head, I felt unsettled and frustrated, anxious and reactive. What’s worse was my boyfriend was a in parallel state of his own, and our shared vibrations became an out-of-key tune just begging for a channel change. Simple things; nothing big really, but negative nonetheless: “I’m hungry,” “we’re running late,” “where are we?”, “room’s not ready,” “I feel nausous,” “I can’t poop,” “your hair stuff spilled all over my yoga mat” … .
See, it doesn’t matter that we’re both yoga teachers who talk and teach about mindful communication and peaceful transitions. We still sometimes feed off of each other’s reactivity, and our cherished travels are too often interrupted by sharp turns and bumpy roads.
My first class at Wanderlust Aspen-Snowmass was a journey through clearing the chakras, moving our way up through the “Magic of the Midline” with New York-based instructor Nikki Vilella. The dynamic and powerful class was complemented by Jeannine’s crystal singing bowls — one bowl for each of the seven main chakras — designed to resonate with the frequency of each energy center in order to clear it out and create balance in the body.
The root chakra at the base of the spine, for example, vibrates in tune with the musical note of C, Jeannine explained. When she plays that note with a crystal singing bowl, the sound vibrates the most with the root chakra. In this way, matching each energy frequency moves the residue through each chakra, clearing space for balance and good vibrations.
Combining the beautiful sounds of the singing bowls with other forms of ancient healing — yoga, breath work and meditation, was everything I needed to step out my own way and into a space of grace. This is the frequency where Wanderlust vibrates, and being here is all about staying in tune.
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Kim Fuller grew up in the Colorado mountains and has always found beauty and inspiration through nature and movement. Kim is a freelance journalist and a yoga teacher based in Vail. Her writing and photo work has focused on health, wellness, recreation, food and travel since 2007, and Kim began her yoga practice in Boulder, followed by her first teacher training with Real Evolution Yoga at Peace Retreat Costa Rica in November of 2012.