Zac Hills-Bonczyk is one of the yoga teachers and musicians at this year’s Wanderlust Festival in Snowshoe. Click here to view all festival locations.
Zac Hills-Bonczyk (also known as the artist Forefeather) is one of those people who lights everyone up when he walks into a room. His magnetic energy combined with his continual immersion in the music world makes those who meet him want to learn his secret, and how to tap into such infectious energy. Zac has clearly found his bliss, and is offering it to the world in a unique mix of hip-hop, yoga, and spirituality.
Zac was born in a small Minnesota town. His mother, father, and sister would all go through Yoga Teacher Training at the Kripalu School of Yoga and Ayurveda before he too decided to enroll in their 200 hour program. When he wasn’t practicing, Zac reveled in music, developing a passion that would eventually blossom into his career. And with yogic living imbued into his life, Zac started to seek the connection between the music that he loved and his practice on the mat.
Developing a Signature Style
As an entertainer, hip-hop artist, founder of the hip-hop/funk band Big Village Little City, public speaker, and yoga teacher, Forefeather brings a refreshing offering to the wellness space. This year he’s using his talents at Wanderlust Snowshoe, to combining beat-boxing, movement, and traditional pranayama practices into Zen-Hop Beatboxing.
The practice is designed to help students tap into and harness their own personal energy. The workshop will consist of an informational lecture-style portion followed by an immersive experience that challenges the body and mind in an unprecedented and fulfilling way. Students will walk away with some rich experience in pranayama and beatboxing techniques. (The juicy yoga class doesn’t hurt either.)
This combination is reflective of Forefeather’s signature “zen-hop” musical styling. His overarching intention is for this workshop to dispel the assumed disconnect between the worlds of hip-hop and yoga.
“I hope demonstrate that hip-hop and yoga are both built upon profoundly transformative essences, and have an incredible power to heal people, ” he says. Forefeather strongly believes that yoga and hip-hop share the power to bring people into “bliss states,” and aims to explain how contentment can be achieved through each respective practice. Two often these worlds are polarized, notes Forefeather, and he’s excited to spur some integration.
Forefeather explains how the genesis of this workshop came from a connection with American Beat Box Champion, Mark Martin. Mark and Forefeather both experienced the profound impact that breath practices can have and worked to combine both their specialities into a truly unique experience.
Forefeather lives, breathes, and works to share his belief that happiness is found in the present moment, and that this moment is readily accessed through intentional practices. Find times and sign up for his Zen-Hop Beatboxing workshop at Wanderlust Snowshoe.
Come with an open-mind, a full heart, and a deep exhale.
To see more of Forefeather, check out Big Village Little City’s performances at Wanderlust Snowshoe, Stratton, and Tremblant.
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Erin Ward is a freelance writer, yoga teacher, and navigator at Wanderlust Hollywood.