Feb 11, 2023 | Yoga Interviews
10 Years of SYF with Hemalayaa Behl
Sedona Yoga Festival vanguard presenter Hemalayaa Behl is a Life Enhancement Coach and Mentor. Passionate about leading women to their own truth as well as inspiring a yogic lifestyle, her work inspires and motivates thousands of women to live healthy and joyful lives. She provides tools to break down barriers that hold us back from experiencing a powerful spiritual connection, and hosts her own TV show, “Bolly Blast”, bringing fitness to a whole new level of fun through yoga and dance. Hemalayaa has been featured in numerous publications such as NY Times, Origin, Yoga Journal, LA Times, and Shape, as well as on the talk shows Ellen, Lisa Oz, and The Today Show.
We caught up with Hemalayaa to share her experiences with SYF over the past decade, in celebration of our 10-year anniversary in April. We hope you’ll join us this April 27–30! Tickets are on sale now.
What is your history with SYF?
I have been a presenter first and simultaneously an attendee. Being a presenter at the Sedona Fest is extraordinary — to be held in these incredible mountains, as well as to hold our community coming together to “do the work/play” in this ideal location. A stand-out moment at SYF is teaching outside in the cleavage of these incredible mountains while we are dancing, moving, breathing and meditating …and looking all around us to be held by this extraordinary magical place.
What makes SYF different from other festivals that you have attended or worked?
The Sedona Yoga Festival is a one-of-a-kind event that distinguishes itself from other festivals in several ways. Firstly, the festival is held in the stunning red rock landscape of Sedona, Arizona, providing a breathtaking backdrop for attendees to practice yoga and connect with nature. Additionally, the festival offers a diverse array of classes and workshops, taught by master yoga instructors from all over the world, emphasizing the deepening of our practice and learning new techniques.
What sets the Sedona Yoga Festival apart is its focus on creating a supportive and inclusive community. The festival offers a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, encouraging attendees to connect with others who share their passion for yoga. Additionally, the festival offers a variety of opportunities for attendees to connect with local businesses and organizations that align with their values, making it a unique and immersive experience.
Lastly, the Sedona Yoga Festival is dedicated to promoting wellness and sustainability, offering eco-friendly options and promoting environmentally responsible practices. This focus on sustainability sets the festival apart from other events and demonstrates the commitment to creating a positive impact on both the local community and the planet.
Overall, the Sedona Yoga Festival is a truly special event that combines breathtaking natural beauty, world-class yoga instruction, a supportive and inclusive community, and a commitment to sustainability to create a truly unforgettable experience.
SYF has long been at the forefront of conversations that move our community forward. In what ways have you experienced this?
One year I was part of a panel…with the conversation being about Public Profile Vs Personal Practice. It was a juicy conversation and perfectly curated 🙂
I am proud to be a part of SYF because it is always evolving and growing with a honoring of the master teachers as well as newer teachers who are stepping into really honoring the lineages and being integral for yoga teachings and philosophy.
Learn from Hemalayaa alongside other luminaries at our 10-year anniversary celebration, April 27–30, 2023. Tickets are available here.
Lead image: Hemalayaa & DTO Music at SYF2022. Photo credit: Ty Dobbs.
May 4, 2022 | Sedona Yoga Retreat
The Conscious Expo is a signature SYF feature that showcases some of the best local and national mindful businesses, offering attendees an opportunity to shop small right from the comfort of the festival. We’re proud to offer a broad array of businesses, that provide a full breadth of mindful shopping — take home the best of what SYF has to display!
Best yet — the Conscious Expo is open to the public, so anyone passing through Posse Grounds Park or visiting Sedona can stop by and get a taste for SYF and the greater Sedona area. National purveyors are mixed in with local mainstays, so you can truly get a feel for what mindful business is all about. Here are just seven of our vendors who we hope you’ll visit at the event. Take a piece of SYF home with you to commemorate this transformational experience!
New Frontier Books
Started by Kim Galloway, New Frontier books helps you bring your vision to life as an Intuitive Ghostwriter, a Story Pathfinder, or a book coach. She specializes in working with entrepreneurs, business owners or coaches who are ready to claim space as an expert, an author, and in the ranks of best-selling books. Visit her booth to not only learn more about her offerings and how to turn your book dreams into a reality, but to explore the books she’s published with other mindful luminaries.
Active Threads
Started by two working moms with small children, the goal of Active Threads is to build and serve a community of women who love to be active and cherish time outside with friends and family, and to create a shopping experience is to be easy, convenient, and fun. Active Threads is committed to empowering you through choice, but instead of going for the most choice, we’re going for just the right curated products and content. Through this focus, our business can prioritize people, product and purpose.
ToxyFree
ToxyFree sells products and systems to live the healthiest life possible while experiencing the most liberating freedom ever. When you turn to ToxyFree for freedom from worry about health-harming toxins, you will create a healthy home that you love and you will thrive! Founder Laura Paulisch not only recommends products to buy, but helps families set up a foundation to live in toxin-free households with ease and convenience.
Andrea Fast Artworks
Andrea Fast helps people connect to their deepest feelings through powerful, wild, vivid, spiritual paintings that evoke emotional empowerment. She currently works in Denver, producing colorful acrylic paintings centered around the female form, the natural world, spirituality, yoga, Ayurvedic and other healing modalities. When she paints, her feelings tend to reflect the subjects of her art.
Bad Ass Beaded Creations / Diedre Karger
Diedre Karger makes one of a kind custom pieces designed to support your specific journey or ceremony or everyday life. In ceremony everything we wear and adorn ourselves with has meaning, is intentionally worn to support us and to work with the energy around us. So should it be in our everyday, walking around life. Her pieces are designed with your inner badass in mind, to support you and what you are working with or through in life.
Manoj Chalam
An SYF 2023 presenter, Manoj holds the largest collection of Hindu iconography in the country, and guides students on how to embark on a meaningful samatha meditation practice. Take his class, and then ind your diety at his booth in the Conscious Expo! It’s a powerful opportunity to learn from a master, and take him up on his offer to help you find the archetype that will most serve your personal growth. Learn more about Manoj here.
LataLove
High-vibrational rituals for healing, self care, and living a spiritually-aligned life. Offering guidance and products for ceremonial rituals to enhance the process of connection to self and the collective consciousness.
Join us June 2–5 for the summer’s premiere transformational event! Get your ticket today: https://bit.ly/SYF22Tix
May 2, 2022 | Programming Spotlights, Sedona Yoga Festival Teacher Feature
Telling stories is Manoj Chalam’s calling. He started importing Hindu statues to the U.S. 21 years ago, and it wasn’t long before the job morphed into one that would end up defining his life. Manoj currently has the largest collection of Hindu statues in the country — but it was after a stint at an ashram in San Diego that he realized that it wasn’t about the object itself, but the story they represented. “There’s a reason that oral traditions exist,” he says. “If I just tell you facts and figures of philosophy, two areas in your brain will light up. But if I tell a story, 20 areas of the brain light up,” he says. It’s the psychological reason that storytelling is so compelling.
Sharing the stories symbolized by iconography that is standard in yoga studios and on festival stages alike is Manoj’s life work, a task he approaches with humor and panache. “Some people call me a spiritual standup comedian,” he says. “I have a little bit of an edge because I’m brown, fat, and have an accent. Humor puts people at ease — it’s how they get into the flow state,” says Manoj. He holds a PhD from Cornell in Chemical Physics, so he’s no stranger to science. The science behind getting people into the flow state allows his listeners to truly engage with the archetypal stories that he shares.
“There’s the symbol of these statues and their archetypes” says Manoj, “then there’s a universal mythology, and then a personal mythology of every one of us.” This triangulation of his storytelling allows Manoj to guide people toward an “aha” moment, which that allows them to find what the archetype is, and what it means personally for them.
Why Decoding Archetypes Matters
Understanding the archetypes of Hindu mythology is helpful not only to understand the roots of yoga, but also because these kinds of myths help us get at the root of who we are as individuals, and how we show up in society. They help us understand the importance of doing the “real work,” rather than hiding the shadows behind the guises of meditations and chanting. “I’ve seen a lot of yogis engaged in what’s called spiritual bypassing,” says Manoj. “Teachers who are pretending that everything is joy,” for example. “One has to realize that being human means we all have a shadow.”
As does everyone, yogis need help addressing the shadow within. Manoj’s teachings integrate the idea of shadow work through the discussion and dissection of archetype theory. He brings psychologists into his workshops in order to take the presentation of mythology a step further. This kind of intentional storytelling allows not only for the investigation of the myths behind the practice, but how they may inform and show up in our own lives.
“I’ll help people find what their archetype is, and then what the symbols mean,” says Manoj, a practice that is very common with yogis in India, called samatha meditation. “You meditate in front of your archetype — the statue — and the statue is a portal to the infinite,” he says. This type of meditation and mantra opens the eyes to one’s own archetype. This contextualizes a person’s experience within a broader whole. And of course, “the context changes because your life situation changes. So these archetypes can change in your life with time,” he says.
Using Archetypes as Vehicle Toward Enlightenment
“The mind is very susceptible,” says Manoj, “it’s like a vacuum that sucks in all the energies of these symbols.” The goal of this kind of archetype rumination — like so many yogic practices — is to find a calm mind. “The same mind that can wander all over the place can be a vehicle for enlightenment,” says Manoj. Understanding how to use these archetypes as a focus for meditation and mantra is one way to release thoughts, and encourage the cultivation of a calm mind.
“The space between your thoughts is who you really are,” says Manoj. “Let the thoughts come,” he says, “and each time you chant, it’s like a windshield wiper that wipes the thoughts clean. Each time you do so, the gap increases, and your mind is able to open to your archetype.”
Experience this kind of deep teaching with Manoj in person at SYF this April! Tickets on sale now.
Apr 27, 2022 | Programming Spotlights
On-The-Land Excursions offer a unique way to experience the majesty and energetic beauty of Sedona — an opportunity you’ll only find at the Sedona Yoga Festival. We’re proud to partner primarily with local guides to share with you the transformational landscape of this incredible place we call home. Read on for more information about your 2022 Excursions, and then book your ticket today! https://bit.ly/SYF22Tix
Huckaby Trail, led by Roxanne Wessel
Explore Bear Wallow Wash and expansive views of Oak Creek and Uptown Sedona, replete with many of the tourist-book red rock formations of the area. You’ll meander creekside in the partial shade of Riparian Trees.
Summit Trail, led by Alan Alcid
This intermediate hike will get you the sweeping vistas of the energetic red landscape that Sedona is known for. You’ll adventure in and out of wilderness areas, and have the opportunity to engage with the wildlife of Sedona’s desert biome. It’s not an easy ascent, but the views are worth every breath.
Red Rock Crossing/Crescent Moon Ranch, led by Sharon Day
This is an easy trail that awards sweeping vistas of famous Cathedral Rock. You’ll also get an unobstructed view of Red Rock Crossing Vortex, and the trail is family and wheelchair friendly for all guests.
Red Rock Crossing (Second Approach), led by Taylor Kurz
A different approach to this iconic hike, coming in from a more secret / “locals-only” location.
Cathedral Rock, led by Kim Sieb
If you know nothing else of Sedona’s famed landscape, chances are you’ve seen Cathedral Rock portrayed in countless movies etc. Get up close and personal with this landmark, and experience it surrounded by mindful community.
Lead photo by Dexx Creative Imagery
Apr 20, 2022 | Yoga Festival Experience
The Conscious Expo is a signature SYF feature that showcases some of the best local and national mindful businesses, offering attendees an opportunity to shop small right from the comfort of the festival.
According to Deborah Williams, local teacher and longtime SYF work exchange Angel and attendee, the Conscious Expo is one thing that really sets SYF apart. Unlike other large yoga festivals that tend to focus on international sponsors and larger chains, at the SYF Expo, “there’s a lot of local people, so you get a taste of the community,” she says. “It’s not just things that are transplanted here for the festival. You can really get a feel for what is rising from the land.”
Local vendors are joined by regional purveyors and national mainstays. Here are just seven of our vendors who we hope you’ll visit at the event. Take a piece of SYF home with you to commemorate this transformational experience. Read on until the end for a surprise treat.
Mandalas: Sacred & Spiritual Art
As a renowned teacher and fourth generation artist, Paul Heussenstamm has been sharing his unique gift of helping people discover their Soul through his paintings and Art As A Spiritual Path workshops worldwide. Paul has created over 2000 unique and spiritual paintings while passionately sharing his artistic capacity to explore and create Sacred Art from many traditions such as buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Paul gladly accepts commissions and offers the finest quality Giclee prints on canvas that he creates in his studio.
Pi Yoga Pants
Started by Larissa Miller after a trip to Southeast Asia, the mission of Pi Yoga Pants is to 1) Empower Women and Men of all shapes, sizes, race and religion to feel comfortable and confident on and off their yoga mat; and 2) Save the Sea Turtles! Pi Yoga Pants proudly donates 10% of net profits back to sea turtle conservation.
Mel Rowes Designs
Ethically-sourced handmade gemstone home decor and jewelry made lovingly by Melissa Rowe, based in Temecula, California. Featuring one-of-a-kind rings, skull art, pendants, coasters, sun-catchers, and more.
Yoganastix
Unique, inspiring, eco-innovative fashion that encourages you to wear clothing that reflects an outer-expression of your inner-state. Yoganastix believes that aligning with your values and being conscious of how you show up in the world is empowering. Apparel lines are made with sustainable, eco-friendly, and recycled fabrics, with integrity and love in the USA.
Essential Elixirs
Natural skincare products made with the natural healing properties of essential oils. Each elixir is handmade and in small batches to ensure potency, quality, and positive vibes. Also offers home care products and product bundles.
The Ritual
High-vibrational rituals for healing, self care, and living a spiritually-aligned life. Offering guidance and products for ceremonial rituals to enhance the process of connection to self and the collective consciousness.
Yoga Rocks
Yoga Rocks direct body weight into the pointer fingers and thumbs, allowing us to lighten in the heels of the hands where we almost always put pressure. Made from 100% silicone, Yoga Rocks attach to your yoga mat of choice to activate the muscles of the hands. Active hands encourage active forearms leading to optimal wrist stability and consistent strengthening.
Join us June 2–5 for the summer’s premiere transformational event! Save some money for the Conscious Expo and use code NIFTY50 for $50 your ticket. Enter on Eventbrite to redeem — good only through April 30, 2022.
