Rocking the Butte…with Yoga

You say you don’t attend yoga for fear of being pretzelized? Or you’re hesitant about having to begin practice in a sea of beautiful bodies draped into graceful poses with seeming ease? You’re leery about the spiritual aspects of it since your religion basically revolves around powder days and happy hour?

Rest assured. Crested Butte’s newest festival, Yoga Rocks the Butte, is far less intimidating than your fears and will actually help you become physically better in any of your chosen outdoor activities, and you might just find yourself in a clearer mind as well. And—it’s going to be a fun-filled event with some amazing music, yoga, workshops and shopping from Friday, February 10 through Sunday, February 12.
The festival is organized by Yoga for the Peaceful founder Monica Mesa and like the studio, the festival is geared toward providing many different styles of yoga for all types of people. Monica writes, “We honor all spiritual traditions and are dedicated to unity in diversity, local global activism, and providing a warm atmosphere for personal growth and development.”
Yoga is usually associated with spiritual growth and eastern religion as much as it is with maintaining health and flexibility in the body; however, diversity is featured in the upcoming Yoga Rocks the Butte. In other words, this festival is for everyone in the community, of all beliefs, walks of life, and all ages and it’s set up so that you can attend individual days or just the music.
Monica says enthusiastically, “We want there to be a strong local presence and therefore I have dropped prices considerably for locals, with work exchange programs and scholarship funds available. There are three-day, two-day, and single-day passes as well as passes just for the night-time music events. It’s organized in a way so that everyone is able to come. If you want to come we want you there. The kids and teen programs are free and we really hope families come so they can enjoy it all,” she says of the poi spinning, hooping, and music events especially. “We don’t want finances to be an obstacle. We want everyone to come who wants to come, just like at Yoga for the Peaceful.”
Monica feels that since Crested Butte is one of the most beautiful places on the planet it’s a perfect spot for the festival. “It has a unique flavor of characters and community. I know that once people come here they’ll fall in love with it. We depend on our visitors and tourism and I wanted to bring some attention to our valley,” she says of year-long promotion of the event to various and many yoga groups across the country. It’s the first of its kind in that it’s a winter event.
“There are a lot of fests out there, but in different, warmer climates like Hawaii, Bali, California and even Telluride, but they’re all summer events. Ours is the first winter festival. I think it’s going to be a unique experience.”
All the activities will take place on the mountain between Elevation and Mountaineer Square, inside and outside. There’ll be workshops with world-class hooper Shakti Sunfire, poi fire spinner Rainbow Michael of Boulder, who will also teach Sacred Geometry designs with poi.
There’s Prana Danda, which is a big staff used for opening, balance, and more stability in your posture. For those wanting a bit more of an aggressive workout, Kalari is a yogic form of physically demanding martial arts from south India, taught by Shiva Rea and Jennifer Ellen Mueller, two of the very few teachers in the west who are authorized to teach the practice.
The concert performances are a combination of talented, eclectic styles, most of which involve the mesmerizing chanting style of Kirtan, the Sanskrit word meaning “to sing.” The music will encompass everything from world rhythms to the funk beat-spinning DJ Drez, haunting live vocals with a variety of instruments from didgeridoo to sax and strings (get music samples and a schedule of all the amazing musicians on the website listed at the end of this article).
A fascinating workshop in Vedic astrology taught by Christie Hicks opens the door to Jyotish, meaning the “science of light.” Christie explains, “It looks at the way the light of the stars and the planets gets reflected and how it becomes reflected in our own life. It’s still the astrology practiced in India today. In the west, it’s used for birth chart readings and it’s most effective for figuring out the timing of things. More important, in Vedic we look at what constellation is rising at time of birth, the sun sign is tertiary, moon is secondary with all the planets and houses taken into account.”
During the workshops she’ll be presenting the natural side of the ancient Vedic studies. As a teacher of chemistry, Christie has a scientific and rational perspective. “My practical mind questions the practice. As a river guide I’ve been connected to the cycles of the moon and constellations through the seasons. I find that this kind of science can really connect us to those kinds of cycles. The workshop will focus half on astronomy, the different cycles, how planets move, how they line up… and show connections to ancient cultures such as Mayan and Navajo and how we can connect to the larger universe. Most people have lost track of the natural rhythms of life… the natural environment instead of the false we create.”
Another aspect of Yoga Rocks the Butte will involve workshops with 1993 U.S. Extremes champ Kent Krietler, who feels that skiing and yoga mesh. “I always had a dedication to my own spiritual process which led me to yoga and Buddhism while I was still skiing. I always did a little bit of yoga,” he says, although during the prime of his ski career you would more likely find him in the weight room. “I was always training for skiing. Now all I really do is yoga.”
Kent is convinced that there are two aspects of yoga for him—the physical, which is healthy for the body, and the spiritual, which loosens the prana energy within the body, benefitting the circulation of energy in such a way that affects your state of mind.
“I think people who wind up doing yoga for the physical benefits wind up inadvertently getting into the spiritual aspects. People are drawn to learning and everyone has their own idea about what is spiritual. At the root of it is improving life,” he feels. And yes, he’s proposing that he’ll go skiing with people on Sunday. (Check the schedule.)
Monica Mesa has put together a tantalizing festival with Yoga Rocks the Butte with enough diversely interesting events and workshops for everyone to enjoy. “It’s a huge grassroots effort. We hope to keep doing it and expanding,” she says. In its inaugural season, Monica says, “We’ve learned a lot this year. There’s so much of a learning curve in the first year. Next year we expect attendance to double. Whoever comes this year is in for a treat with world-class presenters in a very intimate and up-close environment.” Get out and rock your world February 10 through 12.
For more information and a full schedule for Yoga Rocks the Butte or to contact Monica Mesa visit the website: yogarocksthebutte.com.