This past long weekend, we took advantage of an early escape and ditched the city to find some inner OM at Wanderlust in Whistler. We could feel the hectic week melt away as we headed up the Sea-to-Sky – tunes blaring, for some seriously good rest and relaxation at this renowned yoga, food, music and lifestyle fest.
Back for its 3rd year, Wanderlust Whistler packs a serious yogi punch with hundreds of different classes to take (for all interests and ability). Festival attendees could opt for a one-day, two-day or full-spread pass, depending on how flexible they were looking to feel by the end of the four-day event.
Photo by Jon Chiang for Wanderlust Festival
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With well-known and celebrated instruction offered from the likes of Sean Corn to Schuyler Grant, to Eion Finn – there was an endless array of teaching styles, mantras and exercising to be done. Everything from flow to power, to classes melding multiple disciplines and teachings brought together crowds of anywhere from 20 to 200 (and you never felt cramped).
Often, music fused through the classes courtesy of a roster of DJs brought in just for the festival (we loved how DJ HiFi’s sweet sounds helped make the 3D Arm Balancing pain bearable)
Now, before you go thinking it’s all about yoga (well, it kind of, mostly is), there’s plenty more to get up to beyond the classes you’ll find listed online. They’ve got everything from Speakeasy sessions to morning trail-runs, adventure races to meditation and journaling sessions.
On our agenda, we tried our hand, well – rather waist – at HoopFit (which as you can imagine involved hula hooping and yoga). This was followed by a cooling session of Standup Paddleboard Yoga at one of the local lakes (thankfully, given temps reached 36C degrees in the mountain town).
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We checked out the OmGym® Suspension Yoga sessions and have bookmarked that one for next year, but managed to squeak in a Zen-infused hike on one of the areas local trails that combined meditative moments (totally necessary when you’re tied to a desk and deadlines like we are).
A stop by Friday evenings wine-refresher, ‘Winderlust’ hosted by the Westin Hotel at their newly revamped FireRock Lounge provided the perfect place to unwind and be social with newfound friends – most of whom are not tree-hugging hippies, we swear.
The casual venue featured locally produced wine and appetizers, a gorgeous garden-like setting and live music courtesy of US-based Jeff Liffman and Matthew Schoening.
Photo by Raffaella Dice for Wanderlust Festival
Later during the evenings, the program was stacked with live music and more DJ offerings (as well as some pretty awe-inspiring acrobatic performances).
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Without getting all ‘hokey’ about it, generally the vibe at Wanderlust is uncannily refreshing. The event welcomes a ‘come as you are, be who you want to be’ feel that you don’t see all too often these days (with so many cellphones, social media distractions vying for our attention). It’s a festival where smiles are indeed contagious – and for a reason, the energy is just that good.
Feeling limber, more focused and with a healthy dose of perspective it was bittersweet to have to pack it up and get back in the car to head back to reality at the end of it all… one things for sure, we’ll definitely be back – and you ought to plan on booking off a few days too.
Photo by Stephen McVeigh for Wanderlust Festival
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If you attended the Wanderlust Festival, what was your favourite part? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @ViewTheVibe.
