I often share workshops and classes at festivals as it comes round to the summer season. This year has been no different! After guiding a Conscious Connected Breathwork session at Westival, a boutique festival in the South of Wales over the weekend, I wanted to share a couple of insights into the way I planned, created and held the session.
1. I welcomed everyone individually. Obviously this can’t happen in a 100-200 person session, but in a smaller session, knowing each participant’s name is essential to creating a safe container amid what might be a noisy backdrop.
2. I built in a structure that allowed people come and go. The festival gave me a 1h45m container. 1h was preparation (movement, meditation, play, dance, open-ended questions, sharing, connecting). 30m was the actual breathwork. 15m was integration. In an open setting like a festival, people wander in and out, so I broke the experience into pieces on purpose. This meant participants could join or leave at any point without it disrupting the container.
I didn’t add any extra frills. No sound bowls, gongs, goats, puppies. Festivals are already overstimulating! sounds, tastes, textures, sights all competing for attention. We kept it simple: repetition, lols, silliness, grounding, familiarity, with a peppering of something new and spicy.
4. I shared my intention from the start. I made it clear what we’d be doing, who the session wasn’t recommended for, and how to reach me or find more information afterward. That doesn’t mean being on call 24/7 for WhatsApp or Instagram, it means people know where to find the practice again once the gates close, if it shifted something in them.
5. I reminded participants that distractions are part of it. Noises and interruptions are going to happen! that’s the experience, not a flaw in it. When do we ever walk through a day with zero distractions? A festival, chaotic and colourful as it is, mirrors life :) being pulled in a dozen directions at once. The more we accept the distractions rather than fight them, the easier it is to come back to the present moment… and see what’s right in front of us when it matters.
Aside from giving this session, watching Antony Szmierek perform Saturday night was the highlight of my weekend. He got down in the crowd, danced with us, sang happy birthday to a fan, smoked someone’s cigarette. 😅
It made me think about how connection and feeling seen completely elevates an experience, whether you’re watching your favourite artist or sitting in a workshop circle.