T
he Prana is so high up in the mountains around
Verbier in Switzerland that you feel you can fly. The air
is crystalline. The water rushes cold and clean. And the
natural beauty clears stress immediately. And then....
when you dare to believe this is real, the awe-inspiring
views take your breath away, before inviting a deepening of the
inhalation, as the muscles in the walls of your abdomen relax, your
diaphragm expands, and you sense a long, deep exhale naturally
working its magic to release the mental and physical tensions from
body, heart and mind.
The INSPIRE Yoga Festival launched in August this year. For me,
as a yoga teacher, contributing and participating, I experienced an
embodiment of yoga as ‘oneness’ anew. I felt, both teaching and
practicing, at one with all of life: with the majestic earth beneath
my feet, with the birds flying high and with the rhythm of my own
heartbeat that, in the silence, I could hear.
The word ‘Inspira’ is French for ‘Inhale’ and just like drinking in the
purest, most cleansing water from the tinkling mountain streams,
Larah Davis gets inspired at the maiden INSPIRE Yoga Festival held high up in the
mountains of Verbier, Switzerland this summerom travel
Mountain highs
the more sensitive yogis can feel how the pine-fresh alpine air carries
the Prana through your nostrils to your Nadis and oxygenates you
through your veins, lifting your spirits, nourishing your cells and,
literally, invigorating you with a conscious ‘alpine high’.
Yet the mountains also ground you, they hold space like ancient
grandmothers, enabling your root chakra to release fear and
instability and instead, enabling you to feel warmly welcomed into
the Verbier spirit, ensure that you feel ‘held’, safe and able to explore
a depth of stillness and presence that can often only be achieved
after many days on an immersive retreat.Inspiration
INSPIRE Yoga Festival was conceived by Verbier locals and owners of
Wholeycow Yoga Studio, Kim Taylor and Claire Wardle. Their decades
of respective production and international events experience, shared
love of the all-year-round mountain lifestyle, plus their heart-felt
belief in the power of yoga to uplift and inspire were all key elements
motivating them to co-create INSPIRE.