The vision of a festival like Phe is constantly evolving. Both in the musical section and in the parallel activities, the festival always seeks to take a step forward each year. A good example of this is Phe Yoga, one of the most eagerly awaited proposals within the complementary programme of experiences.

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In 2024, the big news is looking towards the El Peñón stadium in Puerto de la Cruz with the Yoga Meeting next Saturday, August 24. A meeting for the outdoor practice of yoga, an experience that Nuria from ON Studio Canarias, coordinator of Phe Yoga, describes as ideal.

All the information about this meeting and the different workshops is in the following link: https://Phefestival.es/Phe-yoga-2024/ 

Nuria and the rest of her teammates are still hoping that the morning meeting on Saturday 24th will be better once again. “Every year there is more interest in this outdoor practice meeting and attendance has been doubling almost every year. This year they expect more than a hundred people to attend the practices.”

Since 2020 until now, when these meetings were incorporated into the festival and coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, both the discipline of yoga and its development within this music festival have grown and changed a lot. 

According to the coordinator of Phe Yoga, “the number of people practising this discipline is growing worldwide and it is very noticeable. It is integrated into gyms and sports centres, which was previously almost non-existent. Yoga now occupies much more space than just specialised gyms, achieving greater visibility and diffusion.”

The event on Saturday 24th will include four consecutive sessions designed to open up a range of possibilities for regular practitioners and those who wish to start taking up yoga. Phe Yoga seeks not only to offer a space for practice, but also to foster a community, creating meaningful connections between the festival and the city. “This event is a perfect showcase for those who have not yet had the opportunity to approach yoga. And for those who have already started, it is a unique opportunity to explore new disciplines, from the most traditional to the most innovative, and to interact with the other participants.”

In addition to the Saturday meeting, the proposal extends to the rest of the city during the previous week and there are several yoga centres in Puerto de la Cruz that participate in this initiative. Tushala Yoga Studio, El Árbol Terapias, Mocán, Casa Bergantín and Sol y Luna will offer classes from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd August in different modalities and times. Phe Festival appreciates the availability and collaboration of all the centres participating in Phe Yoga. “It is a very satisfying job for the whole team because it creates a healthy and enriching environment. For us it is vital that the schools in Puerto de la Cruz have this visibility and make it possible to offer this diverse programme of activities”, says Nuria. 

Returning to the realm of evolution in recent years, yoga has broadened its focus, integrating both meditation and physical aspects in response to the current needs of society. At Phe Yoga, a variety of practices are offered, ranging from aerial yoga and acroyoga to sessions of inversions, stretching and ecstatic dance, the latter closely related to dance and movement. “Yoga as a philosophy and lifestyle, ranges from a deeply meditative practice to more physical classes that require demanding postures, ideal for focusing attention, improving our body awareness, even for athletes from other modalities who want to improve their performance,” explains Nuria. “Our goal with this program is to make yoga known in all its forms, showing its multiple benefits for health and well-being,” she adds.

TRANSFORMING PHELLOWERS INTO ENGAGED PARTICIPANTS

At the first edition of Phe Yoga in 2020, a group of people decided to participate in the event out of curiosity, without any prior experience in yoga. Attracted by the idea of a different activity and the relaxed atmosphere of the proposal, they signed up without great expectations. However, what started as a casual activity turned into something much more meaningful. During that session, these people who were very fond of the festival, discovered not only the physical benefits of yoga, but also a sense of calm and inner connection that they had not experienced before. Inspired by that first practice, they began attending regular classes with different teachers who participated in the festival. Today, they are committed practitioners, and every year they return to Phe Yoga, not only to enjoy the festival, but also to reconnect with the discipline that transformed their lives. “We never thought that something as simple as stretching and being calm would lead us to a path of well-being that is now a fundamental part of our lives,” they commented in the 2023 edition, fondly remembering their first experience at the event.

THE UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN NIGHT OWLS AND EARLY RISERS

In past editions of Phe Yoga, morning sessions began at 8am, a perfect time for regular yoga practitioners who enjoy saluting the sun early in the morning. However, this schedule posed a challenge for festival-goers who wanted to make the most of Phe Festival’s nights of music and fun.

During the 2022 edition, a group of friends, still energized from the night before, spontaneously decided to attend the morning yoga session. They arrived at the session with laughter and yawns, not knowing exactly what to expect. At first, a mix of sleepiness and curiosity dominated the mood among them. But as the session progressed, they began to feel an unexpected sensation. The postures and conscious breathing seemed to dispel the tiredness, replacing it with a sense of calm, mental clarity, and revitalized energy.

One of the friends, Javier, later shared: “I thought that after sleeping so little, yoga would be torture. But it turned out to be the opposite. It was like a reset for the body and mind. I left there ready to face another day of festival.”

Taking into account experiences like Javier’s and seeking to further integrate the festival community, this year the organizers of Phe Yoga have decided to delay the start of the sessions to 10am. This change not only allows night owls to rest a little longer, but also facilitates greater participation, creating an inclusive space where both early risers and night owls can meet and share the transformative experience of yoga.