Yoga Picnic: celebration of wellness, community, nourishment

Thomas Lyons

“Can you show me what a tiger looks like?” Shelley Mahon asks a group of small people participating in the Forest Yoga Fun for Kids. It’s Saturday afternoon, The Yoga Picnic has been under way for about four hours.

The dappled sunlight peeking through the canopy of the trees in the forest beside Lilliput House is illuminating a group of about 12 young people, mostly under the age of 10. They are stretching in poses that mimic the adults over in the main area of the picnic.

The Forest is slightly off the beaten path. It has already hosted drum workshops that morning and now it’s the turn of Shelley, an holistic wellbeing practitioner and yoga teacher known for her ‘Forest Yoga’. This is a branch of the discipline that merges mindful movement with nature.

There is a strong sense of playfulness at the core of the class. There has to be. The ability to keep the attention of such young people is a gift. The hop and leap into shapes of animals. There is no doubt that this is fun.

Yet fun with a purpose. The ultimate purpose of yoga is to unite the mind, body, and spirit. That goal has implications for our physical fitness and mental wellbeing. The effectiveness of yoga in stress management is well documented.

The kids bounding around the Lilliput forest are, for the most part, oblivious to stress. Yet what they get out of the class could stand to them for the rest of their lives.

“I was coming to the yoga picnic as a participant, and I absolutely loved it,” Shelley said after the young people had toddled off with their parents back to the main picnic area, “It’s fabulous to have a festival like this in the midlands.”

The festival illustrates how yoga is not one thing. From laughter yoga to working with Tibetan sound bowls, the day-long gathering is like a metaphysical version of the El Bulli tasting menu.

Bringing her own life experience to the class for young people gives Shelley a connection with the participants: “I’ve been teaching yoga for years. Mam and baby pregnancy and kids yoga, I suggested that forest yoga would be a really cool thing to do. I was here last year and I’m here again this year and I absolutely love it. It’s such good energy and such a fun thing to do with kids.”

Any observer would be struck by the enthusiasm of the class: “Everyone thinks yoga is so serious, but it’s not. It’s so much fun. There’s so much play, so much imagination and kids get really into it.”

Part of the reason the picnic has enjoyed incremental growth over the last five years is the quality of teachers it brings to Lilliput. Hannah Barrett is an international yoga teacher, yoga teacher trainer, author, and wellness advocate.

“It’s an amazing community, there’s something really joyous about the day,” she says of the day. “The girls who put it on work their socks off to make this happen. I think the joy comes from them.”

Hosted by founders and yoga teachers Alice Harrison, Katy Harrison, and Mary Gardiner, the event features more than 100 wellness experiences. Hannah is one of the headliners that draws people to the midlands in the middle of the summer.

The location plays a part in the appeal of the festival: “I was walking around, just looking out over the lake. I thought we’re so lucky to be here. The noise of the wind through the trees, the closeness to nature, the grass under our feet. It’s just lovely,” Hannah says.

The inclusivity of the programme is another facet of the success of the event: “What I love about this festival is that they cater for everyone. The trails they do are so clever, because if you’re a beginner there’s classes for you, and if you’re an advanced yogi, there’s also classes, they have a focus for children, or specifically for men and for women, everyone has something.”

Another returning headliner was meditation teacher Michael James Wong. The founder of ‘Just Breathe’ packed two tents with an audience who were given a powerful example of how conscious breathing can help combat the stress that builds as a result of daily living.

“I’m excited to be back with the community,” Michael said of his return. “These festivals are so special because it brings all kinds of people in the community together. It’s just a nice way to feel part of the local culture of yoga.”

This vibrant day of yoga classes, meditation, live cooking, and music welcomed more than 2,000 men, women, and children from all walks of life. Michael spoke of the power of the day: “Everyone has different lives and different ways in which their lives happen but here at this festival, at the picnic, it’s people having a chance to connect at the human level at a space where people we can kind of feel like they just have a bit of joy have a bit of fun and just get along with each other no matter if they’re new friends or old friends.”

The wellbeing festival presents many opportunities to expand your knowledge base. Jörg Müller is a Czech-German medical herbalist, tea blender, and expert forager based in Galway. His guided foraging walk led the participants around the grounds of Lilliput House. Some had notebooks and pens to take as Jörg identified plants, spoke of their health benefits and explained how to prepare them.

The biggest challenge of the day is the variety of choices. How do you pick which event to participate in? Back in the forest, Charlotte Harrison and Orlagh Walsh conducted a guided journey in nature, combining Orlagh’s forest bathing with Charlotte’s yoga, bringing together an appreciation of physical surroundings with our bodies and sense of self.

It’s a study in introspection and peace. A means of bringing the vastness of the forest into ourselves.

In direct contrast to that was the Shakti Dance hosted by Alice Harrison. It was communion. A couple of hundred people in a tent, all blending into one rhythmic being.

One of the final experiences of the day on offer was Laughter Yoga with Tina Kennedy. It was also the most painful. The host explained the children laugh significantly more than adults, up to 300 times a day on average, compared to just 15 a day for the average adult.

The class should have come with a health warning. The infectious nature of laughing was amply demonstrated. That class, one that did not require any stretcher or balancing, did result in pain in the intercostal muscles as well as the face. That said, it was great craic.

The 2026 Yoga Picnic was an extraordinary celebration of the power of yoga and a truly remarkable gathering of people.

Sustainability

Statement from organisers: This year’s festival continued to prioritise and integrate even more eco-conscious practices such as the Cook With Kia Kitchen. In an innovative partnership with Kia Ireland, traditional diesel generators were eliminated, and all festival tents were sustainably powered by Kia’s electric vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology, significantly reducing both noise and carbon emissions. The vehicles were supplied via Sleator Kia in Mullingar.

The festival also maintained a site-wide plastic ban, offering refillable water stations and compostable containers, and continued to reduce its carbon footprint through environmental initiatives and encouraging carpooling. Alongside the Artisan Market, which featured eco-friendly products from Irish crafters, the Kia Sustainable Marketplace showcased a number of brilliant, sustainable small Irish businesses, with attendees loving the conscious shopping experience.