Giants of yoga gather in Lilliput for fantastic festival

Subliminal: below the threshold of sensation or consciousness; perceived by or affecting someone's mind without their being aware of it.

Yoga practitioners are aware of the benefits of their ancient spiritual discipline, for the rest of us it's a bit of a mystical mystery.

The Yoga Picnic, a one-day yoga and well-being festival held on the banks of Lough Ennell, bridges the gap between the initiated and the ignorant.

It was created to support Ireland’s yoga and wellness community, and perhaps create a window into the world for the unenlightened.

The Yoga Picnic is not only a gathering of those passionate about the harmony of body and mind, it's a chance for those nescient in the spiritual practice to experience its appeal.

The 2025 festival welcomed to Westmeath a line-up of internationally renowned teachers, including Hannah Barrett (UK), Lara Heimann (US), Manasi Sridhar (India), Adam and Holly Husler (UK), Michael James Wong (US), and Celeste Pereira (South Africa).

With 12 stages, each hosting up to eight contributors, the range of choice was not for the indecisive. The organisers provided 'trails', an itinerary for participants with a specific theme. An alternative was to just do whatever you liked.

The assignment to cover a festival of transcendental pursuits requires a good start. What better way to commence your day than spending an hour breathing.

Michael James Wong led a class that made conscious those most unconscious of actions. As the wind whispered through the long grass, the shushing taken up by the leaves of the sycamore trees the author, speaker and meditation teacher reminded his acolyte that there is a raw pleasure in the essential.

By encouraging the participants to embrace the sigh, to recognise what a sigh means and to live in the “isness”, the mind and mental health guru laid a foundation for the day with practical wisdom.

After Mr Wong gave the right start the options of power yoga, sound healing, face yoga or meditation all presented themselves.

Winning out was a heart-opening cacao ceremony. This ritual involves the consumption of ceremonial-grade cacao, a type of chocolate, with the intention of fostering emotional healing, connection, and spiritual growth.

Sile Nolan, assisted by Laura Carr and Mayla Lambert led a soothing ceremony that offered clarity and connection with music and meditative direction. After two hours of tranquillity a more physically demanding class was called for.

“You're replenished now,” Lucy Bloom Webb said to one of the group who joined her under the awning of the Talamh stage upon the conclusion of her 45 minute class. This was Tantra Yoga, the connecting of the physical, spiritual and breathing to restore harmony.

For a participant who hasn't got a clue about the difference between the Bhujangasana and the cobra this was a revelatory yoga experience.

“I've been teaching for about 10 years and Tantra in particular,” Lucy says of her experience, “I did a training about four years ago in India.

“I lived in an ashram while out there. I was initiated into over 100 different Kriyas which are purification techniques. They work directly on the energetic body. That's really what I teach now.”

The teacher speaks of the philosophy of the Tantra practice: “It's trying to get people out of their heads, into their bodies and connected to the more subtle energies within. Not so much the big energies that we all know; like hunger or tiredness. Refining awareness to become aware of what else is here.”

The Yoga Picnic celebrates the community of the discipline: “I think we're all connected and this is what yoga teaches. The word yoga means union and it's to remind us that we're all very much connected. That's what today is about. It's about connection and bringing people together and allowing people to experience that,” Lucy informed.

The atmosphere in the environs of Lilliput House is jubilant, yet it has calmness about it: “I think you see that as well in music festivals, don't you? You see everyone come together and almost harmoniously become this one vibrating pulse together. And I think it's the same thing, but we forget it in the modern day. So it's just about remembering,” the yoga teacher said.

Heartbeats and Handbalance is a class that someone with limited knowledge of yoga would find challenging. At least it was for this novice. Mary Cardiner is a wonderful communicator, and her class was made up of mostly adept yoga students.

Mostly. There was one individual, who will remain nameless, who had no yoga mat, who may have fallen over on a couple of occasions.

An antidote to yoga shortcomings was a talk by Terri Conroy on the history of plant wisdom. Ms Conroy is a teacher, a herbalist and a kinesiologist who loves folklore and history.

In the Dríocht tent she guided her group on a journey into a deeper connection with the living intelligence of plants. The gathering heard that mythology and folklore hint at the healing properties that plants. This presentation was a truly wonderful experience.

The Yoga Picnic was a day of glorious experiences. The one regret is that I missed booking the Uisce Spa and the massage therapies, however missing out on the SUP Yoga on the Lake was probably in everyone's best interest.

The Yoga Picnic was supported by Kia Ireland, Herology, Booking Hawk, Solaris Tea, Holder Eight, Somega, Kilbeggan Organic Foods, All About Kombucha and Be Kind.

Mary Gardiner, Alice Harrison, and Katy Harrison have created an enclave of creativity and tranquillity on the shores of Lough Ennell. Sublime.