Good for the spirit
A yoga festival with roots in Bali and Byron Bay is coming to our shores, writes Rebecca Wadey
Franko Heke admits to having a “breakdown/breakthrough” when he turned 30, five years ago. Having grown up in the music industry, Heke had recorded and released music that gained traction on the New Zealand charts, but along the way had fallen victim to the lifestyle. “I was heavily into partying, drugs and alcohol,” he says. “Mixed with a history of depression and anxiety, it did me no favours.”
He quit music and says his intuition led him towards a healthier lifestyle, looking to his diet, yoga and meditation.
The journey eventually took him to Rishikesh, India, where he completed yoga teacher training and immersed himself in meditation. “The mantras are so healing. I discovered music as a medicine rather than an entertainment.”
Heke reintroduced himself into music as a mantra artist, which led to him playing at Bali Spirit Festival and Byron Bay Spirit Festival. Next weekend sees the realisation of his, and partner Nikki Rhodes’, dream to produce an Auckland Spirit Festival, where Maori culture, medicines and traditions are explored alongside those from the East in a weekend-long celebration of yoga, dance, music, workshops, learnings and healings.
Rhodes’ background as a scholar and teacher (boasting an impressive five degrees, she once lectured in ancient medicine at Auckland medical school) has clearly informed many of the teachings the festival aims to cover. “My background is very different to Franko’s,” she says. “I tried to gain approval through degrees and education before realising I was very unfulfilled.” Rhodes quit the mainstream education system and now teaches yoga, meditation, stress relief and emotional resilience to teenage mothers and at-risk youth. She is, as she sees it, “using my talents as a teacher with those degrees but channelling them in such a way that my soul bank is rich”.
Rhodes says anxiety and that sense of questioning purpose are familiar to her and Heke.
For a more balanced life, they say make sure those in your immediate circle support and encourage you and open your eyes to what you’re putting in your body. Good water, good food, good friends; that’s ultimately what the NZ Spirit Festival is about.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Food
“Let food be thy medicine” — Rhodes recalls the teachings of Hippocrates when describing their philosophy to food. “Organic food was all there was back then.” she says. “And now it’s unaffordable for many people.” At hands-on cooking classes, festival guests will be taught to prepare a plantbased diet in an achievable way.
NZ Spirit Festival is drug and alcohol-free, with 100 per cent plantbased food provided from a mix of food trucks and stalls. “A range of really inspiring, healthy food options from raw salad through to fried goodness with a vegan edge.”
Dance
Dance is so important in many cultures for releasing, connecting, and cultivating joy, says Heke. The festival offers workshops and classes in hula hooping, belly dancing, tricking (a training discipline that combines aspects of gymnastics — kicks, flips and twists — with elements of dance and breakdancing) and capoeira. Rhodes is teaching a workshop on sacred dance, which draws from movement practices such as burlesque and chair dance.
Healing
“Everyone has this low-energy, high-stress thing going on these days,” says Rhodes. The Healing Zone at the festival aims to give people the tools to shift this. They’ve engaged reiki, shiatsu, mirimiri (traditional Maori massage), craniosacral therapy, acupuncture and hypnotherapy healers. These healers aim to not only treat festival guests, but to also teach them.
Love
Highlights include festival headliner Mark Whitwell, who’s teaching a workshop of Love and Sex that promises to be an inclusive look at how a union of masculine and feminine principles is crucial to a yogic life. Whitwell, who was born and raised in New Zealand, is one of the leading teachers of this yoga pathway and is in demand throughout the United States. Christchurch yoga teacher Nicole Dench is teaching workshops on self-love and body equality that demonstrate how a yoga practice can benefit everybody.
Yoga
As you’d expect, there’s a diverse offering of yoga throughout the weekend. Rhodes’ and Heke’s picks include Embodied Flow with popular Auckland teacher Adele Kinghan (she has taught at True Yoga and Golden Yogi, and studied under Tiffany Cruikshank and Shiva Rea), Yoga Rhapsody with Wellington couple Jem and Paul who combine vinyasa with acoustic guitar and vocals. Maddie Brosnan has combined her background as a power living yoga teacher and Olympic weightlifter to create Yoga Beats, dance-infused yoga set to live music.
Workshops
Workshops include shamanic healing, mindfulness and kawakawa balm-making.
Top pick
Maori Stance with Matiu Te Huki. Blending Maori song, haka and storytelling, this workshop has been designed to help participants connect more deeply with their internal warrior and support them in finding a way to stand, speak, listen, connect and move powerfully through life.