Wild Zen Yoga Fest
July 19-21, 2024
An annual event held at Smiling Acres in Trufant Michigan. The intention of this Fest is to move your body, ease your mind, and elevate your soul. Enjoy yoga, mindfulness, meditation, movement, music, community, nature, vendors and a whole lot more!
With a ticket you get access to unique somatic experiences designed to help you feel relaxed, restored, and renewed. Plus, an option to have massage, reiki, energy work, acupuncture, sound healing, henna, food, crafts, and more.
Full weekend or Saturday Day Pass options available (Full weekend includes camping on-site, Saturday does not include camping).
2024 Line Up
Friday
6 -7 Yoga Asana | 730-9 Mindful Movement | 9 -1030 Sound & Drum Circle
Saturday
730-830 Cacao Meditation | 9-10 Contemplative Movement | 1030-1130 Creative Collages | 12-1 Acoustic Yoga | 130-230 Sound Bath | 3-4 Restorative Yoga |
430-530 Somatics | 6-7 Samyama | 730-830 Ecstatic Dance | 9-10 Night Sky Nature Meditation
Sunday
730-830 Cacao Meditation | 9-10 Body Privilege & Diversity | 1030-1130 Dance | 12-1 Vinyasa | 130-230 Yoga & Ohm Circle
2024 Instructors, Experience Leaders and Healers
Carrie Labarge, creator of Wild Zen Yoga Fest. Carrie’s most important work in life is being a Mother to her two sweet babes; Louie and Betty
. She is co-facilitator of Mindful School of Yoga™ guiding future Yoga & Mindfulness leaders into the world. Carrie facilitates yoga teacher trainings and workshops, as well as, public and private yoga classes. Her goal in teaching and training is to guide others into an empowered and truly self-determined way of thinking, moving, and living. You can find Carrie teaching at a variety of venues and festivals, where she leads acoustic music & yoga classes.
Rising Strong Wellness LLC, Jen Monroe. Jen is the founder and creator of Rising Strong Wellness.
When the body can be given a voice to express the stories that it holds, healing comes rushing in! Jen knows and believes that by creating intentional opportunities to invite the body into healing, you will witness powerful results of walking into wholeness. Jen approaches working with the body through a trauma informed lens and finds deep joy as others reclaim their power!
Jen is a somatic healing coach that works with those who are surviving and overcoming trauma to move into healing and wholeness. Her deepest commitment is to empower, inspire and allow you a brave space for healing.
Jen utilizes trauma sensitive yoga, somatic experiencing, CBT, breathwork. EFT tapping and many other mind- body based practices. Jen believes strongly in this work as a practitioner, but also as a survivor herself. She is deeply inspired to walk with others through their healing journey.
Her specialities are body image, trauma, grief, anger and addiction.
Whitney Pyles, creator of the Mindful Movement Workshop and co-founder of Wellness Retreat MI. Whitney is a certified Somatic Life Coach, experienced Dance & Movement Instructor, and Human Design Guide. She uses movement and other somatic tools and systems to help people recognize and stay in their joy, access inspiration, gain clarity and perspective, manage stress, and regulate their nervous systems. She is passionate about bringing people together, creating authentic community, and encouraging people to get out of their comfort zones and release self-judgement. Learn more about Whitney on social media @whitneydawnpyles or at whitneydawn.com.
Hilary Tudor is a certified Yoga Therapist specializing in bringing all 8 limbs of yoga into the lives of others in group yoga therapy workshops and one on one settings. The passion for sharing yoga stems from her own struggles of finding purpose and meaning in this human existence. Through contemplative movement she began to navigate her truth and create the deep connection of mind-body-spirit. What she loves about sharing yoga therapy is watching fellow humans find their own voice, stand in their truth, and create a life they love to live.
Follow Hilary @themindfullifellc
Terry Prem Lancaster. Prem has been a student of Yoga for over 20 years and helped to direct a small Yoga Ashram in Ganges, Michigan for 5 years. Prem has put the band Vahana back together to lead your practice for this event. The Kirtana and Mantra Japa that the group Vahana offers today is firmly rooted in the practices of Vedanta and Yoga.
Peri Jill a mother, founder and creative director of Embodied Return and the feminine wisdom collective. Peri is an embodiment coach, nervous system educator, singer/songwriter and poet, retreat leader, and trauma informed yoga teacher. Her greatest passion is helping guide humans to their greatest actualized self expression.
Claire Kupris, a yoga student for over 10 years and 2021 graduate of the Mindful School of Yoga. Claire specializes in intuitive trauma informed yoga, mindfulness and embodiment practices, along with guiding others to reawaken to the magic of their mind, body, and Sprit. With a deep passion for weaving personal presence with nature, you can find Claire teaching outdoors in the Grand Rapids area as well as Blandford Nature Center. Claire is also an artist, Claireity Collages, who specializes in mixed media and collaging. With this additional skill set, Claire hosts experiences of self expression and creation through the form of vision boards for group gatherings. Claire is passionate about mental health advocacy, body positivity, women empowerment, community cultivation, and the accessibility of yoga for all folks. When Claire is not doing yoga, she is exploring the outdoors, playing board games, reading, gardening, and spending quality time with friends and family. To practice with Claire, follow her at @peaceloveclaireity.
Elizabeth Roersma is a massage therapist and yoga teacher who is passionate about helping people feel their best in their bodies. Located in Grand Rapids, she loves writing, running, hiking, and spending time with her husband Nick and dog Tyson.
Ryan DeLuca is a somatic therapist, SOMA Breath instructor, cacao crafter, and consciousness explorer.
He’s passionate about how our thoughts and emotions impact our physical health, healing generational trauma, the science of spirituality, and the heart-brain connection. He believes we all have the capacity to heal ourselves, and that starts by regulating our nervous system, developing awareness and tools for how our body responds to stress, and learning the language of our intuition.
Several years ago he discovered cacao used intentionally during a breathwork ceremony, and experienced one of the deepest sessions after consuming cacao beforehand. Since then, he’s been enjoying cacao in meditation several days per week, in addition to learning more about the history, culture, and medicinal background of this amazing fruit!
Ryan is honored to be purchasing cacao beans from Atucún Chocolatería, a chocolate company based out of Comayagua, Honduras.
Morgan Gardner is a fitness and mindful dance instructor out of Detroit, MI. After going through a weight loss journey & personal transformation - she started her own mind/body dance fitness format - The Alt Fit Experience - that uses alternative music to help participants reconnect their minds and bodies through movement. She is a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor with specialization in strength, stretch, dance and pilates. She is also a podcast host/event manager and when she's not working - you can find her on the mat for yoga, weightlifting or out listening to live music.
Erin Dumond is a multifaceted henna artist, with her hands in fiber, painting, gardening and music. There's nothing quite like the connection that henna art creates, however, so she has been learning for over ten years and enjoying working with the collective of Happy Henna for several of them. She loves that Happy Henna also makes possible Crowns of Courage, the stem off non-profit which adorns cancer patients with henna.
When Erin is not creating art she is momma to River and Nora, a shepherdess to 30+ sheep, and helping run a small hobby farm with her sweetie.
Angie is a gifted intuitive sound healer and songwriter. She has been singing her whole life but stepped into her gifts as a healer after her Kundalini awakening 8 years ago.
Through her extensive vocal history, she's found a way to enhance the instruments with the sound of her voice.
In doing so, she creates a rich and layered experience that sets her apart from traditional sound healing.
She uses Quartz crystal singing bowls, chimes, steel drums, ocean drum and other instruments she has collected along the way.
She also loves to share healing songs she has channeled from nature.
You will leave her space feeling seen, heard, and renewed.
Katie Venechuk. Katie is the founder and program guide at In Your Element Wellness, a guide service with Grand Rapids roots that helps people reconnect to nature through foraging, wild food classes, guided forest bathing experiences, forest yoga, meditations, and more. Katie is a certified forest therapy guide with the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy, a seasoned yoga teacher (ryt-200, 2017), and an experienced foraging instructor, teaching about the wild foods that surround us through the lens of ethical harvest, appreciation, and respect for life. At the heart of all of Katie's programs is an opportunity to explore the world around you in new ways, reduce stress, embrace tech-free connection, and to feel a sense of belonging within ourselves, among community and in our wild world. Learn more about Katie and her work at iyewellness.com.
Erin Nowak is an intuitive oracle card reader and Master-attuned Reiki practitioner. Reading oracle cards is a craft that Erin picked up after experiencing deep loss. Her approach is gentle but direct, like advice from your best friend that might not tell you what you want to hear but has your best interest at heart. In reiki sessions not only is she able to assist with assessing, calming, and clearing people’s energy she also gains insight as to what might be holding them back or keeping them stuck, with the occasional message from a loved one from beyond.
Hello to all you interesting people: (ps:that’s everyone)
My name is Christina, and like all good things there is a story behind the name; for that info you’ll have to ask me in person.
I love a good story if you have any to share when I see you face to face for your next henna session.
Now I have always been someone looking for a good adventure, I love to travel and see get to experience new things. I am looking forward to getting to share the experience of henna with you.
I currently get the amazing opportunity to work at this year’s wild zen yoga fest.
Breah is an Advanced Reiki Practitioner and the founder of Moon and Sol Reiki! Moon and Sol Reiki is a unique form of integrative energy healing, that combines Guided Chakra Meditation and Reiki with the powerful intuitive energies of the Moon and the Sun. Restoring balance to the chakras and energy centers. Promoting self-healing by awakening and empowering the Body, Mind and Soul.
The moon and the sun have long been revered for their energetic influence on our planet and all living things. The moon represents feminine energy, intuition, and emotional healing, while the sun symbolizes masculine energy, vitality, and spiritual growth. By harnessing the life-giving forces of both celestial bodies, Moon and Sol Reiki aims to create a holistic healing experience that addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being.
Dede Alder wants to propel us forward with our hearts and minds.
Dede believes the one thing she is clear on is that it is the role and job of an artist to give voice to it all. We, out of any occupation, are allowed, in fact encouraged, to look at it, question it, and explore it. What is the it? It's the dysfunction, the imbalance, the ugliness, the shadow, and the beauty. It is our job to dive deeply into these subjects and give witness, and ultimately, if we do our job right, come back with the silver lining of hope. Come back with the spark that lights the fire in other's souls. That spark that reminds us of the things we used to know and our values as children. The things that disarm us. At least, this is why I make music.
Sponsors WZYF 2023
