Last week, I enjoyed a couple of the most relaxing hours I’ve ever spent onboard a boat. As part of a press event for The Awakening festival, I enjoyed a host of wellness and self-care activities during a round-trip ferry journey from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight with Wightlink.
AD: I attended this press event as a guest of The Awakening. All opinions are my own.
UPDATE 27/06: The Awakening festival has now been postponed until 8th-9th May 2021.
UPDATE 29/03: Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, The Awakening festival has been postponed until 19th-20th September 2020.
The Awakening Festival
The Awakening is a two-day festival on the Isle of Wight, created and curated by Kate Taylor as a space “dedicated to nurturing of wellness, inspiration and self-care”.
On the 6th and 7th June, festival-goers can enjoy a plethora of activities for the mind, body and soul. Just some of the activities on offer are:
- Yoga & movement sessions
- Massage & reflexology
- Meditation
- Sounds baths
- Beauty treatments
- Nature walks
- Fire making
- Arts & crafts
- Creative writing
- Spiritual readings
There is something for everyone! This preview event was just a small taster of what’s to come.
wellbeing on the water (The Awakening Festival Preview)
Before the event officially began, we grabbed snacks and coffee from the on board cafe. I was pleasantly surprised at the vegan selection at a relatively small cafe! I grabbed a Ploughman’s with my coffee to fuel up for the upcoming activities.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get as many photos during the event as I’d have liked. But that’s a testament to how much I enjoyed getting involved; the event was so immersive and there was always something to be taking part in!
For the activities I didn’t catch on camera, I’ve included a few pics from the event’s photographer Will Hutchinson, as credited.
Water Meditation
The first activity I tried was Guided Water Meditation with Tansy Jane Dowman. The session started off with Tansy detailing our deep connection with water and Mother Earth before we dove headfirst into meditation.
I’m not gonna lie, trying to focus whilst on a ferry surrounded by people, music, and general noise is not easy… Yet in a way, it made me try harder to really tune in to the words Tansy was saying; despite the rabble around us, it was surprisingly relaxing.
Tai Chi
During our stop in Fishborne, David Hunt led a Tai Chi session on deck. It was lovely to learn something new in such beautiful surroundings, even if it was a tad windy!
We learnt a short sequence of moves that incorporated some of the five elements – earth, fire, water, metal and wood – before David gave us a longer demonstration of the discipline.
Reiki & Spiritual Guidance
On the return journey to Portsmouth, I had a reading by Tracy Mulas who specialises in Reiki and Spiritual Guidance. Full disclaimer: I am a sceptic and this was quite out of my comfort zone. However, I was intrigued by the idea of a reading so allowed myself to be present and enjoy the experience.
As someone who usually hates to be touched – especially by strangers – I felt oddly at ease from the start. I wasn’t even bothered by the hands-on nature of Reiki. Tracy described my personality to a T and mentioned elements of my mental health history that I’ve never spoken about with anyone (not even my former therapist). She also knew I was a writer and said I should definitely write that [insert super-specific writing format here] that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I’ve only ever told one person about that specific thing I want to write; so not gonna lie, that one shook me! I absolutely want to go and see Tracy again at the festival for a further reading.
(Not the most flattering angle for my chin/s here but hey, ho…)
Yoga, Wiggles & More
Unfortunately, it was impossible to join every activity. Whilst I was enjoying the above activities there was so much else going on!
As I enjoyed meditation and later had my reading, others in the group (and some ferry passengers!) took part in Flowing Yoga sessions with Alicia Burr. The sessions were all about mindful movement to detox both physically and emotionally.
Steve Woodford from Serenity Sounds led a Sound Bath using the vibrations of the gong to calm and relax participants.
Hypno-Relax was a guided meditation session with Bev Barber, which did indeed look super-relaxing!
I also missed Wiggle for Wellness with Miss Polly Rae, a burlesque superstar. Her self-confidence and female empowerment session promised to be full of “wiggles, giggles, shimmies and fun”! Hopefully I’ll be able to join a class at the festival!
Others enjoyed an Inner Glow Facial with Lisa-Marie Saidnayer. All the products Lisa uses are natural, vegan and cruelty-free so definitely right up my street! This is another activity I’ll definitely be seeking out at the festival.
A Gorgeous Goody Bag
Before we left the ferry, we were presented with a gorgeous bag of wellness goodies including:
- Practical Magic Activation Card from Kate Taylor
- Hand-rolled candle and mini matches from Chilliwinter
- The Mind Boggles gift cards from Department Store for the Mind
- Essential oil sample from Charlotte’s Studio
- Protein balls from The Protein Ball Co.
- Bracelet from WyldeSistas
- Vouchers from Wightlink ferries and White Lotus
Massive thanks to everyone who contributed to the gift bag and provided so many lovely treats to enjoy!
Book Your Awakening FestivaL Tickets
If the Wellness on Water event was anything to go by, The Awakening festival is going to be pretty epic. Having had a taste of just a few of the activities on offer, I can’t wait to try out more on the Isle of Wight!
If the festival sounds like your kind of thing, tickets start at £75 per day, or £105 for the weekend. The ticket price includes admission to all talks, workshops and classes on Saturday and the Soul Sessions on Sunday, as well as vegetarian or vegan lunches and wellbeing goody bags. Treatments can be booked at an additional cost (subject to availability).
It’s not a camping festival, so you’ll need to factor off-site accommodation into your costs. However, there are discounts and offers available through The Awakening’s website.
In these tumultuous times, a getaway in nature could be just what the doctor ordered!
Does The Awakening sound like your kind of event? Have you got your tickets yet?
This sounds just incredible. I love finding unique and immersive sound baths in the LA area. Hopefully this festival can happen. <3
Wow this sounds like a lot of fun, all things that I enjoy and love. I hope it does not get cancelled this year.
I know you briefly mentioned some of the stuff you tried when we met, but reading this post the other things sound like a lot of fun, too! The sound bath and Tai Chi are definitely two activities I would like to try one day. I guess after this COVID-19 crisis lots of people could use a mental health boost! Let’s see what is going to happen in the next weeks to come.
It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the activities I joined. Crossing all fingers that even if it’s postponed, the event can still go ahead.
Wow, looks amazing!
It was a great day! Such a shame the festival had to be cancelled bu I’m looking forward to going next year!
[…] had my first ever session during The Awakening: Wellbeing on Water event earlier this year. Some of the things said really shook me with their accuracy so I decided […]