What is a mind, body, spirit festival? The answer is an eye-opening mix of spiritual treatments, natural remedies and lots of fun! I decided to see if there were any fairs happening near me and found there was one happening the same week at Chelmsford Racecourse, run by Life Arts events.
My hopes, admittedly, weren't high. I wasn't expecting a big event, but I was pleasantly surprised. The building that the stands were in was big, with several large rooms full of exhibitors. The first room on entering was full of psychics of various types. Each psychic has a timed waiting list. You add your name, then appear at that time for a reading. The psychics were busy every time I walked through. They were clearly used to travelling around fairs as they all had their printed signs behind them, advertising what shows they'd been on and how great they were. I did go to see one of the psychics, Melayne Stone, but I'll post about my reading in another blog.
In the next room were various stalls selling an array of spiritual items and treatments. The most interesting of which was the gong bath, set up within a copper pyramid. The person who is meditating and being healed sits in a chair within the gongs so that they're surrounded with sound. I heard the mesmeric, otherworldly hum of the gongs, long before I saw them. Even when you're not in the chair, you feel the vibrations of the gong washing over you. The bath was busy the whole day, and I didn't get a chance to sit in and try it.
There were many stalls selling an array of goods, crystals, herbal balms, jewellery, shamanic items, candles and much more. One of the more unusual experiences of the room was an aura photographer. Aura Interpretations are a company who provide aura photography and interpretation. I really wanted to try this, but each stand in the festival cost somewhere between £20-45 to take part, and funds were limited, so I had to choose carefully. Perhaps another day.
I was drawn towards kinesiologist Stacey Carl. I'd inadvertently visited a kinesiologist many years previously, who I found very good. She'd helped me to lose half a stone and feel a whole heap better. Stacey asked me various questions, then I had to resist against her push with my arms and legs as she tested my muscles to access information from my subconscious mind. She worked out from this what treatments I needed. My treatment involved reciting back several mantras that she gave me, taking various drops on my tongue and nutritional advice to follow (take more iron, vitamins C & E).
There were healers of every type, Reiki, shamanic, pranic, massage. You name it; they were there. I only wish I could have tried them all.
There were also a number of workshops throughout the day. I visited the shamanic journeying with the ancestors workshop with Clare J Shaman and a spirit communication workshop by Maureen Flynn. I won't go into my shamanic experience here, as that will be in a different blog. There were also yoga workshops and cookery demonstrations as well as a food court with wood-fired pizza, spicey Asian foods and cakes on offer. Our hearts went out to the man whose pizza blew away before he could eat it and ended up on the ground.
What did I learn about my day at the mind, body, spirit festival? Well, bring plenty of money but set a budget or you'll be tempted to try them all! Much of the money from this festival goes to either the Helen Rollerson cancer charity or to other charities. You can still visit the event, just for the fun of it, but you'll really want to try some of the treatments on offer, or perhaps buy yourself one of the lovely crystals. The show was really balanced without too many experiences of the same type, so that there was a good variety. If you're thinking darn, I'd have loved to go to that, don't worry. There is another smaller festival in Marks Tey, near Colchester on 16-17 October 2021.
See you there!