We organised n friendly open-day full of activities to enjoy the longest day of the year.
“Make hay while the sun shines.”
While we counted the days before the rainy season started in Dali, it was to our relief that the day of the Summer Solstice lived up to its name and we were able to load up on sunshine and vitamin D. And we really did!
Early bird catches the worm
We started the day with morning yoga at 8am. As you can imagine there were not many people who shared our enthusiasm. But it was for the best in the end as the sun even at 8am was too powerful for us mere mortals. The 4 of us only managed to do a quick series of morning stretches before I felt like we were going to have heatstroke and bowed out. Not a good start. But I was confident I would have another chance for yoga later on. We decided to have breakfast instead - eggs, tomatoes and coffee.
We chilled and chatted, laid down on the grass and listened to music. I even managed to do a short 20 minute yoga session. Then before you knew it, our tummies started to growl and it was time for lunch. We bought lots of healthy dishes to share, and enjoyed a nice filling lunch under the tent.
Next up was the Xtatic Dance Meditation, a 1.5 hour session of being free to move to the beat in any way, shape or form. But the rules say there's to be no talking, no phones, no smoking, no distractions basically. Being out in the open green fields made this experience extra liberating.
Slowly but surely night began to fall, but not before we had many moments to appreciate the beauty of what was around us. The people, the music, the food, the energy and the scenery, we lapped it all up. But the night was not over, DJ friends spun tunes and Arthur projected his visual, and we danced into the night. What was supposed to be just a small gathering of close friends turned out to be a group of maybe 70 people. I guess we were not the only ones who wanted to make hay.
