Sally Martin

My epiphanic journey deep inside.

A week later I'm still digesting everything the Rise Wellness Festival had to offer.
Unlike every festival I've been to, this felt so much home for my heart, spirit and body. Thank you Roberts for leading the way, allowing me to share my energy and to everyone that helped coc-reate the magical Rise experience so intentionally!

From the soulful vegetarian meals, to the Cacao ceremonies allowing and guiding us through the evenings to the upbeat music through the nights and the enchanting dances and finally surrendering into the deep night with sound baths. It all felt magical.

Walking to Rise felt so invigorating even with such highness and short sleep. Not your typical high of ( Drugs, Alcohol and Sausage Roll :))! It was a high elevated by the sacredness of the space brought by the pure grounded rusty brown earth, the quiet peaceful rivers, the songs by the birds weaving with the winds, the graceful dances by the jungle green trees that surrounded, the steadiness of the giant solid mountains that surrounded not forgetting the unparalleled kinda humans who occupied this space and made the entire RISE experience complete.

It was the simple smiles in people's faces that breathed hope, the pain in the glossy eyes, the cries, the sorrow and grief felt in the silence and subtle movement. It was the safety of every individual you encountered and facilitators that guided us gently home. Through the inhales of desired connection, liberation, healing, wisdom, peace, grace, and exhales of withheld laughter, pain, resentment, anger, fear, frustration, excitement. Things we carry every so often that don't serve us, and fear of the light that resides inside us.
It was an awakening of hearts and spirits.
Shedding what no longer served us and freeing the light carried within.

I was taken into the depths of the internal human journey.
I laughed without a care! and when I say laugh, I mean belly laugh, mouth wide open near peeing your pants kinda laughter, the kind that leaves your cheeks sore.
Then I cried, so hard from the core. The kind that opens you. My veins felt every pain I've ever withheld. All the grief from the loss of so much I cherished. Including the loss of my once vibrant self. The Aokay smiles I faked to present the world what is considered perfect and socially acceptable. The fights I silently battled and the invisible weight I carried far too long, some weren't even mine to carry. It all felt as though I relived all life's events at once, but my vessel knew I had all I needed to rise again.
All unfiltered because everything felt safe, sacred and liberating.
It was an out of body experience.

What was silent yet loudly evident was the Ubuntu Spirit. That we were all in the same journey seeking our way home. Home to our true and best selves. To connect both with ourselves and all we've been given(Nature). To experience each other and unleash the best versions of ourselves. To be happy and to truly be.

In conclusion,

This life we've been given, is about Love. It's about Being. The human experience!
It's never about perfection

Young or old. Tall or short. Rich or poor. Male, female, or somewhere in between
We all want peace, love, connection, and abundance inside out.

We are just in different stages, different paces, searching differently for all the things we need.
May we find what elevates our souls and search in the most humane ways.

To those who journeyed and have journeyed with me, Thank you for co-creating a beautiful RIDE!