It’s been a festival filled summer for Vinyl Mag and we’re not slowing down anytime soon. While we are still full steam ahead, we want to be mindful to not run ourselves ragged. Lucky for us, and everyone else heading to Hancock, NY, this weekend, Catskill Chill will be providing some wellness activities that we cannot wait to participate in.
Last year we talked with Melia Marzollo, Director of Yoga and the Wellness Village, about Catskill Chill’s yoga program and how attendees can stay centered and healthy at the festival. We caught up with Marzollo to get the scoop on what to expect at this year’s Chill and what we have to look forward to concerning the Wellness Village.
“The Wellness Village will act as a haven in the center of Camp Minglewood for healthful, restful pursuits,” stated Marzollo. “This year we have a 30-foot massage tent with a team of therapists offering chair, table, and foot massage at a rate of $20 per 15 minute segments. We have a tea house, a small market offering organic produce, apothecary products, yoga gear, tarot readings, aromatherapy, Thai Yoga Massage and more!”
The expansion of the Wellness Village and yoga program this year also means additional daily classes for attendees. “This year’s yoga program has extended to offer classes daily from the opening of the Wellness Village at 11am to 7pm at its close,” Marzollo said. “We have lectures and talks, plant medicine and sound, and yoga classes including: partner yoga, deep stretch yoga, back bending and heart-opening and flow yoga. Some classes will be accompanied by live music as well.”
Some of the offerings this year include a transformative experience in The Sonic Portal where attendees will lounge inside a custom chamber while sonic sculptors perform around them 360 degrees. Partner yoga will be offered on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday attendees can restore their bodies with either deep stretching yoga with musical accompaniment by Jesse Merandy of The Breakneck Boys, or revitalizing flow yoga.
All classes at Chill are by donation and will range in size from 20 to 200 people. Yoga mats will be available for purchase and a few to borrow on a first come, first serve basis. By taking some time and focus on themselves, attendees participating in these festival activities will experience centering, restoration, invigoration, and self-love by practicing self-care.
Last year Marzollo has some great tips for taking care of yourself while at the festival including “rage and restore” – Taking time to stretch and sleep and love and eat good food and dance and laugh and relax and get a message and dance some more, then repeat. This year, she offered some more sound advice:
“This year, I’ll simplify my advice, (as I am continuously trying to do with my life) practice the act of being in your body and deeply listening to its needs. Being surrounded by constant vibration and high-intensity for days on end can push you out of your own body witnessing your life experience externally and somewhat superficially. This life is too rich and too beautiful to experience it from the outside. Whether we are talking about music or self-care, I implore you to go in and come out listening deeply.”
It all started when a much younger Jackie dove into her parents’ record collection, grabbed that trippy Magical Mystery Tour album, and played “Strawberry Fields” over and over again until it was engrained into her soul. She grew up on the dreams and stories of Simon and Garfunkel, “Bleeker Street” being one of her favorites, the seduction of The Doors, Van Morrison, because “Brown Eyed Girl” is definitely her song, and the likes of Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Jimi Hendrix…you get the picture. It may not show on the outside, but Jackie has a hippie heart, and that reflects in her musical tastes today. While some of her favorites may or may not be jam bands, her taste in music feeds into many genres. From alternative, Brit, and indie rock - OK, maybe all rock - to pop, to rap, to electronic, she loves it all. As a northerner, she thought she would never understand country until she found herself on a Georgia farm in cowboy boots watching Luke Bryan shake it for her- yeah, she got that. She is a chronic wanderluster, she doesn't believe in guilty pleasures, enjoys a great Moscow Mule, and is an absolute music festival fanatic- you’ll find her wherever the music takes her.