Find What Feels Good Roadshow – Yoga with Adriene “Live”

Last Tuesday I went on an adventure. I headed to North London to Alexandra Palace (also known as Ally Pally) to attend the Find What Feels Good Roadshow…or, as I’ve been calling it, Yoga with Adriene Live. It’s an experience that will stay with me forever and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it.

The Lead-Up to the Find What Feels Good Roadshow

As I’ve talked about before (here and here) I’ve been practising yoga daily since 1st January 2017 (& sporadically before that) and most of my practice is at home with Yoga with Adriene.

I was excited when I heard that Adriene was coming to London as part of her Find What Feels Good Roadshow this year. And very happy when I managed to purchase a ticket.

I was feeling anxious leading up to the event – unsure what to expect.  I loved the note from Adriene a few days before. It helped dispel some of my anxiousness of the unknown:

“Balance the beauty of home practice with bravery and adventure!
Connect to the group energy, explore out of your comfort zone.
Open yourself up to a spirit quest or just enjoy the Find What Feels Good flow.
100% open arms.
Let’s party.”

The Actual Event

I left home at 4.30pm in the afternoon and drove to the venue. There was some traffic but my GPS saw me right and I got there in plenty of time. Once I’d confirmed I was in the right car park I headed over to join the queue. The doors opened at 6pm and people were gradually allowed in. We cleared security and then joined another queue for entrance into the hall where the yoga would take place.

After a while I got talking to the women either side of me in the queue. One had a friend further up the queue and was hoping to find a space beside her friend once she got in. The other had travelled all the way from Germany that morning. I ended up setting my mat up next to the lovely lady from Germany when we got in the hall.

I was gobsmacked to find myself on the third row from the front (off to the right hand side). It made me realise how big the venue actually was as I was sure there had been lots of people ahead of me in the queue.

Once my mat was rolled out I ate the dinner I’d brought with me and soaked up the atmosphere. I enjoyed listening to the music playing and especially loved hearing one of my favourite – “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding. The big screens had a little slideshow going and I got super excited to see the Benji (Adriene’s dog who features in some of her videos) illustration when it came up.

Adriene came in around 8.15pm and started by saying lots of thank you’s. There was still quite a lot of nervous energy room at that point. But then we got started…

A Magical Experience

We started off sitting quietly, finding our space and listening to our breath. Amazingly, I started to forget the 2,400 people all around me and just listened to Adriene’s gentle prompts. When I closed my eyes I could easily be at home, on my lounge rug, like any other practice.

The magic really started when the whole room clapped their hands above their heads in Jai Namaste. And when we all breathed out a sigh together. I could feel goosebumps on my arms as we all flowed together – people of all ages from different places and backgrounds – all coming together to enjoy yoga.

I felt emotional at several times through the evening – when I drove up the hill and saw the London skyline in the distance and Alexandra Palace right in front of me. When I walked into the hall and found my spot to lay out my yoga mat. When Adriene bounded in with a wave. And when everyone in the room was quiet and sharing the same beautiful flow together.

I was sad not to meet Adriene as I’ve seen often happens after her live classes. But I completely understand given the size of the event. I was happy to get a free tote bag sharing the roadshow’s manta “Up Your Connect”. And I was amazed to check the time as we finished up and realised we’d been practicing yoga for 2 hours.

It was a truly magical experience. One I won’t forget. And I would love to do it all over again!

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Were you at the Find What Feels Good Roadshow at Ally Pally? How did you find it?

If you’ve never tried yoga but would be keen to give it a go I wholeheartedly recommend Yoga with Adriene (it’s free!) on You Tube. One of my favourite practices which is great for beginner’s is A Little Goes A Long Way.