Campeche’s First International Yoga Festival

In the House That Looks Outwards, students learn to apply yoga’s non-violence principle to their lives, their diets and the planet.

Sitting cross-legged atop his multicolored mat, arms reaching toward the ground in front of him, Ranvir Singh explains, “5,000 years ago, this movement was not for stretching, it was for giving thanks to Mother Earth.” Rays of morning sunlight land on Singh’s arms as he moves them upwards. “We give thanks to the sky, to the heavens,” Singh says, palms outstretched.

It is half past six on a Saturday morning in Campeche. To the east, the sunrise glows pink and orange over the tops of the colorful buildings. Twelve students join Singh on a rooftop, waking their bodies with movement as the city begins to stir. The class marks the beginning of Campeche’s first international yoga festival, a day-long event hosted at Nohol, the House that Looks Outwards. The event, organized by Amy Sales and yoga instructor Isniel Zenteno Sarricolea, gathers people to practice from sunrise to sunset.

“We can learn from so many people around the world,” says Sarricolea, who began preparations for the event alongside Sales in March 2023. The inspiration for the festival, however, came earlier, during conversations the two women had with Jamie Patrizia Anh Brown, a traveling yoga instructor who spent some time in Campeche last year. The plan then emerged organically, according to Sarricolea and Sales, who describe Brown planting a seed that eventually blossomed into the festival. Working together, Sarricolea and Sales arranged for the festival to include international instructors with expertise in various styles of yoga. The idea, Sarricolea says, is to share culture and encourage attendees to broaden their practices by attending classes with teachers from different backgrounds.

During the festival, classes are offered in yoga, aligned flow, hatha, kundalini, and restorative and therapeutic yoga. Seven instructors hailing from India, the United States and Mexico serve as the festival’s guides, facilitating as students explore different yoga techniques and learn about the ancient philosophies of the practice.

“Yoga means ‘union’,” Sarricolea says later, during the day’s events. “That union can be interpreted as one between you and other living beings, between you and a higher power, or between you and yourself”.​

The connection between individuals and their fellow living beings, which emerges as a key theme of the festival, is integral to yoga’s principles. The festival comes a few days after 21 June, a day celebrated as the International Day of Yoga. Since 2015, this day has served to gather people from around the world in shared practice around a theme chosen annually. This year, the day centered on ‘Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,’ a Sanskrit phrase meaning ‘The World is One Family’, emphasizing the belief that all living beings on Earth belong to one family.

The theme was chosen by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who led the campaign nine years ago for the United Nations to designate June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. When Modi first addressed the UN’s General Assembly with his proposal in 2014, he spoke about the historical and cultural importance of yoga as it relates to ancient tradition which originated in India. In that speech, Modi explained that yoga is not only about exercise but rather is a way “to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature”.

During the festival’s midday break, Arturo Fernández Sánchez gives a lecture on the history and philosophy of modern-day yoga. One of the principles he focuses on is Ahimsa, that of non-violence. This concept, he explains, promotes the care of the world’s most vulnerable, which includes non-human beings.

“By expanding the circle of compassion from humans to animals, I believe that the environment can be impacted in the most positive way that can exist,” Sánchez says.

Sarricolea, who began following a vegan lifestyle shortly after she started to practice yoga, says she sees a connection between Ahimsa and her choice to quit consuming animal products.

“We are all one. What yoga teaches is that we are all part of the same universe. Perhaps you are a particle, I am a particle, but at the same time we are all one,” Sarricolea says.

Sánchez, who also refrains from eating animal products, describes the animal protein industry as “one of the most destructive on the planet”. Among being a principal emitter of greenhouse gases, Sánchez also attributes environmental degradation such as deforestation, water contamination and eutrophication to the industry. Living by the principle of non-violence, Sánchez says, offers a path away from the anguish, cruelty and suffering this industry brings to the earth.

“I think that applying Ahimsa to our lives can bring about a great response at the planetary level. If we stop incurring violence that is not only against other beings but against our own physiology, we will leave a more harmonious impact on our passage through this ephemeral moment called life,” Sánchez says. He and Sarricolea both add that they believe those who follow a plant-based diet live longer and healthier lives.

Reflecting on her own yoga practice, Sarricolea explains that the principle of non-violence extends to non-living things on the planet as well. For this reason, she felt that Nohol was an appropriate setting for the festival, given the house’s adherence to and promotion of a zero-waste lifestyle – one that strives not to use plastic.

“It is about trying to be a clean person, from your interior into all of your actions. This also has to do with using plastic, trying to cleanse those actions of consumption as well,” Sarricolea says.

Throughout the festival, more than 65 participants cycle through the doors of Nohol, greeted by a living root suspended in the leafy green entryway. A large wooden table is adorned with vegan snacks prepared by Grau, a local plant-based bakery in Campeche. Beverages are served in an odd assortment of glassware, reused from past lives as beer bottles and salsa jars.

“This house is such a unique space, because it is a living, breathing example of how we can live free of toxic synthetic chemicals and single-use plastics and how we can coexist with nature, even in a busy city,” Sales says about Nohol.

Indeed, much of the day has been organized around the natural world’s schedule. Only Singh’s sunrise class is offered outside, before the heat of the day requires the rest of the sessions to be given in the shade, under the cover of a roof. Still, the presence of the natural environment remains close: birds chirping from the trees in the garden are often louder than the voices of the instructors.

The day’s festivities wind down as Singh and Sarricolea guide a practice of Kirtan, chanting accompanied by traditional Indian instruments. The session is immediately followed by a closing celebration featuring vegan dishes including soy tacos and mushroom pasta. It is an opportunity for students to put what they learned from Ahimsa into practice, conscious of the plant-based foods on their plates.

Considering all the aspects of the festival beyond the yoga poses, Sales reflects on the role Nohol plays in fostering new experiences for those who come through its doors.

“I think what this house offers people is the opportunity to immerse themselves in something out of their comfort zone,” she says.

Sánchez offers a final thought on the non-violence principle as it relates to veganism, and more broadly, to his growing mindfulness about his own impact on the planet.

“It is well said by Vamadeva Shastri that we should base our yoga practice on this principle, for it is the key to advancing firmly along the path and the foundation to a compassionate discipline,” he says.

For Times Media Mexico, Julia Tilton in Campeche

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