KULA Connections workshops focus on engaging mind, body and spirit

Kimberley Anne, pictured above, leading an introduction to Yoga during a KULA Connections event designed to help people focus on engaging the mind, body and spirit.

All Photos by Kara Kalvapalle

Spring is a time for big shifts, refocusing, and making space for newness; with that in mind, last weekend I treated myself to an event that allowed me to refocus called the “Spring Refresh” by KULA. The event series is presented by Kara Kalvapalle of KLK Paris, with a focus on engaging mind, body and spirit through taster workshops and brightening educational spaces she calls ‘Connections. ’

KULA Connections events are approximately three hours long and feature several different facilitators. The “Spring Refresh” faculty included yoga teacher Kimberley Anne, organization expert Sarah Williams and florist Hannah Black. All the KULA Connections events have a range of subjects like this, aligning with the season, the moon, and other symbiotic factors.

This event was held at C.O.R.E. Dance Project, in the North end of Paris, with the different elements spread out across the venue. C.O.R.E. is very big with four dance studios plus other rooms, multiple washrooms, etc. Kara Kalvapalle is an events and organizing maven so she thought of everything - for yoga we all had mats, blankets, yoga props and handmade eye masks, there was a nourishing snack table with diet culture busting reminders, a mini pop up shop of crafted and curated KLK Paris items, a thoughtful gift bag station and more. Continued on page 21

We started with yoga with Kimberley Anne, a short session with different aspects focusing on yoga as a practice, as opposed to a measurement of fitness There was a huge range of yoga experience in the room, so it was bite-sized exercises to give everyone a taste It was a potent session with excellent energy and lots of deep breathing connected to the motions and moves we were making. Kimberley Anne is a great teacher and pops up at studios all over Brant County and even has a small studio for study in her home. Check her out on social media @Kimberley.Anne6.

It was a wonderful way to start the event and a great introduction to the true essence of yoga. We had a mini break before sitting down to learn from Sarah Williams of Love Your Home Co, a company which helps people find calm and clarity in their homes through re-organizing, decluttering and transforming spaces. Sarah has oodles of experience and through a group discussion it was so interesting to be reminded that clutter and disorganization can happen for so many reasons and it’s not as simple as just getting your act together and sorting something out. Sometimes we’re sorting through grief, sometimes we’re filling corners to fill the loneliness, sometimes - usually - that messiness is a sign of something more! It was a very thoughtful session but also very relieving because we all attach shame to being messy or having disarray in our homes, we perceive it to be something lacking in ourselves, when it’s truly something bigger and deeper, so I really appreciated Sarah’s gentle but firm approach and ethos. You can find out more about her on @love_your_home_co

Then we had another mini break, grabbing some refreshments from the snack table and perusing the pop-up shop before flouncing in florals with Hannah Black.

A budding entrepreneur Hannah is a florist who works with both fresh and dried flowers. We had a floral recipe made up of greenery and various flowers with really different shapes, so it was wonderful to learn how to find and create symmetry with such a big variation Using a short vase, stones, and some top tips we created darling little arrangements with lots of character and got lots of info from Hannah along the way for how to make the flowers stay put, shine and last! Thank-you, Hannah! It was a jam packed three hours, I was happily exhausted by the end and all the other attendees really enjoyed it as well It was a small and mighty group and they all left feeling lightened and enlightened!

KULA Connections are on summer pause as Kara runs all the outdoor markets at the Wincey Mills Co in Paris; she’ll be back in September with another series of bolstering events, find out more on @KULAbyKLK www.klkparis.com