Melina Murphy
Full Moon Yoga Festival
The Grant for the Mid North Coast Full Moon Yoga Festival led to two events – one in September 2022 and another in March 2023. It marked the revival of a long-awaited festival as a transformative weekend retreat in the Mid-North Coast area, hosted at a local community centre. A decade prior, a donation-based festival attracted full attendance but yielded no donations, highlighting strong interest despite financial constraints.
Ben Whitaker (Mantram), Melina’s event partner, brought a wealth of experience from organising various events, including regular community Havan and Kirtan sessions, classical Indian music performances and assistance in master retreats.
Melina, a respected local yoga teacher in the Nambucca area, aimed to create festivals catering to the local community’s desire for connection, learning and expanding yoga options. The Weekend Festival sought to unify yoga traditions, immerse in nature, and honour local Aboriginal culture. Over three days, a creative sanctuary was provided for participants to rejuvenate, shed old patterns and embrace a positive, tranquil mindset upon returning to their daily lives.
Creating the right space
Melina, a longtime attendee of Satyananda Ashram at Mangrove Mountain, aimed to recreate its serene atmosphere at the event, fostering practice and camaraderie in nature. The two weekend festivals, supported by YFG, fulfilled this desire, leaving Melina feeling ‘deliciously satisfied’ even a year later.
Over fifty attendees were supported at the weekends, enjoying a diverse range of activities to nurture body, mind and spirit, including Kirtan, weaving, Havan, healing sessions, yoga classes and nature experiences like forest walks and beach yoga. The festival fostered a sense of community and connection among kindred spirits.
Not everyone has the time or means to travel abroad. These events were affordable and accessible, removing financial barriers for both organisers and teachers and providing retreat experiences. Additionally, subsidised tickets were provided for disadvantaged groups impacted by various challenges, including bushfires, floods, housing issues, unemployment and Aboriginal communities. Leveraging local yoga and spiritual networks, along with effective Facebook promotions, the organisers successfully attracted enough participants to ensure a successful event.
Testimonials
Our sole mission is to create opportunities to do good for others through yoga.
And we’re making an impact.
A huge thank you to the Yoga For Good Foundation...
…for their incredible contribution to our Life Now Yoga and meditation programs!
This generous donation will mean we can buy new yoga equipment, run a new yoga class in Broome, and enhance our meditation program for cancer patients and their primary carers.
Cancer Council Western AustraliaSending out gratitude to the Yoga for Good Foundation.
Their grant is enabling me to offer FREE trauma informed therapeutic movement and relaxation to frontline mental health and social services staff in Bega.
Participants are really valuing the time out for themselves and experiencing integrated poly vagal theory. And I get to be in a teaching space, yay!
PremKranti CounsellingThe generous grant we've been awarded from the Yoga For Good Foundation...
…allows us to reach more underserved and vulnerable community groups who can benefit from a trauma-informed yoga and embodied mindfulness practice at zero cost to the participants.
Some of the community groups we’ll be serving in the current months include 000 Foundation, Men’s Walk and Talk and WAGEC.
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