It’s not every day that you see people spread out on the Mentor Civic Amphitheater lawn practicing their sun salutations and downward dog poses — but at the first Mystic Mentor yoga festival, that’s what hundreds of local wellness enthusiasts came to do.
Mystic Mentor, presented by the Mystic Yoga Tribe studio and the city’s recreation department, was an all-day event held July 31 in Mentor Civic Center Park. The festival featured an outdoor marketplace full of local vendors, an aerial silks performance from Chardon-based acrobatics group The Jasmine Dragons, and of course — several outdoor yoga classes for all ages.
Juanita Justice, recreation superintendent in Mentor, said there were about 35 local vendors participating in the marketplace, and she was happy to see the large turnout for the first Mystic Mentor event, which organizers hope will make an annual return.
“We’re super excited,” Justice said. “For a first time event, we’re really happy with the amount of vendors and people who pre-registered to come.”
The festival kicked off with a yoga class on the amphitheater lawn led by Casey Gruden, owner of Mystic Yoga Tribe, which is located at 8635 Tyler Blvd. in Mentor. Justice estimated she saw about 300 people enjoying the opening class, which went through a variety of poses and closed out with a savasana, or final resting pose, while participants listened to live meditative singing bowls.
Gruden, a certified yoga instructor, said she has dreamed of bringing a yoga festival to the Mentor amphitheater area for a while after attending similar local events.
“I went to some events in Cleveland and in Akron, and they had a similar setup,” Gruden said. “Seeing all those yoga mats across the lawn, and the energy that is created at these events — I just immediately thought that we have the exact same setup. We needed to bring it to Mentor.”
The hard work that Gruden and the rest of the Mystic Yoga Tribe staff put into organizing Mystic Mentor certainly seemed to have paid off — the pleasant sunny day didn’t hurt either.
“It was beautiful, I couldn’t even imagine anything better,” she said. “It’s like the stars aligned for us today.”
Gruden said she originally began her journey into the world of yoga purely for fitness purposes, but after receiving her initial training, she realized it would play a much bigger role in her life than simply staying in shape.
“When I went to training I learned about the history and philosophies, and just the way that it affects every day living,” Gruden recalled. “That’s where I really became inspired to continue to take more training and open a studio so I could share it with other people.”
In between classes, participants were able to peruse the marketplace, grabbing snacks from food trucks such as Wild Spork, a gluten-free option, and MoBite, which offered vegan cuisine. They could also discover unique local shops such as Chagrin River Holistic Health, Palmer Place Fine Teas and Taylor Marie Tarot Apothecary & Intuitive Readings.
Taylor Cardelletti, owner of the apothecary, which is located at 9456 Mentor Ave., was selling a variety of holistic items, including crystals sourced from local distributors at her Mystic Mentor booth.
“The crystals are for sale, sometimes when doing readings, things will come up and I’ll be like ‘OK, this is blocked,’ or ‘this chakra needs some work,’ and then they’re [the crystals] just like little friends you can keep in your pocket for different intentions,” Cardelletti explained. “They can help you balance energy and bring a little bit of fun and joy into your life.”
