On your mark, get set, meditate!
A new-age triathlon will expand thousands of auras in Prospect Park on Sept. 13. Wanderlust 108, making its second run in Kings County, replaces the traditional triathalon’s swimming and biking events with a yoga routine and group meditation. Having physically easier activities opens the event up to a larger audience, says the organizer.
“Wanderlust is designed to be fun,” said Wanderlust co-founder Sean Hoess. “You don’t have to be Iron Man to take part. It’s accessible to everyone.”
Despite its billing as a “mindful triathlon,” participants will not compete to determine who can run the fastest, stretch the furthest, or meditate the serenest. It may be the only three-part endurance event at which, by trying to win, you ensure your own failure, according to the event’s yoga master.
“Yoga teaches that it’s the process, not the product. It’s the journey, not the destination,” said MC Yogi, who will — if last year’s turnout is any indicator — lead thousands of Brooklyn disciples in a yoga routine enlivened by tunes from his “good homie” DJ Drez.
Wanderlust kicks off with a roughly five-kilometer run through Prospect Park, followed by a 90-minute yoga routine, and concludes with a mass meditation, a sequence designed to increase levels of chill throughout the day, said Hoess.
“The goal is to take people on a journey, with a little more physicality at the beginning of the day, and a much more sedate experience towards the end,” he said.
But that does not mean that the meditation routine has no physical challenges.
“The sitting can be really hard,” said Sage Rountree, who will lead the mind-clearing Zen session. “It’s one of the bigger hurdles in meditation.”
Wanderlust 108 will also feature local food and craft vendors to cater to those seeking a balance of mind, body, and spirit, said Hoess.
Whether you are a wizened yogi guru, or a young soul caught up in the commotion, seeing a few thousand people doing the downward dog in perfect synchronization, with break-beats blasting in the background, is a spectacle worth beholding, say organizers.
“It’s a good vibe,” said MC Yogi. “There’s a lot of energy.”
Wanderlust 108 at the Prospect Park bandshell (enter at Prospect Park West at Ninth Street in Park Slope, www.wande
