Inner peace and balance amid the mayhem: the ‘dayfests’ that empower and heal
- From yoga and kirtan chanting to vegetarian cooking, a series of day-long events aims to counter Hong Kong’s frenetic pace and empower participants
- Organiser Michelle Harris says her desire to empower people stems from her own traumatic past
The death of two loved ones led Claire McLennan to the Women’s Empowerment Dayfest – one of a series of events intended to restore Hongkongers’ inner peace and balance.
Grieving for her mother-in-law and her three-year-old dog, McLennan hoped the sessions would help her heal. Only when she broke down in tears during the event did she realise how much she was hurting.
“It was such an enriching day. The sessions were uplifting for me, but also incredibly spiritual. I’d never done kirtan chanting [ancient chanting in Sanskrit] before – I’m more of a sing-in-the-shower type of person – but by the end I was belting out the words like nothing else. It was so powerful,” McLennan says.
It was the final session with healer Michelle Harris that had the greatest impact on the writer and mother of two. “Tears were shed and the outpouring of love from all the women in the room is something I will never forget,” she says.
McLennan later reached out to Harris, an empowerment guide and life consultant at Michelle Harris International, for therapy that helped her release her grief and open new doors, she says.
“I’ve started doing things I’m passionate about. While I love writing, and have done it professionally for 18 years, I am now more focused on building a new business centred around fermented food for wellness,” she says. “I’ve also found that my personal relationships within my immediate family have become greatly enriched – and I’m pretty sure I’m now a better friend.”
Day-to-day life in Hong Kong is frenetic, and people are not made to function like that all the time, McLennan says.
Harris’s dayfests, McLennan says, give the chance to step out of the mayhem. “You can taste a number of different sessions, meet other beautiful people and nurture your mind, body and soul. For me, the dayfest was like a stepping stone to a more mindful and enriched life.”
This is Harris’s intention. Since 2016, she has regularly invited counsellors, emotional wellness coaches, yoga practitioners and nutritionists to deliver a day of uplifting workshops.
While they may feel powerless to external situations, we can teach children the tools to manage their own internal world and create a better world from it
Desperate to escape her pain, Harris moved to Hong Kong soon after her mother died in 1996. But a year later, unable to break free from the cycle of self-abuse, she bought a plane ticket to Bali, where she envisioned she would die. A knee injury and an unexpected love interest prevented her from boarding the flight, and healing energy ultimately saved her, she says.
“I took the ferry to work from my home on Lamma Island one day and I felt a sudden rush of healing energy pour through me,” she recalls, adding she instantly understood her life’s mission was to heal people. She signed up for healing courses, “and it felt like I already knew what they were teaching”.
Having found the tools to help herself, she says, “I wanted to help others see that they can step out, shine and reach their potential.”
Harris, 51, says the dayfests not only allow her to be of service to the community, but allow other practitioners to do the same.
“It’s the ripple effect. We are all connected and each person has a unique part to play in the whole. As we each rise, we help each other rise. That’s how we will create positive change,” Harris explains.
One of those people is Dr Katie Larson, a growth coach and creative healing arts practitioner at the dayfests. She says that these events expose people to other, lesser-known techniques and methods for self-discovery, growth and transformation.
“We are all serving Hong Kong by offering a unique perspective on how to approach whole-person wellness … and after attending these empowerment sessions, many attendees follow up later to share how some of the sessions have led them on an even deeper journey within.”
Harris also hosts one-day empowerment events for children and teenagers. Kirsten, a mother of three who asked to remain anonymous, believes the Kids Empowerment Dayfest helped her daughters, aged 10 and 9, overcome their shyness and lack of confidence. They particularly enjoyed the cooking and essential oils sessions, which showed them what they are capable of, she says.
“My hope with more days like these is that we develop more skills of the heart,” Kirsten says. “What the world needs now more than ever is compassion and strong young people to help reorganise what we value and what makes a happy, healthy life.”
A dayfest in November will help teens create inner balance.
“While they may feel powerless to external situations, we can teach children the tools to manage their own internal world and create a better world from it,” Harris says.
“Dayfests are like a flashlight, allowing the practitioners to shine their unique lights, which in turn light up the attendees who then light up their families, communities and ultimately Hong Kong.”
Dayfest details
Tween and Teen Empowerment Dayfest (ages 11-15): November 16, 9.30am-5.30pm.
Sessions include: yoga, the practice of non-violence, compassionate relationships, healthy cooking, creative art, aromatherapy and essential oils, chanting for inner peace, and meditation and mindfulness.
HK$1,500, includes seven classes, lunch and snacks, artwork, and essential oils.
Couples Empowerment Dayfest: February 2020
Mum and Child Empowerment Dayfest: March 2020
Kids Dayfest (ages 8-12): May 2020
