February 23, 2023
the vision behind awaken with Bharat Mitra
Written by Amelia
Community, co-creation and conscious wellness - these are the words Bharat Mitra uses to describe Awaken.
At the inaugral event in 2023, Peninsula Hot Springs came alive with various kinds of wellness workshops, activities and performances, bringing together global leaders in wellness, including yoga visionary Shiva Rea and stem cell biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton.
Local artists Mama Kin Spender, Garrett Kato and Kyle Lionhart were in attendance as performers alongside wellness experts Simone Callahan, Uma Neave Spender and Freya Lawler among others.
While created from a collective vision, Awaken is a passion project for Bharat Mitra, Co-Owner and Chief Mentor of Culture and Wellness at Peninsula Hot Springs. Bharat is a visionary and entrepreneur; whose work manifests in many forms and whose mind, soul and heart-centre has been the catalyst for Awaken.
“The most beautiful part of what the community can expect is the unexpected. At the heart of Awaken is a genuine space for co-creation, where different voices, different forces and people from different walks of life come together to share and create a whole. And when that happens, we never know quite what to expect. That is the magic of a gathering like this,” says Bharat.
conscious wellness
Our seven pillars of wellness - relaxation, education, sleep, nutrition, movement, mindfulness and creativity - are our guide for creating experiences, events and an atmosphere at Peninsula Hot Springs that inspires a balanced way of life. Bharat expands on this, purposefully referring to Awaken as an event driving ‘conscious wellness’.
“At their core, both Peninsula Hot Springs and Awaken are about conscious wellness,” he explains, feeling that the term ‘wellness’ has become oversaturated. “We’re all looking for it and trying to feel what it is. Deeper than physical, it’s also emotional, it’s mental, it’s spiritual. Wellness must be about consciousness. This is what we mean by conscious wellness.”
Across the course of the event, attendees were invited to particpate in wellness centric experiences including dynamic yoga, ambient meditation and mindfulness sessions as well as panel discussions inspired by Sustaining True Wellness and led by Bharat himself, and joined by Charles Davidson, Farida Irani from Subtle Energies and Professor Marc Cohan.
a time for change
Bharat feels that Awaken launched at a time where there is a definite “calling in the hearts”; an opportunity to respond truthfully to what we see in the world around us. Bharat refers to this coming together as an “orchestra that has the power to be in service of meaningful change and of a paradigm shift where we are more present with the reality.”
“Change will not come to us. Change will come through us,” he says.
This idea of an orchestra is a metaphor that Bharat says resonates most with the vision of Awaken. “Each one of us in attendance must find the ability to be in service in a way that is true to us. Some of us may be on stage speaking to the crowd, some of us will go around and spread smiles, and maybe some will sit quietly. Each one of us is essential. The strength of the orchestra is infinitely greater and the resonance deeper and more powerful than any one instrument alone.”
Another key inspiration behind Awaken is the power, agility and adaptiveness of the mind. With the change we have experienced in the past few years, Bharat sees a greater need for the Awaken community to encourage conversation, discussion, music and connection to nature.
Bringing together individual masters, Bharat sees the potential more so in people from different walks of life coming together with the same heart. While the gathering unites artists, it is the synergy of experts and our community that created the gatherings unique atmosphere - and like the orchestra, it is about the collective rather than the individual.
A space for meaningful gatherings
There is a purpose behind holding Awaken at Peninsula Hot Springs. Bharat says that while we are surrounded by nature when practising geothermal bathing, we are not so much “in nature” as “of nature.” He suggests the gathering is symbolic of our community “awakening to a moment of transformative connection” while immersed in the experiences of the Springs.
“Peninsula Hot Springs was always designed as a place to allow gathering where the sense of connection is alive,” says Bharat.
“We have created spaces to allow for celebration of art, science, yoga, nature agriculture, nutrition - all different aspects of life. This most beautiful environment has so carefully and so lovingly been designed with respect to nature, cultures, and acknowledgement of Elders. It’s such a unique, incredible place for Awaken”
envisioning the future
Bharat envisions a promising future of enlightenment, empowerment, purpose and agility for the gathering in the years to come.
“I see Awaken gatherings in many different places around the world, and ultimately not just in hot springs, but also on mountain tops and in deserts, in forests and in lakes. I am very grateful Peninsula Hot Springs is the birthing place of Awaken, which in my vision will be a global movement, a unifying field of wellness communities to have a shared platform to work together, nurture and be a global family.”
Awaken has a richness that goes beyond the gathering of like-minded experts and visionaries. It is a representation of community connection designed to inspire deeper conversations of wellness and bring forth curiosity, insightfulness, and collaboration.
“We have a responsibility to respond to life by creating an amazing offering which invites our local community to celebrate the nature of interconnectedness and to come together regardless of age, race, religion, social status and tradition. Here we are, flowers in the garden of existence growing together,” says Bharat.
Awaken will be held at Peninsula Hot Springs on March 16, 2024.
