The next day was registration as well as COVID test day.
Because of my jet lag and arriving so late, I couldn’t fall asleep until 5 am.
And I slept through my alarm! I woke up to the sounds of people laughing and talking and in a panic. It was 9:15 am!!!
Registration was between 9-11 am. I did a quick 10-minute meditation. Got ready and was there by about 9:45 am.
I thought about the worst-case scenario of my testing positive for COVID and needing to self-isolate for 5 days.
After some thoughts, I didn’t feel bad at all. I would still be fed. I had a balcony to my room, and I could keep myself active even if I was contained in a hotel room.
I could still go on my Petra trip after the 5-day quarantine. That 15 minutes of wait time felt like eternity, and I was preparing for the worst.
But my test result came back negative. Phew!! Now it was time for registration.
I didn’t recognize anyone during registration, but I saw a Mindvalley Storyteller with whom I’ve had a couple of interactions with.
I recognized her and she recognized me too, from online to in-person. It was Marta, who left her country of Ukraine for the first time since the war started.
I was happy to see her and at the same time admired her strength and courage for coming and the struggle she must have faced leaving her family behind, even if it was for a week or so.
She gave me a warm embrace and chatted with me and took me through the registration process.
I finally felt more at ease and was ready to welcome whatever was to come from this experience.
While I was outside the meeting room waiting for the first session to begin, I was approached by an attendee from Australia.
Her name is Nada. She casually started the conversation with me. It was her 4th A-Fest.
Her relaxed and easy-going demeanour calmed my nerves even more.
Her husband Chris was also at A-Fest, although he was not present when we were first chatting.
They ended up being the people with whom I hung out the most during the entire A-Fest.
As we spent more time together, I found out later that we all shared July/Cancer birthdays.
Our personalities were so similar that we just clicked. Both she and her husband were born in Croatia and moved to Australia when they were both quite young.
They have been married for 40 years. Wow!
That was definitely something worth celebrating!
They were such calm and unassuming people. I could see how comfortable they were with each other and how much love and respect they have for one another as well.
It was so nice to see and meet a couple like them, as my hubby and I celebrated our 18 years of marriage in March and have been together for 23 years.
One of my intentions of going to A-Fest was to meet my teachers.
I didn’t know exactly who were going to be there when I first applied.
As we got closer to the date, I found out 3 of my teachers, who have had the most impact on my health transformation and my certification journey, were going to be there.
They are Ronan Diego de Oliveira, Lorenzo Delano, and Jelena Lakic.
They were my HoloBody Certification and 10X Certification teachers, as well as being the co-creators for the 10X quest on Mindvalley.
As luck would have it, I met them at the most ‘unexpected and unusual’ place…
After our first session, we had some time for refreshments and bathroom breaks.
So, I went to the ladies washroom. When I was finished, I could not get out. The doorknob was stuck.
This was the type of washroom with stalls that were completely covered from floor to ceiling.
I was not scared that I would never get out as the lineup was long. For once, I was thankful for the long que at the ladies washroom.
However, I could not hear well what people were saying outside and not sure how well they could hear me.
After what seemed like eternity (probably only a few minutes), I was fidgeting with the doorknob and someone else happened to do it at the same time, the door opened!
Thank you to whoever it was at the right place and time to rescue me from the locked bathroom!!! Really!
After washing my face and hands (was sweaty by now), I rushed out because I didn’t want to be late for the next session.
Who did I see?
Ronan and Lorenzo. Right outside the ladies washroom talking to someone.
I did a double-take and wasn’t sure if I should approach them and say hi.
I stood and stared for a couple of seconds.
Then Lorenzo saw me and I said, “Lorenzo”. He said “Nan!” I was just like “OMG! He recognizes me!”
Then Ronan also saw me and said “Nan!” They both recognized me!
I was so happy. They each gave me a big hug.
As I was telling them about my bathroom incident and asking them where Jelena was, I heard a woman’s voice behind me, “So that was you?”
I turned around and was face to face with Jelena. I was ecstatic and gave her a huge hug too.
She was actually in the washroom when the incident happened. She tried to wiggle the doorknob too but to no avail.
So, she went to find help.
I felt like I was back in school with my favourite teachers and was giggly.
We chatted briefly as the next session was already starting. They all made a point of saying that we would catch up with each other later.
And we did, at different points during A-Fest. That in itself was worth its weight in gold for my total A-Fest experience.
I also found out in a subsequent conversation that Ronan and I have stomachs like the bottom of the abyss. When we start eating, we eat and eat until we are fully satisfied.
Thank goodness that we both know what nutrition and fitness strategies we can apply so we do not turn into a giant butter ball.
Why do I love my teachers so much? Well, Lorenzo left school early and has taught himself everything that he wanted to know.
He is the creator of 10X Fitness and the brain behind the designs of the Mindvalley quests.
With his brilliant mind, he experimented on himself first and answered his own questions before starting to help others to do the same.
Thanks to Vishen Lakiani’s (Founder of Mindvalley) keen eye and intuition that I have been fortunate to learn this efficient and science-based fitness method directly from Lorenzo and applied it to myself.
Jelena, who is Lorenzo’s partner, complimented him quite well. She was always in the 10X Coaches community helping us, answering questions, and encouraging us every step of the way during our certification process.
And Ronan is like everyone’s favourite teacher.
He has such beautiful smiles and twinkle in his eyes. He always listened intently when we raised any questions and concerns.
He has maintained a monthly contact with us HoloBody Coaches since graduation to check in and answer questions we may have while establishing our coaching business.
I love my teachers because they genuinely care and they practice what they preach. I am so grateful for their guidance.
There was another friend that I met online through Mindvalley quests and certifications.
Her name is Kerry Fisher. She is a volunteer Mindvalley ambassador to many quests as well as one of the most active writers on Mindvalley Insights.
We have spoken to each other a few times on Zoom but never met in person. I was excited to learn that she was coming to A-Fest. We also agreed to meet up.
Kerry has a YouTube channel where she interviews all the Mindvalley Heroes, who have inspired us through their own personal journeys, and what tools they used to create their transformation.
Kerry & I share lots of common interests, traits, have birthdays one day apart, and are active volunteers in our communities.
She is fun, has a great sense of humour, and a deep sense of purpose.
I spotted her right away in the front of the room and happy that we got a chance to connect and meet in person during one of the breaks.
The first evening at A-Fest was the Change Makers’ Party.
I had only met a couple of people during the day and so was not sure who I would see once I got to the party.
It was an outdoor party, close to one of the hotel pools. As I approached the steps descending to the venue, I could see a lot of people chatting and mingling already.
But I just kind of stopped at the top of the steps and not sure which direction to go. Then the person in front of me who was also doing the same thing turned around and said hi and we started chatting from there.
Her name is Elizabeth and she said I could call her Liz.
Liz is a psychiatrist who has her own practice. She came from a big family of 8 kids!
She is an accomplished psychiatrist, and yet she was so humble and interested in learning more about me.
She asked me questions about what I do and what I am passionate about.
She wanted to incorporate the WHOLE PERSON approach to her practice, because that was what she noticed missing in the Mental Health system, which is exactly what I try to do with my practice as a holistic health and fitness coach.
We hit it off right away. We picked a table that was closest to where the food was being served, under my request.
I love food if you cannot tell by now. Pretty much everyone who sat with me during mealtimes could attest to that.
This was where we met the 2 ladies with whom I would see a lot of throughout A-Fest. They were Corien and Astrid.
They are both from Barcelona, Spain, although Corien is originally from Curaçao, moved to Barcelona 17 years ago.
She has 2 boys and is an entrepreneur. She owns a therapy centre where they help children with neuro-development disorders and their families thrive.
She and Astrid never met in Barcelona and they discovered that they didn’t live far from each other at A-Fest.
Such a small world, eh? Astrid is also an entrepreneur and currently working on a new project in Northern Italy.
She had such a sunny disposition when I first met her.
Her big, beautiful smiles was what stood out for me.
She is ½ Spanish and ½ Italian and so she is fluent in both languages as well as English.
She seemed to have so much love to give and had a warm personality. She and Corien did not mind me practicing Spanish with them and were both very encouraging.
Whenever we had an opportunity to chat, I always felt very comfortable with both Astrid and Corien.
While we were chatting, a suave young gentleman with a model-like figure came to our table and asked us if he could sit with us.
His name is Rafay. He said that the 4 of us seemed like very interesting ladies. Of course, it was nice to hear from a handsome young man who said that we seemed interesting.
He sat down and started asking each of us some questions about what we do and how we were enjoying the party.
It turned out that he is the Head of Subscription Marketing for Mindvalley. He’s originally from Pakistan and now lives in Malaysia.
He said that he used to be a skinny kid. You would not know that looking at him now.
He was fit and exuded confidence. I would have loved to hear more about your fitness journey, Rafay.
Thank you to my new friends, Liz, Rafay, Astrid, and Corien, for staying with me most of the evening, until I deserted you for my teachers… :p
My soul-o adventure in Jordan continues…
Lovely people 💝 from planet earth 🌍
Definitely. People are beautiful and our home, planet Earth, is just full of wonders. We are so lucky to be living a planet that has really nurtured human growth and development.