Ada Divine is more than just a festival, it is a reunion of kindred souls and a return to the roots.

This is a festival dear to my heart for so many reasons. Where do I begin…

Every time I went with an intention, only to experience something else. Because Ada gives you what you need not what you want.

Every year I found myself having an experience within the experience observing myself experience the different versions of myself. There was not one thing that made this possible but the whole package: the location, the people, the workshops, the concerts and the organisation.

One of the reasons why I love this festival is because it takes place in the Balkans/Eastern Europe, so for me as a Romanian, it feels like I am going back to my roots. I know there are debates whether Romania is in the Balkans, or whether Montenegro is Eastern Europe, but in my heart, they are all connected by an invisible thread of energy, pain, suffering, love and resilience.

There are certain qualities that people in this part of the world possess.

They are people that suffered a lot throughout the generations, and despite all that history, they still kept the connection to their heart and their community. This breeds a certain energy and life force that cannot be described in words, and I am so happy to see that so much healing is being done in this area, because these people are more powerful than they know.

With every edition of this festival a new layer of shadows is being cleared and healed and more people are being faced with their own truth and consciousness.

 Ada Bojana is simply the perfect mix between sea, sun, sand – where nature holds and nourishes us.  The venue is located on a nudist resort and after each workshop you can dip in, naked in the water and allow it to cleanse you and nourish you deeply.

First time I went, my ego kicked up a fuss because there were so many “newbies” that “had no clue” what they were doing. And so, my spiritual ego kicked in, judging, because I wanted to be surrounded by people that had read as many books as I had and done “as much healing” as I had.

It was such a humbling experience to observe myself having those judgements, and it brought me back to earth, because wearing the “spiritual badge” was nothing more than spiritual bypassing because the true spiritual journey is life itself.

So, connecting with these “newbies” gave me the opportunity to rediscover myself and also brought me back to Earth reminding me that I am also a “newbie” at living this lifetime on this Earth.

It’s funny how the more work I do on myself, the less I identify as a "spiritual" human, and embrace this human experience trying not to label myself. I still use labels to describe my work, but those are simply because they are necessary. However the more I immerse myself on this path the less I identify with anything.

Now I cherish every opportunity to connect and exchange with people that are new on this path and made it part of my mission to bring these concepts to people that have no clue about it. That is why now I try to bridge the gap with my work and bring meditation and energy work through art healing and corporate workshops. Somehow this trajectory was influenced by ADA, but that’s for another blog post.

Going back to the festival: the workshops.

The best way I can describe the workshops are a Pick & Mix. Essentially there is everything for everyone.

From inner child work, shadow work, breathwork, meditation, yoga to deep intimacy and temple nights. There are some facilitators I love, there are some that still finding their way and there are those that are still lost yet somehow, they made the line-up.

Having said that, I have had very powerful experiences even with those that were lost, even if it was just to show me where my boundaries were and giving me an opportunity to walk away and take care of myself, because that is the true definition of self-love. 

One of my favourite workshops was the one with Stefanos Sifandos. It was one of those “simple” yet powerful workshops where you were confronted with yourself, while also showing yourself to the world.

So, I was forced to show myself. The thing about this path is that a lot of it is done alone, in confidence with a coach, healer, therapist.

But when it comes to showing yourself to the world that is a different process altogether.  Stefanos was able to curate such an exquisite experience and held space in a very compassionate yet firm manner, where we felt safe to be vulnerable and held as we are.

One thing about this festival is that it has a mix of options between inner child work and shadow work to deep intimacy in temple nights and for me these two are not very compatible, that’s why I call it “pick & mix”.

When you spend your day digging at old wounds, you are not really in a place to go open your body up to a complete stranger in a temple night. Having said that, I have been on this path long enough to listen to myself and only do as much as I could take.

But I have seen many people open themselves up with inner child work during the day, then going to temple nights and (re)traumatise themselves. Because when the inner child is out to play, and old wounds are being revisited we are more vulnerable, open and prone to (re)traumatising experiences if we are unaware of these dynamics.

The good thing about the programme is that the workshops and temples are colour coded so you can choose which path you want to follow. But I still think that a bit more guidance could be given at the beginning of the festival or an email sent around beforehand.

Having said that, we are all adults, and we should all take responsibility for ourselves. Nonetheless, when we are activated & we work with healing old wounds, we are not always in the best frame of mind.

Thankfully there is always emotional support available. The emotional support team is definitely one of the winning factors in this festival and they should be given more credit.

The music

Every day there are concerts and live music, and I have to say I have been left speechless by last year’s line-up: Yaima, Aware and Estas Tone.

I simply cannot begin to put into words the magic these people brought with their music.

For me it was almost enough even without the workshops, because they took us on a priceless journey. My heart was simply open and full of cosmic love for life, in awe with existence.

The organisation

I love observing them function, because they set the tone of the festival and I noticed how their energy influences the energy of the community.

The man behind the festival comes across as a very grounded man that is able to hold the ship from sinking, because a lot of energy and emotions are running high during the week. So, it needs someone very powerful to keep that ship from sinking.

He is surrounded by a team of powerful women, with two of them “co-leading or co-creating”. It was interesting to notice their energy change every year and how this influenced the energy flow throughout the festival. There were moments where I thought they would break down but somehow, they held it together, and this was also representative of the energy of the festival.

At one point there is a peak where everyone is very activated and the level of openness and vulnerability is very high, and then it slowly comes down and everyone settles in. Textbook activation work, at a big scale.

These are of course my impressions from the outside, as a participant, and I do not know what actually happens behind the scenes, but I can only image the amount of work to pull this together and create such a magical experience for us.

I am forever grateful that such people exist, and they make it possible for us to just show up and explore, expand, heal and co-create.

This was a long entry and if you read so far , you are probably interested in this festival and maybe there is something there for you.

And if you ask me, yes, I recommend it.

If you found this interesting and want to follow my journey , join me @mindful_connecting

With loving presence,

Florina 🌸