The Floyd Yoga Jam Community
The following first appeared in Floyd Times on September 3, 2025.
Yoga Jam 2025 opened on Thursday with a community circle of centering and setting intentions for the four-day festival (August 28 – 31) of music, yoga, dance and art. Ceremonialist Katherine Chantal and her wise women assistants brought the Yoga Jam community together with drumming, yoga poses, breathing practices and words of inspiration.
The theme of this year’s festival was Nexus, a central connection in a series of connections linking two or more things together, and Chantal addressed that theme.
“Nexus is part of our connection, one consciousness that is… Floyd is full of richness, richness of people, land, love and community. At the core of Nexus is community, so for this weekend we are it for each other,” she said.
For fourteen years, every Labor Day weekend, Yoga Jam has been bringing celebration and wellness practices to the green fields and creek banks of Burnett Farm in Willis.
In 2023, founder Shirley Ann Burgess passed the Yoga Jam torch to the current owners, Katie Turman and Elaine Braley, and the festival continues to offer something for everyone under their direction.
Along with music on three stages and a wide variety of yoga classes, Yoga Jam days are filled with workshops, poetry, meditative practices, sound baths, edible and medicinal plant walks, drum circles, art activities, creek time, great food, unique vending and a bustling Kid Zone.
Following Thursday’s Opening Circle, the bands, Father Sun, Music Road Co, John and Friends, Holy River and Mighty Joshua, got attendees moving, prompting Floyd Countian Margie Scott to post on social media: “The jam at YogaJam is happening! Great line-up, great music, great people, great sunset, great moon, great dancing. Just great ya’all!
On Friday, local band members pooled their talents together to fill a mainstage performance by Jordan Harman and the Humble Brags when Harman wasn’t able to attend because of a family illness. A late night Silent Disco followed headline bands Oh He Dead, Justin Trawick and the Common Good, Natalie Brooke and more.
Throughout the weekend of cool mornings, sunshine and comfortable temperatures, the attendance grew, with weekend passes and camping sites selling out.
The roster of band performances in Jam Land and the Jam Land Pub brought smiles and dance parties. Bliss Land filled with yogis for classes with names like The Poetry of Yoga, Glow Yoga, Neuro-Yoga, Reiki Yoga, Wake and Shake Yoga, Zombies and Aliens Yoga Simulation and more.
Peggy Owensdy, a yoga teacher from Conover, NC (in between Charlotte and Asheville) has been coming to Yoga Jam for seven years and bringing groups of her students each time.
“It’s a great way to introduce my students to different styles and so many different teachers,” she said.
“We love the land here. We love the community and connection. We love the family vibes. We love the different offerings, and everybody here is just like family. So, it’s a great big fill your cup weekend,” Owensdy continued.
On Saturday, Kat Whittenberger a first-time Yoga Jammer posted on social media, “Made it to my first Floyd Yoga Jam. Pretty sure this is my first ever festival. Kiddo and I are having a blast. The vibe is super chill, safe, and friendly. He’s already asking to come back next year…”
“We could not have done this without the love, support and patience of our family, friends and significant others.” Turman and Braley stated in the festival program. “This amazing community has been carefully built and nurtured over the last decade by our beautiful light, Shirley Ann Burgess.”
1. At the Opening circle of Yoga Jam Nexusm guided by Katherine Chantal (right center) festival founder Shirley Ann Burgess (left center) led attendees in Pranayama yoga, a practice centered on breath to promote calmness and clarity. 2. Opening Circle Wise Women drummers/ceremonialists Shirley Ann Burgess, Lora Giessler, Pat Sharkey, Ruth Neumann Cheri Chalfant, Judy Dickerson and Katherine Chantal. 3. Yoga Jam owners and directors Katie Turman and Elaine Braley. 4. The Opening Circle gift giving of gemstone hearts. 5. Dancers move to the songs of Music Road Co on Thursday. 6. Kids in the Kids Zone toss their juggling balls during an activity with Juggling Geoff Marsh. 7.Reggae musician Mighty Joshua is a returning Yoga Jam favorite. 8. Poet Mara Robbins reads How to Stop a War to the music of Holy River. 9. Local musicians banded together to fill in for Jordon Harman’s band when Harman had to cancel. 1o. Holy River’s performance on the creekside Chill Stage draws an engaged crowd. 9. A Reiki infused yoga class with Aarvika Gupta who hails from India. 10. Teacher Nicole LaFon led an Energy Medicine and Yoga class. 11. Tai Yoga with Chitra Kate McDevitt is done in pairs. 14. Artist Jessie Lundy puts the finishing touches on her art installation that graced the entrance to the Jam Land Pub. 15. Children enjoying ice cream in the Kids Zone, where Silly Walks were encouraged. 16. Acro-yoga students, taught by Kaelyn Rogers, pose for a group picture.