MISSION STATEMENT
High on Love Bhakti Festival is a collaborative devotional gathering celebrating life in gratitude for our ever-present connection to the Divine. We create an uplifting experience for both practitioners and those who are curious about the Bhakti path of yoga, offering immersion in sacred practices including devotional music, mantra chanting, prayer, and meditation.
WHAT IS BHAKTI?
Bhakti means "devotion" or "love" in Sanskrit, stemming from the root word "bhaj" which means "to serve God." As one of yoga's primary paths, Bhakti Yoga guides practitioners toward spiritual liberation through heartfelt devotion to the divine.
The ancient Narada Bhakti Sutra describes bhakti as "the most elevated, pure love for God," a practice that leads to profound peace and spiritual immortality.
Through devotional music, mantra chanting, and prayer, bhakti practitioners cultivate a deep connection with the divine, ultimately seeking union (yoga) with the beloved.
EVERYONE WELCOME!
High on Love Bhakti Festival warmly invites everyone to join in the celebration of life and devotion, regardless of background or experience. Whether you're a dedicated student of Bhakti Yoga or simply curious about the path of divine love, our gathering offers a sacred space to explore mantra chanting, kirtan, prayer, and meditation. Participation in these practices or simply witnessing them is equally welcome, as we unite in gratitude and connection to the Divine.
High on Love's Spiritual Lineage Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we walk an ancient path whose origins come from a culture different from our own ancestral roots. We honor teachers of Indian ancestry, and those from other backgrounds, who have dedicated their lives to sharing their wisdom with countless seekers who walked this path before us and those who journey alongside us.
Our knowledge of yoga is but a drop in a vast ocean of ancient wisdom, millennia deep. Nothing that we know, learn, or share about yoga belongs to us. We are part of a living tradition of teachers and students who continue to practice yogic living, passing on this way of being in the world.
May we know truth. May we know unity. May we know Divine Love.
We are eternally grateful to our lineage of teachers at the Himalayan Institute for their dedication to preserving the authentic teachings of yoga and for embodying the essence of yogic living.
MEET OUR TEAM
Kristin
Inspired by both local and global bhakti gatherings, Kristin has woven together a diverse array of practitioners from the coastal region of BC for the first High on Love Bhakti Festival in 2025. In 2003, Kristin was called to the path of yoga and spent time living, giving and learning at the Himalayan Institute in her hometown of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Life then brought her to Canada where she continued to serve as the production manager for Yoga International magazine, an HI publication, from 2004-2007. Ten years later, she and her husband, Tanner, returned to the HI to complete their 200-hour YTT. They went on to lead international yoga and wellness retreats until the events of 2020 took their path in a different direction. Meanwhile, in 2018, the couple moved to Gabriola Island, where they were warmly invited to join the island’s kirtan community. Life has never been the same since. Bhakti practices have been their pillar of hope, inspiration and connection to the Divine through many challenges of life in recent years. In 2021, Kristin and Tanner welcomed a little boy into the world, who aptly learned the Gayatri Mantra and Mahamrityunjaya Mantra by age 2. The name High on Love came to Kristin in 2019 when she realized that the highest states of bliss and joy come through us when we are simply being channels of love.
Tanner
When Tanner met Kristin in 2012, they embarked on a spiritual quest to create a new life that better suited their souls than the daily grind they were both living in. He traded in his shiny motorcycle for a shiny new yoga mat and the two left Alberta for Vancouver Island. In 2015, the couple drove their VW Jetta from Vancouver Island to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala to learn about cacao medicine straight from the source. They proceeded to host over 100 cacao ceremonies across North America from 2015-2020. Tanner’s first intro to bhakti music was in Guatemala where the Hanuman Project was taking flight. Krishna Das and Ram Dass have been inspirational figures along the way, as well as Jai Uttal. In autumn of 2019, Tanner and Kristin drove to Bhakti Fest in California, where seeds of inspiration were planted by chanting with Jai and many other passionate bhaktas. That winter, Tanner learned to play the guitar so that he could accompany Kristin on the harmonium. Tanner is also a self-taught harmonium whisperer. He took on the name “Harmonium Doctor” in 2020 and has repaired dozens of injured harmoniums for bhaktas across BC since then. Tanner and Kristin continue to host kirtans on a regular basis and continue to deepen their commitment to the practices of bhakti yoga, while walking the householder path and raising a beautiful little boy who is the brightest light of their lives.
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
@highonlove.festival
Stay connected with the heart of the High on Love Bhakti Festival! Follow us on Instagram for updates, behind-the-scenes glimpses, featured artists, devotional inspiration, and a taste of the magic we’re weaving together. It’s the best way to stay in the loop and feel the love—before, during, and after the festival.
