Inaugural O+ Haverhill Features Cycling, Yoga and Wellness Classes, Literary SALO+N

O+ Haverhill audiences wearing all-access wristbands (available via donation) on Saturday, May 6th are invited to experience a variety of wellness classes and a Literary SALO+N in addition to extensive art and music offerings.

The day begins at the Better Block location, where Riverside Cycle will lead bike rides for avid cyclists and families of all experience levels.

Giving Tree Yoga and Wellness hosts EXPLO+RE, a mini wellness retreat within the larger O+ Festival celebration. The daylong offerings include Kundalini Yoga, Reiki Restore and a Gong Bath.

“All of our instructors have volunteered to offer specific yoga classes that are healing and restorative in nature,” says Suzanne Borgioli, owner of Giving Tree. “Our wishes are that everyone who walks through our doors will then walk away with an extraordinary experience and some valuable tools to encourage a lifestyle design for their family and for their own personal wellness.”

Meanwhile, Ocasio’s will be offering a martial arts class for anyone wearing an all-access O+ Haverhill wristband.

Beginning at 3 p.m. with an interactive artist trading card make and swap, the SALO+N at Battle Grounds highlights the thriving literary community of noted authors, aspiring writers and bibliophiles in Haverhill and neighboring cities.

The SALO+N continues with Lawrence-based The Common Sage writing group, which provides a space “for the expression of thoughts and sharing of stories.”

Then at 5 p.m. poet Susan LaFortune will host a Spoken Word open mic event during which participants are encouraged to share what inspires and connects them to the human spirit through rhyme or free-verse.

“I’m hoping the SALO+N will coax new voices to come out and be noticed,” LaFortune says.

Author James A. Moore brings Literary Voices, a chance to hear from several writers in the New England area, each with a different approach to writing, to the SALO+N at 6 p.m. Writers including Hillary Monahan, Matt Bechtal and Kristin Dearborn will read and answer questions about their stories and inspirations.

The Literary SALO+N concludes with Writer’s Coffeehouse New England. Moore and author Christopher Golden invite writers of all experience levels to participate in a conversation about the business and craft of writing.

LaFortune says the SALO+N perfectly aligns with the O+ mission of exchanging the art of medicine for the medicine of art.

“I’m involved with O+ because I believe in both, the power of medicine and the power of art,” she says. “Before I became a writer I was a therapeutic massage therapist. The festival encompasses everything we know about what the body needs to stay healthy and happy. The medical participants of O+Festival remind us that health is still human. Haverhill gains the opportunity to not only showcase some amazing talent, but also some amazing heart.”