Has a music festival ever inspired you to take what you learned home with you?

Whereas your average music festival, awesome nonetheless, may leave you feeling exhausted, depressed about real life, and maybe even hungover, the sold-out Lightning in a Bottle music & arts festival does just the opposite for its attendees.

After three days of camping in the heat of summer, the consensus was that LIB-ers came away feeling uplifted, refreshed and inspired last weekend. Each day, the festival started with morning yoga and other rejuvenating rituals. A variety of workshops and talks followed throughout the day.

In addition to a full schedule of events, the grounds of Lake Skinner County Park served as a giant playground for people who wanted to dance, lay in the grass with friends, and even blow giant bubbles into the air. There were three music stages, each with its own character.

The Woogie Stage, for instance, resembled a giant, colorful woven basket in the trees. From there, one talented DJ after another rocked the crowd with their eclectic and ethereal electronic beats.

Classes ranged from meditation and hoop dancing to EL wire workshops and medicinal cooking techniques. The Temple of Consciousness also featured Om ShanTea's "tea temple," with tea tastings in a communal setting.

People from all over came to attend this transformational festival. However, what wove people together as one is the fact that attendees were open-minded and ready to have fun, with purpose.

In the daytime, the festival highlighted the visual arts with giant art installations as well as smaller ones, such as intricate, fiber optic, solar-powered art pieces hanging from trees, created by Solar Sculptures. There were also many live painters, and interactive areas to create DIY accessories and get henna tattoos by Kim Eitze.

As the sun set and the darkness grew, the lights came on and the musical journey began. It would become one big party in amidst the trees.

A raw, vegan dinner of Pad Thai kelp noodles on a bed of kale, garnished with mango, was the perfect complement to the day's activities. Hydrating with a drink made of date-infused coconut water with mango, vanilla and mint really hit the spot after running around in the sun all day.

The same crowd doing yoga in the morning spun lit-up poi and danced the night away to the beats of Rusko, Nicolas Jaar, Aaron Snapes, jOBOT and Kastle, to name only a handful of the lineup.

William Close and the Earth Harp Collective gave an illuminating performance on Saturday night, playing the larger-than-life, elegant harp that was stretched across the sky, over the massive crowd at the Lightning Stage. The Earth Harp, invented by William Close, is the largest stringed instrument on the planet.

Another genre of talent was the Herbert Bail Orchestra, a live band with members hailing from different parts of the U.S. to create a unique Western folk sound. They gave the press a special performance on Saturday, and left the audience in high spirits.

Another differentiator from other music festivals, LIB has a much wider age range for attendees. Kids were even welcome at this festival, although the majority of the crowd was adults. People who likely wouldn't be inclined to go to EDM events were drawn here by the yoga and the open-mindedness of others at the fest, as one man put it as he was talking with me. Let's just say there weren't many "bros" here.

Created by The Do LaB, LIB has won the Outstanding Award from A Greener Festival for the past three years. The Do LaB also had a stage at Coachella this year, complete with their signature art installations.

The creative and well-intentioned minds at the helm of LIB are what make the annual festival so transcendental. 

During a media mixer at LIB, someone asked the co-founding Flemming brothers of the Do LaB, "How come you're so rad?" Dede humbly replied, "We're not; it's the people that are here." Jesse also gave credit to those attending the event. This humility is characteristic of these "rad" brothers.

When asked what it's like to work together as three brothers (Jesse being the third brother), Dede said that over the last nine years of working together, they "figured out who does what really well & we own it."

Josh is the event designer, and does more of the creative work. Jesse deals with booking all the musical talent. Dede takes care of the operations and logistics; what he jokingly calls the "boring" stuff.

On the future of LIB, Dede said they were not concerned about how big they get or where it will go, because "if we can't maintain this energy with growth, then we're not going to go for growth. But if (we can maintain the energy), we will push it a little bit." In other words, they want to preserve the transformational energy of the festival, and are not just looking to sell as many tickets as possible.

Jesse also revealed that after he finishes booking talent for LIB, "I stop listening to music." Then, after the festival is over, he asks friends and makes notes and lists on the music he hears. He says he goes for the "things I like, (based off of) a gut feeling. I don't book anything I don't like. We don't book artists that we think will sell tickets. Only vibes."

"We just wake up and do what feels right, and we'll continue to do what feels right. The festival is alive and it's doing what it wants to do," Jesse continued. Dede grinned and stated, "we're not good at planning the future, we're good at (planning) festivals."

For Dede, "watching (the crowd's) reactions is the fun part. I like to walk around and appreciate the people and things going on." He admits he doesn't have much time to do that while working the logistics of the festival, but he makes it a point to walk around, if only for a bit.

The effects of LIB stay with festival-goers long after they leave, and often lead to empowering changes that create a positive impact on people's lives and in their communities.

Shena Turlington, sustainabilty director for LIB, said, "Our first priority is to make an impact on the world... to make a difference, to donate around the world." The effects of their work do indeed go far beyond the festival itself.

Shena explained how past attendees have come back and shared their success stories. They learned how to create balcony gardens and raise their own chickens at LIB, then took those skills and made a positive impact on their communities. Some even started blogs and podcasts inspired by their experience at LIB.

Dream Rockwell, a founder and the creative director for the Lucent Dossier Experience, said, "I wanted to create a world so if they (attendees) knew this type of world was possible, they'd go home & create it for themselves." 

Brent Spears, better known as Shrine, helped Dream start Lucent many years ago. He also creates art installations all over the world. "I travel the world making art out of trash," he said. He believes it's important to take something that people see as trash and transform it into something beautiful. Thus, art and sustainability have found the perfect union here at LIB.

Lightning in a Bottle is more than a music festival, after all. It is an adventure in mind, body and spirit. The 2013 festival once again gave attendees many avenues for interaction and proactive creativity, and equipped them with the knowledge and tools to take these teachings back to their own lives and communities.

Reach Tanaya Ghosh here or follow her on Twitter.