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Sabina Vivaldi, the owner of Cosy Point Luxury Villa, and a treasurer of Pwam, said the yoga wellness idea brings people together.
- Vivaldi has joined hands with her trainer Sadiq Juma to offer free yoga training to all the local and foreign tourists who would wish to be part of the project.
Image: rawpixel.com
Tourism stakeholders in Malindi town, Kilifi, have unveiled a yoga wellness training programme to promote healthy living and tourism in the region.
The yoga idea was hatched by the Progress Welfare Association of Malindi (Pwam), which has been at the forefront of organising monthly clean-up activities aimed at making Malindi clean and green.
With the introduction of yoga, the stakeholders believe, apart from living in a clean environment, the residents will also live a healthy life.
The training is free of charge for everyone and will be happening every Saturday for one hour between 7am and 8am.
Sabina Vivaldi, the owner of Cosy Point Luxury Villa, and a treasurer of Pwam, said the yoga wellness idea brings people together.
Speaking to the press after one of the yoga sessions at Malindi Bunthuani Waterfront Park, Vivaldi said they intend to promote Malindi as a wellness destination for tourists.
“We chose Bunthuani Waterfront Park because it is an ideal area for all kinds of sports and is a beautiful tourist attraction site because it is adjacent to the beach,” he said.
Vivaldi has joined hands with her trainer Sadiq Juma to offer free yoga training to all the local and foreign tourists who would wish to be part of the project.
"Our aim is to fill this waterfront park with participants. We want people of all kinds from different cultures and other yoga trainers to come every Saturday so that they can offer their time as voluntary work to share happiness and wellness," she said.
Vivaldi said yoga is a nice sporting event and in Lamu county, there is an annual festival specifically for yoga enthusiasts.
She said the county has been attracting thousands of tourists from all corners of the world to participate in the yoga festivals.
"My aim is not to duplicate what is in Lamu but to do something and bring people who love sports together. Not only yoga, but we would also love to have a beach marathon here in Malindi,” she said.
According to Vivaldi, Malindi offers ample space for tourists to run either on the sand dunes or the beachfront and the yoga sessions.
“Tourists can also get a chance to run on the sand dunes and the Indian Ocean; do yoga and walks on the sandy beaches and other activities which will not only heal people, but make the destination attractive due to the experience that tourists can get,” she said
Vivaldi said Pwam has a vision of ensuring Malindi is the cleanest town in Kenya, adding that yoga is matching with the clean-up exercise.
Juma, a yoga trainer from the Africa Yoga Project, said he was doing the community yoga training for free so as to spread the energy to all the people.
He said the aim was to get people into wellness and understanding that they can have a lifestyle and can start by stretching and doing a little bit of some Yoga.
Juma urged residents of Malindi to join in the sport so as to connect to one another and have good energy and spread it to the rest of the world.
Donna Sillan, an American who lives in Malindi, said she has been practising with Juma for the last month and learned of the opportunity to come and practice Yoga with the community.
She said the yoga training brought people together, among them, Indians, Swahilis, Italians and other diverse communities.
(edited by Amol Awuor)