Agents
for Shaanti Holistic Health Retreat, Europe Bookings:
Wellbeing
Escapes, 3 Lonsdale Road
London NW6 6RA, Tel: 020 7644 6120
Email: peter@wellbeingescapes.co.uk, www.wellbeingescapes.co.uk
Shaanti
Holistic Health Retreat Ltd Hosts the Africa Yoga Project - Journey into Power
with Baron Baptiste
"When
you pray, move your feet" - African Proverb
 This
April 20-28th, Baron Baptiste and a team of dedicated and inspired volunteers
travelled to Nairobi, Kenya to lead a Journey into Power of a lifetime. Joining
with Africa Yoga Project, a US-based not-for-profit organization, Baron and the
team will lead the first ever yoga teacher training in East Africa for Kenyans.
All
from marginalized backgrounds, the students that will attend the Level 1 Teacher
Training in Kenya are ripe to receive the gift of yoga. Each student, boys and
girls, men and women, is a community leader in the slums from which they hail.
They are in the circle of influence in areas where poverty runs rampant; running
water and electricity are rare; open sewage trenches and disease are common. These
students are the future leaders, educators, and grass-root activists of Kenya.
They are each committed to using yoga to empower themselves and their communities.
The
Baptiste team of volunteer assistants is also making a commitment. As yoga teachers
and studio owners, they are community builders and are each taking on a leadership
role in their own circle of influence. The team members will put their lives at
home on hold, enroll their individual communities in their support, and work together
to create new possibilities for themselves and their students. During
their time in Kenya, the team will travel to three different areas of Kenya. They
will learn about life in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya and teach yoga there; they
will visit with the Massai families where Africa Yoga Project built two schools
in Amboselli National Park; and they will hold a free five-day teacher training
for local Kenyans at Shaanti Holistic Health Retreat Ltd, Diani Beach along
the Indian Ocean, one of the world's most beautiful beaches. Shaanti was chosen
as the best location for this project because of the ethos of the retreat and
because it is the only real yoga retreat in Eastern Africa. Africa Yoga Project
and Shaanti share the vision and commitment to yoga and to our fellow Kenyans
alike. ABOUT
SHAANTI HOLISTIC HEALTH RETREAT LTD
 Shaanti
is a culmination of the dreams of many people, an anthropologist, an engineer,
a yogi, a Dutch artist, a filmmaker, an economist, a musician, a spiritual seeker
and a social entrepreneur. More importantly it included the dreams of local artisans
of Kwale, the bricklayers, the masons, the artists, the candle stick makers and
many more. To all we say a great big "Asante" for bringing in their
collective energy to create this haven of peace. Surrounded
by this energy, the concept of Shaanti Holistic Health Retreat was born. After
that, a universal flow took over with a wave of serendipitous events. The right
manager, the right yoga therapist and practitioner, the right designer, landscape
artist and local artisans from Kwale came to us as if they had lain in wait for
just such a project. As with all the staff working at Shaanti, they all had something
unique and special about them and were driven by the same compassionate energy
for people and health, for well being and quality, for service and trust. Set
on the stunningly white beaches of Diani, Shaanti Retreat is a boutique hotel
with only 8 rooms, designed to provide every guest with a choice of places, treatments
and activities so they can find their own personal pathway to peace. Whether it
is watching the sun set at the oyster bar with a chilled glass of white wine….
A sunrise yoga session… an ayurvedic massage… a walk on the beach or simply lying
on a deck chair and reading… this is the place for you. Meals
are truly thrilling delights from all over the world, veritable surprises for
the palate and designed to ensure that your mouth gets a taste of what your mind,
body and soul are experiencing while you're at Shaanti! Peace
offerings include:
Yoga, Meditation, Pranayama, Mind Sound Resonance Therapy,
Star Baths, Mud bath, Ayurvedic massage, Reflexology , Relaxing massage, Swedish
massage, Aromatherapy massage, Shaanti Natural facial, Himalaya Facial, hot Jacuzzi,
swimming pool, Buddha on the Beach seafood restaurant, The Moist Oyster, moonlight
beach dinners and much more…
Shaanti
has, in its short existence of 4 years, become known as a tourist retreat which
has held strongly to its it's commitment to the environment, to the enhancement
of the communities around it and to service through hospitality. The
goal of the Africa Yoga Project is to make a permanent difference in the lives
of others by sharing what has so significantly impacted the team's own lives -
Yoga and Service. This core group of assistants will take a stand for bringing
yoga and power to all, no matter where or how they live, RIGHT NOW! 
The
Commitment:
Africa
Yoga Project is a not-for-profit project. The amazing people at Africa Yoga Project
have been fundraising tirelessly to bring movement and possibility to some of
the world's most poorest youth. The team will join in this movement by committing
to raise $5000 each, in addition to paying for their own travel expenses. What
follows are some of the testimonials about others' experiences with AYP in Kenya.
We encourage you to ask questions and just let your heart lead . . . . Volunteers'
Experiences with Africa Yoga Project: "Relinquish
expectations, embrace exchanges. While volunteering for the Africa Yoga Project
in Kenya this past December, those words became my mantra. Each day was a new
experience and very different from the next. At times I'd feel a heart wrenching
pang of helplessness, only to be replaced by a triumphant swelling of inspiration.
And all the while, my mantra kept running through my mind. Exchanges happen every
minute in Kenya. Taxi drivers shake your hand, children playing in the street
pause to inquire, 'how are you?' After the first day of meeting some of the yoga
students, the greeting became a hug rather than "Jambo." I went to Kenya
to teach yoga, but Kenya ended up teaching me about yoga too. This journey awakened
me to several things. Most notably, I experienced first hand the incredible po
wer of yoga. Yoga is more than physical asana. Yoga ha s the ability to create.
Be it peace, openness, community. Yoga has the ability to inspire. To act, to
share, to be. Yoga has the ability to cha nge. A thought, a deed, a person. All
of these different facets of yoga were revealed to me while volunteering with
Africa Yoga Project. Through Paige's dedication of heart and soul, this project
continually impacts a growing population in Kenya- a population committed to making
a better life for themselves. I greatly admire the strength, courage and compassion
I encountered along my journey as I relinquished expectations, embraced exchanges,
and discovered yoga in action- on and off the mat." - Melanie McCaffrey 
"In
April 2007, I went to Kenya with Paige Elenson. For the last year, she had been
telling me about her amazing, life changing experiences with her new friends and
community in Kenya. I was very excited to be able to go to share in those experiences
that Paige had been telling me about. I went to Kenya for two weeks, enough time
to truly experience the people, the culture, and to see the country. The first
night I arrived, Paige met me at the airport with some of the Nafsi acrobats and
Down-Dog girls. I was later introduced to about 20 people in her community. Immediately
upon arrival, they said to me: "Ryan, you are our brother now." Those
words were such a profound gesture, they still ring fresh to me today. At that
moment,20I understood what Paige's efforts were all about. It was about br inging
together people to unite, to grow, to share, and to love one another. Kenya has
its share of social inequality, violence, and tribal hostilities, but I understood
that Paige's efforts were there to transcend all of the separation, and to strengthen
the human connectedness." - Ryan "In
may 2007 I had the opportunity to visit Kenya and was invited to share some yoga
classes . . . . I remember turning up to this warehouse space in the middle of
an industrial area in the city, it was hot, it was dusty and there were young
kids everywhere, some sitting around listening to hip hop, others breakdancing,
doing acrobatics and capoiera. It was a dynamic scene. The kids had some experience
with yoga but i wasn't sure how it was all going to play out. Any doubts I had
were put to rest by the open-hearted, welcoming nature, and big smiles from these
guys. We did
the class, about 30 - 50 of them, barefoot on the old, dusty wooden planks on
top of the concrete, I'm not sure how much English they understood, but they were
really focused, very sincere and committed to learning. They were open-minded
and inquisitive, appreciative and excellent students. After
the class we all sat around and they asked me questions about yoga, about lifestyle,
about practice - demonstrating their eagerness and desire to incorporate yoga
not only as a way to enhance their performances, but to improve their lives.
I
would say that my experience . . . was one of the most rewarding and inspiring
of any I've had teaching yoga over the last 8 years....." -
Mark 
"Our
Mission
To empower youth, build a global community
and increase well-being
in East Africa. `
We have introduced hundreds of students in
Kenya to the
practice of yoga, as well provide
educational scholarships, job training
food
stipends, temporary housing and health services.
Our core group of students
are from impoverished backgrounds in Nairobi, Kenya, are between 16-30 years old
and live on under $2 per day. Many are personally affected by HIV/AIDS and are
living/have once lived on the streets.
Yoga reveals our authentic selves,
perfect and flawed, uncovers our limitless potential to embrace change and to
take action. The practice of yoga does not only work for upper class westerners,
but for Kenyans too. Yoga transforms limitations into power.
Yoga revolutionizes
our body, our emotions, our relationships and our ability to serve the greater
good" - From the Africa Yoga web site.
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