Forget Spain, forget India, forget all the yoga festivals and retreats you know…and think tropical African beaches, welcoming people. Do you have the picture in front of you? Yes? This is the Lamu yoga festival, an off the beaten track yoga festival in the heart of Lamu Shela. Small scale, personal and delicious (including vegetarian) swahili food. Because let’s face it: yoga, relaxing, sun, beach, no cars, sailing, great food and lovely people, that’s what you want on a trip or vacation, right? I was already a fan of Lamu, but this makes a trip to this island absolutely perfect!
Lamu Yoga festival from the heart
The lamu yoga festival was organized for3rd time on March 2-6, 2016 by Monika Fauth, owner of Banana House. Monika discovered Lamu just under 20 years ago during her trip around the world, closed Lamu and its residents to her heart and stuck around. In 1999, she started as a yoga teacher on the beach. She also immersed herself and Monika has been living according to Art of Living as much as possible since 2003. Which makes her get even more out of her yoga and meditation. The very first Lamu yoga festival was small in scale, growing to over 250 people attending the festival during its3rd edition in 2016.
Yoga classes during the festival
There were a total of 100 classes you could take in 3.5 days. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, or just can already completely fold yourself in half, there is always a lesson to be found.
Consider, for example:
- Kundalini yoga
- Hatha yoga
- Vinyasa yoga
- Early bird yoga (on the beach)
- Astangta yoga
- Acro yoga
Also on the program was peddle board yoga (yoga on a peddle board), meditation, art of living activities and zumba. In the evenings, you didn’t have to be bored either. The Lamu yoga festival hosted several dinners, a dhow sunset and a big final party on the beach. You just gotta love lamu yoga.
A fantastic yoga festival in Kenya amidst the peace and beautiful nature of Shela. After several yoga classes in a day, do you find yourself completely out of the mood for the downward facing dog? Then there are plenty of other things to do on the island. For example, read my other tips for Lamu.
The next Lamu yoga festival is from March 8 to 12, 2017! Read all about it on the festival ‘s site.