Here’s Your Inspiration This International Women’s Day : She’s Called Espy!

International Women’s Day this year has an added resonance as global movements empowering women in the face of years of discrimination continue to gather strength. We thought it would be a perfect moment to celebrate one of the founder members of Karma Group – an elemental force in her own right and an inspiration to us all. Esperanca Patricio, President & Director, Indian & the Middle East.

You’re a founder member of Karma Group – what was it like in those early days for you personally and were there particular challenges at that time as a woman?

Travelling and working in India in 1993, was a challenge in itself, regardless of gender or nationality! My first face to face with India took place at the old domestic airport, where I was trying to get a last-minute flight to Goa, where we would be based and….
CONTINUE READING →

February 18, 2018
Destinations Thailand

Songkran – Thai New Year Celebrations

Songkran is a three-day celebration of the Thai New Year, which falls on the April 13 each year and is observed through April 15. Prior to modern times, the date wasn’t fixed, but was determined astrologically. It’s an exuberant festival whose main purpose is to purify and cleanse in preparation for the year ahead. People visit the wat (temple) to pay homage and give offerings to the monks and images of the Buddha are carefully cleaned, with fragrant water gently sluiced over them.

Elsewhere, the water blessings are a bit more manic. Water being the preferred method of purification, the opportunity for a giant water fight is irresistible. Those heading out into the streets are almost guaranteed a drubbing somewhere along the way, as strangers take it upon themselves to confer blessings with liberal doses of water via buckets, water pistols and whatever other receptacle they can get their hands on.
CONTINUE READING →

February 16, 2018
Culture Destinations Vietnam

Winter Sun : Vietnam- 4000 Years of Culture – Plus Nature at Her Prettiest!

Vietnam has a longer and more storied history than most of its neighbours in southeast Asia, rooted in the Dong Sun culture that sprang up in the bronze age and whose influence spread across the region, since its peoples were skilled navigators. Long periods of colonization by the Chinese were followed by the arrival of the French and finally of course the Americans. All of which makes for a fascinating hybrid culture and history.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An – home to our luxury Vietnam resort Karma Cay Tre. Last year, readers of Wanderlust magazine voted Hoi An as their favourite town on the planet – and for good reason: Hoi An is in many ways a distillation of Vietnam’s many cultural influences.

You can spend many happy hours wandering streets lined with Chinese shop fronts, tea houses and temples, interspersed with French colonial buildings with their elegant colonnades and stucco facades.
CONTINUE READING →

February 15, 2018
Events Lifestyle

New Year’s Evolution – Get In Shape Ahead Of Our April Wellness Week!

We’ve all been there. Emerging from two weeks of festive season excess with an iron clad resolution that is going to change our lives for the better – forever! Except forever rarely lasts past mid-February. That’s the trouble with resolutions – they have a tendency to slip. That’s why here at Karma we’re firmly of the ‘softly-softly’ approach when it comes to introducing healthful change into your life. Challenge is good – but it should be manageable and relatively easy to integrate into your daily routine.

Planning to transform yourself with 2 hours of yoga every day? Why not start out with a couple of classes a week. Planning to subsist on leafy greens alone for the next three months? You could instead introduce a daily superfood smoothie into your routine.

Research suggests that we tend to respond well to challenge – but if our discipline isn’t tempered with a little flexibility, we can quickly get discouraged.
CONTINUE READING →

February 15, 2018
Lifestyle

What Does Pilates Instructor For The English Rugby 7’s Do To Stay Fit & Healthy?

UK-based Jo Richards is a certified Pilates instructor with Fine Feathers Pilates and the instructor for the England rugby 7’s.

We all want to know – how did you land the gig of being the Pilates instructor for the England Rugby 7’s? Sounds like the dream job to us!
I have to admit it really is!| The England physio team were looking for a more movement based approach to their treatment and my experience working with and having larger muscle mass worked in my favour! I am also married to an ex player which means I have a good understanding of the tolls the game takes on their bodies.

On this note, what are some of the most common issues with elite athletes in terms of strength and flexibility? How can Pilates remedy injuries?
Flexibility and working muscles at length is often over looked in athletes training.
CONTINUE READING →

97 posts by Wirka Wayan