Wellness fest starts off with yoga, kickboxing

Fashion designer Preyal Shah, 30, was eager to attend the morning yoga session on Day 1 of the Moksh-Hindustan Times wellness festival, a week of 85 free walk-in workshops being organised at Moksh — The Wellness Centre, Breach Candy.

Fashion designer Preyal Shah, 30, was eager to attend the morning yoga session on Day 1 of the Moksh-Hindustan Times wellness festival, a week of 85 free walk-in workshops being organised at Moksh — The Wellness Centre, Breach Candy.

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But she arrived too late, and decided to sign up for the next session — a kickboxing workshop — instead. “In a way, I feel I got lucky,” she says, laughing. “I had never tried my hand at kickboxing before. It was a great experience. It pepped me up and made me feel instantly energetic.”

Beginning with yoga, kickboxing and health counselling in the morning, the first day of the wellness festival — organised as part of HT’s ongoing Fitter Mumbai campaign — kicked off with 10 sessions and scores of participants.

“The expert trainers made the session a good learning experience. I got an incisive idea of the activity,” said Sejal Shah, a lawyer who also attended the kickboxing session, conducted by world kickboxing champion Ziauddin Khatib and his team.

“I have been suffering from insomnia and yoga gives me tremendous peace of mind,” said Byculla resident Fareeda RK, 44, who attended the passion yoga and power yoga sessions. “I plan to attend all the yoga sessions in this festival. An opportunity like this is too good to be missed.”

Rupal Thakkar, 31, agreed. “I wanted to lose weight and followed a strict diet, but could not sustain it. Nothing has worked like power yoga and I am excited about attending the yoga workshops at the festival.”

The special workshop on the art of ageing also found many takers, most of them senior citizens. “The session was comprehensive and covered a wide range of concerns that arise with ageing,” said Harsha Sahjwani, 52. “I am looking forward to tomorrow’s session, when Dr Pratima Rajan will discuss the beauty of ageing.”

“The response on the first day has been very encouraging, with scores of people attending from all corners of the city,” said Rina Nandy, director of Moksh.