Monika began introducing Yoga in Lamu Island in the late 1990s, as her passion was driven by her experience of the transformative power of Lamu Island and Yoga.

She established her own Banana House & Wellness centre in 2000, shared her yoga knowledge with locals, who are now teachers, and started the Lamu Yoga Festival in 2014 during big challenges which Kenya and Lamu had to endure in the tourism industry.

The slow way of life, the natural existing components of Wellbeing, together with the rich Swahili culture, traditions, and pristine beaches, showcased the first festival with 108 participants. This auspicious number, seen as a sign of universal support, set the tone for our journey. The festival was started as a service project to accomplish our mission.

Over the years our festival has continued to evolve and grow:

• 2016: Recognized as "The number one worthwhile traveling yoga destination".

• 2017: Welcomed 350 participants from 27 countries, offering over 160 diverse workshops.

• 2020: Held a memorable closing ceremony on the beach with more than 400 participants. Little we knew, that we would provide essential tools and inspirations for the participants to face the challenges of the global pandemic a week later.

• 2023: Honored by Yoga Journal as "one of the top 11 yoga festivals worldwide".

As the festival evolved, so did the teachers and the participants. We welcome more than 30 teachers every year, from all over the world, our participants are from all walks of life, backgrounds and religions, and the workshops and classes have a wide array of yoga, wellness, dance, nutrition etc practices.

Beyond celebrating yoga & wellbeing, we remain committed to our community by offering practical initiatives such as reusable sanitary pads and free yoga classes for locals. We give local community opportunities to join into and experience the Lamu Yoga Festival.

As the awareness of Yoga and Wellbeing is growing, we are now growing with the festival to:

Lamu Yoga & Wellbeing Festival.

Our motto is: Celebrate Diversity. We welcome you all!

Monika and entire LYFe team