“Yoga and Meditation for Wellbeing” is back for a third edition with the aim of improving quality of life and creating fun activities for mental and physical wellbeing.

The event will be held on March 18 from 7:30am to mid-day at AEON Mall Sen Sok Hall, 3rd Floor, and will welcome 500 participants.

“This year, we plan to receive 500 practitioners and we expect that there will be people who are civil servants, business people and private company employees taking part in the event,” said Chot Dalin, a director at Junior Chamber International (JCI), Toul Kork branch.

JCI is a non-profit organization of active people aged 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and 115 countries around the world. They say they are committed to making a difference in their communities.

JCI Toul Kork is one of the seven branches of Junior Chamber International (JCI), which was established and fully recognized in 2012 with a mission to promote mental well-being.

Yoga and Meditation 2023 will be attended by Bhikkhu Chirpanho Kou Sopheap, Noem Chhunny and Yim Sotheary as meditation educators, as well as Yan Vannac as a yoga instructor.

Dalin said that Bhikkhu Chirpanho Kou Sopheap will give an educational sermon to all participants to create peace of mind.

“We’ve also invited an experienced yoga teacher to teach participants how to do yoga at home on their own. After participating in this programme, they can take this yoga and meditation training to practice at home,” said Dalin.

Yan Vannac was the first Khmer yoga teacher at Krama Yoga, which was the first organization to bring yoga to Cambodia. The reason why Vannac came to practice and teach yoga is because he understands the happiness, health and satisfaction that it brings into his life, according to JCI Toul Kork.

Vannac, who started training under the leadership of Isabelle Skaburskis and received his RYT certification at Knoff Yoga in Australia in 2007, combines orientation and flow that benefits health and beauty.

Yim Sotheary is a psychologist, leadership change trainer and peace builder who works on trauma, healing and reconciliation with a focus on endurance and growth.

Noem Chhunny, who has many years of experience in leadership, public speaking and training, founded Smallworld Cambodia and is the co-director of Possibilities World, a training company providing leadership development and management solutions.

Dalin said that in addition to improving the quality of life, Yoga and Meditation for Well-being is a place to create new friendships between businesspeople, government officials and employees of companies from all walks of life.

With a $15- $20 registration fee per participant requested but not required, Dalin said the event was not for profit but for humanitarian activities.

“As JCI Toul Kork did two years ago, we donated the profits from the Yoga and Meditation events to Kantha Bopha Hospital in Siem Reap and the fund of Venerable Kou Sopheap,” she said. “For the rest of the income from other expenses this year, we will also use it for humanitarian activities in various organizations.”