Yoga, Wellness and National Transformation: Om Shanti Belize & Rhythm of Change

“I remember there was [one session] when we were talking about artificial intelligence, and I was like, why are we talking about artificial intelligence? Why don’t we learn the tools of yoga that humans can actually eventually develop our brains so that we’re that expansive…” [Michelle Williams, Om Shanti Belize] 

This expansive power of the mind is what Michelle Williams believes Caribbean people can access to embrace the abundance they already have to become global leaders. It’s a shift of mindset and perspective that has led Michelle to describe yoga as a “technology for humanity”. 

Michelle is the Founder of Om Shanti Belize, a five-star rated retreat and wellness centre and Yoga Alliance registered yoga school.  Om Shanti and Martha’s Cafe, a vegan/vegetarian restaurant, are part of the Harbour View Boutique Hotel and Yoga Retreat, her family’s business located in Belize City, Belize, in which Williams is a director. 

She also founded Rhythm of Change (ROC) a non-profit organization that uses yoga, mindfulness and other wellness practices to promote peace and to build communities in Belize. 

Her statement quoted above refers to her participation in the Pivot Event 2020. There, she along with other Caribbean future makers explored moonshots for a re-imagined approach to tourism in the Caribbean to transform the industry by 2040. 

Ambassadors of Abundance 

 It was the concept of big thinking and the idea of pivoting the Caribbean in the next two decades that attracted Michelle to the Pivot Movement.   

She was a strong contributor to the development of a moonshot called “Ambassadors of Abundance”. An excerpt about this moonshot from Pivot The Future Makers, the publication in which all the 2040 moonshots are captured as a fictional story reads,  

“…the Caribbean people became ambassadors of spiritual and psychological abundance. Living examples of how a philosophy of fulfilment led to a more prosperous and functional culture…” [p.35] 

Belize Wellness Traditions and Tourism 

In the case of Belize, Michelle observes that there’s growing recognition of the country as a wellness destination. She says it’s an area of tourism investment that she’s been lobbying for over several years.  

In her opinion the required change in approach to tourism for the future should be about embracing the diverse cultures from Kriol and Mestizo to Mayan and Garifuna and the healing traditions of these cultures. She believes financing for family-owned businesses that maintain and expose these traditional ways of living are part of the way forward.  

A Desire For Healing, Yoga and Starting Om Shanti Belize  

Williams’ own life was transformed by yoga and wellness practices. She explains that, 

“…from teens to adulthood I had my issues with mental health and with understanding my purpose and being a little bit lost, and I was looking for something that was going to be more deep in the healing instead of something more shallow like a band aid. I’d gone to various medical people to help me and the last resort was kind of one of my biggest blessings.” 

She recalls checking herself into a facility where “Eastern methods of healing” including yoga were used. After a life-changing month there, she knew she would have to make what she’d been practicing a lifestyle to avoid falling back into old patterns of behaviour. She trained in Reiki before deciding to become a yoga teacher to help others battling with similar problems.  

To do that she went to the home of the yoga tradition, India, training  in the Himalayas in Hatha, Classical Tantra, Himalayan Kundalini, Vedic and Transcendental Wisdom, Kriya, Naad, Laya, Jyotisha and the Sattva Meditation Technique. She is also trained in Ashtanga Yoga, Trauma Informed Yoga, Yoga Nidra and Vedic Thai Bodywork and is an Advanced Children Yoga Teacher. 

Later, with the support of her mother and sister, who secured a space for her to share her practice on her return home, Om Shanti Belize was born. 

Om Shanti’s Evolution  

Om Shanti Belize has now grown to offer in-person and virtual programmes.  Healing retreats to help women in sports affected by mental, physical and sexual abuse will soon be rolled out and corporate retreats to encompass everything from yoga, breathwork and meditation to stress relief massage and healthy meals are already being offered.  

Michelle cites the specific example of hosting the country’s Forensic Department to help their employees during a period of particularly high stress. In fact there is mounting scientific research that favours the effectiveness of yoga and meditation not only for managing stress but strengthening the immune system and improving focus and concentration.  

Indian business news website livemint.com even reported earlier this year that the country’s government had convened a high-level committee to explore yoga as a “productivity boosting tool at workplaces.”  

Michelle observes that the growing scientific evidence about the benefits of yoga is helping to broaden interest and also notes that there are a number of new schools emerging in Belize. 

ROC, Community, Consciousness and Opportunity  

As the business grew Michelle also began volunteering around the country in communities and schools using yoga and meditation for social intervention. On the advice of a friend, she eventually formalised these activities, founding the Rhythm of Change (ROC) NGO. 

ROC has been successfully providing anger management to female inmates of Belize Central prison, and under-18 male serious offenders. Four of the female inmates have even become certified yoga instructors through Om Shanti Belize School of Yoga.  

The non-profit works heavily with the Ministry of Human Development and increasingly with the Ministry of Education and since 2016 has held the Belize International Yoga Festival as its biggest fundraiser. Last year the event was convened virtually with over 200,000 views. 

Michelle firmly believes that yoga can be instrumental to influence national transformation starting at the individual level. She says,  

“There is a level where you can shift your consciousness so that you can see opportunities. They might not be grand dramatic opportunities but opportunities every day for you to evolve.”