Yoga, mindfulness, sound healing, dance: special needs health and wellness event is first of its kind in Hong Kong

The Accessible Wellbeing Community Event Series aims to make physical, social and emotional well-being accessible to people with disabilities and their families

Running on Saturdays throughout November, the series features many teachers, presenters and speakers who have overcome challenges themselves

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Mui Thomas, who suffers from a rare skin disorder, will share how she overcame the challenges in her life at the Accessible Wellbeing Community Event Series in Hong Kong this month, a series of health and wellness events targeting people with special needs. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 3:15pm, 5 Nov 2020Updated: 10:40pm, 5 Nov 2020

Mui Thomas has a megawatt smile that helps people not look away from her bright red face. The 27-year-old was born with harlequin ichthyosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes the body to be covered with thick, diamond-shaped plates of skin that crack easily.

Thomas has lived with physical and psychological pain and faced discrimination all her life, but has always tried to remain positive. Today, she is a special needs yoga teacher and a rugby referee, both firsts in the world for someone with her disorder.

“I am who I am because of my parents. They never gave up on me and always told me to give things a go,” says Thomas, who was adopted when she was three years old. Together, with her parents, she runs an initiative called “The Girl Behind the Face”, which raises awareness of cyberbullying, mental health and visible differences.

“Rugby and yoga saved me,” says Mui. “I was introduced to yoga by the Yama Foundation, a charity which strives to makes yoga, arts and meditation accessible to the disadvantaged communities in Hong Kong. Yoga brought me to a new place and gave me confidence, and Yama made me feel a part of a community.”

Thomas receives a certificate to teach yoga to people with special needs from Hersha Chellaram, a co-founder of the Yama Foundation. Photo: Yama Foundation

She credits Hersha Chellaram, a co-founder of Yama, for suggesting she train to become a yoga teacher.

Yama is behind the upcoming Accessible Wellbeing Community Event Series, the first conference of its kind in Hong Kong, which aims to make physical, social and emotional well-being accessible to people with disabilities, as well as children with special-education needs and their families.