Hong Kong yoga and sustainable farming couple pass on their skills at all-day event

Menaka Jayakody and Alexander Nielsen are in their happy place as they water plants on a plot of land in Shek O, a sleepy seaside village on Hong Kong Island. Growing among mango trees are herbs such as oregano, basil, dill and a robust curry leaf tree along with patches of potatoes, tomatoes, black maize, kale and celery. The farm, which aligns with the sustainable and self-sufficient principles of permaculture – land use modelled on natural ecosystems – is in its early phase, but the couple, both teachers, are excited to see it grow. Community engagement is also important, Denmark-born Nielsen says as he opens the lid of a worm bin that converts food waste into fermented nutrient-rich matter to feed the soil. The plan is to collect organic kitchen waste produced in the village. “We also want to create a place where kids can hang out on a Sunday and see where food waste goes,” he says. Workshops about food-waste management and overconsumption are also on the cards. Leaning against a fence is a sheet of glass inscribed with a quote by Indian activist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva. “The time has come to reclaim the stolen harvest and celebrate the growing and giving of good food,” it reads. On December 27, the pair will embrace these wise words when they host Terra-Cure at Hong Kong’s Perma Club, an off-the-grid botanical paradise in Clear Water Bay, in the city’s Sai Kung district. The event will run from 11am-6pm and will include a pickle-making class and two yoga sessions – flow awakening and yoga nidra, or sleep yoga – both led by Jayakody. “What’s great about yoga nidra is that it’s a guided meditation that leads you into a deep cocoon. You hear the leaves, the breeze. You’re warm,” Jayakody says. There is a puritanical bent in the wellness space that can be … a bit unwelcoming, but that won’t be the case at Terra-Cure Alexander Nielsen Guests will be fed a healthy Mediterranean-style lunch featuring dishes such as baba ganoush, pesto pasta and pumpkin and beetroot salads, all prepared with seasonal vegetables picked on site. The day will wrap up with cocktails and chats around a log fire. “People can grab a blanket, and maybe a hot toddy, and enjoy the warmth of the fire while listening to chilled tunes,” says Jayakody. Her deep connections to yoga and the natural world were shaped growing up in Sri Lanka. She attended an all-girl Buddhist school where yin yoga – a slow, meditative practice targeting the body’s deep connective tissues – was practised each morning. One of Jayakody’s biggest inspirations is her grandmother, with whom she lived for years outside Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, while her parents worked in Hong Kong. Her father held down two jobs to support the family. “My grandmother, she’s 90 and thriving, is very spiritual, very at one with the land,” Jayakody says. “I grew up seeing her retrieve water from the well, chop firewood and use it to cook with […] Everything, like turning grain into flour, was done by hand.” In the mid-1990s, when she was seven, Jayakody joined her parents in Hong Kong, where she quickly picked up English but struggled to adjust to her new environment. Determined to reclaim her spiritual groove, Jayakody returned to yoga, completing a teacher training course in Goa, southwest India, “at a beautiful beachside school called Upaya Yoga”. Years later, during the Covid-19 pandemic, she conducted classes on the rooftop of her home in Shek O. Nielsen holds a master's degree in agroecology, a sustainable form of farming that works with nature, and has a passion for mycology, the study of fungi. It makes sense that he and Jayakody want to share their holistic knowledge in a judgment-free environment, something that can be lacking in the wellness space. “There is a puritanical bent in the wellness space that can be a bit culty, a bit unwelcoming, but that won’t be the case at Terra-Cure,” Nielsen says. Their company Dharma Bums, which is behind the Terra-Cure event and the couple’s other ventures, is about creating a welcoming space for all. The company name is taken from the title of Jack Kerouac’s 1958 novel The Dharma Bums, in which the writer predicts a “rucksack revolution” driven by wanderers who shun materialism for deeper connections with people and nature. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Permaclub (@permaclub) Other projects in the pipeline include a wellness-focused hostel the couple are building in southwestern Sri Lanka, and the sale of goods made by Sri Lankan artisans. Transparent sourcing will be at the core of the latter to ensure customers know the origin and cultural significance of the products they buy. “We are aware of the challenges of ethical consumption and the exploitation that can exist in artisanal production,” Nielsen says, “which is why we will source the products by making trips to local markets. Direct interactions with artisans will facilitate fair prices and ethical practices.” At their cosy home in Shek O, which is filled with handcrafted items from their travels, Jayakody unravels a hand-woven gallaha pan (water-reed) mat that epitomises the kind of items they will sell. “They are traditional sleeping mats from Sri Lanka and are so soft and cooling,” she says. “The best bit is, as they age, they can be composted as mulch.” Not only is sustainability woven into its natural fibres; there are happy childhood memories, too. “As a kid in Sri Lanka, I had so many fun sleepovers under the ceiling fans with my six cousins all piled onto these mats [ …] You sleep like a log.” Terra-Cure, December 27, 2024, 11am-6pm, Perma Club, 42 Hang Hau Wing Lung Rd, Clear Water Bay, Sai Kung. HK$1,000 per person includes tea/coffee, lunch and cocktails. To sign up, WhatsApp Alexander (5231 4399) or Menaka (9885 9976) or email dharmabumscollection@gmail.com Like what you read? 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Hong Kong yoga and sustainable farming couple pass on their skills at all-day event

She teaches yoga, he preaches permaculture. They’re holding an all-day event to pass on their skills that ends with a chat around a campfire