Broadcasting from the endangered island ecosystems in the Maldives' Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve comes an important and inspiring planetary message. Personal wellness practices are essential if we are to meet the varied challenges of our time. This global charity event integrates regenerative environmental action with personal health practices to model a path forward at this crucial time in history. On Sunday, October 8th at 17:00 UTC (10am PDT, 1PM EDT, 6pm BST, & 10:30am Indian Standard Time) there will be a free online broadcast available at PORTL, the emerging social community for conscious creators.

A Grassroots Community Effort: In partnership with Hubcast Media, four 30-minute episodes will each feature an international lineup of industry experts and wellness pioneers totalling a 2-hour feature that explores What is True Wellness and How Can it Be Sustained? The program is being filmed during the Soul Festival retreat at the award-winning Soneva Fushi Resort in partnership with Organic India as part of the Fabindia Group. The broadcast will also be available on numerous Facebook Pages including UNIFY, the Shift Network, Unity Earth, and the SINE Network thus making this event truly collaborative. All of the presenters have volunteered their time to bring you this important Message from the Maldives.

Presenters Include: Dr. Bruce Lipton, Sonu Shivdasani, William Bissell, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati, Dr Libby Weaver and Farida Irani; The Science of Wellness with Dr Jo Marchant, Dr Emeran Mayer, Dr Shamini Jain, Dr Paul Salins and Farida Irani;  Planetary Wellness: Nomad Century – How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince; and The Future of Wellness with Anders Olsson, Davina Taylor, Dr Shamini Jain and Amanda Huggins.

Background: Event promoter, Chris Dekker has been a visionary in bringing together educational, celebratory and immersive event experiences to honor our planet and global community for decades. As Founder of Earthdance International he was a seminal inspiration for the founders of UNIFY who have been hosting globally synchronized online meditations since 2012. Chris saw the need to integrate learning and wellness programs into the emerging dance/festival movement in order to create a sense of connected purpose. His work is reaching new heights as he blends a curated retreat experience with a world-renowned resort and innovators in the health/sustainability movement.

Organic India is one of the world's largest names in the sustainable/regenerative industry through working with local farmers to grow, trade and export herbal infusions, teas, Ayurvedic Medicines, food and other organic products. They are part of Fabindia Group which is a consumer lifestyle platform with an established 62-year legacy focused on authentic, sustainable and Indian traditional lifestyle products. Fabindia is a unique business model of sustainable rural employment that has created a base for over 50,000 contracted manufacturers, 10,000 farmers in India. These organizations understand how to bring sustainable and regenerative practices to the globe through profitable business models.

Soneva has been carbon-neutral since 2012 having become a pioneer for responsible tourism by combining a conscientious, proactive approach to sustainability with intuitive personalized care. Their Total Impact Assessment launched in 2016 which was a first within the hospitality industry by measuring its' social and environmental impacts. A portion of their profits go towards the Soneva Foundation to fund a range of global projects that have a positive environmental, social, and economic impact.

Collaboration for the Win: As we step into an accelerated evolutionary process to regenerate, restore and heal our biosphere will will need to bring together leading voices in many fields of sustainability, business, health and create/explore emerging trends and breakthroughs. None of us can do this alone. It will take a village... a Global Village. In order to operate at our most effective and efficient capacity we will need to have a strong interpersonal wellness practice and a resilient, supportive community that recognizes the power of collaboration.

This is why we are happy to debut this groundbreaking program on PORTL which also runs on carbon-neutral servers and is dedicated to hosting an international network of inspired artists, creators, healers and change-makers. Please join us on October 8th to celebrate the soul of planetary wellness as we bring forward this important message from the Maldives. You can learn more about the in-person event here, sign up to watch the program and become part of this emergent global movement here. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment and we look forward to seeing you there!

*Cover Image by Mohamed Thasneem*