Нина Лондон покидает Бермуды и открывает новую главу в мире моды

Radiant Nina London prepares final goodbye Over the past decade, Nina London has helped hundreds of women in Bermuda find their inner light again through wellness classes, workshops and retreats. The 61-year-old estimates she has worked with as many as 400 Bermudian women. Now the former Royal Gazette columnist and husband Bill Rosser are preparing to move halfway across the world to Thailand. Ms London is a little sad to be leaving the island and her “girls”, but she is also excited about what the future holds. “I am forever grateful for every person in Bermuda,” she said. “I’m grateful for the beauty of Bermuda, the nature and the flowers.” She is originally from southern Siberia in Russia. In 2011, she was living in Canada when she signed on for a six‑month contract on a cruise ship. Bermuda was her final destination. On that first trip, she stopped to ask a man for directions to the glass beach in Dockyard. Instead of pointing out the way, he drove her there himself. The handsome stranger was her future husband, Mr Rosser. After marrying and moving to Bermuda, life took a sharp turn when doctors diagnosed cancer. After about a year of gruelling chemotherapy and radiation, the disease was gone — but so was her energy. “I lost my energy, my libido,” she said. “I was so sad and I thought, that’s it.” Her doctors had nothing useful to suggest. “They said, ‘Just live’,” she recalled. “I said, ‘No, this is not life. I don’t want to live like this. It was not enough simply to survive’.” She found the answer to her problems at Tao Garden, a world‑famous Taoist retreat near Chiang Mai, Thailand, where qigong and other ancient energy practices are taught. Qigong combines slow movements, deep breathing and focused meditation. It helps build and move life energy, called “chi” to improve physical health, lower stress and calm the mind. “I learnt that I did not need to go to the gym,” she said. “I don’t need to go anywhere. I wake up, go barefoot to the beach or to the grass. I feel the sun and do my practice.” She fell in love not only with the ancient Chinese practice, but with Thailand itself. “I felt something when I was there,” she said. “It was like a voice told me I had to live there.” Exploring the resort, they came across a house within the Tao Garden Health Spa & Resort in Chiang Mai. Mr Rosser took a photo. When they got back to their hotel, she suggested they buy it and was surprised when he readily agreed. “It was a mutual feeling, she said. They had not even seen the inside. Over the past seven years they have been flying back and forth, spending about six months of the year in Thailand. There she continues to study qigong and has also held wellness retreats. Back in Bermuda, Ms London translated what she had learnt into a suite of offerings: healing vibes, a laughing club during the Covid-19 pandemic, Six Healing Sound meditation and, finally, Radiant Flower, her flagship programme for women in midlife and beyond. “Radiant Flower is a fusion of ancient qigong, my own practices, Taoist female practices, healing meditations and dance,” she explained. She began with a simple intention. “I thought if I could help one woman I would be very happy,” she said. “We women go through so many things. It’s hard going through menopause or cancer or any diseases because we are so emotional.” Her Radiant Flower students — her “girls” — are mostly over 50 with the eldest being 73. “I want them to feel feminine, beautiful, alive, laughing again, smiling, dancing,” she said. “I want them to feel their bodies and raise their self-esteem.” Classes often begin with real flowers and a playful, affirming exercise. “We get the flowers and say, ‘I am a sunflower or I am a daisy, or whatever.’ Everybody picks the flower they love. ‘I am orange, happy and I am following the sun.’ Everyone picks the flower and says, ‘I am strong,’ or ‘I am blooming in the field with flowers.’” Her point is that every woman is unique and beautiful in her own way. “We just need to awaken this energy that’s inside and we don’t feel it because of the stress, because of the grievance, sadness, worries, especially nowadays,” she said. Ms London said society tends to devalue women once they reach middle age and women themselves tend to underestimate themselves. “You can blossom at any age,” she said. For several years she has been running her workshops and retreats in Thailand, as well as Bermuda. However, getting to Thailand every winter has become a lot to manage. “It takes all day,” she said of the trip. The couple decided it would be easier to move there permanently. Ms London said it is a very easy process for retirees to relocate to Thailand and life is about a quarter of the cost of living in Bermuda. Their house in Tao Garden comes with a large pool and a ready‑made wellness community. “We swim every day there,” she said. In Thailand she also wants to further develop her talent for dress design. Recently, while packing for the move, she came across about 16 dresses she had created. “Within a week I arranged a fashion show with my Radiant Flower group,” she said. She staged it as a farewell celebration, with her “flowers” modelling flowing, natural‑fabric pieces she designed herself, many made from Thai silk, Vietnamese textiles and hemp. “I realised there are not many clothes for women our age that are beautiful and flowing,” she said. “So I started creating clothes for myself. Then people started asking me how they could get similar clothing. So my new adventure is fashion.” The show, put together in a week, went fantastically, in her eyes. “It was so much fun and energy,” she said. She hopes to return to Bermuda for short visits and retreats. “I hope to bring Bermudians to Thailand for healing, practising and seeing a different culture,” she said. “Healing is incredible.” As she prepares to close this chapter, her message to women remains the same as when she finished cancer treatment and refused to accept a half‑life. She leaves on September 8. “The most important thing is for women to understand that we have this energy,” she said. “It is not gone. We have instruments, tools, practices to feel it again. That is what I’m teaching.” • Nina London is offering two final classes, a Radiant Flower workshop on August 29 and a second Six Healing Sound meditation on September 2. For more information e-mail [email protected]