We were lucky to catch up with Maysun Hassanaly recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maysun, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Ladina is a Malagasy word rooting from the word “Mandadina”, which means the act of braiding things together, and also, the shoots of a climbing plant. Ladina in itself means “interwoven”.

I chose the name Ladina because I wanted the brand name to reflect the ethos behind the company: to reconnect yoga practitioners to the earth with eco-friendly yoga accessories inspired by Africa.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I grew up in a very rich cultural environment, being of Indian descent, Malagasy-born and French. I remember seeing beautiful handmade crafts at every corner of the street and always wished Malagasy art and craftsmanship would be more widely known to the rest of the world. Fast forward 19 odd years later, I was an Engineering student in London and started practicing yoga in my local gym. At the end of 2019, I took a career break and while in Madagascar, I practiced yoga with my favourite teacher on Malagasy handwoven mats (tsihy). I loved feeling connected to my Malagasy culture while practicing yoga and thought how amazing it would be to associate my passion with my culture and being able to share it with the world. I then went to India to train as a yoga teacher and when I came back to London just as lockdown started, Ladina Yoga was born.

Ladina Yoga provides a variety of eco-friendly yoga gear, designed or made by African artists. My mission is to empower local communities and artists in Africa and reconnect yoga practitioners to the earth. I enjoy challenging the norm for yoga accessories we tend to see as many of those are not durable, good for the planet and can be toxic for us too. The Ladina Yoga accessories are fun, colourful, unique, sustainable and support fairtrade and the environment in Africa.
For example, the meditation cushions are 100% handmade in Madagascar by women from a low-income background using raphia, an organic fiber. Once they arrive in the UK, they are filled with organic UK-grown buckwheat hulls, which makes it super comfortable to sit on (and beautiful). The yoga blocks are not made of foam but recycled flip flops collected from beaches in Kenya so each block is completely unique. saves the ocean and provide jobs in Kenya. For every yoga mat sold, I plant a mangrove tree in Madagascar, the 4th most deforested country in the world.

Within Ladina Yoga, I also organise educational events where I teach yoga, collaborate with other artists and lead retreats (the next one being in Madagascar in October). I love the idea of building a community and bringing different people together, especially after the last 2 years of being so secluded from the rest of the world. I enjoy challenging the practice as we see it nowadays. As a teacher, I make sure my students know where yoga comes from and that it is not all about the physical aspect as yoga has a much more spiritual meaning.

Growing a business while working full time is difficult but I am very proud of everything I’ve achieved over the last 2 years, the people I have met and the impact Ladina Yoga has made for local communities in Africa. Without the support of my community, I wouldn’t be here and Ladina Yoga wouldn’t exist so I’m truly grateful for everyone who is believing in my mission and I can only hope better things are coming as I have a lot of ideas!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I love the word resilience and it is the backbone of Ladina Yoga. My own journey took me through some ups and downs, including finding myself unemployed during lockdown and my dad passing away while I was building Ladina Yoga. I found strength and patience through this difficult time, with yoga always being by my side and this experience brought me even closer to yoga and my mission. There has been a few times where the pressure of growing a business was too much or I was disappointed by sales being too slow. Every time this happens, I take a step back and take some time out. This really allows me to clear my mind, stop overthinking and focus on what’s important by coming back to my business plan or vision board. Ultimately, I learnt success is not about motivation, it is about consistency, so showing up everyday even for a few minutes or a couple of hours can go a long way, I keep a log of the Ladina Yoga successes and this is a nice ego-boost that works everytime!
Each product is crafted with resilience in mind because they illustrate the story of the maker and my hope is this feeling will be shared by the yoga practitioner. In fact, two of the Ladina Yoga mats are named “Warrior” to inspire people to show up everyday and channel their inner and outer Warrior.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I recently realised I was afraid of success because I didn’t know what kind of a successful person I would be. I was part of the latest cohort of the Natwest Accelerator in London, which is an intense, sped up mentoring programme where I felt challenged everyday and had to push beyond my mindset to come up with actionable goals and plans for Ladina Yoga. The goals I set at first were very conservative and “safe”; this is when I realised I was afraid of success. To be completely honest, I am still working on it by allowing myself to dream and put those dreams in goals for Ladina Yoga!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ladinayoga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladinayoga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladinayoga
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maysunhassanaly/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvbi_MUVU_G18QHFWfJPIw/videos?view=0&sort=da

Image Credits
Camille Marie Bieber