While the city is buzzing outside with its endless parade of cars, unstoppable scream of horns, and pervasive cloud of polluting emissions, the Nun Centre remains a safe haven, where problems are solved with a relaxing massage, a jar of organic vegetables, and live music.
The wellness hub is located in the heart of Zamalek and attracts a wide range of visitors seeking a few hours away from the chaos, stress, and pollution of a city.
“We founded Nun in November 2011 because we wanted to establish a wellness centre that caters to a wide variety of people,” said Nada Eskandar, co-founder of the Nun Centre.
From yoga to pilates to martial arts, Nun could truly be labelled a synonym of growth and development as well as a destination for everyone.
(Photo from Facebook)
“Humans are different and they need different things. Some people just need to fix a specific physical malady while others come here with the intention of focusing on their own self-development. Nonetheless, soon after arriving with their own perception of what they need, everyone figures out that they also need other things. The body cannot be divided; you have to embrace a holistic approach if you want to achieve a good level of healing,” said Eskandar.
According to the co-founder, people are very attracted to yoga these days. Accordingly, all 10 different yoga classes that are provided at Nun are extremely popular. Nonetheless, the founders prefer not to categorise the sessions based on their genre. Instead, they prefer to associate a session’s success to its practitioner.
“People often come for the practitioners. For example, homeopathy is very popular because we have great practitioners who genuinely listen to the clients,” said Eskandar.
With that said, massages are the top requested treatment. “People mainly want to relax, do nothing, and just receive treatment. It is an actual time-out,” said the co-founder.
Meanwhile, body-mind medicine is an essential part of Nun’s agenda. This type of session often focuses on relating physical pains to extreme emotions while finding solutions via cross-relating both sciences.
“People usually visit us with many questions regarding their physical pain. However, it is never long before they discover that their neck pain has a lot to do with stress. The way that we hold and store extreme feelings make us tense and, accordingly, many of our organs start to suffer,” said Eskandar.
Nun also focuses on physical development through a permanent stock of organic and local food as well as a bi-weekly farmers market. The market started with the idea of empowering local farmers and helping health-conscious clients attain authentic, organic varieties, of food.
local farmers and advocate a healthy lifestyle
(Photo from Facebook)
“The main idea behind the farmers market was to initially support a group of farmers who, under normal circumstances, would not get an opportunity to have their produce stocked in supermarkets. Moreover, it was also to provide a sustainable outlet for those who cook and prepare food at home,” said Eskandar.
The regular market takes place each Tuesday and Saturday from 10am to 2pm at the centre’s garden entrance. The increasing popularity of the market has also positioned it as a credible source for locally-produced food. Accordingly, a large number of farmers are taking the initiative to contact the founders and participate in the market.
“Our main criterion is an ethical, honest description of the products. For example, if a product is labelled as organic then it must meet well-known standards. Furthermore, we try not to collaborate with those who are too commercial because our main target is to enable them to have a dialogue with regular customers,” said Eskandar.
As for the centre’s future plans, the founders will continue to cater to their visitors’ emotional and physical well-being. They also plan to expand and focus on their professional well-being.
“We are currently working on including more professional courses and coaching sessions because we have noticed that many people are considering leaving the corporate world and following their passion so we want to make sure that we are able to provide them with help,” concluded Eskandar.
