VSGT MARIBOR HOSTED AN EXCLUSIVE PRESENTATION OF ASAHI NORDIC TRAINING
At the Higher Vocational College for Hospitality and Tourism Maribor, we have been combining education, professional expertise, and health promotion for many years. This year, as part of the international Global Wellness Day initiative, we prepared a special opportunity for everyone interested in movement, health, and innovative approaches to well‑being.
We invited Margaret Vainio, an internationally recognized trainer of ASAHI Nordic exercise. Asahi is a modern Finnish health practice designed for the needs of people in the 21st century. It draws on the wisdom of Eastern martial arts and modern medical science. The exercise is safe for all ages and health conditions and requires no special equipment. Asahi effectively counteracts the negative effects of a sedentiary lifestyle through slow, harmonious movements, deep breathing, and eye exercises that help calm the vagus nerve. It supports both mental and physical balance and improves posture, leg strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, endurance, and reflexes. This gentle yet effective practice can be performed standing or seated, indoors or outdoors, without accessories or special gear.
On Tuesday, May 6, we organized a presentation and practical session of Asahi for the media, the general public, and our students. The event formed part of the diploma project of student Jernej Erjavec, who, under the mentorship of Mojca Polak, is preparing a promotional concept for ASAHI exercise as an example of successful collaboration between students, an educational institution, and the wider community.
Currently, Slovenia has three certified Asahi instructors, all from Maribor—Jasna Markuš, and Jerneja Lešnik Cotza and Mihaela Škrlj Brglez, both lecturers at VSGT Maribor. They have already integrated this practice into various programmes. Residents of Dom pod gorco have been exercising with it, seniors regularly practice it at the Unifit Center Radvanje, employees experience it during corporate team‑bonding programmes and forest‑bathing activities, and VSGT Maribor students have also explored and studied the method.
We extend our sincere thanks to Margaret Vainio for sharing her expertise and for donating her book on Asahi Nordic exercise to our school library.
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