On Nika Island, a suggestive ceremony at sunset under the centuries-old Ficus bengalensis tree – “Nika” in Divehi, the local language – for proclaimed the world‘s first “island gentle”.: Sunday 2 April at 19.30 local time (in Nika the time zone is two hours ahead of the rest of the archipelago) the Maldivian island has become Isola Gentile in adherence to theInternational Kindness Movementthe international collective movement born in 2020 and which today involves over 300,000 people and hundreds of entities, businesses and institutions in Italy and abroad in the diffusion of the universal value of Kindnesstransforming it into concrete projects with a high social impact for communities and territories around the world.
Nika Island proclaimed the friendliest island in the world
The founder and inspirer of the movement Daniel Lumera, the international coordinator and ambassador Felicia Cigorescu, the owner of the Nika Island Resort Giovanna Bellazzi and the Honorary Consul of Italy in the Maldives Giorgia Marazzi were present at the proclamation ceremony.
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” wrote the English poet John Keats. AND Nika in her beauty fully embodies the value of kindness: it is an island not subject to the bad weather of time nor to the dynamics of mass tourism which is redefining the very essence of the Maldives. For this reason, best expressing this philosophy that characterizes it from its roots, the small but significant precious gem of the Indian Ocean chooses to embrace the value of Kindness with the commitment to translate it into concrete social and cultural projects for the benefit of the ecosystem, between traditions, science and nature: an ambitious alchemical experiment with simply unrepeatable contours. One of the most beautiful places in the world, where the paradisiacal white sand is set in the deep blue of the ocean, therefore intends to represent the virtuous and perfectly balanced union of the concepts of tradition and beauty, typical of these extraordinary islands, with the attention to the environment, sustainability, culture and the preservation of traditions and local history, education and social issues.
A piece of Maldivian history
Nika Island è a piece of Maldivian history: one of the first islands of the Ari atoll to transform itself, exactly forty years ago, into a unique destination in the world, which has maintained the flavor of the past and a close link with Italy, especially with Venice, the homeland of choice and city adored by Gianpiero Bellazzi since his transfer in 1983.
It is here, in this almost “suspended” time and space, that the International Kindness Movement brings its message, based on numerous and accredited international scientific research that attests to the benefits of what is called the “biology of values”thus giving a concrete answer to the value crisis of our society through a real awareness that rests on solid scientific foundations and on universal social and existential concepts.
Biology of kindness
The Movement expresses in educational, environmental, cultural, social, health and justice-related projects and a conscious economy the values expressed in the book “Biology of Kindness”, an award-winning bestseller published in Italy (by Mondadori) and in Spain (by Editorial Diana), co-authored by the naturalist biologist Daniel Lumera, bestselling author and international reference in the sciences of well-being and practice of meditation, and by Harvard scientist Immaculata De Vivo, world expert in the field of molecular epidemiology and cancer genetics.
It has, in fact, been shown how values such as kindness, optimism, forgiveness, gratitude and happiness generate a high biological, vital, emotional, mental, social and spiritual impact, going to directly affect our DNA and telomeres, the “caps” of our chromosomes identified by science as indicators of well-being, health and longevity. This gave rise to a new interpretation of Darwin’s theory of evolutionwhich attests how to survive on our planet is not the strongest but the kindest, as an inner change (intrapersonal level) is reflected in a chain on the quality of our relationships (interpersonal level) and on social processes (collective level), in addition to having a profound impact on the environment as well: this is what science has defined as the ripple effect. The Movement, therefore, presents itself as a positively contagious viral wave that disseminates, promotes and spreads Kindness and the Biology of Values in the social fabric through the six pillars of well-being: happy relationships, correct nutrition, meditation, physical movement, art and music, and contact with nature.
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