Founded in Monaco by Maria Alekseenko, Yachting Therapy uses the power of the sea to help people after being diagnosed with a disease.
It all starts in the Principality of Monaco, where billionaires look to new ways every day to entertain themselves. Actually, not. The story behind Yachting Therapy is very different.
When Monaco-based entrepreneur Maria Alekseenko’s close relative was diagnosed with a rare neurological illness, she noticed was the word “sea” contained in “disease”. She thought this coulb mean something good. Actually, although there are few studies on how the sea and ocean can impact the body, the evidence of the healing power of the sea is all around.
Yachting therapy can be useful for many purposes
After more than 10 years of experience in retail yacht chartering, she started to explore yachting not just as a means for holidays and fun, but as a therapy.
From ‘Night sea swimming’ and ‘Dancing in the sea’, to a ‘Healing jet-ski experience’ and ‘Philosophy of the waves’, Yachting Therapy schedules a programme that uses yachts and water as informal therapeutic tools to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable.
_The programme is run in consultation with the patient’s doctors and specialists.
It is currently targeted at people who have been diagnosed with cancer, motor neurone diseases or diabetes, or are recovering from surgery and chemotherapy. Athletes may also find the techniques beneficial, as well as couples experiencing infertility as the techniques are based on four years research and the founder’s personal experiences.
Yachting Therapy forms part of Alekseenko’s Monaco-based company Experiential Yachting and the programme can take place on either a chartered yacht or on an owner’s personal boat. According to the entrepreneur, the benefits include slowing down the progression of a disease, speeding up recovery and activating self-healing.
“Yachting therapy is not a medical therapy or treatment, but an alternative complementary experience to manage disease or recovery”, says Alekseenko. “The aim is to shift the perception of yachting from product-orientated to experience-orientated, by enriching yachting with deep purpose and extraordinary experiences, making a difference to the world and to people’s lives”.
