Every Tuesday and Thursday, the faithful show up, rolled mats in hand, hair tied back, ready to flex, stretch and meditate, to go through the poses -- locusts, lunges, bows and plows as the sun sets over the oceanfront at Palm Cay.

They’re there for fitness guru Colleen Carey’s Yogi Isles class seaside at Palm Cay, the award-winning community on New Providence’s southeast coast. On average, there are more than a dozen participants. The numbers have been as high as 25. Given the space, Carey says there is always room.

“The environment is very peaceful and calm,” she says. “You hear the waves and the wind and the trees. Being by the beach brings a whole different element to yoga. People love it at Palm Cay.”

The setting may be special for New Providence but it harkens back a very long way. Yoga reportedly started on the beach 5,000 years ago and in places like The Bahamas where more people are turning to Eastern-inspired meditation to relieve stress, the beachfront is again gaining favour over wooden floors in air-conditioned gyms. Reasons are plentiful – fresh air increases oxygen, builds immune systems, improves metabolism, boosts Vitamin D. Yoga directly on uneven sand strengthens secondary muscles. More celebrities are turning to mats and sand, forsaking smartphones, for an hour of restoration.

For developers of Palm Cay, adding yoga to the mix of activities was one more way of building a sense of community.

“We always say that Palm Cay is not just a development, it’s a community where residents and guests enjoy the best of life in The Bahamas,” said Zack Bonczek, Sales & Marketing Director. Last year, Palm Cay became the first community to win the Bahamas Contractors’ Association Award for Excellence, an honour that in the past had been reserved for a contractor or construction-related firm, never presented to a development. In its presentation, the association noted opportunities Palm Cay had afforded Bahamian companies and the inclusive community atmosphere it had created.

The nearly 70-acre, $200 million development features 1,200 feet of broad, white sand beach, a sophisticated two-story restaurant, the Billfish Grill, a 194-slip, full-service marina, tennis courts, swimming pools, family playground, 24-hour security, full infrastructure and will include some 300 homes when fully built out with single family residences, townhomes and condominiums.