Culture is the combination of the arts, beliefs and institutions created by a group of people that share common geography. Here on the Island of St. Kitts, our culture provides a fascinating window into the distant past, and yet it is seems to be evolving right before our eyes. It is a rare treasure chest of traditions and customs brought together from very different lands by very different people. You can see it in the way we dance, taste it in the way we cook, and hear it in the stories we tell.

While it's nowhere near as long as Pinney's, Oualie beach offers equally good white sand and equally good bathing. It's dominated by a single establishment, the venerable Oualie Beach Hotel, which offers rustic beachfront accommodation and a down-to-earth bar frequented by a lively mix of locals and tourists. Oualie is also the base for a variety of water activity operations, including catamaran and sloop cruises, scuba diving, windsurfing and kayaking.

No roundup of the best beaches in this part of the world would be complete without Pinney's. With mile after mile of superb white sand and a beguiling array of options for eating and drinking, Pinney's is not only recognised as one of the finest beaches in the Leeward chain of islands, it's one of best in the entire Caribbean. It's also – like Nevis itself – a favourite playground of the rich and famous.

One of the eastern Caribbean's loveliest beaches, Sand Bank is also off the beaten track. A few years ago, in fact, it was completely untouched by human hand – not so much as a beach bar intruded on its pristine beauty, much less a hotel or a house. That's no longer the case; there is a scattering of houses set back from the beach, and a decidedly upmarket but mercifully unobtrusive private beach club at the back of the south end of the semi-circular stretch of sand.

A small but diverse choice of watering holes, a gorgeous stretch of powdery white sand and excellent bathing from end to end make Cockleshell the most popular of the handful of beaches around the tip of the south-east peninsula. It's a magnet for locals out to party on weekends and public holidays, and a favourite destination for cruise-ship tourists, which means the scene can get decidedly lively. But you can have the beach pretty much to yourself on weekdays in the quiet summer season.

An off-the-beaten-track gem on the Atlantic side of the island, Frigate Bay North is a superb beach, long stretches of which you can usually have more or less to yourself, even on public holidays and at the height of the tourist season. That's despite the fact that one stretch of Frigate Bay North is the location for a bunch of beachfront condo developments and the sprawling Marriott hotel. The bathing and swimming are excellent, and a long reef ensures that the normally treacherous Atlantic water is remarkably safe.

For years the most popular beach in St Kitts with locals, Frigate Bay South has had stern competition since the 1989 opening of the south-east peninsula highway, which made an assortment of superb white-sand beaches easily accessible. But Frigate Bay is still home to St Kitts' major tourist hotels and most of the island's big houses, and over the past decade a string of beachfront bars, known collectively as 'The Strip', has sprung up. The bars have become a big attraction for locals and tourists, many of whom enjoy taking a dip and a drink – not necessarily in that order.

The Caribbean Sea side of Friars Bay provides a splendid beach experience for all. The water is calm and the atmosphere is usually quite lively, especially on Sundays. Food and drinks are available. It is an excellent outing for the entire family. However, the more adventure-seeking beach-goer will probably be more exhilarated by the higher surf of the Atlantic Ocean on North Friars Bay.

A rarely busy gem of a beach, Majors is located a few yards from the tip of the south-east peninsula highway, just next to where the Sea Bridge ferry to Nevis picks up and lets off vehicles and passengers. Majors could hardly be simpler: a longish, narrow stretch of golden sand, warm blue water that always seems to be calm, and nothing by way of beach bars or other amenities. It's been touted as the location for a major hotel, and doubtless that will happen at some time in the not-too-distant future, so catch it while it's still off the beaten track.

Svaroopa is Sanskrit for your own “true form.” Experiencing your true form is the purpose of yoga, defined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. This is the goal of all our practices. This experience is unmistakable, the unparalleled bliss of your own Beingness — the discovery of your own inherent Divinity.