Teaching in Asia
In
April 2005 I had the great honor of being invited to teach Anusara
Yoga in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Some Americans think this would be
unnecessary since yoga came from that part of the world, but in
fact, John Friend has taken what he has learned in India and
organized it into a powerful, user-friendly system that is
helping people all over the world to use yoga as a tool to open
their bodies and their hearts.
The culture in Taiwan was very spiritual and the people were
warm, friendly and eager to try to understand inward spiral and
handstands and more advanced backbends and arm balances. I was
amazed at how flexible many of them are. Most people were
English speaking,and I always had plenty of translators around
for those who only spoke Mandarin. One of the highlights of my
time there was going to the park in the middle of the city at
7am and seeing all the people practicing Tai Chi, martial arts
and even ballroom dancing. What a beautiful sight!
The food was delicious, the massages were intense and I was
treated like a queen by my hosts in both cities. Hong Kong was
described to me as "New York on steroids." A tiny island full of
skyscrapers and home to millions of people, the studio I taught
at has three locations and thousands of students. Many of the
students there attend classes 3-5 times a week and are very
strong. Imagine a room of 40 people all in Hanumanasana, (the
splits) including the men!
The humidity in Hong Kong makes each class a "hot yoga"
experience, even with the windows open. By the end of two hours,
we are all drenched with sweat,and I was surprised at how
comfortable that was for them. "No problem, they said, "we just
use a lot of towels."
There is so much growing interest in Anusara in other parts of
the world now that it is becoming a very unifying force. Next
time you are in class chanting the invocation, think of your
Asian friends who will be doing the same.
