Namaskar - July 2014

namaskar 

A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMUNITY OF ASIA July 2014 

KARMA YOGA 

Help a boy and some elephants you’ve never met 

and probably never will ...................................p17 

SHAVASANA 

An important celebration of our yoga practice 

that everyone should make time for ..............p19 

TEACHING YOGA 

Is it for me? Am I ready? What does it take to be 

really good at it? ...........................................p26 

Ashtangi Kino MacGregor on the streets of Singapore, photo by Anwar Sadhana

2 NAMASKAR

NAMASKAR - JULY 2014 

LETTER FROM 

THE EDITOR 

As the intensity of our practice 

increases, so too must the 

depth of our breath. 

So too in life, if the intensity of our lives 

mounts, so too must we be able to increase 

the positive energy coming in. 

As it is only us who can breathe for ourselves, it is each of our responsibilities to maintain our 

own balance. 

I’ve always thought myself a balanced person - physically, mentally and emotionally, ready to 

take on a myriad challenges. 

However this year’s offered many more challenges to me than usual, and I’ve become depleted. 

It’s only now, half way into the year, I realise I haven’t been replenishing my own reserves. 

Fortunately, in a few days we leave for two months in the beautiful mountains of Whistler, 

Canada, where I will take a two-month savasana! 

Azmi talks about the importance and beauty of this asana in this issue. 

I recently completed my first solo teacher training, a part-time hot yoga programme attended 

by 15 amazing women. For them, as well as the many thousands of other students considering 

taking one, we offer “Teaching Yoga” as our dristi. 

Does completing a 200- or even 500-hour course, automatically qualify you to go out and 

teach? On the other hand, might someone be an amazing teacher through the efforts of their 

own study and practice, without ever having taken a course at all? Articles by Cassandra, Kim 

and Chan look at who could teach and what it takes. While Nina and Melissa look at the subject 

from the perspective of a student and new teacher respectively. 

While we can learn a lot from traditional teachers, we can also learn so much from others as 

well. Louise Rogerson and Yogiuday are two people we can all learn from, been inspired by. 

Louise runs a charity for elephants aptly named EARS and Yogiuday is using his home-made 

sweets business in India to raise money for the education of underprivileged children there. 

Both have traded traditional lifestyles for causes bigger than themselves. After you have read 

about their efforts, I hope you will join Namaskar in supporting their worthwhile work. 

I hope you will take the time to read the many other articles herein, all represent the generous 

and selfless efforts of our contributors. 

Hope you too will enjoy your Summer-vasana! 

On the cover is Kino MacGregor, certified Ashtanga yoga 

teacher 

In This Issue 

DRISTI - TEACHING YOGA 

KNOW THYSELF 26 

Get to know yourself before you teach others 

BODY & SPIRIT 29 

OTHER SIDE OF THE MAT 31 

What a student thinks makes a good teacher 

TEACHER QUIZ 32 

Are you cut out to teach yoga? 

SURVIVING YOUR FIRST YEAR 32 

How to make it as a yoga teacher 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

HELPING THE KARMA YOGIS 17 

How we can help two people out there making 

a difference 

SHAVASANA 19 

Deserves to be enjoyed, not rushed through 

YOGA ON THE GO 23 

A teacher’s app for her travelling students 

REGULAR CONTRIBUTIONS 

KULA UPDATES, WORKSHOPS, 

RETREATS, TEACHER TRAININGS 6 

PHOTO ESSAY 14 

I HEARD OFF THE MAT 20 

TEACHER FEATURE 35 

MUDRAS IN BRIEF 39 

MYTHOLOGY 40 

MUDRAS IN BRIEF 39 

BOOK REVIEW 41 

DVD REVIEW 42 

RECIPE 47 

DIRECTORY 48 

ABOUT NAMASKAR 

ADMINISTRATION Carol Adams, carol@caroladams.hk 

NEWS EDITOR Wai-Ling Tse, wailing.tse@gmail.com 

CIRCULATION Angela Sun, angela.sun@gmail.com 

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Frances Gairns, fgairns@netvigator.com 

Namaskar provides a voice for the yoga community in Asia and around 

the world. The publication is an opportunity for practitioners on a 

yogic path to selflessly offer their knowledge, learnings and 

experiences with others. 

We welcome unsolicited submissions, therefore the opinions 

expressed within these pages are not necessarily those of Namaskar or 

its volunteers. 

Articles and photographs in Namaskar are contributed at no charge. 

Advertising income covers production, distribution, administrative 

costs and discretionary contributions to selected charities and causes. 

Namaskar, is published quarterly in January, April, July and October. 

About 5,000 copies per issue are printed and distributed for free to 

yoga studios, teachers, fitness centres, retail outlets, restaurants & 

cafes and other yoga-friendly outlets. Mostly distributed in Hong 

Kong, with 1,500 copies mailed to readers in 25 other countries. A 

further 1,000 soft copies are distributed by email. 

July 2014 3

CONTRIBUTORS 

banker and management 

consultant, who today is a multidisciplinary 

holistic practitioner 

committed to finding the best 

healing solutions for her clients. 

She is also a Kundalini yoga 

teacher. chan@sol-wellness.com 

AZMI SAMDJAGA 

Although groomed to be an 

architect, Azmi changed his life 

course after a training in India. He 

has been teaching for 15 years in 

Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. 

He has studied under Sri Pattabhi 

Jois, Matthew Sweeney, Lance 

Schuler and Louisa Sears. An 

Ashtangi by training with a 

background in dance and massage, 

Azmi shares the grace of his 

practice and emphasizes stillness 

in the classes he teaches. He 

currently teaches at Sadhana 

Sanctuary in Singapore. 

azmi@sadhanasanctuary.com 

CAROL ADAMS 

Carol takes care of Namaskar 

administration and invoicing. She 

works from home which gives her 

the freedom to be a stay-at-home 

mom to an 8-year-old son. Carol 

teaches yoga regularly. 

carol@caroladams.hk 

FRANCES GAIRNS 

Frances is the editor and publisher 

of Namaskar. She teaches at Pure 

Yoga in Hong Kong and has two 

children. fgairns@netvigator.com 

KIM ROBERTS 

Kim is on staff at New Life 

Foundation in Chiang Rai, 

Thailand, where she teaches and 

counsels. papayoga@gmail.com, 

www.toolsofevolution.org 

BARBARA PASSY 

Barbara is a certified Forrest Yoga 

teacher and works for a bank in 

Chicago, Illinois. 

barbara.passy@gmail.com 

CASSANDRA KISH 

Cassandra, founder of Vidyaa Yoga, 

currently lives in Paris, France. She 

offers yoga/surf retreats in Baleal, 

Portugal - Yoga Surf Sleep Eat. 

cassandrayogaparis@yahoo.co.uk 

MELISSA MAK 

Based in Singapore, Melissa’s yoga 

journey started in 2007 when her 

good friend dragged her to her first 

yoga class. She completed her 

RYT200 training at Sivananda Yoga 

Vedanta in Kerala, India. Currently 

a physical educator, she is trying to 

start a yoga club in her school with 

her 118 willing students. Her public 

classes are available at the 1Fiesta 

Fitness studio in Tampines, 

Singapore. 

mel.mak.yee@gmail.com 

KRISHNAA KINKARIDAS 

Krishnaa lives in London. Her yoga 

and philosophy interest began in 

the 1960s in India. She had the 

privilege to study with B.K.S. 

Iyengar over several years in 

Mumbai and Pune. She runs 

classes in London and teaches 

‘Sanskrit and Mudras for Yoga’ for 

Yoga Alliance and British wheel of 

Yoga trainee teachers. She is the 

author of nine books on Bhakti 

Yoga. kinkaridasi@hotmail.com 

CHAN CUDENNEC 

Chan is the founder of SOL 

Wellness. She was a stressed out 

4 NAMASKAR

honour, the mind body and spirit 

provoking self awareness to be in 

the present moment. 

yogabug@netvigator.com 

www.sueyenwan.com 

MOOSA AL-ISSA 

Moosa is Executive Director of 

Life Café and Director of Just 

Green Organic Convenience 

Stores in HK. 

Moosaalissa@gmail.com 

NINA GASSAUER 

Originally from Munich, Germany, 

Nina is a devoted yoga student and 

journalist based in Hong Kong. 

Among other topics, Nina 

observes the Asian yoga scene and 

expresses her opinion in various 

magazines. ng@inhkmagazin.com 

TIA SINHA 

Tia spends a few months a year in 

solitary retreat at Dongyu Gatsal 

Ling Nunnery, Himachal, India and 

teaches Hatha Yoga to the nuns 

there. She also teaches Tibetean 

Buddhist philosophy and 

meditation, yoga asana and yoga 

philosophy elsewhere. 

Onlytia2@yahoo.co.in 

namaskar 

current & past issues are at: 

www.issuu.com/caroladams 

October’s dristi: 

The Branding of Yoga 

Some headlines to consider: 

• How branding helps and hinders yoga. 

• Branding yoga makes teachers/schools stand out and ensures 

better quality teaching. 

• Branding is consumerism, it has no place in yoga. 

• How to brand yourself in this crowded market. 

We hope this topic will prompt a lively debate. If you would like 

to contribute an article on this subject, or others, to Namaskar, 

please email Frances at fgairns@netvigator.com with your 

thoughts first. That way we can let you know if another 

contributor is already covering that angle. Final articles are 

welcome before September 10. 

WAI-LING TSE 

Wai-Ling teaches and practises 

yoga, mindfulness, therapy and is 

News Editor of Namaskar. She 

loves connecting with people in 

everyday life through yoga, 

nature, food and music. 

yogawithling@gmail.com 

SUE YEN WAN 

Ying has been a freelance Yoga 

instructor since 1998. Striving to 


KULA 

Updates 

AUSTRALIA 

SoulCentre 

Academy & 

SoulKids open in 

Sydney 

The Academy will open its doors in 

January 2015 and will offer 

SoulKids programs in addition to 

one-on-one coaching for 

children.Meditation programs will 

also be available from beginner to 

master level. 

For more information 

zuproc@hotmail.com 

CHINA 

2nd China-India 

Summit 

7-12 July 

Dali City, Yunnan Province 

Organised by the Consulate 

General of the Republic of India in 

Guangzhou and supported by the 

government of Yunnan province. It 

is one of the core projectsfor 

China-India cultural and friendship 

exchange in 2014. Teachers and 

guests will include Geeta S 

Iyengar, HR Nagendra, Manivanna 

Ramachandran, Joseph H Pereira, 

Birjoo H. Mehta, Rajvi Mehta, 

Firooza Ali and many more. 


www.yogasummit.org / 

info@yogasummit.org /(86) 

2038863669 

FRANCE 

European 

Kundalini Yoga 

Festival 

2-10 August 

Join Chan Cudennec and her 

friends at this transformational 8 

days of Kundalini Yoga, meditation 

and cleansing ayurvedic diet in the 

countryside of central France. 

For more information www.3hoeurope.org/en/eventsactivities/ 

european-yoga-festival/ 

HONG KONG 

Natural living 

directory 

welcomes 

members 

Support positive ecological, 

personal and social change in Hong 

Kong and beyond. Get fresh 

content and connections for 

natural choices every day. Find 

what you’re looking for, even when 

you’re not sure what you’re looking 

for. Register for a Yoga listing in 

Natural Hong Kong. Post your 

event on the heartbeat calendar. 

Subscribe to the free email 

newsletter and stay in touch with 

what’s new and what’s on in Hong 

Kong - naturally. Join now for prelaunch 

member rates and get 

connected with your local 

community. Visit the website at 

heartbeat.com.hk - a natural guide 

for life in the fast lane. Listen to 

your own heartbeat. 


getfresh@heartbeat.com.hk / 

(852) 6628 6153 

Opening of Yoga 

Bam Bam 

Sheung Wan 

The opening party of Yoga Bam 

Bam in May was 12-hours of non 

stop Yoga, dance, aerial silks, 

shopping, vegetarian food, reggae, 

live music, rapping and friendly 

smiles. Their vibe is earthy refined 

by minimalistic design and taste. 

The beautiful tiny studio is set on a 

pedestrian tree lined terrace with 

both an outdoor and indoor 

deck.The studio was created as a 

space for Yoga teachers, friends 

and artists to fully express 

themselves; and is a haven of calm 

in a neighbourhood full of 

independent art galleries, cafés 

and shops. No membership fees, 

just sign in to reserve your booking 

online and pay the teacher in cash 

after the class. 


www.YogaBamBam.com / 

www.facebook.com/YogaBamBam 

/high@yogabambam.com 

Healing Circle at 

SOL Wellness 

Central 

SOL Wellness offers 15-minute 

healing sessions between 1-2pm 

every Wednesday by 

donation.Therapies on offer are 

EFT, oracle card readings, ancient 

Thai massage, Tibetan singing 

bowl therapy, Reiki, NLP, Violet 

prayer therapy, Yuen method and 

Sekhem healing. 100% of 

donations collected will go 

towards helping victims of 

domestic violence at Bethane 

House or buying safety beepers 

for the elderly. Book your session 

in advance. 

For more information (852) 2581 

9699 / info@sol-wellness.com 

Yoga Central 

Summer Treat 

Summer treat forstudents during 

July to August. Any class on their 

schedule under ‘general’ or ‘basics’ 

for HK$100 per class.Check out 

their schedule on their website or 

Facebook Page: Iyengar-Central 


yogacentralhk@gmail.com / 

www.yogacentral.com.hk 

September Open 

House at Yoga 

Central 

Free community classes and 

history of Iyengar Yoga with lucky 

draw and gifts to share. Charity 

organizations are most welcome to 

contact Karen at (852) 2982 4308; 

yogacentralhk@gmail.com to 

arrange free classes for the underprivileged. 




French fashion designer, Fé (left), 

collaborated with photographer Beatrice 

Lee to launch Fé yoga-inspired clothing 

line. 

A Day of Fashion, 

Yoga and Art 

PMQ, Central 

On 22 MayFrench fashion designer 

Fé and photographer Beatrice Lee 

in collaboration with other 

partners held an exhibition based 

on the theme of ‘With Love from 

Hong Kong’ – The Yogi. Fé 

launched her new Yoga-inspired 

spring/summer collection, while 

Beatrice displayed her stunning 

images from a series of 

photoshoots done with a few of 

Hong Kong’s top yogis. Their 

mission being to bring together a 

collection of works that shows 

6 NAMASKAR

women at their best, all with very 

different journeys coming 

together to share this strong bond 

of Yoga. The images displayed the 

beauty of the female body and 

fluidity of movement in their home 

city of Hong Kong. 


info@wearelivingalive.com 

Barbara Passy attended Wanderlust Chicago last month with a few of her friends! 

Cancer expert Graham Player gives a talk 

in Hong Kong. 

Cancer-free 

Living Talk by Dr. 

Graham Player 

21 July, 15 September& 10 

November (7-8:30pm) 

SOL Wellness, Central 

Learn about cancer from a holistic 

perspective and understand 

numerous options and strategies 

to take control of your life and how 

complementary therapies such as 

meditation, Yoga, emotional 

healing, raw food and moreare 

being used by thousands of people 

who are successfully reversing 

their cancer.Dr. Graham Player is a 

cancer researcher and coach and 

has researched the topic of cancer 

for over 30 years. With a Ph.D. in 

Health Sciences and a degree in 

traditional Chinese medicine, he 

has practiced traditional Chinese 

medicine in Australia, England and 

Hong Kong where he has lived 

since the mid 1980s. By donation 

only and registration is required. 



/ www.sol-wellness.com 

Detox & Yoga 

Summer 

Promotion at SOL 

Wellness 

Central 

Reboot your health and slim down 

with a gentle yet highly effective 

SOL Green Detox without feeling 

hungry. This package includes: 

holistic health check, de-toxing 

ancient massage, natural 

supplements, 2 Yoga classes, and 2 

far-infrared sauna. 




Yoga in the Park 

with Ling 

This is a free Yoga community 

event organized by LING, Yoga and 

Wellbeing, to connect people, 

Yoga and nature in Hong Kong. 

Yoga classes will be held in various 

outdoor open areas such as public 

parks, beaches, playgrounds in 

order to practice Yoga with nature 

and with the community. Held 

every two weeks on a Saturday/ 

Sunday. Suitable for all levels 

including beginners, just BYOM 

(Bring Your Own Mat)! 

For more 

information www.meetup.com/ 

yogainthepark; 

www.facebook.com/yogawithling / 

yogawithling@gmail.com 

New Classes at 

SOL 

SOLWellness, Central 

Men’s Yoga, Mindfulness Yoga, 

Kundalini Yoga, Yin Yanga nd De- 

Stress Yin Yoga are available in a 

tranquil wellness Centre in the 

heart of Hong Kong. Small classes 

with personal attention and 

interaction with teachers and 

fellow practitioners. 




Flex opening in 

Central 

Flex will open a second studio in 

mid-August on lower Wyndham 

Street. Flex Central will have a 

private Pilates apparatus room, and 

one group multi-purpose studio 

offering Pilates Allegro, 

XtendBarre, Yoga, and other 

fitness conditioning classes. It will 

be fully equipped with showers 

and lockers. 

For more 

informationwww.flexhk.com 

Yoga on the Beach 

with Nora & The 

Yoga Room 

14 September (5-6pm) 

Repulse Bay Beach 

Practise yoga on the beach with 

waves, sand, sea and music. Free. 


www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 

25448398 

Talk on How 

Dental Toxins 

Causes Cancer 

13 October (7-8.30pm) 


There is scientific evidence that 

dental toxins from amalgams, root 

canals and crowns may be the 

cause of severe health conditions 

such as cancer, heart diseases etc. 




Seeking Yoga 

Teachers 

Inspire Yoga is looking for part 

time teachers who have at least 

200 hours ofteacher training 

qualification and some teaching 

experience is preferred. They seek 

teachers to teach private classes 

with focus on Hatha Yoga, Iyengar 

Yoga and Yoga Therapy. 


info@inspire-yoga.com 

SINGAPORE 

SoulKids opens in 

Singapore 

SoulKids opened in June with a 

talk by Vikas Malkani on 3 Secrets 

to inspire children. The Academy 

will offer SoulKids programs in 

addition to one-on-one coaching 

for children. 


info@soulcentre.org 


KULA 

Workshops 

HONG KONG 

Full Moon in 

Capricorn with 

Neil Irwin 

12 July 

Shakti Healing Circle, Central 

Yoga for grounding and alignment. 


info@shaktihealingcircle.com 

Light in 

Movement & 

Healing with Dr. 

Susan Jamieson 

12 July, 9 August & 27 September – 

Pure Yoga 

Family physician, Dr Susan 

Jamieson leads experiential 

workshops where students will 

learn how to both feel and work 

with the body’s ‘light systems’ such 

as the heart energy, chakras and 

meridians. 

For more information www.pureyoga.com 

/ events@pureyoga.com 

Summer Kids 

workshop: Fire & 

Water 

14, 16, 18 July 

The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan 

4-7 years: 2-3:30pm; 7-13 years: 4- 

5:30pm 

Students will create energetic, 

fiery Yoga poses including sun 

salutations as well as calming, 

creative movements such as moon 

salutations to develop strong, 

flexible bodies and clear, focused 

minds. 



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Stephen has been biking around the world for 15 months, teaching yoga and filming as he goes. He stops at The Yoga Room in Hong 

Kong. 9 - 10 August he’ll be at Raja Yoga in Shanghai, then 16 - 17 August at Raja Yoga in Hangzhou. 

Yoga Workshops 

with Stephen 

Ewashkiw 

2 & 3 August 


Stephen Ewashkiw from Los 

Angeles, who is in the final months 

of his 15-month world bicycle tour, 

is back in Hong Kong: 

2 August - Get Up, Stand Up - 

Standing Poses for all levels 

(10am-12:30pm) 

Straighten Up and Fly Right - Arm 

Balances and Inversions for 

intermediate/advanced (2 -5pm) 

3 August - From Strength to 

Strength- 10am-12:30pm 

Hip Openers and Arm Balances 

(All levels). 

Backbending & Beyond for 

intermediate/advanced (2-5pm) 



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Summer Kids 

workshop: Space 

11, 13, 15 August 


4-7 years: 9:30-11am; 7-13 years: 

11:30am-1pm 

Students will develop 

concentration, co-ordination and 

spatial awareness through playful 

yoga, creative body movements 

and visualizations based on space 

and the universe. 



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Curb Your 

Cravings with 

Falguni Mather 

18 August 


Falguni Mather is a counsellor, EFT 

practitioner and energy therapist. 

Effectively manage stress around 

foods you crave. 




BodyTalk Access 

Seminar with 

Angie Tourani 

23 August 

Five techniques in 10 minutes a 

day can lead to a healthy and 

balanced life. This one-day 

seminar teaches you tools to 

strengthen your immune 

system,enhance your child’s focus 

and memory, address your child’s 

learning difficulties, peaceful 

sleep, reduce stress and keeping 

your family healthy, without 

medication. 


www.bodytalksystem.com.hk 

Vinyasa 

Conditioning with 

Dario Calvaruso 

30 August 

Pure Yoga 

Float and Flow: Set your 

foundations for an advanced, 

energetic Vinyasa practice. 


/ dario.calvaruso@pureinternational.com 

Fermented Foods 

Workshop with 

Chan Cudennec 



Fermented Foods for a healthy gut. 

Learn how to make kim-chee, 

sauerkraut and dairy-free cheese. 




8 NAMASKAR

Introduction to 

Sekhem Living 

Light Energy with 

Chan Cudennec 



Learn about this ancient energetic 

system that originates from Egypt. 

Receive a temporary attunement 

and experience an energy session. 




Full Moon in 

Pisces with Neil 

Irwin 

6 September 

Shakti Healing Circle 

Yoga for experiencing infinity and 

your true identity. 


info@shaktihealingcircle.com 

Sekhem Level 1 

Class with Chan 

Cudennec 

12 September (4-9pm) & 14 

September(9am-5pm) 


Learn about this high vibrational 

energy system. 




Raw & Living 

Food: Authentic 

Thai Flavours 

with Chan 

Cudennec 



Learn how to make delicious 

classic Thai favourites; vegan fish 

cakes, green papaya pumpkin salad 

and Cocothaii dessert. 




9-day Awaken to 

Your Power with 

Tryphena Chia 

19-27 September 

Pure Yoga 

This is a quick and simple detox 

programme to help you reconnect 

with yourself physically and 

mentally. 



Vinyasa 

Multilevel Series 

with Dario 

Calvaruso 

September 

Pure Yoga 

A full immersion in amulti-level 

Vinyasa series. 


/ dario.calvaruso@pureinternational.com 

Iyengar Workshop 

1 - 4 October 

Yoga Central 

Jawahar Bangera, senior Iyengar 

has been a direct student of Mr. 

BKS Iyengar for over three 

decades. 




SINGAPORE 

30-day Hot Yoga 

Challenge with 

Rene Ekeheien 

5 July-3 August 

Pure Yoga 

Sweat. Smile. Shine - Harness the 

power of collective discipline and 

make hot yoga your newest habit 

for a lifetime of glowing health. 



Yin/Insight Yoga 

Workshop with 

Sarah Powers 

7 November 

True Yoga 


www.trueyoga.com.sg/home 

TAIWAN 

Ashtanga 

Intermediate 

Series Immersion 

with Adarsh 

Williams 

12-13 and 19-20 July 

SPACE YOGA, Taipei 

For dedicated students and 

teachers detailing the alignments, 

adjustments and modifications of 

the 2nd Series of Ashtanga. 


www.withinspace.com 

Yin Yoga 

Weekend with Jo 

Phee 

1-3 August 

True Yoga Taiwan 


jcwang@trueyoga.com.tw/ 

www.trueyoga.com.tw 

5-day Immersion: 

Total Mind/Body 

make-over with 

Basia Going 

25-29 August 


Transform your habitual patterns 

inside and out in this unique 

immersion. Explore how to 

recognize and be free from your 

mindless patterns of thinking and 

resulting patterns of behaviour. 

Jo gets down to the bones in her Yin Yoga workshop 

Canadian teacher Basia Going will be at 

SPACE in Taiwan 

For more information visit 


Balance Your 

Nervous System 

Therapeutic Yoga 

with Hart Lazer 

15-16 November 


Be free from the common human 

conditions of chronic pain, anxiety, 

depression, stress and trauma. 




Deepen & Refine 

Your Backbends 

with Hart Lazer 



Gain a wealth of knowledge from 

master teacher of teachers, Hart 

Lazer, on this often 

misunderstood part of the 

practice. 

KULA 

Teacher Trainings 



Optimal 

Musculoskeletal 

Health with Steve 

Maxwell 

9-14 December 


As one of the Top 100 trainers 

named by Men’s Journal, Steve has 

over four decades of experience in 

physical wellness, culminating in 

his unique synergy of various 

disciplines of Yoga and physical 

fitness. 



THAILAND 

Yin Yoga 

Weekend with Jo 

Phee 

8-10 August 

True Yoga, Bangkok 


GXoperations@truefitness.co.th / 

www.truefitness.co.th 

CHINA 

The Energetics of 

Excellence - 100- 

hr Advanced TT & 

CET with Patrick 

Creelman 

6-15 August - Pure Yoga, Shanghai 

This training is designed to 

empower and educate 

experienced teachers to the next 

level of their teaching. Learn how 

to own the space of each 

classroom, empower your voice 

when speaking in front of an 

audience, and find your deeper 

purpose of being in the seat of the 

teacher. 



Yin/Insight Yoga 

TT Intensive with 

Sarah Powers 

30 October-2 November 

Yoga Yard, Beijing 


www.yogayard.com/en/index.html 

GREECE 

100-Hour Yin 

Fascial Yoga 

Immersion I TT 

9-19 October 

Okreblue Seaside Retreat Center 

Spa, Paros 

Refine and strengthen your 

teaching skills, as you dive into the 

world of Yin Yoga. You will 

practise this meditative style of 

Yoga daily, learn all about selfmyofascial 

release using tennis 

balls and blocks, and gain a deeper 

understanding of Daoism and 

meridians, chakras and 

Mindfulness meditation. This 

Ann Da Silva leads a pre-natal teacher training at The Yoga Room 

immersion includes 10 hours of on 

the mat Myofascial release, 

providing you with a powerful 

healing journey, full of selfdevelopment 

and self-discovery. 


betalisboa.com / 

contact@betalisboa.com 

HONG KONG 

Yoga Therapy TT 

with Chandrika 

Gibson & Garrett 

Lane 

7-16 July - Pure Yoga 

This course brings together the 

therapeutic indications and 

techniques from classical Yoga 

texts with the latest in Yoga 

therapy research and evidencebased 

practices from other health 

professions. The course is 

coordinated by Dr Jean Byrne PhD 

and Chandrika Gibson. 



Yoga for the 

Special 

Child Basic 1 

Certification 

Program with 

Sonia Sumar 

25-31 August 

This method of Yogais safe and 

gentle for children with 

developmental ages from 0-12 

with Down’s Syndrome, Autism, 

Cerebral Palsy, Microcephaly, 

ADD/ADHD and other 

developmental disabilities. Sonia 

Sumar is the founder and pioneer 

in the field of Yoga for children 

with special needs. 


info@hershayoga.com 

10 NAMASKAR

85-Hour Yoga 

Alliance Certified 

Prenatal TT with 

Ann da Silva 

September-November 


This is suitable for Yoga teachers, 

midwives, doulas and other health 

professionals who are interested 

in teaching Yoga to mothers. All 

participants must have completed 

a 200-hour basic teacher training 

or at least three years of Yoga 

practice. 

Level I: Prenatal Yoga Fundamental 

Training (55 Hours) 

20-21 & 27-28 September, 18-19 & 

25-26 October 

Level II: Advanced Prenatal Yoga 

Teacher Training (30 Hours) 

8-9 & 15-16 November 



25448398 





Creelman 


Pure Yoga 




level ofteaching. Learn how to own 

the space of each classroom, 

empower your voice when 

speaking in front of an audience, 

and find your deeper purpose of 

being in the seat of the teacher. 



200-hour 

Classical Hatha 

Yoga TT with 

Michelle Ricaille 

September 2014-May 2015 

Flex Studio 

The training will consist of 

technique training and practice, 

anatomy andphysiology, Sanskrit 

training and general applications of 

Yoga in daily life. The schedule is 

structured to allow for busy work 

people and parents, during Friday- 

Sunday, one weekend per month. 

For more information (852) 2813- 

2212 / info@flexstudio 

Evolve Yourself: 

30-hour 

Continuing 

Education with 

Marcus Leung 


Pure Yoga 

Includes four-day morning 

intensive practice and workshops 

with focus on pelvic and spine; 

shoulders, elbows and wrists; hip, 

knee and ankle joints; energy flow 

as well as self-practice and 

homework assignments. 



The Foundation – 

Preparing to 

Teach: 200-hr TT 

with Patrick 

Creelman 

9-19 October and 15-25 January 

2015 – Pure Yoga 

This training is a time tested 

program with graduates currently 

teaching in major studios all over 

Victor will offer a basic Yin training at 

Studio Bliss 

the world and has proven to be a 

professional step towards being a 

fully accredited Yoga teacher and a 

huge leap into your own 

empowerment. 


/ teachertraining@pureyoga.com 

50-Hour Basic Yin 

Yoga TT with 

Victor Chng 

1-6 November 

Studio Bliss 

Yin Yoga is a unique approach to 

Yoga practice that works on 

releasing fascia tensions in the 

body. Fascia is the basic fabric of 

our body. Studies have shown that 

fascia can contract which causes 

tightness, tension and pain to 

different body parts, particularly in 

our lower back, neck and shoulder. 

Healthy fascia is important for 

structure integrity as well as 

energy flow. Yin Yoga focuses on 

the pelvis by releasing tension and 

tightness around the hips and 

lower back, all other areas of your 

body will start to open. 


www.studio-bliss-hk.com 

Leah Kim leads a full-time training at 

Hom Yoga in Singapore 

JAPAN 

30-Hours Yin 

Yoga TT with Jo 

Phee 


Spirit Yoga Osaka 

For more 

informationinfo@spirityogastudio.com/ 

www.spirityogastudio.com 

SINGAPORE 

200-hr Hot Yoga 

TT with Copper 

Crow 


Pure Yoga 

You will learn the skills needed to 

master the art and science of 

teaching, especially for those who 

wish to take their practice to 

another level.Gaining the skills 

required to effectively teach a 

wide array of students through the 

practice of Hot Yoga, as well as 

beginner Hatha and Vinyasa 

classes. 



Sarah will be leading retreats and trainings at various venues around Asia 


TT with Leah Kim 

7-27 November 

Hom Yoga 

Full time training course with 

Nike’s global Yoga ambassador, 

Leah Kim, certified by the Yoga 

Alliance. 


homyoga.com/training 

TAIWAN 

Evolve Yourself: 

30-hour 

Continuing 

Education with 

Marcus Leung 


Pure Yoga, Taipei 

Includes four-day morning 

intensive practice and workshops 

with focus on pelvic and spine; 

shoulders, elbows and wrists; hip, 

knee and ankle joints; energy flow 

as well as self-practice and 

homework assignments. 



Rainbow Kids 

Yoga TT 



A comprehensive, intensive and 

practical certification course, 

perfect for anyone who loves 

working with kidsand Yoga. This 

fun-filled course will provide you 

with immediate tangible 

knowledge and ideas to create 

original, captivating and fun Yoga 

experiences for kids of all ages. 

You do not need to be a Yoga 

teacher to take the course. 



Pre & Post-natal 

Yoga TT with 

Samantha Chan 

13-22 October 

Pure Yoga, Taipei 

This training offers an in-depth 

review of the anatomy and 

physiology of pregnancy, labour 

and birth. Trainees will gain 

extensive experience with asanas 

well suited to pregnant women and 

a thorough understanding of 

contra-indications during 

pregnancy. 


/ teachertraining@pureyoga.com 





Creelman 

24 November-3 December – Pure 

Yoga, Taipei 




level of their teaching. Learn how 

to own the space of each 

classroom, empower your voice 

when speaking in front of an 

audience, and find your deeper 

purpose of being in the seat of the 

teacher. 



THAILAND 

200-Hour Vikasa 

Yoga TT 

13 July-10 August; 9 November-7 

December 

Vikasa Yoga, Koh Samui 

Key principles and rules of Yoga 

are taught, allowing the teachers 

and dedicated practitioners to 

become free from any routines by 

gaining understanding, knowledge 

and insight into the methodology 

and the effects of practice. This 

method will produce maximum 

results in the minimum amount of 

time, bringing your awareness and 

focus from external to internal, 

leading to meditative states and 

awakening of consciousness and 

creativity. The idea is to integrate 

and balance all aspects of the 

human body, such as physical, 

energetic, emotional, intellectual 

and karmic through systematic 

practice of Yoga. 

For more 

informationwww.evolutionofyoga.com/ 

yoga-teacher-training-thailand/ 

300/500-Hour 

Jivani Yoga 

Advanced TT 

7 September-17 October 

The Sanctuary, Koh Phangan 

Open for Yoga teachers and 

serious students of Yoga only. The 

schedule is intensive and both 

12 NAMASKAR 

physically and emotionally 

demanding. Aligning with their 

philosophy of awakening, healing 

and personal transformation, this 

course will not only develop your 

personal practice and refine your 

craft as a professional, skilled Yoga 

teacher, but also focus on breaking 

through limiting beliefs and 

igniting your personal power. 


www.jivaniyoga.com/ 

info@jivaniyoga.com 

100-Hour Yin/ 

Insight Yoga TT 


Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui 


www.sarahpowers.com/teachertraining-thailand-2014.html 

Copper will be holding a Hot TT at Pure Yoga in Singapore 

100-hrs Vikasa 

Advanced Yoga 

TT 

7-21 December 

Vikasa Yoga Retreat, Koh Samui 

This course is considered the third 

part of the full 700-hour Vikasa 

Yoga TT Program. With focus on 

advanced sequencing in 

HathaYoga, using rules and 

principles of Himalayan vinyasa 

and mandala sequencing. Different 

sub-styles of Yoga will also be 

introduced with practices that 

challenge experienced students 

and are accessible to all levels of 

practitioners. Students will be 

challenged to explore and expand 

upon their personal yoga practice 

in order to develop creative, 

conscious and intelligent teaching 

techniques. 


www.evolutionofyoga.com/ 

advancedyogateachertraining/

KULA 

Retreats 

Swami Gyan Dharma (left) is leading a retreat in Hong Kong. 

HONG KONG 

Inner Awakening 

Through Yoga 

Retreat 

1-5 October 

Salesian Retreat House, Cheung 

Chau 

Swami Gyan Dharma, a disciple of 

Swami Satyananda, is a profound 

yogi who has practiced yoga for 40 

years and is an expert on Sanskrit 

and classic yoga scriptures. Based 

in the UK, he travels around the 

world spreading yoga knowledge 

and how to apply the yoga attitude 

into everyday life. 


wellness@hkcf.org 

INDIA 

Inner Awakening 

- Yoga & 

Meditation 

Retreat 

15 July-4 August 

Haridwar 

This program works on shaking off 

the deeperlevel of patterns that 

have become part of our biomemory 

and behaviour that rapidly 

evolves our understanding of life. 

The transformation is deepened 

through a series of direct 

initiations by Paramahamsa 

Nithyananda. 


www.innerawakening.org 

USA:Enriching Temple: (1) 800- 

265-3386 / Ma Praba Swami: (1) 

909-908-8080 

India:Ma Jnanatma Swami (91) 

7760980635 

Empowerment & 

Transformation 

Yoga Retreat 

Rishikesh 

9 September-7 October 

Immerse yourself in the spiritual 

nurturing that Rishikesh has to 

offer: daily Yoga classes, 

meditation, philosophy classes by 

guest lecturers and Indian cultural 

performances. 


www.avocadodevelopment.com 

INDONESIA 

Bali Bliss: A Yoga 

Retreat with 

Jacque Manalastas 


Soulshing – Bali Villa and Retreat 

Oasis 

Treat yourself to a yogic lifestyle 

retreat on the beautiful island of 

Bali. 



SRI LANKA 

Nourish Your 

Spirit and 

Enchant Your 

Soul with Wendy 

Wyvill 


Barberyn Beach Ayurveda Resort 

Wendy invites you on a journey 

into the sacred. This week of Yoga 

and Ayurveda treatment will be an 

adventure of healing and selfpurification.Sign 

up before 31 July 

to catch the early-bird discount. 



THAILAND 

Yoga and 

Meditation 

Retreat 

10-16 August 

Vikasa Yoga Retreat, Koh Samui 

This is suitable for those searching 

for peace, harmony and serenity 

into their lives and reconnect with 

themselves and nature. 


www.evolutionofyoga.com/ 

meditationretreat/ 

Jivamukti and Yin 

Yoga Retreat with 

Nora Lim &The 

Yoga Room 

1-5 October 

Kaomai Lanna Resort, Chiang Mai 

A time of reflection and 

reconnection with the Self. 

Immerse yourself in mindful asana 

and develop insightful 

understanding of anatomy, Yoga 

philosophy, meditation, chanting 

and Kirtan as Nora shares her 

practice of yoga and life. 

For more information: corporate@ 

yogaroomhk.com / 

www.yogaroomhk.com/ 

(852) 25448398 

5 Day Yin/Insight 

Yoga Silent 

Retreat with 

Sarah Powers 

20-26 October 

The Spa Resort,Chiang Mai 


www.sarahpowers.com/silentretreat-thailand-2014.html 

Yoga & Pilates 

Ayurvedic Retreat 

with Heather 

Thomas Shalabi 

and Michelle 

Ricaille 

4-8 November 

Kamalaya Wellness Resort and 

Sanctuary 

Hosted by Flex with two hours of 

daily Yoga and 90 minutes of 

Pilates, in addition to specially 

selected Ayurvedic treatments 

from Kamalaya’s award-winning 

wellness centre. 

For more information (852) 2813- 

2212 / info@flexstudio 


1 

photo from Eco Nikko, Japan 

PHOTO ESSAY 

PADMASANA IN PARADISE 

Up from the mud, the lotus 

blossoms. 

The lotus flower’s unique ability to rise up from the murky depths by day to blossom, then retreat back down by 

night has inspired Hindus, Jainists, Buddhists and even ancient Egyptians. The benefits of lotus pose are said to 

be improved digestion and posture, relaxed mind, keeps lower limbs loose and limber. Although it has the 

reputation as being the ultimate sitting position, padmasana is not suitable for everybody. There are plenty of 

other sitting options for pranayama or meditation, which are preferable to forcing yourself in and risk damaging 

knees and hips. 

14 NAMASKAR

photo from Clayton Horton 

photo from Alex Medin 

Paul Dallaghan by Anne-Sophie Maestracci 

photo courtesy of Heather Bonker 


16 NAMASKAR

KARMA YOGA 

BE THE WIND BENEATH HIS WINGS 

Can you help this boy learn to fly? 

Uday is 17 years old. When he was young he 

lived in the mountains of Mussoorie in a tiny 

shoebox of a concrete room with barely any 

light. His father carried stones on his back 

for a living. Any kind of future was bleak yet 

Uday was a happy and smiling young boy with 

giant eyes and joyful giggle. His family sent 

him to an NGO hostel in Rishikesh where he 

could get food, education, medical care and 

attention. 

Today Uday has just two years of school left 

and he dreams of being a commercial pilot - 

however this costs about US$58,000! Far 

out of reach of the son of a stone carrier. 

And the story would end there except for a 

karma yogi and long-time Namaskar 

contributor Yogiuday. A Canadian who lived 

more many years in Hong Kong where he 

kick-started the city’s gelato craze with the 

first hand-make gelato shop in town - XTC 

on ICE Gelato. Yogiuday moved to Rishikesh 

after selling his business to devote himself to 

his practice. Ever since Yogiuday has been 

volunteering at the orphanage where Uday 

was sent. He has known Uday for almost 10 

years . “Not once have I seen him angry. He 

takes his studies seriously and is always in 

the 90s coming first or second in his class. 

He is a star amongst stars, helping others 

with their chores, never complaining. He is a 

superb cricket player, a natural leader who 

effortlessly receives great respect from his 

peers, younger children and adults alike. His 

natural wisdom, happiness and generosity 

denote his spiritual nature and the kindness 

and sensitivity he shows to his girlfriend 

make him a wonderful role model.” 

Yogiuday tells us, “I am hoping, with a little 

magic, we can help his dream come true. If 

any young man has it in him to make a 

positive change in our troubled world, it is 

Uday. When I told him it would cost some 

US$58,000 for the full training, his eyes and 

face dropped; a dream crashed.” 

Namaskar has pledged HK$1,500 to this 

effort which Yogiuday is spearheading. If you 

Uday, 17, dreams of being a pilot 

are interested to help, please email him on 

yogiuday_harmony@yahoo.es 

KARMA YOGA 

ELEPHANTS IN NEED 

Gentle giants deserve to be treated well 

Kiri is a male (bull) elephant and has tusks, whereas 

Seila, who is a female, has no tusks (actually she has 

short tusks called tushes) 

Inspired by Ganesha, the popular Hindu 

deity with the head of an elephant, we 

introduce readers to the work of Elephant 

Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation 

(EARS). Founded by Louise Rogerson in 

2010 to promote the plight of Asian elephants 

used, often barbarically, for tourist 

entertainment such as rides, circus 

performances, picture painting, begging and 

at beachfronts and hotel. EARS also oversees 

the care of privately-owned elephants and 

works with sanctuaries and projects 

throughout Asia. 

EARS is currently seeking funding to 

continue caring for two teenage elephants, 

Kiri and Seila in Cambodia, which costs 

US$770 per month. 

The money will be used to keep the elephants 

fed with a comprehensive and natural diet on 

a monthly basis, and their enclosure properly 

maintained. EARS also provides enrichment 

items within their enclosure such as 

scratching posts, tyres, and special strong 

elephant toys! Funds will also enable EARS to 

act quickly when they hear of emergency 

medical care needed for a specific elephant, 

rescue cases, or a project they have 

previously researched and worked with, 

which is in need of financial assistance. 

Ganesha is known as the remover of 

obstacles, and we encourage you to help 

remove obstacles to a decent life for these 

gentle and majestic giants. Namaskar has 

donated HK$10,000 to EARS. Please join us 

in contributing through their website 

www.earsasia.org/donate.html or email 

louise@earsasia.org 


18 NAMASKAR

ASANA 

SHAVASANA 

A Celebration of Life Through Yoga 

BY AZMI SAMDJAGA 

If having a cigar or champagne denotes 

celebrating successful endeavors, then going 

into Shavasana is a celebration of each yoga 

practice. “During Shavasana, the body 

assimilates all the energies created during the 

practice and channels them through the 

entire system,” says noted-Ashtanga teacher 

David Swenson. Thus, we can fully acquire 

the benefits of yoga and truly enjoy its 

rewards. 

Shavasana means Corpse Pose where at the 

end of each yoga practice, one is to lie down, 

face up with legs apart, limply flop the feet to 

the sides, relax the arms and place them 

slightly away from the body, and softly open 

the palms up to the sky. A state of total 

relaxation, a plight of letting go of your 

discomforts and abdicating to utter stillness, 

where one allows the entire body to calm 

down and the mind to be quite. 

“The key word to this pose is dissolve.” says 

power yoga teacher Bryan Kest. It is in the 

state of repose that we permit our mind to 

function satisfactorily for us to be able to 

deal with our worldly issues. It is in that 

same state that allows us to attain 

equanimity, a balance in life and be in 

peaceful harmony with everything that is 

around us. 

To abstain from being in Shavasana is to be 

in an unnatural state of suffering. Not 

allowing the body to rest is denying its needs 

for rejuvenation and is akin to exhausting its 

energies inanely, thus inhibiting its role in us. 

The beautiful element about being in 

Shavasana is that it reduces anxiety, the 

most infamous of life’s many agonies. 

Therefore it is detrimental to ignore the 

importance of Shavasana. 

“The ugliest of all egos is the spiritual ego.” 

says Australian yogini Louisa Sears. At times 

we find ourselves battling with our egos by 

not fulfilling our bodies’ need for survival, 

i.e. replenishing it of oxygen, energy and rest, 

which are literally food for the soul and 

nutrients for the mind. Instead, we force 

ourselves to get into complicated and 

challenging postures even though we struggle 

in doing so. We end up worrying about what 

people perceive us as and thus, we want to do 

our best, or so we thought; not to let people 

think we are inadequate. Eventually we lose 

sight of our inabilities and push ourselves 

Shavasana, the corpse pose 

over the limitations of our abilities. 

Ultimately, something gives way and we get 

hurt. If it’s a minor issue, we are lucky, 

however irreparable damages may in due 

time leave ugly ramifications. Having said 

that, Shavasana becomes something of a 

necessity, something that is of prime 

importance to the practice of yoga and rest to 

the living of life, for that matter. 

We celebrate our successes by enjoying 

ourselves, going on holidays or simply by 

having a nice drink to show that we 

acknowledge our victory. Likewise, we 

celebrate our yoga practice with Shavasana 

to acknowledge our triumph in prevailing 

over its challenges. 

In Shavasana, the body is in an anabolic state 

where organ and muscle repair development 

occurs. Activities requiring the body to 

switch back to the highly active catabolic 

state of metabolism are therefore introduced 

sensitively, consequently preparing us to 

undertake the demands of life. 

In the same way with our profession, the 

Shavasana we take may be in the form of 

going away for a holiday, not one of those 

busman’s holidays but a complete break 

from our jobs, unwinding in a peaceful 

environment. In such circumstances, 

Shavasana becomes mandatory to our 

health. 

On top of all the great things that have been 

mentioned above about Shavasana, the most 

significant is it helps in relieving stress and 

mild depression. It reduces headaches, 

fatigue and insomnia besides helping to lower 

the blood pressure. For these reasons alone, 

it would seem fatuous not to indulge in 

Shavasana when it proffers a world of 

benefits and well being, that consecutively 

turn out to be of paramount importance to 

having a happy and healthy life. 

In a nutshell, we cannot take Shavasana or 

rest uncaringly. It is part of what makes us 

alive, be human, have conscience and be 

compassionate. It allows us to sharpen our 

thoughts so we will not be confused, it 

teaches us patience so we avoid being 

indignant and in the fullness of time, it makes 

us a better person so we can live our lives as 

paradigms to others. 

So let’s not miss this celebration by taking it 

for granted. Let’s respect and honor our 

body, mind and spirit by rewarding them 

with a state of serenity that each of them 

deserves. After all, they are entities that 

define who we are and what we have become. 


I HEARD IT OFF THE MAT 

YOGA & RESEARCH IN THE NEWS 

COMPILED BY SUE-YEN WAN 

Can Yoga ease stress for 

pregnant women? 

Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help 

you reap health benefits like stress reduction 

and a decrease in a woman’s fear of 

childbirth, according to researchers. A new 

report from Manchester University 

researchers finds that it can ease stress and 

reduce women’s fear of childbirth by a third. 

In addition to its many other health benefits 

for pregnant women, including reduced 

cortisol levels, less difficult birth plus more 

full term and healthy weight neonates, 

pregnancy yoga is a low cost intervention too. 

‘Yoga is a wonderful exercise to try during 

pregnancy, when you naturally want to take it 

a bit easier. It’s ideal to ease many of the 

ailments that women suffer from when 

they’re pregnant such as backache, sciatica 

and general aches and pains. By maintaining a 

regular yoga practice during pregnancy the 

positions will become second nature with the 

aim being that the woman can have a more 

active labour with less intervention. 

Yoga finds a new home 

in Finland 

Yoga is set to get a new home in Finland when 

a studio is opened at the airport of this 

capital of the Nordic country. Finavia, the 

operator of Finland’s airports and air 

navigation systems, has decided to open the 

studio based on passenger feeback on new 

services. ‘At a yoga studio set to be opened at 

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, passengers can 

limber up following their flights, either in 

guided sessions or independently,’ Good 

News Finland said. Ville Haapasaari, vicepresident 

of Finavia, said that the goal was to 

create genuine experiences and services for 

passengers, which would have a real impact 

on their travel experience. 

New Mexico inmates to 

be offered yoga classes 

The New Mexico Department of Corrections 

is using a new method to prepare inmates for 

life outside prison - yoga.Corrections 

officials recently launched a “yoga and 

mindfulness” program as part of the 

department’s many rehabilitation efforts. 

According to the department, the yoga 

classes will “help incarcerated individuals on 

their path to self-discovery, healing, and 

ultimately into living differently.”Officials 

say the other prisons systems are using yoga 

classes as a method for increasing inmate and 

public safety, and lowering rates of 

recidivism rates. 

Yoga To Help ‘De-Stress’ 

Primary Students 

Children at a Primary School near 

Huntingdon, California, are having yoga 

sessions to help them relax before their SATs 

exams. 

“Obviously tests can be stressful for young 

children, so we do the yoga, to teach them 

life-skills. “It’s to help them be relaxed and 

ready for their SATs, and show them how to 

cope with stressful situations.” Children at 

the school also told us they thought it was 

really working, “I really calms you down and 

puts you in a good mood.” 

Sleep helps learning & 

memory 

The BBC Health reports that the way a good 

night’s sleep improves learning and memory 

has been discovered by a team of scientist in 

China and the US. 

By using advanced microscopy, the team saw 

how new connections between brain cells in 

living brains formed during sleep. And that 

intense training could not make up for lost 

sleep. 

Their study showed that sleeping mice 

formed significantly more new connections 

between neurons - they were learning more. 

And by disrupting specific phases of sleep, 

the research group showed deep or slowwave 

sleep was necessary for memory 

formation. 

During this stage, the brain was “replaying” 

the activity from earlier in the day. 

Cynicism may lead to 

Dementia 

A Finnish study suggests that people who are 

cynically distrustful of others could be twice 

as likely of developing dementia. Dementia is 

a syndrome characterised by declining 

memory, thinking speed, mental agility, 

language, understanding and judgement. 

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia. About 10% 

of people over 65 and up to 50% of those 

over 85 develop dementia. 

The study was started in 1998 with 622 

volunteers with an average age of 71 years. 

They were asked to rate their agreement with 

statements like “I think people lie to get 

ahead,” or “it is safer to trust nobody.” 

In the following decades, 46 of the volunteers 

developed dementia. Fourteen of the 164 

people who had high distrust developed 

dementia, compared with just 9 of the 212 

people with low levels of distrust. 

Yoga may be the answer 

to infertility 

Too much stress may cause infertility among 

women, says a new research. An expert 

suggests that yoga and meditation could help 

in battling with the problem. 

Stress affects the normal hormone balance in 

women’s body and can be a contributor to 

infertility. Trying to become pregnant can 

add even more pressure to an already 

stressed women. In the modern world, 

women often switch into chronic stress, 

resulting in many possible imbalances, 

including adrenal depletion, thyroid over or 

under function and shifts in sexual hormone 

balance, resulting in sexual dysfunction. 

Yoga breathing combined with yoga postures 

are known not only to be an effective stress 

reliever but also a tool to habitually ease the 

symptoms of anxiety.”Yoga practice is wellknown 

for optimising the work of the 

endocrine system, thereby balancing the 

hormones. Practicing yoga will bring more 

blood to the pelvis, improving the sexual 

health, whilst mindful breathing will shut the 

constant chatter of the mind, decrease the 

heart rate and instantly relax.” 

20 NAMASKAR


22 NAMASKAR

TECHNOLOGY 

YOGA ON THE GO 

How technology is helping yogis keep up their practice on the road 

BY BARBARA PASSY 

Allison English, a Chicago-based yogi and 

senior teacher, has developed an app called 

Yoga + Travel to allow students to practice 

when out of town. An interview is excerpted: 

WHAT WAS YOUR INTENT IN CREATING 

YOGA+ TRAVEL? WHAT DID YOU 

LEARN WHILE CREATING IT? 

My intent for creating Yoga+Travel was to 

provide a simple, introductory app that 

people could easily take with them to practice 

when they were unable to make their regular 

classes. I wanted a product that could help 

people get in their practice no matter where 

they were. 

While creating it, I learned the importance of 

speaking even more clearly and concisely 

about yoga than ever before! If someone 

halfway around the world downloaded the 

app and needed to know how to get into a 

relatively easy pose or concept of the 

practice, I had to make sure they could easily 

understand what I was asking them to do. 

Creating the app has made me more aware of 

my own communication skills. It has 

heightened my sensitivity to and creativity 

with sequencing classes. 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN BENEFITS & 

DISADVANTAGES OF THIS 

TECHNOLOGY? 

The main benefits of app technology are the 

portability of the practice, the relative ease of 

reaching a much wider audience than a single 

person could ever meet, and steady content. 

The disadvantages of app technology are the 

limitations of space (if an app gets too big or 

too expensive no one will use it, and 

additional content means the app takes up 

more space). 

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE NEXT STEP 

IN TECH EVOLUTION? WHERE ARE YOU 

PLANNING TO HEAD WITH THIS APP? 

The trends in technology are showing that 

portable content is here to stay! Users of 

tablets, cell phones and the like are only on 

the rise around the world. Content that is 

streaming or available on mobile devices will 

be an increasingly common way that 

communities separated by geography stay 

connected to each other. 

Allison English, yoga teacher & yoga app developer 


24 NAMASKAR


DRISTI - TEACHING YOGA 

KNOW THYSELF 

Before you even think about teaching others, 

take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. 

BY CASSANDRA KISH 

BODY & SPIRIT 

Teachers are responsible for their 

students’ insides as well ...........29 

FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF 

THE MAT 

A student’s perspective of what 

makes a good teacher................31 

PRE-TEACHER QUIZ 

Do you have what it takes to be a 

great yoga teacher?....................32 

YOUR FIRST YEAR TEACHING 

Three tips for making the best of 

it.............................................................32 

26 NAMASKAR

Dario Calvaruso 

Samrat teaches in the urban jungle, in Hong Kong at Pure Yoga 

July 2014 photo by Siuman Yuen @ Siuman Photography 

27

[teachers] never assume you have the 

most beautiful practice or are the most 

experienced person in the room 

Teaching yoga can be a full time endeavour, 

and it can be a joy and the source of much 

happiness. The other side is it can be the bane 

of your experience, draining your energy and 

basically making you hate your life. 

It depends on what type of person you are, 

your level of self motivation, your ability to 

present ideas, theories and sequences in 

front of people, your own personal ability to 

find happiness, to have fun and most 

important your level of true self confidence. I 

bring up self confidence because if the 

teacher is not dependant on my feedback to 

identify who he or she is, then I enjoy the 

class much more. It is like a real life 

experience, we are really doing something 

together, an adventure an exploration. 

The other side of the issue is a teacher who is 

teaching as a means of self identification. 

Which is not quite as much fun as having a 

teacher who is passionate about their chosen 

work and has an opinion about it. 

One of the trappings of being a new teacher is 

the title of yoga teacher. I live in Paris and in 

French we are called professors of yoga, 

which carries some responsibility with it, the 

requirements here to be a yoga teacher are 

quite stringent, most have a degree in 

Exercise Science. In any case and at any level 

of education, I find new teachers have a base 

assumption about the students who show up 

at their class. It is a very wrong assumption 

that every student who shows up is at a lower 

level of training and experience than you. 

This belief leaves the newer teacher 

unprepared for all the possibilities. 

Consequently experienced inquisitive fun 

students pose a threat to a confidence lacking 

proof . A quick note here as a teacher, never 

assume you have the most beautiful practice 

or are the most experienced person in the 

room. 

Best course of action to identify “what you’ve 

got” (meaning an idea of the level of 

experience and emotional attitude of the 

crowd that has found their way to your 

class), my opinion, is get “them in Down-dog 

then forward fold,” first two postures, and 

their level of experience will be screaming at 

you. 

Super experience people with good practices 

in your class, allow a door to open that would 

have remained closed without their presence. 

In general among the students who come 

regularly, a “Best Student” will emerge, 

someone who has a good practice and seems 

pretty happy. This student sets the bar for 

the highest level everyone in your class will be 

striving for, a new experienced student will 

raise the bar. 

A new student will force the teacher to 

change the parameters of their teaching style, 

because they should offer the next few 

variations in some of the postures so the 

experienced person also feels pushed a tiny 

bit. Consequently the teacher instantly 

becomes an all levels teacher. An experienced 

student forces us to adapt how we do 

physical adjustments, for example if a 

student has great balance a good split and a 

killer backbend, they should nail Dancer’s 

pose. But what if they are just shy of that full 

split? 

Advice - shuffle your bum over there and sort 

out how to make the adjustment, then revel 

in this beautiful pose. 

I like experienced students who have great 

lotus. After 27 years I am still not a pro 

Lotus-er, so the student with a great lotus 

allows me to play with lotus in all sorts of 

positions, a kind of vicarious lotus.. 

Teaching yoga is a joy, it has been a joy for me 

for 27 years, I love it. Teaching full time 

can be a harrowing experience if you are not 

prepared. The preparation I am referring to 

is self reflection, others might call it 

excruciating self examination. Whatever you 

call it, it is a good idea to know who you are. 

You should make a study of yourself, your 

likes, dislikes discover your own comfort 

level in different situations. Do this to see if 

you have the basic components necessary to 

be a successful teacher. I think personality 

characteristics are not taken into 

consideration to the extent they should be. 

Ask yourself: 

• Am I comfortable speaking and 

presenting in front of people? 

• Am I able to handle tough questions 

about the manner in which I do things? 

• Am I able to take something that can be 

repetitive and mundane and make it exciting? 

(Hint - look at your marriage) 

• Do you have an internal compass 

regarding the physical body? 

• Have you truly experienced the amazing 

feeling of meditation? 

• Are you process-oriented or resultoriented? 

So before taking on a teacher training, 

explore yourself and see if it is for you. It is a 

big endeavour that can make or break your 

happiness. 

28 NAMASKAR

Kim teaches close to nature in Chiang Rai, Thailand at the New Life Foundation 

The teacher is a spiritual guide rather 

than a controller 

DRISTI 

BODY & 

SPIRIT 

A yoga teacher 

is a spiritual 

teacher as well 

BY CHAN CUDENNEC 

A true yoga teacher’s responsibility is to 

provide guidance and support to elevate 

students and to awaken the inner guru in 

them. Sadly, many teachers teach yoga as 

another form of exercise rather than a body 

and spirit connection. 

What is the purpose of yoga? Many people do 

not understand the goals and process of 

yoga. Some think it is physical exercise for 

vitality and health. Some think it is a religion. 

Some think it is psychological system that 

that develops the potential of the psyche. 

Yoga is a relationship. The word ‘yoga’ comes 

from the word yoke, to join together or to 

unite. Yoga is the union of the individual’s 

consciousness with infinite consciousness 

In the Kundalini yoga tradition as taught by 

Yogi Bhajan, the teacher training is called the 

Aquarian teacher. The teacher is a spiritual 

guide rather than a controller. The teacher 

should have endurance, patience and hold the 

space for students to practice safely. 

In the age of Aquarius which we are 

immersed in, many people feel out of 

alignment, pain and emptiness and they 

would seek a spiritual teacher to help them 

transition to another level of consciousness 

and being. Kundalini yoga teachers are 

trained to help students to establish an 

aligned relationship between the body, mind 

and the soul to achieve transformation. Thus 

a yoga teacher’s is really that of a spiritual 

facilitator through physical discipline. 

A yoga teacher’s role to help students to 

understand that knowledge becomes wisdom 

when they experience it with their own heart 

and being, i.e. when it becomes their personal 

experience. 

As Kundalini yoga teachers, we have the 

responsibility of passing the lineage of the 

mastery of both the inner dimension of the 

Self and the outer expression of the universe. 

Kundalini yoga is actually a transmission of 

this wisdom and as teachers, we are 

beholders of its integrity. 

In this tradition, meditation is part of the 

practice. Through meditation we can calm 

the mind and develop our intuition to 

recognize what is real and important for us. 

A responsible yoga teacher regardless of 

tradition should have the total wellness of 

the student in mind. Thus, when teaching, the 

teacher demonstrates and then observes the 

students rather than practices with the class. 

A great yoga teacher is one who has self 

mastery with a regular personal practice. 


Ana Forrest, photo by Kadri Kurgun 

Real learning comes about when 

the competitive spirit has ceased. 

- Jiddu Krishnamurti 

Ana Forrest, photo by Kadri Kurgun 

30 NAMASKAR

DRISTI 

FROM THE 

OTHER 

SIDE OF 

THE MAT 

Being a yoga 

teacher is 

rewarding & 

hard work, just 

like being a 

student 

BY NINA GASSAUER 

Usually, students are impressed when Karen 

puts her head and hands on the floor and 

swings her legs up in the air. This 

Wednesday, things were different. What was 

supposed to be a graceful headstand - the 

king of all yoga poses - ends up as a belly 

landing. Having just recovered from the flu, 

Karen lost her usual control. The illness 

forces her to go back to the start - at least for 

a while. 

STUDENT & TEACHER - WORLD’S 

APART? 

“You definitely become humble,” Karen 

concludes at the end of the class. “Besides, 

you develop a deeper understanding of your 

students. I always thought: What? How on 

earth are you not able to do this exercise? It‘s 

such an easy one! And all of a sudden I can’t 

do it either.” Karen’s understanding is a 

quality, students appreciate very much: She 

remembers what it feels like to be a beginner 

and is showing empathy. 

“With good yoga it is crucial that the 

exercises are adapt to the students and that 

the students don´t have to adapt to the 

exercise,” Martin Soder explains. The 

German physician and yoga therapist, author 

of the book The Yoga Art of Healing–Modern 

Yoga Therapy adds: “This means you have to 

vary the exercises and adapt them in a way 

that they are feasible and beneficial for the 

students.” 

In a yoga class, there should be no 

competition, superiority or ignorance. Yet in 

reality, teachers and advanced students often 

don’t seem to understand what new students 

are going through. 

And this ignorance, according to the Yoga 

Sutras and the Four Noble Truths of 

Buddhism, is the cause for suffering. Only by 

appreciating others are we led to the third 

noble truth: the end of suffering itself. For a 

teacher this means seeing and acknowledging 

the individual abilities and efforts of all 

students. 

WAYS OF COMMUNICATION 

“Enjoying the classes and feeling good – that 

is what students want in the first place,” 

explains Hema Mirpuri, owner of the Yoga 

Room in Hong Kong. “Different students 

have different needs, especially at the 

beginners level. Some like to be corrected, 

others do not like to be in the centre of 

attention.” 

Before and after every class, Hema talks to 

her students; the delicate woman wants to 

know about their concerns. The interaction 

beyond verbal communication plays a vital 

role: Hema‘s sensitive antennas absorb the 

atmosphere in the room and are 

automatically interpreting gestures and facial 

expressions, providing her with the 

information for actual needs. 

After her Vinyasa class, Kim McMahon, 

teacher at local primary school, Hong Kong 

resident for five years and a dedicated yoga 

practitioner, adjusts her neon green 

headband, slowly rolls up the yoga mat and 

confirms: “Teachers have to know what the 

students in their class need. All good 

teachers will walk into their class with a plan, 

a set of poses in mind, but better teacher use 

their intuition to tweak the class and to meet 

the needs of the students at that moment. 

This can extend to things like the kind of 

music to play - or no music at all - and how 

much philosophy to insert into the practice 

as the class moves through the poses.” 

The relationship between a teacher and a 

student works only if a student is able to rely 

on being accompanied according to his or her 

mood, abilities and energy level. Depending 

on the actual condition of the day, a class can 

be surprising, funny or exhausting. Thus it is 

important to communicate honestly. “I 

spoke in a very open manner to all of my 

teachers. I was never put under pressure or 

pushed to do anything,” Armin Klarsays, who 

started yoga at the age of 60. “Spiritual 

maturing is based on trust and inspiration – 

and of course on your own effort and 

understanding.” 

FOCUS ON A HOLISTIC APPROACH 

Armin refers to something that, especially in 

the Western world, is being neglected all too 

often: the holistic spirit of the yoga lesson. It 

is a distinct science, a philosophy and a path 

of life, consisting of eight limbs, altogether 

leading equally important to spiritual 

serenity and fulfilment. During the yoga 

lessons, each of those limbs should be 

considered. “Of course you need a sound 

body to develop a sound mind,” Joy Wang, 

architect, yoga teacher and devoted student 

explains. “But yoga is about achieving 

freedom on a physical and spiritual level!” 

A student who embarks on the journey by 

practicing yoga is – consciously or 

unconsciously – exactly looking for this: 

freedom on a physical and spiritual level. 

Only focussing on asana in a class makes 

progress more difficult, whereas 

information, clarification and mental 

stimulation act as catalysts. 

RESPECT, RESPECT! 

New-Zealand born Swami Govindananda has 

committed his life to spreading the yoga 

philosophy around the world. The yogi 

consistently points out that teachers should 

not restrain on teaching asanas to their 

students. At the Asia Yoga Conference 2014 

he emphasizes that respect should stand 

above it all: “Regardless of whether you are a 

student or a teacher of yoga, you should 

always be humble and respectful towards all. 

To be humble is to be open, perceptive, 

aware, gentle, non egoistic, to nurture and 

give naturally. When you are respectful, you 

treat others as you would like to be treated 

yourself. It is to acknowledge the divine 

energy of the atma, the soul, within all of us. 

All sense of superiority vanishes when true 

respect manifests in the heart of the 

teacher!” 

Some weeks after her hard landing, Karen is 

dynamic and strong in her poses again. 

Headstand or side crow, she elegantly carries 

out her exercises like a dancer, weightless as 

a feather. But something has definitely 

changed: Karen meets her students with a 

knowing kind of respect - now more than 

ever! A great feeling for Karen and all those 

taking her classes. 


DRISTI 

TAKE THE 

QUIZ 

Do you have 

what it takes 

to be a great 

yoga teacher? 

BY KIM ROBERTS 

So, you want to teach yoga. You do your 

teacher training. You learn how to sequence 

and adjust asanas, and how to lead a good 

yoga class. But what is the difference 

between leading a yoga class and inspiring 

your students? Take the quiz below to find 

out if you have what it takes to be a great yoga 

teacher. 

1. DO YOU HAVE A DEDICATED 

COMMITTED DAILY SELF-PRACTICE? 

Taking classes is not the same as having your 

own practice. When you show up for 

yourself, whether or not anyone else is 

watching, your practice develops depth. 

People can see this. Great teachers have 

enough understanding of the tools of yoga to 

create and maintain their own practice that 

supports them through life’s ups and downs. 

2. DO YOU HAVE A TEACHER? 

It’s so important to have someone you can go 

to when you need guidance. You’ve learned 

the foundations of yoga practice with a wise 

and compassionate teacher who has devoted 

years to the practice, someone who has been 

there before you. 

3. DO YOU HAVE A MEDITATION 

PRACTICE? 

The Yoga Sutra names one asana, which is the 

most important one—that of sitting for 

meditation. Speaking of which. 

4. HAVE YOU STUDIED(OR AT LEAST 

READ) THE YOGA SUTRAS OF 

PATANJALI? 

And perhaps the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Shiva 

Samhita, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads. 

Practice is important. So is study. 

5. HAVE YOU ADDRESSED YOUR OWN 

PSYCHOLOGICAL GARBAGE? 

I cannot stress this enough. Obviously you 

don’t have to wait until you are completely 

neurosis-free (goodluck with that!) but 

please, don’t burden your students or fellow 

teachers with unfinished psychological 

business. You are responsible for your own 

state of mind, but in this situation, as a yoga 

teacher, you are also responsible for guiding, 

protecting and expanding the state of mind of 

your student as well. It’s a big responsibility. 

Please take care. 

6. DO YOU HAVE HEALTHY 

BOUNDARIES? 

Do I need to say this? Please recognize the 

power differential and the position you hold 

as a yoga teacher. Don’t make a habit of 

sleeping with your students, and understand 

the difference between a student and a 

friend. 

7. CAN YOU ACCEPT WHERE YOUR 

STUDENTS ARE? 

Allowing is the first step to working with any 

habitual pattern. Can you have “bad” 

students without trying to change them?If 

you as a teacher cannot accept a student’s 

weakness, how do you expect them to? It’s 

about the student, not you. 

8. ARE YOU STILL (AND ALWAYS) A 

STUDENT? 

If you always continue to be a student, you 

will retain what SuzukiRoshi called, 

Beginner’s Mind. “In the beginner’s mind 

there are many possibilities; in the expert’s 

mind, there are few.” Keep evolving through 

regular intensive practice and study, retreats 

and continuing education. 

9. DO YOU LIVE WHAT YOU TEACH? 

Practice what you preach, not because it’s 

expected of you, or out of a sense of duty, but 

out of joy from experiencing the fruits of 

practice. 

10. DO YOU SHARE FROM YOUR HEART? 

Trust your inner wisdom and experience to 

guide you. 

11. ARE YOU ABLE TO SAY “I DON’T 

KNOW?” 

My first teacher Richard Freeman gave me 

great advice when I first started teaching. He 

said, “Teach from your heart and teach only 

what you know.”Words of wisdom that I still 

follow. 

12. CAN YOUACCEPT OTHER TEACHERS 

AND TRADITIONS? 

Please don’t badmouth other styles of yoga, 

or other teachers; it’s just not good practice. 

We are all making our own way through this 

treacherous terrain called life, doing the best 

we can. If you have found a spiritual path that 

helps you, that is wonderful. Please respect 

my path as being valid, for me. 

13. CAN YOU LAUGH AT YOURSELF? 

This may be the most important qualification 

to be a great teacher. Relax and enjoy! You’ve 

discovered a practice that you love enough to 

teach, and you get to help people at the same 

time! Lucky you! If you make a mistake, use it 

as material to prove to your students how 

yoga can make you a flexible, compassionate 

and wise human being. 

DRISTI 

SURVIVING 

YOUR 

FIRST 

YEAR AS A 

TEACHER 

Top three tips 

BY MELISSA MAK 

Congratulations on becoming a yoga teacher! 

As interest for yoga picks up globally, there 

are more aspiring yoga teachers. Finding 

work is challenging, especially for the newer 

teachers. It seems every studio and gym hires 

the experienced. While you can work on your 

practice or send the universe positive intent 

to find work, realistic issues like bills, food 

and rental have to be taken care of. Thus, 

finding work is important. There are many 

different pathways to making yoga your 

career and lifestyle. No magic formula. Just 

sheer hard work, with a small dose of luck. 

“Teaching yoga is different from doing yoga. 

Being good at doing yoga doesn’t mean that 

you will be good at teaching it. Be prepared to 

have things go wrong and to make mistakes. 

Understand that it is part of the process of 

learning how to teach. Like yoga, the more 

you practice teaching, the better you’ll get.” 

Neil Keleher (Taichung, Taiwan), Yoga 

Teacher for 15 years 

I was among 250 graduates from the RYT200 

programme of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta 

Kerala India in February 2013. Everyone at 

the ashram talked about being a yoga teacher 

when they returned home. Most yoga schools 

provide substantive teaching in anatomy, 

alignment and philosophy. But nobody taught 

us how to find work. 

In my first year, I spent hours figuring how 

to make yoga work out as a career. Today, I 

have yet to roll out my first yoga retreat or 

open my own studio. However, I had the 

opportunity to teach yoga as physical 

education in a school, taught private lessons, 

got a permanent studio slot and even signed 

my own corporate yoga class. 

This article is the culmination of my 

experience and from the many yogis I had 

connected with for it. Thank you all for 

taking time to be interviewed and providing 

valuable insights. 

TIP ONE: TALK. 

32 NAMASKAR

Talk to everyone and anyone on your yoga 

journey. Most new teachers lack the 

confidence in their newly minted teacher 

status. There is nothing to be shy about. If 

you had been a yoga practitioner prior, that 

time actually counts. If you had been a 

teacher in another capacity, that time also 

counts – your mode of delivery will be 

smoother and more confident than someone 

who had never had the opportunity to teach. 

To help you do the talking while you are 

sleeping, set up a website! 

Megan Macgregor of The Core Factory 

(Sydney, Australia) qualified in 2011 and ran 

some classes for friends. She soon realised 

she needed to actively marketing herself to 

studios. Megan set up a Facebook page and 

got friends to like her page. She also 

commented actively on local studios’ 

Facebook pages. Her online presence 

allowed studio directors to know her. When 

Megan visited, she easily landed her first 

teaching gig. That became other classes from 

networking with fellow teachers at 

workshops. 

Talk about your karma yoga classes too. In 

2012, Nancy Siy of Manila Jiva 

(Philippines)offered “Free-for-all” classes in 

the park as part of her karma yoga. The 

attendance was dismal till she talked about 

the classes on her website. On top of her 

current privates and studio classes, Nancy 

continues to offer “Free-for-all” on Sundays 

between 9:30 - 11 am at Legazi Active Park, 

Manila. 

TIP TWO: MOVE & SEEK YOUR 

COMMUNITY 

Elizabeth Gay first completed her training in 

San Diego, United States in April 2013. There 

was little opportunity to teach as there were 

existing teachers. Even the rotating donation 

class for recent graduates had a long waitlist. 

Competition is stiff. 

Hoping to gather her courage to start 

teaching, Elizabeth worked at the front desk 

of a yoga studio. Yet something stopped her 

from taking the first step into teaching. An 

awakening came finally when she realised she 

wanted to leave San Diego. 

By December 2013, Elizabeth found herself 

in Seoul, Korea teaching English and yoga. 

She now works in a great little yoga 

community, where she is at home. Her 

teaching voice and courage blossomed. 

Answer that call of wanderlust. You might 

just find what you are looking for. 

“Use your yoga passport to move around!” 

Elizabeth Gay, Yoga Lizard 

(www.yogalizard.net). 

TIP THREE: TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY 

Ashley Lou, owner of the newly-opened 

Yoga, Inc studio (Singapore), suggested new 

photo by Siuman Yuen @ Siuman Photography 

In learning you will teach & 

in teaching you will learn. 

- Phil Collins 

teachers should take every opportunity given 

to them. Every bit of practice and class given 

to you teaches you so much more about 

yourself and your clients. 

However, it is important to be realistic to 

know how much resources you have, when 

you take the plunge to become a full-time 

yoga teacher. Ashley pointed out how it takes 

time to transit whilethere are bills to be paid. 

Her first year insights included – distance 

from studio to home; the number of back-toback 

lessons; waiting time in between 

lessons; amount of guaranteed classes; and 

the no-show or one-student-in-class studio 

policy. These questions are tough, yet 

important to ensure that your financial 

survival. 

Studios will arrange for mock classes to try 

out the potential teacher. Sometimes, these 

involve teaching an actual scheduled class 

with paying clients. If the owner feels 

comfortable letting you teach a real class, you 

are good enough and should be duly paid. 

Trust yourself and ask to be paid for the 

mock class. Do not be shortchanged because 

you are new. 

Ashley shared her perspective as a studio 

owner. New studios need time to grow its 

business. Thus, they are usually open to 

exploring new talents. If you are a new 

teacher, take that brave step to approach a 

new studio. If you provide an open schedule, 

the studio director will thank you for making 

their rostering easy. 

Be understanding and respect the studio’s 

house-rules. There is a reason why each 

studio has its own unique vibe. You have to 

find a studio whose culture you fit into. A 

yoga teacher’s job is very much a job like 

every other, except you are now contributing 

to the well-being of your fellow man and 

woman. 


34 NAMASKAR

TEACHER FEATURE 

SPREADING THE YOGA MESSAGE 

A guide for aspiring yoga teachers 

Dr Jayadeva is the president of The Yoga Institute, 

Santacruz in Mumbai. Established in 1918, the institute 

started offering teacher trainings 50 years ago. 

Ana Forrest is an American teacher, whose trainings are 

well-known for their transformative effect. 

Angela Sun is a Hong Kong-based part-time yoga 

teacher and full-time accountant. She is also the 

circulation manager of Namaskar. 

If you’re a seasoned practitioner, you’ve 

probably considered teaching at some point 

in your life. To help you decide if now’s the 

time, or if you have what it takes to be a 

teacher, we asked three yoga teachers, from 

quite different backgrounds, for their advice. 

HOW DOES ONE KNOW THAT ONE IS 

READY TO TEACH? 

Dr Jayadeva: Yoga is not something that 

can be learnt solely by reading a book. It is 

aexperiential science of life. Hence when you 

practice yourself you understand how it 

helps you. 

When one keeps practicing the time comes 

your instinct becomes strong to spread what 

you know and how it has benefitted you so 

the society at large is benefitted too. The 

purpose should be to serve the community.It 

is an important you only teach those yoga 

techniques that you have yourself practised. 

WHAT SHOULD NEW TEACHERS 

CONSIDER BEFORE STARTING TO 

TEACH? 

Dr Jayadeva: Firstly, the teacher should be 

physically healthy and mentally balanced. 

Secondly, the motive behind teaching yoga 

should not be just to earn money. The prime 

motive should be to share yoga awareness for 

sharing is caring. The idea behind teaching 

yoga should be to teach different type of 

people in different ways according to their 

age, health, their circumstances and 

atmosphere in their lifeas the doctor 

diagnoses each patient. For every student is 

at different level of physical, mental, spiritual 

and spiritual fitness. Thus yoga is individual. 

Ana Forrest: Here are my top seven things 

yogis should know or do before starting out a 

yoga career: 

1. Do a daily yoga practice that builds your 

passion. Schedule it in like you would a 

private class. That time is booked! Keep your 

commitments to yourself and your 

profession. Be on time and show up as you 

agreed. Stop indulging in recreational drugs 

and alcohol. 

2. Make part of your intent to learn 

something new each day. 

3. Deliberately cultivate and grow your love 

— love needs tending. 

4. At first, take as many different teaching 

opportunities as possible - with as many 

different kinds of people - to get versatile and 

flexible in your problem-solving with your 

students. As your student body grows, then 

weed out the classes that aren’t working for 

you, i.e. the enrollment numbers 

are constantly low or the venue is 

consistently difficult to work with. 

5. I recommend at least for the first year 

(maybe 2 years) to keep your regular-paying 

job as well as teach. This gives your baby yoga 

teacher some time to get seasoned and grow 

up. It’s an unnecessary hardship to put all of 

your living expenses on this newly 

burgeoning teacher. It’s easy to suffocate 

inspiration by giving your young yoga teacher 

too much financial responsibility too fast, i.e. 

paying the mortgage. 

6. When you go to work with someone, get a 

contract. Have the agreements in writing, 

keep a copy — advocate for yourself. 

7. Breathe deeply as you practice and live. 

Risk perceiving as much of the truth as you 

can encompass each day. Deliberately create 

experiences and moments where Beauty 

dances in your heart. 

HOW IS TEACHING YOGA DIFFERENT 

FROM TEACHING IN AN EXERCISE 

CLASS? 

Dr Jayadeva: The major focus of any 

exercise class is on various forms of workout 

regimes to give maximum physical training. 

Yoga, however, is quite different. Even the 


The mediocre teacher tells. 

The good teacher explains. 

The superior teacher demonstrates. 

The great teacher inspires. 

- William Arthur Ward 

Asanas and Pranayams are designed to train 

the mind. The physical benefits being only the 

bye-products and bonus.There is deep 

philosophy and various other effective 

techniques like kriyasthat constitute yoga. 

Yoga is holistic and teaches an entire way of 

life - how to breathe right to how to 

concentrate better and how to develop a 

positive attitude towards circumstances. It 

helps the individual transcends the material 

ideology and reach a blissful state of mind. 

Angela Sun: The intention of a personal 

training client and yoga student is always 

different, however there are some general 

similarities for most of the people I have 

taught: obtaining relaxation for stress-relief, 

challenging their physical body, at the same 

time connecting to something else other than 

their physical body. Like an “out of body” 

experience, ironic isn’t it? One needs to get 

IN to their body, in order to get OUT of their 

body. The difference is in the delivery. With 

weight training, I focus more on challenging a 

client’s particular muscle group until its 

fatigued and/or obtain a certain heart rate 

range to train their cardiovascular capacity. 

For yoga, I focus more on keeping the 

student’s awareness in the present moment 

as they flow from pose to pose, as well as 

challenging their flexibility and strength. For 

both activities, physical and mental results 

do matter, i.e. decrease in body fat, increase 

in strength and flexibility, having peace of 

mind, etc, however, I consider it a success if I 

can get the student out of their head and into 

their body, even for a brief moment. 

IS THERE ANY RECOMMENDED 

TEACHING APPROACH? 

Dr Jayadeva: the first step is to be a good 

teacher certified by an authentic yoga 

training institute. Teachers should go from 

physical to interpersonal relations then to 

breathing techniques, then to meditative 

techniques then to time table and routines, 

food, diet and so on. They should very 

systematically move from one step to the 

next. 

Ana Forrest: My Foundation and Advanced 

Teacher Trainings are specifically designed 

to get trainees to work through the internal 

chatter that often plays out in life as a lack of 

confidence or arrogance, for example. I equip 

my teachers with some fantastic tools for life 

as well as for teaching. These tools help them 

to become their brilliant, authentic selves. 

Teaching from that place is much more 

exciting for the teacher and inspiring for 

their students. 

One of the best ways for me to help teacher 

trainees to become extraordinary teachers is 

to coach them to stop indulging in their 

bullshit. Next, re-deploy their focus on what 

matters most. For example, breathing deeply 

while they teach and getting their students to 

breathe deeply and feel. From there, the 

journey begins... 

Part of what my trainees learn is how to 

recognize and honor their wins every day and 

that’s very encouraging. As they get more 

skillful at being nourished by their wins, they 

begin to heal the neediness within. That also 

makes them a more whole human being and 

therefore a more powerful teacher. 

IS TEACHING YOGA FINANCIALLY 

VIABLE? 

Dr Jayadeva: Yes, if you are honest. If you 

lead a simple, truthful and meaningful life 

then yoga can provide you everything that you 

may possibly need - name, fame, money, 

health, etc. It will fulfil all your needs not the 

wants for the wants are infinite and yoga 

teacher needs to restrain on unnecessary 

worldly desires. You can then live a very 

satisfied and peaceful life. Most importantly 

you can contribute your bit to the society and 

that may give you great pride and selfsatisfaction 

in life. 

Ana Forrest: I feel yoga teachers deserve 

to be financially comfortable. Here are some 

tips: 

1. Be as impeccable with your money flow of 

energy as you are with flows of energy 

through your body and in your class. It’s not 

wrong to make a profit out of teaching yoga. 

When we have those beliefs of it being wrong, 

we get set up for pain and failure. 

2. Rewrite your principles so they embrace 

you thriving. I have been poor and starving 

and I am prosperous now... I much prefer 

prosperous. I use the money I now have to 

reach more people and fulfill my Spirit 

pledge, and fund my adventures. 

3. Create business ethics that make your 

proud of the way you do your yoga business. 

Angela Sun: This is a difficult question to 

answer. There are many people in the world 

who earn their living around yoga. Some have 

been more successful than others and earn 

more than some people in a corporate 

profession. There is no doubt that building a 

successful yoga practice is challenging, 

however that is similar to many professions. 

I guess it boils down to what stage you are at 

in life, what your expectations are and the 

type of lifestyle you want. 

For me personally, I love teaching yoga and 

see it as a hugely important part of my life, 

however being an accountant enables me a 

certain amount of financial stability that, at 

this stage, I’m grateful for. Life, as we all 

know, is full of surprises. So, who knows 

what my future will hold, but as long as it 

includes yoga, that’s fine by me! 

36 NAMASKAR


38 NAMASKAR

IN BRIEF 

MUDRAS 

Practice makes 

permanent 

BY KRISHAA KINKARIDAS 

There is a lovely quote “Correct practice 

fuels its own motivation.” A large part of a 

yoga teacher’s duty is to motivate students 

and help them sustain their practice until it 

begins to teach them from inside their heart. 

Therefore it is essential a yoga teacher 

practices everything they teach and the 

practice arises from the very basis of yoga - 

the Yamas and Niyamas. 

This is why Mudra is key in modern day 

practice, a switch of consciousness readily 

accessed, an integral method of ‘nice and 

quickly’ tangible transformation. 

Anyway, let’s look at three Mudra practices: 

one which helps clear the mind, creating the 

heart space; a Mudra to generate solid 

enthusiasm and; then one to sustain the 

consciousness in a satvic state, ready to 

receive and observe and positively charged 

with the tapas (burning zeal) which sustains 

the process until satisfaction (santosam) is 

reached. 

Relaxing the shoulders, interlink the fingers 

of both hands making sure that the sensitive 

parts of the skin in between the fingers can 

be felt. 

It is, in essence, pulling yourself together. 

Self and self. The big ‘I’ of the ego stands in 

between. The joining of the hands and thus 

the yin/yang aspects of the brain summons 

the awareness to the centre of the being, the 

Agnya chakra awakes, clarity and vitality 

ensue and the ego has to quieten as the divine 

energy commands. 

Combine with Ujjaiy Pranayama, hold for as 

long as you like, building up the depth of 

breath and shakti as you hold. 

Whilst a good asana practice will 

undoubtedly train the mind of the sadhaka in 

the qualities necessary to attain the goal, the 

fundamental attitudes need to be intact, and, 

as we read last time, the appropriate 

renunciations should have been achieved and 

brought into the living consciousness. 

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras lead to the correct 

understanding of the internal 

transformations the process of yoga 

facilitates. Teachers need to take time to 

study (svadhyayaha)I have met more than a 

few yoga teachers who have not even looked 

at these guides ,the knowledge revealed 

within is the eternal and ever-present Guru. 

USHA MUDRA, THE DAWN 

Just as the rising sun awakens and inspires, 

this Mudra knits the distracted 

consciousness back together and allows very 

clear and relaxed vision. 

Best in Tadasana or start in Samasthitasana 

and then loosen the arms. Adjust the posture 

with the usual awareness between heels/ 

crown of head. 

VAJRA MUDRA 

Vajra Mudra can be nicely done in Vajrasana 

although as per the general rule, sitting any 

which way that is comfortable and 

sustainable for the practitioner, is suitable. 

With both hands at the same time align the 


middle, ring and little finger nails, all 

touching together. Place the tip of the thumb 

at the corner of the middle finger and press it 

at the same time pushing back in against that 

force with the little finger. Sustain this press 

from both sides whilst pointing out the index 

finger. Palms can face up or in. 

This dynamic juxtaposition stimulates the 

gross and subtle elements of our “vessel of 

enlightenment” and releases the air which 

can sometimes build up and distract the mind 

and senses when in excess. Determination 

solidifies and we climb up to the next level! 

HAKINI MUDRA 

Put the hands together in prayer position. 

Part the fingers slightly with the tips firmly 

but sensitively touching. Open the palms 

away from each other too. A enclosed space 

is created between the palms into which one 

can centre all ones energy and , almost like a 

small greenhouse. Cherish and nourish that 

precious jewel of heart energy through the 

concentration of the vision and the breath 

into that area. Hakini ,as a shakti, is the 

doorkeeper of the 6th chakra and energy 

thus experienced in between the hands 

indicates enlightenment, thought control, 

undivided attention, perfect concentration, 

and unobstructed meditation .This is a 

Mudra which is easily felt. Afterwards you 

can rub your palms together , palm the eyes 

and breath in the energy from between the 

palms. Like a splash of water on the face it 

refreshes the whole being. It is a space which 

the sadhaka can readily visit ,a source of 

pure and delightful mood. It is much simpler 

than going on holiday and much cheaper as 

well as much more regenerating! 

MYTHOLOGY 

VAISHNO 

DEVI 

Pilgrims come by foot, 

horseback or helicopter 

BY TIA SINHA 

Nestled in a cave atop a mountain in Jammu, 

Northern India, Vaishno Devi is a pilgrimage 

spot for Hindus. Pilgrims brave 12 hours of 

an often arduous climb to catch a glimpse of 

the three headed statue of Devi in this cave. 

The pilgrimage can also be undertaken on 

horseback, in a palanquin or by helicopter. 

Legend has it that once when anarchy and 

lawlessness reigned on earth, the Trinity, 

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva threw up their 

hands in despair. Their consorts, Saraswati, 

Lakshmi and Parvati came to their rescue. 

With their collective energy, the three 

goddesses created a powerful young woman 

called Vaishnavi. 

Vaishnavi was endowed with indomitable 

derring do and power. She vanquished 

demons left, right and centre, quickly 

restoring order to the earth. Vaishnavi then 

reincarnated as the only daughter of humble 

parents. Drawn to spiritual practice, she 

shunned worldly life. When still a young 

woman, she left home to meditate by herself 

in lonely places by the sea and in mountain 

caves. She was devoted to Lord Vishnu. As 

40 NAMASKAR

the story goes, she met Lord Rama when he 

was looking for Sita. Vaishnavi wanted to 

marry him. Rama asked her to wait. 

Soon, Vaishnavi’s powers of healing began to 

draw many to her. Struck by her fame and 

curious about her, a yogi called Gorak Nath 

sent his disciple Bhairo Nath to meet 

Vaishnavi and to find out more about her. 

When Bhairo saw the young woman, he was 

smitten by her beauty, proposed to her and 

when rejected, began to stalk her. Vaishnavi 

hid in a cave for nine months. When a 

persistent Bhairo stumbled upon her 

hideout, Vaishnavi fled to another cave 

higher up, assumed the wrathful form of Kali 

and cut his head off with a sword. So 

powerful was the blow struck by the enraged 

Vaishnavi that Bhairo’s head fell at a 

considerable distance. 

Bhairo the yogi was humbled as he was dying. 

He confessed to Vaishnavi he had been 

blinded by arrogance and lust and begged her 

forgiveness. Vaishnavi forgave him. She 

returned to her cave, assumed the form of a 

rock with three heads, signifying Maha 

Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali. 

Two temples sprang up, the Vaishno Devi 

temple around this rock and cave and the 

Bhairo Nath temple where his head had 

fallen. As Vaishnavi promised the repentant 

and accomplished yogi, the pilgrimage to 

Vaishno Devi is complete only when one has 

also visited Bhairo Nath’s temple. 

BOOK REVIEW 

DON’T 

BELIEVE 

EVERY- 

THING 

YOU 

THINK 

by Thubten Chodron 

REVIEWED BY TIA SINHA 

Don’t Believe Everything You Think is a book 

that suggests ways to help us banish feelings 

of hopelessness, self-deprecating thoughts 

and rigid and mistaken ideas about ourselves 

and about the world. Don’t Believe 

Everything You Think suggests ways in which 

we can reprogram our mind, replacing our 

habitual harmful reactive patterns with 

wholesome ways of thinking and behaving so 

that we can live meaningful lives by making a 

valuable positive contribution to the world. 

Venerable Thubten Chodron , a well-known, 

well-loved American born Tibetan Buddhist 

nun has written several books on Buddhism 

and teaches worldwide. 

Don’t Believe Everything You Think explains 

a Buddhist text called the Thirty-Seven 

Practices of Bodhisattvas. This text belongs 

to a class of Tibetan Buddhist texts called 

lojong or mind training, composed by the 

Kadampa masters in medieval Tibet. Like 


other lojong texts, the Thirty-Seven 

Practices of Bodhisattvas presents various 

difficult situations we humans typically face 

in our lives and advice on how to deal with 

them, propelled not by habitual disturbing 

emotions like anger, jealousy, pride or greed, 

but guided by wisdom and compassion. The 

Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas was 

composed by the monk, Gyelsay Togmay 

Zangpo. 

The text presents each of the thirty seven 

practices in four verses each. For example, 

‘All forms of suffering are like a child’s death 

in a dream. 

Holding illusory appearances to be true 

makes you weary. 

Therefore, when you meet with disagreeable 

circumstances, 

Seeing them as illusory - This is the practice 

of bodhisattvas.’ 

And another, 

‘When you encounter attractive objects, 

Though they seem beautiful 

Like a rainbow in summer, don’t regard them 

as real 

And give up attachment - This is the practice 

of Bodhisattvas.’ 

What sets Venerable Chodron’s commentary 

apart from other commentaries of the text is 

that she has included in the book, anecdotes 

of her students who tried to apply these 

verses to deal with difficult situations in 

their lives, without creating further misery 

for themselves. With the help of these 

verses, they were able to stop old, harmful 

and painful ways of thinking and replace 

them with positive ways of thinking. 

Whether it was dealing with lack of support 

from a colleague, surviving cancer, averting 

abuse from an inmate in prison, dealing with 

betrayal in a business deal, overcoming 

loneliness and addictions, and many other 

everyday difficulties, Venerable Chodron’s 

students’ accounts of how these verses gave 

them the wisdom and courage to change their 

habitual negative reactions are inspiring. 

We live in a world that bombards us with 

images and messages promising us happiness 

from things, other people and pleasant 

situations. Seduced by sense objects, 

mesmerized by mere mirages, chasing 

chimeras, we are lost, settling for a life of 

temporary pleasure that is really pain 

masquerading as pleasure. We are lost, 

looking for happiness where it just cannot be 

found. 

Don’t Believe Everything You Think is a clear 

and heartfelt presentation of how to apply 

the timeless wisdom of the sages in the 

restless, times we live in. Instead of 

drowning our sorrows with superficial 

distractions or with addictions, this book 

shows us how we can learn to live with grace 

and dignity, develop genuine concern for 

others and thus find genuine happiness 

ourselves. 

Don’t Believe Everything You Think is a 

must-read, and not just because of its catchy 

title! 

DVD REVIEW 

THIRUMOOLAR’S 

ASHTANGA 

YOGA 

Presented by Yogananth 

Andiappan 

REVIEWED BY FRANCES GAIRNS 

Thirumoolar’s Ashtanga Yoga is a completely 

separate and unrelated practice to the 

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga popularized by the 

late K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. 

Though both are comprehensive and 

progressive. 

42 NAMASKAR

Thirumoolar’s Ashtanga Yoga was created by 

Dr Asana Andiappan, based on his research 

and study into the life and teaching of the 

Siddha master Thirumoolar. This DVD is 

presented by Dr. Andiappan’s son and 

founder of the Hong Kong studio Anahata 

Yoga, Yogananath Andiappan. 

It include three sequences for home practice 

- 30-minutes, 60-minutes and 90-minutes, 

which are intended to take the practitioner 

through a three-month period. So the 30- 

minute sequence for the first month, the 60- 

minute sequence for the second month and 

the 90-minute sequence from the third 

month. 

Probably more suited to those with some 

yoga experience as opposed to complete 

beginners. Those from an Ashtanga Vinyasa 

background might find the sequences quite 

unusual, for example surya namaskar is at 

the end of the sequence, after savasana. 

However, those who are open to something 

different should find this enjoyable and 

beneficial. In addition to the asana, all 

sequences include several pranayama 

techniques and some time for sitting. 

A nice point is during many of the postures, 

practitioners are reminded about which 

chakra to focus on. And for other postures, 

there is an on-screen symbol denoting which 

dosha the pose is supposed to support. 

Some modifications are mentioned and 

demonstrated for beginners. However I 

would have liked to have heard more cautions 

and reminders of individual differences. 

Yogananth, the teacher demonstrating in the 

video has an exceptionally strong and flexible 

body, the result of practicing from aged 2 and 

being genetically blessed. However few 

practitioners could hope to perform the 

asana as he does, after 30 years, let alone 3 

months. 

Accompanying the DVD is a small booklet 

which in addition to introducing Dr. 

Andiappan, Yogananth and Thirumoolar, 

also offers various different sequences for 

back pain, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, 

insomnia, stress, asthma, constipation, 

nervous disorders and sexual disorders. 

All in all though a nice DVD to include in your 

library, and a nice to have something from a 

local teacher. 

The DVD costs HK$128 and can be 

purchased at Anahata Yoga Studio, HMV and 

also online 

http://www.anahatayoga.com.hk/ 

productsnew.php or http:// 

www.amazon.com/Thirumoolars-Ashtanga- 

Yoga-DVD-English/dp/B00HCVX3TK/ 

ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392794210&sr=8- 

1&keywords=yogananth+dvd 


44 NAMASKAR


46 NAMASKAR

RECIPE 

VIVA LA VEGAN! 

Vegan Tempeh Tostadas 

BY MOOSA AL-ISSA 

Mexican food is really popular and with good reason; fresh ingredients, 

nice textures and deliciously spicy seasonings. Here’s a healthy vegan 

and low fat recipe to help you satisfy your Mexican fix at home! 

INGREDIENTS 

1 lbs fresh tempeh, crumbled 

1/4 head cauliflower, finely diced 

1 cup grated vegan jack cheese 

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, diced small 

1 small red onion, finely diced 

1 avocado, pitted and diced small 

1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped 

1 cup rocket leaves 

1 tablespoon garlic, minced 

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 

2 teaspoon sea salt 

2 tablespoon cumin 

1 teaspoon paprika 

1/2 teaspoon cayenne 

1 small red chili pepper, finely diced with seeds removed 

6 inch wheat or corn tortilla, if gluten free 

METHOD - SALSA 

In a medium bowl combine the tomato, avocado, 1/2 of the coriander, red 

chili pepper, 2 tbs chopped onion, 1/2 of the lime juice, 1/4 tablespoon 

minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Place in the refrigerator till ready 

to serve. 

METHOD - TEMPEH 

Bring frying pan to medium high heat. Add add one tablespoon of olive 

oil, garlic, onions and fry for two minutes. Add the remaining salt, cumin, 

paprika and cayenne and fry for 30 seconds then add two more 

tablespoons of olive oil and the tempeh and fry for two more minutes. 

Mix in the juice of one lime and the nutritional yeast, remove from heat 

and reserve. 

WHAT IS TEMPEH? 

Originally an Indonesian dish, tempeh is fermented whole soybeans. 

While obviously similar to tofu in its main ingredient, the two products 

have quite different taste, texture and even nutritional content. 

Because tempeh starts from the whole bean, its fibre, protein and 

vitamin content is higher than tofu. However tempeh is also higer in 

calorie and fat content to tofu. 

3 OZ. SERVING FIRM TOFU TEMPEH 

Calories 70 173 

Fat (g) 3.5 6 

Sodium (mg) 20 8 

Carbs (g) 2 12 

Fiber (g)

DIRECTORY 

Guide to yoga studios 

& teachers 

AGAMA YOGA SCHOOL 

42/4 moo 8, Koh Phangan, 

Suratthani 84280, Thailand 

s: Tantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, 

Workshops, Retreats, Meditation, 

Yogic Healing 

l: English 

t: +66(0)892 330 217 

e: info@agamayoga.com 

w: www.agamayoga.com 

ANAHATA VILLAS & SPA 

RESORT 

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia 

s: group retreats, yoga for private 

& corporates. Yoga studio 

available for rent. 

l: Indonesian & English 

t: +62 361 8987 991/ 8987 992 / 

+62 21 70743366 

f: (62) 361 8987 804 

e: sm@anahataresort.com / 

info@anahataresort.com 

w: www.anahataresort.com 

ANAHATA YOGA 

18/F Lyndhurst Tower, 1 

Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong 

Kong 

s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Yoga therapy, 

Yin and more. Groups & privates 

t: +852 2905 1922 

e: enquiry@anahatayoga.com.hk 

w: www.anahatayoga.com.hk 

ANANDA YOGA 

33 & 34/F, 69 Jervois Street 

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong 

s: Private and Group Classes : 

Yoga Therapy (neck, shoulder, 

back, hip, knee and joints), Hatha, 

Power, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, 

Detox, Yin Yang, Kundalini, 

Chakra Balancing, Pranayama, 

Meditation 

l: English 

t: (825)35639371 

e: 

adm.anandayoga.hk@gmail.com 

w: www.anandayoga.hk 

Anna Ng 

Privates 

d: Hong Kong 

s: Hatha yoga 

l: Cantonese 

t: (852) 9483 1167 

e: gazebofl@netvigator.com 

AUMNIE YOGA WEAR 

Hong Kong - Room 1601, 99 

Wellington Street, Central 

t: + 852 3188 0973 

Shanghai - 60 Xinle Road, 3/F 

Xuhui District 

t: +86 21 5404 3135 

Korea - 533-16 Sinsa-Dong 

Gangham-Gu, Seoul 

t: +82 26959 2558 

Retail, Wholesale, Shop Online 

Free Shipping Worldwide 

Yoga Clothing and Accessories 

e: info@aumnie.com 

w: www.aumnie.com 

BEING IN YOGA 

2 Turf Club Rd # 02-01(Turf Ciy, 

Singapore 

s: Yoga therapy (customized 

personal practice), teacher 

training (Yoga Alliance RYS 500 

hours+), in-depth yoga studies, 

small group classes for children 

and adults, pre & post natal yoga, 

sound meditation, Vedic 

chanting, evening sanga, 

community programs. 

t: +65 9830 3808 

e valerie@beinginyoga.com 

w: wwwbeinginyoga.com 

B.K.S. IYENGAR YOGA 

ASSOCIATION OF MACAU 

174, Rua de Pequim, Edif Centro 

Com. Kong Fat, 7A, Macau 

s: Iyengar 

t:(853)2882 3210/6662 0386 

e:yoga@macau.ctm.net 

w:www.iyengar-yoga-macauchina.com 

BRAIN & BODY YOGA 

1503 Keen Hung Commercial 

Building, 80 - 86 Queen’s Road 

East, Wanchai, Hong Kong (next 

to LUXHOME) 

s: boutique yoga studio for holistic 

healing and mind body practice 

t: +852 3104 1156 

f: +852 3104 1157 

e: info@brainyoga.com.hk 

w: www.brainyoga.com.hk 

48 NAMASKAR 

BREATHING SPACE WITH 

DAVID WHITTON 

d: Hong Kong 

s: Meditation, Buddhist and 

Yogic. Traditional Hatha and Raja 

Yoga, Meditation. Pranayama & 

Meditation. Groups, privates and 

corporate. Full and half-day 

retreats. 

l: English 

t: +852 5594 5111 

e: 

breathingspacehongkong@gmail.com 

w: www.breathingspacehk.com 

FLEX STUDIO 

308 - 310 One Island South, 2 

Heung Yip Street, Aberdeen, 

Hong Kong 

s: Vinyasa, Power, Detox, Hatha, 

Therapy, Kids Yoga 

t: +852 2813 2212 

f: +852 2813 2281 

e: info@flexhk.com 

w: www.flexhk.com 

GLEE YOGA 

Privates, Groups, for Companies, 

Schools & Communities 

d: Hong Kong, China 

s: Yoga for Professional 

Swimmers, Professional Runners, 

Pre-natal, Post-natal, 

Hatha, Vinyasa, Hot, Babies 

Massage Workshops 

l: English, Cantonese, Mandarin 

t: +852 93343303 

e: gleewise@gmail.com 

Kathy Cook 

Retreats, workshops, privates 

d: Hong Kong, Bali & Thailand 

s: Iyengar (Junior Intermediate 2) 

l: English 

t: +852 6292 5440 / +62 811 

387781 

e:kcinasia@gmail.com 

w: www.yogawithkathy.com 

KUNDALINI AT SHAKTI 

7/F Glenealy Tower, 1 Glenealy, 

Central, Hong Kong. 

s: Kundalini Yoga, Guided 

Kundalini Meditation, Reiki 

Healing, Angel Cards. Studio 

rental by day or hour 

t: +852 2521 5099 

e: info@shaktihealingcircle.com 

w: www.shaktihealingcircle.com 

KUNDALINI @ SOL 

16/F Tin On Sing Commercial 

Building, 41-43 Graham St. 

Central, Hong Kong 

s: Kundalini, Yin-Yang, Hatha, 

Men’s, Mindfulness, Yin 

destress yoga, meditation, 

holographic healing, cancer 

coaching, stress/insomnia relief, 

detox/weight management, 

complete mind-body-soul 

services. 

t: +852 2581 9699 

e: info@sol-wellness.com 

w: www.sol-wellness.com 

Ling 

Yoga and Wellbeing 

Private Yoga Teacher 

Privates, Groups, Corporates, 

Free Yoga Community Event: 

Yoga in the Park with Ling 

www.meetup.com/ 

yogaintheparkhk 

d: Hong Kong, China 

s: Yoga Therapy, Sivananda, 

Hatha, Svastha, Mindfulness, Yin, 

Breathing (Pranayama), Guided 

Meditation, Total Relaxation 

(Yoga Nidra) 

l: English, Cantonese, Mandarin 

t: +852 9465 6461 

e: yogawithling@gmail.com 

w: www.facebook.com/ 

yogawithling 

PURE YOGA 

Hong Kong 

16/F The Centrium, 60 Wyndham 

Street, Central 

t: +852 2971 0055 

25/F Soundwill Plaza, 38 Russell 

St, Causeway Bay 

t: +852 2970 2299 

14/F Peninsula Office Tower, 18 

Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 

Kowloon 

t: +852 8129 8800 

9/F Langham Place Office 

Tower, 8 Argyle Street, Kowloon 

t: +852 3691 3691

4/F Lincoln House, TaiKoo 

Place, 979 King’s Rd, Quarry Bay 

t: +852 8129 1188 

2/F Asia Standard Tower, 59 

Queen’s Road, Central 

t: + 852 3524 7108 

Singapore 

391A Orchard Road, #18-00 

Ngee Ann City Tower A 

t: +65 6733 8863 

30 Raffles Place, 04-00 Chevron 

House 

t: +65 6304 2257 

Taiwan 

151 Chung Hsiao East Road, Sec 4, 

Taipei 

t: +886 02 8161 7888 

4/f Urban One, 1 Qingcheng St, 

Taipei 

t: +886 02 8161 7868 

SADHANA SANCTUARY 

YOGA STUDIO 

103 Penang Road Visioncrest 

Commercial, #05-01 / 03 

Singapore 238467 

t: +65 6238 9320 

e: namaste@sadhanasanctuary.com 

w: www.sadhanasanctuary.com 

Facebook.com/ 

SadhanaSanctuaryYogaStudio/ 

SOULMADE YOGA & 

TEAROOM 

40, Soi Chareonjai (Ekamai 12), 

Klongton-Nua, Wattana 

Bangkok 10110, Thailand 

s. Kripalu, Hatha, Prenatal, 

Workshops, Healing Arts (Aura- 

Soma, Bodytalk, EFT) 

l. English, Thai, French 

t. +66 2 3814645 

e. soulmadeyoga@gmail.com 

w: www.facebook.com/soulmade 

SPACE YOGA 

s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Advanced, 

Flow, Yin, Yin Yang, Restorative, 

Hot, Yin/Meditation, Pranayama, 

Mat Pilates, Jivamukti, Universal, 

Myo-fascial Release Yoga and 

Yoga Nidra 

l: English, Mandarin 

w: www.withinspace.com 

An-Ho Studio 

16 /f, 27 An-Ho Road, Section 1 

Taipei, Taiwan 

t: +886 2 2773 8108 

Tien-Mu Studio 

5 Lane 43, Tian-Mu E. Road, 

Taipei, Taiwan 

t: +886 2 2877 2108 

THE YOGA ROOM 

3, 4, 6/F (Studios) & 15/F (Office) 

Xiu Ping Commercial Bldg, 

104 Jervois St, Sheung Wan, 

Hong Kong 

s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, 

Candlelight Yin, Yoga Therapy, 

Baptist Inspired, Mindfulness 

Yoga, Detox Flow, Pre-natal Yoga, 

Pre-natal Pilates, Mat Pilates and 

Kids yoga 

t: +852 25448398 

e: info@yogaroomhk.com 

w: www.yogaroomhk.com 

TRUE YOGA 

Singapore 

9 Scotts Road, Level 4, Pacific 

Plaza 228210 

t: +65 6733 9555 

10 Collyer Quay, Level 4, Ocean 

Financial Centre 049315 

t: +65 6536 3390 

Taiwan 

563 Chung Hsiao East Road, 

Section 4, 1st & 2nd floor 

Taipei 

t :+886 22764 8888 

337 Nanking East Road 

Section 3, 9 & 10/F, Taipei 

t: +886 22716 1234 

68 Gongyi Road, West District 

12 & 13 /F, Taichung 

t: +886 43700 0000 

s: Hatha, Power, Ashtanga, 

Vinyasa, Yin, Gentle, Flow, Yoga 

Dance, Pre-natal 

e: operations@trueyoga.com.sg 

w: www.trueyoga.com.sg / 

www.trueyoga.com.tw 

Ursula Moser 

The Iyengar Yoga Centre of Hong 

Kong 

d: Central 

s: Iyengar Certified (Junior 

Intermediate III) 

l: English 

t: +852 2918 1798 / 9456 2149 

e: uschi.moser51@gmail.com 

WISE LIVING YOGA 

ACADEMY 

198 Moo 2, Luang Nuea, Doi 

Saket, Chiang Mai, Thailand 

s: Classical Yoga, Hatha Yoga, 

Yoga Therapy 

t: +66 8254 67995 

e: info@wiselivingyoga.com 

w: www.wiselivingyoga.com 

YOGA CENTRAL - IYENGAR 

CENTRAL 

2C Welley Bldg. 97 Wellington St. 

Central, Hong kong 

s: Iyengar Yoga studio for small 

groups, corporate wellness & 

workshops. 

t: +852 2982 4308 

e: yogacentralhk@gmail.com 

w: www.yogacentral.com.hk 

Yoga with YoYo 

Yoga Alliance ERYT200 and 

RYT200. Asana, pranayama, 

meditation and scripture study 

d: Sai Kung / San Po Kong 

s: small group and privates 

adapted to students with 

knowledges of YogaPrasad 

institute, Paramahamsa 

Nithyananda, Sivananda, Yoga 

limbs and more 

l: English, Cantonese 

t: +852 9302 3931 

e: info@yoyoyoga.net 

w: www.yoyoyoga.net 

namaskar 

reaches 

6,000 yoga 

practitioners, 

across 

32countries, 

4 times a year. 

DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES & SIZES 

Outside back cover HK$21,800 210 mm x 297 mm 

Inside front cover HK$3,000 210 mm x 297 mm 

Inside back cover HK$2,400 210 mm x 297 mm 

Full page HK$1,900 210 mm x 297 mm 

1/2 page (horizontal)HK$1,200 180 mm x 133.5 mm 

1/2 page (vertical) HK$1,200 88 mm x 275 mm 

1/4 page HK$620 88 mm X 133.5 mm 

1/8 page HK$390 88 mm x 66 mm 

LISTINGS 

Can include name, address, telephone, email, website, style and 

certification, language of instruction. Approx. 35 words 

Individual listing HK$550 for full or partial year 

Studio listing HK$1,100 for full or partial year 

PUBLICATION DATES, BOOKING & MATERIAL DEADLINES 

Publication date Booking Deadline Material Deadline 

January December 1 December 10 

April March 1 March 10 

July June 1 June 10 

October September 1 September 10 

NOTES 

Advertising materials should in black & white and submitted as 

300 dpi high resolution .tif files (no pdf or ai files please) 

Listings should be submitted as text only (35 words or less) 

PAYMENT 

Payments should be made in Hong Kong dollars to Namaskar c/o 

Carol Adams, 72C Yung Shue O Village, Sai Kung, Hong Kong 

INFORMATION 

Carol (852) 9137 9992 / carol@caroladams.hk 

Frances (852) 9460 1967 / fgairns@netvigator.com 


50 NAMASKAR


52 NAMASKAR

Namaskar - July 2014

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