I was a little kid when I first started doing yoga. My first exposure was via a TV program called ‘Yoga for Health’. My cousin and I would sit in front of the TV and follow the poses taught. It felt quite natural to be doing all the twisting and turning. Looking back, we must have looked quite funny imitating all the strange moves without a ‘real’ teacher except for the TV program host.  

I don’t know why but I have always had a ‘thing’ for yoga. I did not look for a yoga teacher until much later in life but for years I would practice it on my own. My favourite little book for a long time was Yoga and Your Health by Sonya Richmond.

I remember when I was in college, after ‘lights out,’ I would do my poses on my bed (on the upper deck of a double-decker bed!). Strangely enough, my room-mates never complained to me about my strange nightly habit! Come to think of it, I still cannot explain why I was doing yoga each night, it just felt instinctive: all I knew was that I always felt happier and more satisfied about myself after my ‘ritual.’

As I grew up, I still practiced yoga but not on a daily basis. However, the many activities (e.g. basketball, netball, hockey, Taekwon-do, dancing etc), that I was involved in helped me maintain most of my ‘childhood’ flexibility.

One day I saw an advertisement in the newspaper about a Yoga teachers’ training course. I tore out the ad and kept it. I thought that the course was beyond my budget. A couple of days later during a dinner with my friends, Joel & Calvin, I told them about the ad and said that I wished I could train to be a yoga teacher. One of them said, “Why not? Think out of the box!” When he said that, something strange happened in my head; the world suddenly started to look different, and a ‘cloud lifted’ off me…

So within that week, I called up the yoga centre, checked out the place with Viji, a great friend of mine, arranged for a loan from my favourite aunt (Aunty Linda) and signed up for the course…and that was how my ‘yoga life’ got ignited again! Since then I have had lessons under teachers who were trained in Singapore, Malaysia, and India. I have also invested in a collection of yoga books (a few of my books are sponsored by friends who are very supportive of my ‘yoga life path’ eg Trevor, Charles & Cindy) to expand my knowledge so that I can be a better yoga teacher to all my students.

Yoga is a science and art that takes a lifetime to master. I am glad I am ‘back’ on track. I am truly grateful to that friend of mine who gave me the impetus to grab at the opportunity to get my passport to sharing something that is so beautiful with others. I have since taught at gyms, beauty centre, private homes, and companies.

Teaching yoga has made my life more meaningful. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my teachers, students, friends and family who have been so supportive of my yoga adventure!

References

Richmond, S. (1979). Yoga and Your Health. Britain: Granada Publishing.