6am, 9am, 12pm

I was born and raised in Hong Kong.  I am 28 years old, and I have a Bachelors degree in Humanities.  I have been practicing Bikram Yoga for five years.  I started doing Bikram Yoga when I was under a lot of stress, and I wanted to find a way to really relax my mind from work; family and relationships.  A friend of mine introduced me to Bikram Yoga, and I fell in love with it immediately.  It helped me to gain the mind-body connection.
 
I participated in the 1st Hong Kong Regional Yoga Asana Championship, and got 4th place.  Then I participated in the 2nd Hong Kong Regional Yoga Asana Championship, and I got 3rd place.  Bikram always says, "Never too old, never too young, never too bad, never too rich or poor to start from scratch."  So, never say never, and never underestimate yourself.
 
Since I graduated from the Teacher Training in 2006, I have been teaching in different countries.  I used to teach in my hometown of Hong Kong.  People in Hong Kong are crazy about Hot Yoga.  I often taught 70+ students in a class.  I then taught in South Korea for a year.  Most Koreans do not speak English fluently, and it was a challenge for me to teach at first.  Eventually though I learned to communicate with them through body language.  Yoga is, after all, a body language.  After spending time teaching in Asia, I went to teach in Canada.  Since the class sizes were smaller than in Asia I could focus more on giving each student individual corrections.  I ended up in Malaysia and taught for another year.
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I believe in order to be a good teacher, I need to teach in different studios, work with different instructors and interact with different students at different levels.  I hope to use the strength, courage and energy that I get from practicing yoga to help others. 

I went to a couple of yoga classes (Hatha and Kundalini) with a friend in Austin who had just joined a studio. Her enthusiasm excited me into starting a practice, so the next week I walked into Pearland Bikram Yoga and, without ever sampling a class, bought an unlimited monthly pass. (I knew if I tried a single class in that heat I'd never return, so this was my way of committing myself!) I figured that 1) I'd know after a month of practice whether I wanted to continue doing Bikram or not; and 2) since it's a stretch for my budget, going daily would help me justify the cost. When I found out there was a "30-Day Challenge", it seemed the perfect motivation to jumpstart my yoga practice.
 
After completing 31 classes in 30 days, I decided to continue on and try to complete a 60-Day Challenge. I finished 60 consecutive days of Bikram on November 29. It's been an interesting exercise. There have been times when I left feeling elated and expanded, and times when I stumbled out exhausted, questioning my purpose and my sanity. But I decided to use my yoga practice as a mirror for my life. In both, the biggest challenge is always just to show up and stay present.
 
I'm not sure exactly how I will continue on with my practice at this point. The past two months have made clear several things I need and want in my life. But as I've learned through yoga, there's no rush; I've got the rest of my life to work on things. Perfection is not in the pose, but in the practice, and a little (or lot) of sweat and effort is nothing to fear. And whenever I find myself in an uncomfortable position, I just need to remember to breathe and see if I can come out of it as gracefully as I got into it (you know, like Camel Pose!) Yoga practice has also reminded me that when things get overwhelming, it's really okay to stop and sit out long enough to catch my breath-without judgment. There's no need to take life so seriously. Like Taz likes to say in class, "It's just yoga!" 

Ok, so this isn't the Bikram version of Balancing Stick Pose.  We just wanted to see if you were paying attention!  The real pose is pictured in the "Posture Clinic" section to the left.

 

Balancing Stick is the third posture in the balancing series and the good news is that it only lasts 10 seconds. The bad news is that you have to hold the posture for an honest ten seconds to receive the full benefits. As with all of the postures it is so important to set the posture up properly so listen carefully to the dialogue for the instructions. Move to the back of your mat and stand with your toes and heels together. Bring your arms over your head and interlock your fingers, releasing your index finger, thumbs crossed, palms glued together, and place both arms right next to your ears. Once you have your arms and hands in the correct position lift your upper body back a few inches and move your chin away from your chest to allow your chest to puff up and forward. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror because this is the torso position you are going to want to maintain throughout the pose. Now is where trying hard the right way is going to come in. Step your right foot forward in a big step and shift your weight to your front leg so that there is no weight on your back leg and your back toes are pointed barely touching the floor. Now do a quick check to make sure that your left hip is still in alignment. If it has shifted a bit, readjust by bringing both hips and torso to face the mirror squarely. Now the real fun begins. Making very sure that your standing knee is locked, keep your muscles tight and your hips level and pivot from your hips forward, raising your left leg behind you and bringing your body down until your entire body is parallel to the floor and you look like  "T" from the side. Breathe! Once you have come down you need to continuously stretch your body forward and back - it should feel like someone is pulling your toes back and your arms forward As a beginner it will be almost impossible to bring your entire body level to the floor but remember as long as you are trying the right way you are receiving 100% benefits! Just go as far you can today. No worries if you are not quite there yet - you have three more chances to try. Every single class takes it a little bit further and before you know it there you are in a beautiful balancing stick!
 
The immediate benefit of balancing stick is apparent at once - it is so good for your heart and you will feel it pounding like it is going to come right out of your chest. In this posture you are sending high-speed blood right into your heart, especially the neglected lower region, cleaning out your veins and arteries, improving circulation and strengthening your heart muscle. What will not be immediate apparent is the impact this posture has on the rest of your body and your mind. It is one of the best exercises for correcting bad posture, strengthening the flexibility of the latissimus, deltoid, and trapezius muscles, and if that is not enough it also improves the flexibility, strength, and muscle tone of your shoulders, upper arms, spine, and hip joints. By working to perfect your body control and balance, balancing stick will strengthen your powers of concentration. Not bad for a ten second pose. So the next time you are tempted to come out of it early, hang tough and remember the amazing thing you are doing for your body and mind.