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Bonus Edition - January 2, 2008
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 Exciting start to our New Year!
I just bought a copy of the Yoga Journal (US
version, Jan/Feb issue) and there is a good write up in it about
The Iyengar Yoga Centre of Hong Kong. The piece, "Yoga Metropolis" by Andrea Ferretti, is on page 88 and 89.
We were the only small studio reviewed - it's a great start to the New Year!
If our Hong Kong people want to purchase a copy, they'll have to do it soon. Because of this, we're sending out a Bonus Edition to our January e-newsletter.
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 From Yoga Journal article by Andrea Ferretti |
Indeed, [notes Andrea Ferretti] out of the six studios I visited in Hong Kong, only one had an altar - the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Hong Kong, a one-room studio that was opened in 1999 by Canadian Linda Shevloff.
(Had I visited other small studios, I may have found more, but big studios shy away from outward displays of spirituality.)
This seemingly small decision - to build a yoga studio with no Ganesh to watch over it and no visible homage to teachers - was noticeable, since a studio's intimate touch often helps visitors feel as though they're entering a sacred space . . .
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| From Yoga Journal article by Andrea Ferretti continued |
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Mom and Pop Shops
Big studios like Pure and mYoga [notes Andrea Ferretti] have yet to swallow up most of the small yoga studios that have dotted Hong Kong's Central, Sheung Wan, and Wan Chai neighbourhoods since the 1990s. Most are still in business despite the new competition - but it hasn't been easy.
Shevloff had barely built her student base when Pure opened up nearby and and nearly put her studio out of business.
"It was devastating," she says. "I certainly lost some students. I had to start over."
She did just that by moving from the Central financial district to the Sheung Wan neighbourhood, which caters to locals rather than to the international business community.
These days, Shevloff's studio operates at a healthy pace, and she continues to focus on her mission of helping the Cantonese population become certified teachers in the Iyengar system (difficult to do because certification tests are conducted in English) . . .
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| From Yoga Journal article by Andrea Ferretti continued |
 She has since [notes Andrea Ferretti] embraced the direction yoga has taken in the city with more than six million inhabitants.
"It was hard not to be resentful, [Shevloff says] but at the same time, there was no reason to be. Because it's such a big, vibrant city, yoga is going to come in a big way. I say, 'Let there be yoga in this city,'" she says.
Shevloff is hopeful that there is still room for the little guy, pointing out that even though the Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton stores take up city blocks, there are actually more small shops in Hong Kong then megastores.
She even sees an upside to the large yoga studios' enormous growth over the past few years: "Now, so many people know about it," she says. "I never get the question, 'What is yoga?' anymore."
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| From Yoga Journal article by Andrea Ferretti |
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"The alignment of these Iyengar students is awesome - kind of like the vertical reach of the skyscrapers surrounding them."
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- Andrea Ferretti | |
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e-newsletter for Iyengar Yoga Centre Hong Kong by LuckyDuck web design |
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Linda Shevloff
Iyengar Yoga Hong Kong
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