HK executives secretly turn to yoga for stress management
The hidden dangers of standardized studio classes: imbalance, insecurity, and injury.
With a plethora of yoga offerings available to Hong Kong’s stressed-out residents, Inspire Yoga’s founder Neelam Harjani reminds people to choose a class wisely. Whilst a group class may work well for some people, others may struggle to reap the benefits of a yoga practice in a standardized class setting.
Typically catered to the masses, group classes are not designed to cater to individual needs, beginners feel lost, push themselves into poses and have a hard time relaxing. This can lead to frustration, self-consciousness, lack of progress, and more worryingly, injury.
Injury during a yoga class is not uncommon, according to research published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. The study, titled Yoga-Related Injuries in the United States From 2001 to 2014, found that there were 29,590 yoga-related injuries seen in hospital emergency departments from 2001 to 2014.
Concerns can be easily laid to rest with a one-to-one yoga class. A personalised yoga practice in the comfort of a person’s own home creates an awareness of personal health needs, which may change on any given day. Some days a person may feel energetic; other days they may feel anxious. An individual may have a sore lower back or they have stiff shoulders. Whatever the need, a one-to-one yoga session allows the instructor to create a program that is entirely relevant to what the client is experiencing to bring an inner calm with restorative energy that facilitates in self-healing.
Neelam Harjani comments, “A one-to-one practice allows individuals — men, women, and children — to establish trust with their teacher. It becomes a partnership, where they work together to ensure optimal balance and wellbeing. People feel safe knowing that they are receiving personal attention, and that the hands-on stretching and adjustments are tailored to their unique body and needs. They can rely on their teacher to focus on their physical alignments and deepen their awareness of the restorative patterns of breathing to still the mind, this becomes a moving meditation. Having freedom to set the pace, intensity and focus of the session means they are in control as they reach their wellness goals, without feeling self-conscious or fearful. Unfortunately, a bad experience in a standardized yoga class can result in people turning away from yoga, thus missing out on its physical, energetic and psychological healing benefits.”
Yoga is a beautiful practice and sometimes the way practitioners think about it limited to specific physical poses can be very rigid, it is a system of connection of body and mind. To ensure the most positive impact possible for people who want balance and wellbeing, one-to-one practice in the comfort of your own home is the safest way to succeed and untangle the chronic tension led by sustained high stress levels.
About Inspire Yoga
Inspire Yoga is the pioneer onsite provider of yoga and meditation programs in Hong Kong. Passionate to share its holistic system of mind-body science by providing individual restorative solutions for stress management, chronic pain, fatigue, back pain, low immunity, joint stiffness and poor sleep quality. Adopting a personalized approach, programs are curated to serve the objectives of clients by balancing yoga postures, breathing techniques, and mindfulness training held at home on a one-to-one basis and in the office through workshops and seminars for corporate clients. With a team of 25 instructors, Inspire Yoga has empowered individuals and corporates with the tools for optimal health and wellbeing since 2010.
