The Yoga Craze

March 2006
GOLF & LIFE VIETNAM MAGAZINE

Saigon Yoga is Vietnam’s first and only truly international standard yoga studio, with visiting and residential teachers from the California, New York, Singapore and Europe. The studio is of equal caliber to those found in places like New York, or California. Clients include a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, professions and cultures, such as CEO’s of multi-national corporations, consulate generals, doctors, lawyers and teachers, housewives and entrepreneurs. Saigon Yoga has catered to hundreds of people since it’s opening in 2003 and has built a strong reputation in regards to high standards, setting the pace for all future yoga in this country to come.

Enter: The Yoga Craze

In Southern California, yoga has become as popular as going to the gym. On the streets in areas like downtown Santa Monica and Newport Beach, people can are regularly seen coming out of yoga studios with bright and shining skin, looking very alive. There is something about going to a class and walking out feeling totally fresh and energized, like a different person then when you walked in.

Natural health and medicine has always been attractive to people in East Asia, but surprisingly, yoga has only recently began to hit the mainstream in countries like Japan and Singapore. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life and things moving at such a fast pace, it has become necessary for people to find ways to slow down. Some of the most basic benefits of practicing include feeling more limber, stronger and energized (?? 2x). Practicing yoga makes us feel more confident and focused. It also teaches us to consciously relax, to let go of stress, to sleep better, to work in a more relaxed way, and to enjoy life from a more grounded perspective.

“Yoga’s effects are accumulative”, says Suzanne Vian, 10-year veteran of the practice and founder of Saigon Yoga. “I have seen changes both personally and in my clients. People often come into the studio looking a bit dull and drained, with that “I’ve had a long day” kind of look on their faces. The best way to describe their look as they float out of class is of utter relief. I love to hear the sighs of relaxation and see the brightness of their faces, and see the lightness and energy of their movements after a class”. As one student put it, “Yoga takes you straight out of that place of feeling heavy and gives you the feeling of having a clean slate, just minutes into the practice”. In regards to yoga, pleasure seems to be the motivating factor that keeps people coming to class. Saigon Yoga offers Pilates and 4 different styles of yoga, all aimed at bringing pleasure and better health into the lives of it’s students.

This is the first of a series of articles on yoga, upcoming articles will include a variety of topics, including benefits, stress reduction and different styles of yoga.

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