New Yoga Center for Foreigners

May 2006
THE SAIGON TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE

Suzanne Vian, an American housewife from California, moved to HCM City in 2003 where her husband Erik Vian, an American of Vietnamese decent, came here to work. At first, Suzanne felt uneasy integrating into the new environment. But things have been going better since she began teaching yoga to foreigners living in HCM City

To help keep Suzanne happy during the early transition, Erik reserved a room in the house for her to practice yoga, a passion of hers for many years. Some fellow American friends became interested in what Suzanne was doing and proposed to pay her to be their yoga teacher. Suzanne realized that the foreign community in HCM City had a lot to gain from practicing yoga with trainers able to communicate in English and Japanese. But many yoga classes in the city were not meeting this demand. At the end of 2003, the Vians decided to open a yoga center for foreigners in their home on Nguyen Canh Chan Street in District 1.

Co-founding a yoga center
Erik, who has 12 years of experience as a banker, is in charge of trading, marketing and finance issues, while Suzanne is responsible for technical aspects of yoga practice. Suzanne hired three yoga trainers from California, New York and Singapore to work at her center. After several months she also invited senior yoga trainer from India, Thailand and Europe to share their experiences with her students.

The number of students at Vians school has increased from seven to more than 20 people per class. To meet these needs, the Vians moved their yoga center to a larger three-story building at 10F Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1 in early 2004.

The center now offers three to four yoga classes every day. The fee is US$20 per person per ten-day course. Next month Suzanne will open another yoga practicing room at her center, raising the total number to three.

Suzanne says yoga is positive part of her life in Vietnam. Im happy when I can help other people recover from disease and release stress in daily work, she says. Vian has a natural and natural manner as a teacher, which gives a first good impression and helps her students feel comfortable right from the start. The thirty-six-year old woman says her active energy and good health are due to teaching yoga for more than 10 years in southern California.

Many students have told Suzanne that before learning yoga at her center, their dense work schedule made them suffer from varied ailments such as stomach, kidney and spinal column diseases. But after a period of practicing yoga, many of them say their conditions have improved, both physically and mentally. This happiness is a motive for us to continuously improve our services, Suzanne says.

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