Notes on yoga: grounding

 When I first started practicing yoga, it was not a successful attempt. 

I registered for an in-person class (it was about 12 years ago, and Zoom classes were not even on the horizon), a Hatha class in the basement of a boutique hotel in Beijing, by the sides of its relaxing pool.

 When I got there, nobody explained anything: there was this teacher, a beautiful Asian guy, who performed beautiful and complicated asana, for us to imitate - as if... . The class ended with handstands by the wall. 

Needless to say, I did not perform handstands. Or any other asana that I can remember of. I left without having any idea about yoga asana or any other limbs of yoga - or that yoga limbs existed, even, but you can't have it all in one class, right?  I also brought with me out of the door a sense of deep frustration, anger even. Where was that "feeling good" that I had heard so much talk about in yoga circles? I decided that the discipline was not for me. 

Months later,  a friend mentioned hot yoga and I got curious. She could bring in a friend for free and so I decided to take a class with her. It was love at first sweat. Sofia (the teacher) was guiding us softly but firmly into the asana of a Bikram-style class. I never thought that sweating so much could bring so much joy. At the end of the class, in a small cozy space outside the hot room, we were served scented tea and Sofia were sitting with us. She asked me how it was. I tried to formulate something to say, but apparently I had forgotten how to speak English. So I told her: "Sorry, fantastic, but it's like I can't speak English right now." Sofia smiled her reassuring smile and said: "Take your time. You are still in your yoga mind now."

So I discovered that I had a yoga mind. And decided to go back. 

I went back to the hot room for years, in many parts of the world. It was Beijing, Bali, Rome, New York, Koh Samui, Oahu. It gave me powerful glutes and quads, yes. But the thing I could not explain to others at the time - because I did not know it myself - was that it grounded me. It made me feel so much connected to myself. If my mind wandered during practice, following its chatter, I would fall out of the asana, fall out of breath, feel my blood pressure shift, at times I needed to lie down. And I had done it to myself. So I learned to keep my focus on the practice, on me practicing in the mirror, on my breath, without judgment for me or for the other practitioners. Funny enough, it's easier in a heated room, because you will "pay" for your getting distracted. 

Each time I left the room, I could just barely remember the problems that had been on my mind before - or, I had the right solution to them. 

I am not saying that the heated room is the answer. You could find a number of negative aspects to that, too - but the same could be said for any practice. Go back to that first Hatha class, for example. It's all a matter of perspectives. The only truth is that it made me feel good. Grounded, as it goes. More stable, not only on my feet, but also in my mind. 

And is it not one of the aims of yoga? Bringing you closer to the earth, vibrating closer to the earth frequence, feeling rooted, grounded. Only when you are grounded you can reach the other limbs, up to samadhi.

No matter the road you take to reach yoga, no matter the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the slowing down and stops, you will know when you get there. And all you have experienced along that road will make sense. 

Notes on yoga: when is the right time?

 We so often read and hear about when we should or should not practice yoga:

You should get up early and meditate before sunrise - or: before going to bed.

You should practice Yin late in the evening before going to bed. Or early in the morning. 

Practice Restorative in the evening so you can relax before sleeping.

Do this and do that. Don't do this and don't do that. And especially do it (or don't) at a certain time.

But. Few lucky ones can actually structure lives around the yoga clock, the yoga year and follow the truly sensible ayurvedic suggestions about the practice and how it could be linked with the doshas, according to seasons and time of the day.

Our lives are often hectic, full of things to be done, appointments to keep. And if it is not our appointments, it might be those of our kids or elders to be accompanied to different places - or even the schedule of our boss which unluckily imposes on our time, too. 

We are too often running out of time, that precious resource that nobody is able to recycle and to give back to us. It is then very difficult to squeeze in something new. Were we to  apply strictly  all of the above in terms of yoga and when to practice it, we probably should give up our yoga practice even before starting one.

Just like our body is not made to adapt to a particular asana (quite the opposite), so it is quite safe to say that we can adapt  the practice to fit  our life. It is better to practice a bit, when possible, than not to  practice at all. Maybe later on, once we have established a practice, we will be able to squeeze in more of it. Maybe there will also come a time when we will think that getting up with sunrise for a 5-minute meditation is worth the while. 

But. As far as I am concerned, I tried  meditation  in the evening and it doesn't serve me well. I am just falling asleep.  I prefer to meditate in the morning - without forcing myself to ungodly hours, though. Maybe I shorten the time under the shower (which, by the way, is also an environment-friendly decision), or leave out the gossip section in the news. And meditate instead, preparing myself for the day ahead. I have noticed that in this way I am more focused, ready to start my day in a better set of mind.

As for Yin, it is especially good whenever I can follow my favourite teacher  - she actually teaches at 6:30am NYC time,  but due to time difference around the globe, for me it is 6:30pm. So what? And when I will move to another part of the world, it will probably be around midday for me. And I do not intend to give her classes up just because of the time of the day. 

I tried Restorative  in the morning, after a one-hour vinyasa flow and it feels absolutely great. It's probably even better in the evening but, as I said, I am not good at not sleeping  and to be completely honest, I prefer reading before going to bed. That's another type of relaxation!

As for my students, they love their yang practice even in summer. They come in at lunchtime and they need to move, after sitting half day. And they need to bring back new energy for the second half. And I do not see why I shouldn't meet them there. I just avoid heavy sweaty practices, that's all.

This is my practice, and I am not selling the idea that mine is better than anybody else's - or that what Ayurveda teaches is wrong. But. The final objective of the practice is to still the mind, to calm the mental chatter. So if you reach your goal, does it matter what the time is, or the season, or the day of the week? 

Of course there are some practices that are meant to happen at certain times, like morning kriyas (tongue scraping, eyes washing, nauli...) but it's just common sense, things that we would do in the morning even if we are not connecting them to yoga. 

There is always margin for improvement and maybe one day you and I will be able to follow the yoga/ayurvedic clock and the yoga/ayurvedic year. But till then, just make some space for your practice, make it a habit, a part of your daily routine, experience yoga when you can. The rest will come. 

Notes on yoga: Yin vs. Restorative

Each practitioner loves one or the other type of yoga. It depends on many factors, might just be the mood, the day, the season, the moon, one period in life.

Some like more yang practices (like Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Hatha...) and other ones like more yin practices, like Restorative and Yin itsself, which are the focus of today's post.

They are slow, calm, cool. They talk to our moon side, the yin side. But as much as this make them similar, they are very different, indeed. I have found while practicing, watching and listening that sometimes they are confused and that the two tags are used interchangeably.

Why and where are they not the same?

1. Duration of the pose (or shape, as we often call asana in these practices). Restorative implies longer holds, typically 10 to 20 minutes. This gives enough time to the body to open up gently, without rush. In Yin, it's about 3 to 7 minutes - or even shorter for beginners, longer for more seasoned practitioners.

2. Sensation. In fact, in Restorative we want almost none. That's why we need longer holds: to give time to the body to open up. We are not rushing anything. We are being passive in the pose. We are allowing the breath to flow and do the work for us, while we are being held - by the wall, chairs, bolsters, blankets and anything that can help. In Yin, we are actually looking for our edge, that particular sensation that we can stay with, using our breath  to check in, until we can start to relax into the pose, while reaching the plastic tissues underneath our muscles. Yin is very active. And remember, sensation is no synonym for pain.

3. Props. Even though both practices use props, Restorative relies heavily on them. It could be some particular yoga prop -  like blocks, bolsters, meditation cushions - but also anything around us - I already mentioned walls, blankets, chairs, even sofa cushions. Be creative with your props. In Yin, you could even work without them, almost using your body parts as a natural weight in a more traditional type of Yin yoga or relying on props - but not as much as to take away sensations. One of my teachers at MyVinyasaPractice who teaches to the traditional form of Yin, always says that props are not illegal. It means: do what feels best for your body. Props are not good or bad as such. No judgment there. (And they are very useful, but that could be part of another post).

I see often Yin and Restorative mixed up, even by teachers themselves. The duration alone doesn't make a shape Yin or Restorative. Sensation - together with intention - does most of the trick. If you are feeling too much sensation, you are not doing a restorative practice. You might want to add some more props, to feel more comfortable in the shape. Or take a variation.

You can raise legs up the wall and make it Yin - for example by pushing the hips more towards the wall. Or it could be a beautifully restorative shape, if you stay inches away from the wall or add some extra padding below the hips. 

And then, more on intention: do you want to keep your joints happier and young? Consider Yin. Are you looking for a passive practice which will help you stay with yourself while gently opening up? Maybe Restorative is the answer. And even if it might be less challenging physically, do not underestimate the challenge of just being. With yourself. 

In the end, each yoga style is just yoga: unity and a way to calm our mind and its chatter. 

It doesn't really matter if you are doing Yin or Restorative, agreed. But it's important to know what you are looking for, what you are doing or what you have signed up for. Or, if you are a teacher, what you are offering to your students.  

Caterpillar, one of the most classic Yin asana

Restorative shape with bolster and cushion for support

Yoga on and off the mat - how to use the practice in everyday life

Every morning, at 8:30, I am downstairs, waiting impatiently for my neighbour, colleague and friend to drive me to our workplace. He is never on time. I try to read the news on my mobile, I watch impatiently at my watch, and even think I might call a cab.

Where does my frustration come from? My neighbour? The delay? 

 Let's look at the facts. My neighbour is a kind soul and a dear friend. He drives me to work every working day. We agreed to meet at 8.30am. I am a very punctual person and expect others to be the same. But let's face it: this has always caused me suffering. Because that is just my expectation and I know for a fact that it is rarely fulfilled in real life! The moment I will cease to have this kind of expectation, I will start my mornings without useless and illogical grudges. 

 Expectations are what we think others should do, or how we think things should go. They do not depend on facts and reality, but on personal perceptions and the storytelling we build to connect the dots in our mind. This is a normal process, it happens to everybody, it's unconscious and there is nothing wrong with it. 

It happens with our yoga practice, too. Our mind creates expectations, based on - let's say - how the teacher is demoing the pose or our idea of the "full expression" of the asana, the one we have seen on Instagram or some magazine. If we took a step away from that mental chattering, and look at the facts, we might be able to acknowledge that our body is not the teacher's body and we can't expect it to move like any other body. And we might even acknowledge that the full expression of an asana is just a chimera. Something that doesn't exist. Or that exist but in many different forms and shapes, as many as the forms and shapes of our bodies. Just acknowledging this simple fact might change the perspective of our practice, bring more fulfillment and joy to it. 

If you think this is a fantastic intuition, I must disappoint you. It is just what the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali says, while defining in not so many words the meaning and aim of Yoga. yogaś citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ means that Yoga aims at quieting the mental chatter, giving the practitioner a tool to stop analyzing, inventing, storytelling. 

In Yoga practice, we go back to the breath when our mind starts wandering. How about off the mat? We can go back to the breath, too. Especially if we get anxious or irritated. Three breaths is a good old trick to quiet any intense sensation or emotion. But also going back to the facts is a good way of making peace with our grudges. 

Let's go back to my neighbour. I say to myself: he is not respecting me by being late! This is not a fact. He is adorable and shows his good feelings for me in multiple ways, and my being attached to that only example of "disrespect" just shows that I have some unresolved material to work with. We will be late at work! The fact is that we are never late at work, even if we don't leave at 8.30. More than that, he does know that he is late and jokes about it because he is unable to make it at 8.30. How about me just acknowledging that his 8.30 reads 8.40 and just adapt to it? Just like I would adapt an asana to my practice. 

 Why being so attached to my 8.30? In Yoga, attachment is one of the five klesha or sufferings. They are the main cause of mysery for people: ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, fear of impermanence. And it's incredibly true. Each time I look at a situation in which I am feeling wronged or miserable, I can see that it has something to do with the klesha. I try to acknowledge it and re-start from there. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. But it is all part of the process of living yoga on and off the mat.

How about you? Are you living your practice off the mat? Maybe you don't even realize it. Stop for one breath and think about it. 

Yoga teacher training. Pick yours!

It has been sometimes since I last talked about yoga on my blog. At that time, I was discovering Bikram and myself through it, learning patience, dedication and how my mental chatter would just go away with the practice, leaving me aware and connected.

Little did I know, then, that what I was experiencing had been described many centuries ago in what became the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, a fundamental reading for those who are looking for a more comprehensive approach to yoga - apart from asana practice.

During the pandemic, I started practicing yoga  at home and I discovered and fell in love with Vinyasa. I came to long for those movements, connected with and guided by the breath. And while my practice became deeper, I felt I wanted to know more. 

What was it behind phrases and expressions used by my teachers? How could you explain yoga to others? How did my teachers know how to weave their beautiful enriching sequences? I had so many questions It was time to find the answer. 

That's how I started researching the web for yoga teacher trainings. I had several things on my mind on how my training should look like:

1. be completely available online;

2. be easy to follow and at my own pace;

3. be economically accessible.

I scanned the web for months, looking everywhere. I stopped looking for a while, filled with discomfort. Some offers were too expensive. Some requested some physical presence. Some had time limits I could not cope with. Until I bumped casually into this article, which led me to MyVinyasaPractice.

That's how I came to choose a yoga teacher training based in Austin, Texas while I am Italian and actually living in Beijing, China! MVP advertised their online teacher training as 100% online; promised a lot of tools to work with; referred to their community a lot; offered different types of payment and competitive prices.

It all pointed towards making that choice. After dropping an email to the founder of MVP, Michelle Young, I decided to dive into the experience. And see what it looked like under the promising facade.

Let's cut the suspense: I got all that I had been promised. And more. I discovered concepts that were new to my own background, like mindfulness, (self-) compassion, accessibility. And even if they never brag about it, I realized that MVP was an enterprise made by women - not only for women, though. In a world where it is usually "all men", leaving out all the other genders, it felt good to be led by them all, with their different voices, backgrounds, shapes, approaches - but always inclusive. Anybody can practice yoga, they keep saying - or, better, any body can. And they teach you how different bodies and different needs can actually approach yoga.

I found myself taking more and more from those lessons, on the mat and off the mat. I discovered I had different voices to talk through. My yoga voice, for example. I learned how to use words to express concepts that come from the Yoga Sutras, actually understanding them in a different way. I learned that there is not such a thing as a perfect shape for an asana - as there is no perfect body for yoga. I, too with my tight hamstrings and lower back pain can still pass my newly found knowledge about yoga onto others. And at MVP I have always someone available to talk to about my doubts, be it asana concerns, journaling (yes, I did take up journaling, after all!) or my dosha imbalance😉

So, decide what you want for yourself and pick one of the many offers out there. What is the style that most resonate with you? How much time per day or week can you dedicate to the training? Can you attend physically or online? What language do you want your training to be in? Drop an email to the yoga studio before making your purchase or call them and see how it feels. Or take one of their classes and observe if you like what you are taught and the way it is offered. In the end, it is always your choice, like in yoga. 

            Practicing teaching for my 200H

I don't know when and if I will get my 200-hour certicate. But one thing is true: it's not about the end of the journey, but it's all about the journey itself. Ready to start your travel?

Namaste!

Bikram Yoga: aspetti economici-finanziari (2)

E oltre alle collane, i completini yoga, il franchising, il teacher training e la ri-certificazione di cui sopra, Bikram vince anche la sua battaglia legale per impedire che altri "usurpino" il suo stile.
Mettere il copyright ad uno stile di yoga e' una cosa molto strana, ma mi viene da ridere pensando che se il povero (si fa per dire) Bikram venisse in Cina a battere i pugni sul tavolo non se lo filerebbe nessuno. Di centri per l'insegnamento del Bikram ce ne sono parecchi qui a Pechino, ma uno solo fa parte del suo franchising e la campionessa di Bikram Yoga che lo ha aperto ha comunque relegato lo stile Bikram a poche lezioni settimanali, per lanciare il suo "personalissimo" stile, Soma. Virgolette d'obbligo, poiche' si tratta di Bikram con le posizioni messe in disordine e con qualche twist in piu'.
La vera sfida, caro Bikram, e' qui. Non li' dove la proprieta' intellettuale e' nata e riconosciuta da sempre.

Bikram Yoga: aspetti economico-finanziari

Ho scritto diversi post sullo hot yoga, relativi soprattutto allo stile che pratico, il Bikram, 26 posizioni piu' esercizi di respirazione messi in sequenza dall'inventore (vivente) dello Stile, Bikram Choudhury, al fine di rafforzare il corpo e lo spirito. Fin qui, niente di nuovo.

Il resto del mondo yoga si divide sul caso Bikram. C'e' chi dice che e' sempre e comunque yoga, chi invece critica lo stile Bikram perche' non improntato alla meditazione, chi ne sottolinea gli aspetti economici. In effetti, basta andare sulla pagina ufficiale www.bikramyoga.com per capire la macchina finanziaria che il guru e la moglie sono stati in grado di mettere insieme.
Innanzitutto, il teacher training. Vuoi diventare insegnante certificato Bikram? Bene, dovrai avere 2 mesi liberi da impegni che non siano il Bikram per volare a Los Angeles e frequentare il corso, al costo di 11400 dollari (compreso alloggio in stanza da due). Se sei un solitario, paghi un po' di piu' e puoi avere la stanza singola.

Non e' che tutti possono pero' iscriversi al corso: il candidato dovra' avere frequentato un corso di Bikram per almeno 6 mesi presso uno studio del franchising Bikram. Ottenuto il diploma, il nuovo insegnante di Bikram Yoga puo' andare libero per il mondo, ma solo per i prossimi 3 anni: ogni tre anni infatti l'insegnante dovra' ricertificarsi o il suo diploma non sara' piu' considerato valido. I modi per ricertificarsi sono due: volare di nuovo a LA e pagare 250USD per l'apposito corso di ri-certificazione oppure andare ad uno dei seminari di Bikram o della moglie pagando 50USD (fuori le spese, considerando che i seminari quest'anno sono a Bali e in Australia). Se ti iscrivi in ritardo, paghi pure la penale di 25USD.

Certo non e' un'organizzazione senza fini di lucro. Scade nel pacchiano quando nella sezione prodotti del sito si arriva a parlare dell'abbigliamento in vendita online (naturalmente approvato, l'abbigliamento, da Bikram in persona) ma soprattutto della linea di gioielli ideata dalla moglie Rajashree. Anzi, per fortuna presto lei avra' un sito dedicato per la vendita dei suoi gioielli (abbastanza brutti a giudicare dalle foto, ci si chiede chi li compra).
Che dire? E bravi i signori Choudhury, oltre ad essere degli ottimi sportivi sono anche dei bravi imprenditori. Pero' si astengano dal vendersi come designer di moda...

Hot yoga fever

I have been practicing hot yoga for more than one year now. It has been very beneficial for my health: no more back and neck pain, and mentally beneficial too. I am not a yogaholic, meaning that I practice once per week, but still, I am quite proud of having found finally some kind of sport activity that I like.
Starting April this year I began having some problems with my practice, though. About 4 hours after my class, I had fevers, shivers, muscle contractions. Since I was practicing mainly on Saturday afternoon, I christened my symptoms "Saturday night fever", thus easing a bit the worry that of course I felt about this condition.
I searched the Internet for answers to my doubts, and found out I was not the only one to have that kind of experience. There are entire forums on the Web dedicated to this kind of problem. Funny that nobody could provide a solution.
I have apparently found one. I started thinking back to what had changed in my life, what I was doing different and what the symptoms were telling me about my body. I have always been one to drink very little. Hot yoga teaches me that water is very important. If you do not drink enough before the class, you will not stand it. If you do not drink enough after the class, you will not replete the water you have lost during practice. I started thinking that my symptoms were actually very similar to the one you can experience with dehydration, for example at high altitudes and tried my solution starting from the assumption that water was the answer. So yesterday after class I drank as much water as I had drunk before class in a very scientific way because I know that I do not feel the thirst so I kept drinking even though I had no stimulus.
Good for me that the experiment worked out pretty well: no fevers, no shivers, no muscle pains and contractions. Otherwise, yesterday would have been my last class!

Just pee-pee, no poo-poo

Sono andata al nuovo centro di hot yoga, che mi e' piu' comodo raggiungere dal lavoro. Mi sono precipitata in bagno perche' avevo bevuto 1,5l d'acqua. Carino il bagno. Peccato per l'avviso di cui sopra: just pee-pee, no poo-poo please. Ripetuto sotto, in cinese.
Boh.

Bon ton da spogliatoio

 Da diverse fonti, ho visto parlare del galateo da spogliatoio e fra le varie cose cui bisognerebbe fare attenzione, c'e' l'eccessiva ostentazione della nudita'. Che e' fastidiosa, ammettiamolo. Anche perche' purtroppo non sempre cio' che viene ostentato e' degno di nota... anzi: decisamente meglio coprire.
Se questo aspetto mi sembrava essere fastidioso, sono passata a pensare che era ben piu' fastidioso quando le mamme si portano i figli (maschi) nello spogliatoio femminile. Mandateli col papa'. E gia', "ma il papa' non viene in piscina, lavora". E gia', il papa' viene si' in piscina, ma "e' imbranato e non riuscirebbe a fare lo shampoo al piccolo o a rimettergli le mutande dal verso giusto"....
Se questo aspetto mi sembrava molto fastidioso, ho concluso che vedersi una in spogliatoio con la maschera di bellezza a fogli, che si screpola a mo' di bende di mummia,  e' la cosa piu' fastidiosa di tutte. Si', perche' prima di tutto si rischia l'infarto prima di rendersi conto che e' solo una maschera. E poi perche' e' talmente raccapricciante che viene da "fissare" e "fissare" e' cattiva educazione. Ma la maschera, signore belle, fatevela a casa, o andate in un centro beauty. Li' sono abituati. Nello spogliatoio, spogliatevi e rivestitevi. Nient'altro.

Hot Yoga - yet another story

If 

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In my search for the "perfect studio" (good location, good quality, nice environment, affordable and, last but not least, good teaching) I went exploring Yi He 42 in the Solana Shopping Centre. It's not a Bikram recognised centre, but I don't care since it offers Bikram in the morning and that was one of the requisites I was looking for.
Location: perfect. I can reach it with bus 419 or by subway if I am willing to add a 15-minute walk.
Environment: impressive. You should see the changing room and showers area - and that was why I decided to try it out.
It costs 260RMB per time if you don't have a membership - so the drop-in lesson is by far the most expensive in Beijing. But the one-year card (80 times) is affordable, making each lesson@95rmb.
The teaching is all right, not the best I have had but not even the worst. They have also English-speaking teachers sometimes during the week - and I will try because it's a man and he looks handsome in the picture. Yes, I know: I did not put that in the list above but let's call it added value.

Not everything went smooth though. I had a tough time explaining to the receptionists that I didn't want to buy a membership without first trying (we reached an agreement on that) and they were quite puzzled that I can't plan my lesson one day ahead. We reached a compromise on that too, I will call one hour before, just to make sure they are not fully booked.
Oh, and I broke the key of my locker even before starting out. Nobody had told me it was a magnet, so I just broke it open looking for something resembling a regular key....but that's about all of my mishaps today. Cheers!

Hot Yoga

Report about my latest Bikram yoga experience.
Saturday morning I tried out the only certified Bikram studio in Beijing. It's inside the Pacific Century gym.
You go down some stairs into the stomach of the building and you find yourself in a small studio full of mirrors. The ceiling is covered with black tubes emitting white vapours: it's like entering the set of a movie where something evil is hiding behind the vapours. More than this, the ceiling is actually dwarf-size: when I stretch up, my fingers touch the tubes...
Then the teacher arrived. She is a former ballarina and Chinese world champion of Bikram. What I didn't know   was that during the last year she had "invented" her own style of hot yoga, called Soma, which is a mix of Bikram poses in a different order than the original sequence plus some other poses more similar to contorsions than anything else I have ever seen done. On top of it, since it was my lucky day, it was a "silent" class, meaning that the pupils add to follow the star-teacher's moves but she wouldn't explain anything, so that it was quite difficult for me to understand how my back could bend backwards and my head touch my foot which in the meantime was supposedly bending upwards..................................................................

Hot Yoga - simple tips for a simpler life

A lot  of people think hot yoga is a perversion. All those students sweating like pigs.... and somebody says it's not real yoga, because real yoga is about concentrating, meditating. My friend P, eyeing me suspiciously,  asked if it was an erotic version of yoga.
Well, I am not a sport person and never will be. But I think that hot yoga is fantastic, at least for me: I can't concentrate with normal yoga, whereas when I start thinking about else while practicing the hot version my heart beat just reminds me I am supposed to concentrate on what I am doing.
I feel lighter, happier and satisfied after each session.
It's good even if you suffered some injuries or if your body is a little bit stiff: the heat helps warming up your muscles and junctures. My lower back and neck pains are quietly disappearing - and I am just doing it once a week. I was so happy with the hot yoga that I followed my practice even during my stay on Gabriele Island.
My hot yoga spots so far are
http://www.omyoga42.com/ (Beijing)
http://www.jiwayogabali.com/ (Seminyak, Bali)
I wanted to try out a Shanghai spot, too... but since Shanghai is Shanghai, they do not offer the drop-in session. Basically, you are not supposed to book a session: you just go, pay and join the class provided you arrive on time. But not in Shanghai. You are required to book in advance.....which I will never do, you know, lazy is my middle name.
Want a real perversion? Look up Doga. Yoga with your Dog. I am sure it makes you happy. But how about the Dog?