Rachel Chen
Language : English and Mandarin
To me, yoga is about finding the rhythm of breath.
Staying in the present in my every pose. Elevating my asana beyond the physical dimensions. Noticing when I drift off, and bringing my thoughts back. Back to the long and steady breaths.
As they are the key to finding inner peace. And at the core of everything, from your yoga practice to your life.
No matter what you've experienced, the highs or the lows, the rhythm of breathing can bring us back to a new balance.
Like many people, I started practicing yoga to improve my overall physical condition, but soon discovered that the benefits were far more than I had envisaged. When I came to Hong Kong at the age of 24, flying was my passion and I've been pursuing my passion for 10 years - traveling around the world, being free.
Aerial yoga is my first love and I fell in love with the feeling of being airborne on a hammock. This was until I tried mat yoga (initially to find a cure for lingering injuries in my body), which became the perfect balancing activity between aerial yoga and the yang of daily life in Hong Kong. With that, came a deeper understanding of anatomy, meditation, mindfulness, and yoga, which ultimately exceeded my initial fascination towards the aesthetics of asanas.
I furthered my study of yoga renowned instructors like Jason Crandell, Patrick Creelman, Rinat Perlman, Samrat Dasgupta, and Tiffany Cruikshank. I received my Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 (but soon realized that certifications and numbers meant little), and I have a deep gratitude and respect to all my teachers past and present.
Ultimately, these were all steps in a broader journey to "find my own breath"
I remember the feeling of inflexibility and poor muscle endurance before I started practicing yoga, and noticed the benefits of practice in giving me a healthier and nimbler body, as well as the composure to stay calm under stressful circumstances.
instagram : @msrachelyoga