Meet Mui!

Mui recently joined YAMA Foundation. She is the sweet smiley face you see when you enter our Monday classes!

She and her family started a blog called “The Girl behind the Face.” The purpose of the blog is to be a voice for people who don’t have one. It also advocates against cyber bullying and marginalising people who look different or are differently abled.

I first met Hersha a number of years ago through mutual connections. But it was only this year that we properly got to know each-other and I got to learn about YAMA Foundation. I had just had a very difficult few months and I was out of a job. Hersha was the one who reached out to me and is was essentially my saving grace and offered me the chance to train in something I’d never considered before.

I first did the Accessible Yoga course in September of 2018 and I am currently in the middle of completing my 200 Hour TT. I hope to graduate in June, fingers crossed! I also hope to extend my work to Yoga for the Special Child.

My own experience with yoga has been a very interesting journey. I come from a high intensity sporting background which is so different to what one would assume a yogi to be. When I first told friends that I was starting on the yogic journey, a lot of them were amused because quiet and calm and collected is not in my vocabulary! I was also convinced people would think I’d gone insane! But it’s been six months since I started with Yama and people have noticed that I’m more focused with my concentration in the sporting environment but I’m also more energetic and my sprint work has improved through yoga! I’ve also started skipping around, so I’m not sure if that’s a good sign!

Coming from a background of special education and wellness, I instantly felt welcomed into the YAMA family as I have spent most of my adult working life in Special Ed. For once, I didn’t feel like I was the odd ball in an already well established group. It was wonderful also meeting some of the amazing guys I’d only gotten to know on Facebook.

My main role at the moment is to help look after the admin side of things as well as the social media along with Katia and Hersha. I also have the highly sociable task of welcoming students every Monday to our community classes which is going well. My hope is that once I complete my 200 hours under Hersha Yoga, I will be able to teach or assist in more classes as well as develop my own practice with underserved communities in Hong Kong. I, myself know that HK has a way to go in being more open and accepting of those who are not part of the norm, be it physically or cognitively.

Thank you Hersha and YAMA Foundation for being there for me when I desperately needed it. I hope you will be a part of my new life for many many years to come!

Om Shanti.