From Ganapathi Gothenburg-400.com
Allison Wong Toi runs the Studio with principles of authenticity, honesty, integrity, transparency
Yoga is growing in popularity as a way to deal with life’s stress, anxieties, and to discover life’s purpose apart from putting yourself physical fit, and mentally sound. Because yoga is an ancient time-tested physical and mental practice: conscious respiration (inhaling and exhaling), meditation, and placing the body in different asanas (body postures).
Yoga has branched out, and is branching out: Ananda Yoga, Astanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Sivananda Yoga … Yin Yoga.
Gothenburg offers a wide choice to keep oneself fit by going to gyms, fighting centres and yoga workshops.
One has a wide a choice to choose among the yoga centres in the city. One of them is Bikram Yoga studio started by Allison Wong Toi and her associate. She is an expat of Chinese heritage, born and raised in New Zealand, studied and worked in the USA and Hong Kong, and now living in Sweden and teaches yoga that is originated in India.
Allison is Passionate to teach yoga and committed to make the studio running on yogic principles: integrity, honesty, authenticity, transparency. She says Bikram Yoga is easy for anyone to start practising yoga, and practised in 40 degrees heat. A session usually lasts from 60-90 minutes, and after that one can feel energised and refreshed.
“It is very accessible to absolute beginners, because the way we teach it is a dialogue based class, so we speak and we usually don’t demonstrate the postures so much … it is about students connecting the words to the body so it becomes very easy for people who have not done one asana (body posture in a specific way) in their whole life. And to come in and moving carefully to the words, listening … observing the people around them to get a cue. It is great, it is encouraging.”
The studio has about 12 yoga teachers, the practitioners can practice 3-5 times a week.
Allison emphasises that the benefits of Bikram Yoga are not only are physical and mental abut also help one to cope with the issues of life with calm and patience.
Allison Wong Toi at Bikram Yoga studio in central Gothenburg (Göteborg)
This is the only Bikram Yoga centre in Gothenburg, and it came into existence with the relentless passion to start the studio for the benefit of the city.
“It is about falling down and getting up again, falling down and getting up again…and there always are going to be hurdles or stumbling blocks that come your way, in life. It is important that you continue, you persevere that you don’t just give up at the first turn. It is parallel to Bikram Yoga … where it can be challenging, it can be tough … and that you may you may fall over, you may fall out … but you should always endeavour, and you should always pick yourself up. And, at the end of the day you will find you have more inner strength. And, it is very rewarding in a way.”
Information:
Bikram Yoga
Address: Mätaregatan 2, 41105 – Göteborg
Telephone: 031 13 16 18
Email: info@bikramyogagoteborg.com
Website: http://bikramyogagoteborg.com/
(Ganapathi is a senior journalist from Gothenburg)