Jointly reported by:
Sophia Ng Sr1ScA 17685
Ng Choon Hau Sr2A 16066

Yoga is an exercise that links your body mentally and physically to foster harmony and generate positive energy. On 29th of May and 1st of June 2020, Ms. Theng Kai Joe introduced beginner yoga to all students and teachers via online yoga classes, in conjunction with a series of holiday events held during the mid-year term school holidays. About 50 students and teachers have participated in the class.

She began with a warm up session, focusing on various breathing and stretching techniques. Breathing is crucial to maintain inner peace. She curled flexibly, taking a deep breath to discard all bad matters out of her body and to feel the weight of gravity. She described it as if one were floating on a soft cloud, relaxing and letting nature overwhelm them as time flows.

She continued on to the warrior pose, Virabhadrasana (Sanskirt). There were 3 variations of them. “Breathe in, breathe out. Now slowly lift your hand above your thighs. Maintain your balance by controlling each breath,” Ms. Theng said in a calm voice.

A variation of the warrior pose

Afterwards there were some back and leg stretching exercises, followed by the bow pose, Dhanurasana. Throughout the session, Ms. Theng reminded attendees to perform the poses to their best ability, and to rest anytime they felt overexerted. This was followed by the downward dog pose, Adho mukha svanasana.

Bow pose

Advanced variation of downward dog pose

Moving on was the child pose, Balasana. It is usually used as a resting position in between difficult moves. One curls up with one’s head facing the floor, knees folded tightly on one’s stomach, then relaxes their muscles. Ms. Theng stated that practicing this pose helps to stretch one’s muscles, relax one’s mind and restore a feeling of peace and safety. With this pose, students were finally able to relax. She then taught attendees the bridge pose, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. She said that this move was good for the back, thighs, and glutes. One must take note to keep their waist high in this pose to ensure the best posture.

Then, she taught some stretches for easing tension, followed by the final pose, the corpse pose, Savasana. This pose involves lying flat on the ground, letting one’s mind scour through the entire body for any remaining strain felt. The purpose of this pose is to relax your body back to its original state, and thank it for how much it does every day. Ms. Theng guided attendees through this pose with a soothing voice. She encouraged attendees to perform this pose daily, as it reminds us to be grateful for our bodies.

With that, the class came to a close. Ms. Theng answered some questions from students about her experience in yoga and dealing with certain setbacks in performing poses. It was undeniably a beneficial experience as the students received a well-planned class during beautiful mornings. Ms. Theng’s eight year yoga journey has reminded us that there were times when we had almost given up, but visualizing ourselves pushing hard to accomplish something motivates us to commit our dreams.