Taiwan's yoga scene

Taiwan’s yoga scene

Yoga is ‘big’ in the east – so popular in fact, that I’ve decided to investigate and find out what the fuss is all about…

Perhaps you are wondering why Taiwan? Surely it’s not one of the biggest tourist destinations of East Asia? Squeezed between Mainland China and Japan, the island’s cultural influences reflect this geographic position and a mix of both the modern and more traditional worlds. Taiwan is a rather small island but nevertheless attracts a notable amount of foreigners, expatriates, businessmen, tourists from all over the world, and as a result the cultural scene is diverse and vibrant. The capital, Taipei, is an exciting, colourful and incredibly lively place to be, and the fact that yoga has experienced a huge boom over the last few years reflects a general trend in modern East Asian cities – following suit from Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. In terms of the ‘yoga scene’, these cities all seem to be on a similar level: sleek, modern and somewhat corporate looking studios, make up the core of what yoga has to offer.

Taipei’s yoga village…

So Yoga’s big in the Far East. So big that plush, modern studios have been popping up all over cities like Taipei. Shanghai has Y+ (amongst others of course), Singapore and Hong Kong have Pure and Taiwan has just as many. Yoga is only just a fairly recent trend in the oriental world but has really kicked off in big modern cities, in the same way as gyms, fitness studios and health spas became trendy in the West throughout the 80s and 90s. Most people in Taiwan are very aware of yoga, and the health benefits it offers. Perhaps it is part of the Chinese mentality to be so conscious about health and they enthusiastically follow new trends in a very efficient manner: as soon as yoga began to kick off in Taiwan, TV channels suddenly offered an array of (poorly presented) yoga fitness programmes, sport shops started stocking up on the latest Prana yoga wear, mats, props and everything a ‘serious’ yogi would need to practice.

Yoga has been in Taiwan for a number of years, but it is only after Space launched a few years ago that things took a whole new dimension. Pure, a more fitness oriented studio – owned by an American Chinese pop singer, Coco Lee- followed suit around the same time.

Space and Pure Yoga are two of the leading modern yoga studios in Taipei and also have branches in other Eastern metropoles. Following the latest American fashion, they offer a huge range of classes from Vinyasa Flow to Hatha, ‘Hot’, Mysore style and meditation. It is mostly about Yoga Lifestyle – luxury, top end yoga for high earners and trendy health aware Metropolitans.

However, Space also hosts regular workshops from some of the world’s leading teachers – Richard Freeman is a regular and Sarah Powers will be leading an intensive workshop at the end of November 2009. Space Yoga definitely has the space, the view (panoramic mountain landscape, yet set in the midst of the cool East district), the upmarket, clean studios, shiny bathrooms. It offers the whole ‘package’ – a beautifully peaceful zen lifestyle that anyone who practices yoga should dream of – in theory at least. It’s undeniable that the centre is incredibly designed, stylish, calm and comfortable: two changing rooms, 26 luxurious spa showers, fresh high tech towels, 10 fully equipped practice rooms, which are cleaned after each session (an army of cleaners awaits at the end of each session, ready to dust off each speck of sweat and dirt, ensuring the studio is impeccably clean for a fresh batch of students), a shop offering the latest lulu lemon gear, yoga mats and books, plus an array of staff to inform you, direct you, book you in for the next class and of course charge you for the privilege of being there. As their website interestingly states – “SPACE offers the convenience of a gym, and the comfort of a spa, but focuses on being singularly devoted to the practice and enjoyment of yoga.” Personally, I find this a little confusing.

Of course, access to all this beauty and well being doesn’t come cheap. As I was taken through a detailed tour of the centre by a lovely English speaking sales lady (and of course also a yoga devotee), I soon found out the real cost of being part of this lifestyle. Drop in classes are a whopping 900 Taiwan Dollars (about 20 GBP), but most students here are on more affordable yearly membership packages – proper gym style.

I find these types of studios a little daunting, and although the experience is pleasurable, visually appealing, this is not what yoga means to me. So I took a short walk down the road to explore some other options.
Less than 5 minutes away, in the still stylish and expensive Dongxia Fuxing district, is John’s Yoga Living’, an independent yoga centre, which offers perhaps a fraction of the classes from other upmarket studios, but in a much warmer, relaxed and friendlier space. It’s nevertheless very clean, smart and stylish, but the size (2 medium yoga rooms) makes it far less daunting and far more homely.
They also run nutrition and Ayurvedic cooking workshops and have a homely kitchen offering simple and yet delicious breakfasts and lunches. The owner, John, has studied Ayurveda and Yoga in India, and his friendly, down to earth manner, gives the place a good vibe – not often are owners that approachable.
The other great thing in comparison with the other main studios in Taipei is that Yoga Living does not go with the whole gym membership style passes. Classes are reasonably priced at about 10 pounds and become cheaper if you buy tickets by bulk (which can also be shared with friends – a great way to share the yogic love).
They teach far fewer classes than their larger ‘rivals’, but focus on simple, straight forward yoga styles – Astanga, Hatha, Meditation, Flow and Yin. The approach is uncomplicated and honest- or at least less image oriented. www.johnsyogaliving.com

Other Schools

But although all these studios follow a similar pattern of being a ‘western’ import of some kind (all the owners for instance, are not Taiwanese ‘natives’), there is nevertheless another side of yoga in Taiwan, which is far more home-grown. One of the largest studios of this kind is CSJ Yoga, founded in 1976. It’s so local in fact that they haven’t even bothered to translate their website in English! They offer Yoga Alliance registered teacher training courses as well as a wide variety of classes in studios all over the island. http://www.csjyoga.com.tw/index.php

Chun Lee, a Taiwanese yoga practitioner, notes: “ Taiwan also has a number of esoteric, self taught yogis too. One older teacher for instance, has followed his own path for years and practices his own style of fairly ‘hardcore’ looking yoga in a remote temple. Here’s him in action: http://ishare.rediff.com/video/Health-&-Fitness/Taiwan-Yoga/108063”
“This just shows that it’s only the recent import of yoga in Taiwan that is modelled according to Western styles. Like everywhere else, trends are inevitable, but the seed has always been here.”

Future of yoga in Taiwan – just another fad or there to stay?

Yoga as a fashion is by no means a bad thing – trends often settle down and seep into cultures and psyches in the most unexpected ways, creating foundations for other developments- but it does show to what extent the Chinese world just loves anything fashionable, ‘western’ and healthy. It’s all about the experience, style and external appearance – in most places anyway. Chinese friends have often warned me of an innate mentality of fast-track health and fitness – it’s something they are proud of – do little and get great results. So if yoga doesn’t achieve those results efficiently enough, then what next?

Exercising, the Chinese way….

Chinese culture seems to be obsessed with food, consumption and over-snacking, so how do they keep themselves on the whole (fairly) healthy? A recent visit led me to observe how they integrate activity and movement into their daily routines, but in some very curious ways indeed...

The Chinese have always been passionate about healthy living, natural remedies (as well as pseudo natural ones), and many superfoods such as goji berries, shitake mushrooms, soya beans, seaweed and so on, have long been used in the far east before becoming fashionable in the West. It’s no wonder then that they are so conscious about maintaining their bodies healthy, and yet they are proud of their overwhelming culinary heritage – obsessively so too. Everything evolves around food – from social gatherings (the greeting here is ‘hello, have you eaten’) to cultural visits -no temple, shrine, ancient town or historical area comes without an array of places to eat, and each town has its own local ‘speciality’ – usually just another version of a small flaky pastry made with a different filling (red bean, sesame, lotus seeds, pineapple) or something similar. Again, any festivity is often just another occasion to buy, make, give and be given beautifully packaged boxes of cakes, fruits, sweets and the like.

This just highlights the fact that the Chinese – and here, the Taiwanese- are simply food lovers, perfecting themselves in the art of buying, giving and eating. Over and over again, throughout the day, weeks, months and years. So how do they still stay so seemingly healthy? And why is their way of exercising so amusing to western eyes like mine?

The most noticeable feature is the unashamed use of public spaces to stretch and move. From outdoor movement and dance groups, to simple routine exercises, most of my observations point to a lack of shyness in doing silly things in public – or at least things which we in the West would deem as silly. How often would you see groups of people walking around a 100 sq ft public square 20 times, just to keep fit? Or shaking their arms out while power walking with slippers on? The funny thing is that all this is taken very seriously. Speed walking, limb shaking and tension releasing is definitely not a laughing matter out there. It’s just normal. So normal in fact that I would be nearly tempted to join in - given another few weeks, I may just blend in and give it a go.

There is also some irony to all this – as much as many people in Taiwan do make the effort to go out, take their bikes, put on their shiny running shoes and spend time outdoors, it seems a lot do so only half heartedly. 9 out of 10 cyclists just ‘cruise’ along at a ridiculously slow pace (see picture above), and most ‘joggers’ really only just power walk. I’m not an athlete, but I can certainly make a judgement on exercising efficiently.

Trend following is another example of interesting sporting habits: for instance, new cyclists feel the urge to buy all the ‘right’ gear and apparel from top to toe – lycra, gloves, glasses and speed counter included! They may certainly look the part, but yet they only use their bike on weekends, and most likely for a short and easy ride to the next noodle stall. Mind you, it’s still better than ordering a takeaway from the comfort of one’s sofa!

On the whole, there is one good lesson to be learnt - swapping evening television and customary drinking/socialising for evening walks and early nights is only beneficial.

But these days, mind/body activities such as Taichi and Qigong, are still mostly practiced by the older generation. At dawn and dusk, public parks and spaces fill up with –mostly retired- men and women doing their daily breathing, walking, or taichi, in the view of maintaining a healthy mind and body balance.

All in all, there is something quite appealing about the concept of trying to at least keep some kind of healthy balance between a passion for consumption and an aim for a long life. The Chinese are indeed efficient in all matters in life: from making money, and delighting their senses to making up for any superfluous indulgences.