REAL YOGA - Testimonials

Testimonials

by Nabilah & Simon (members), 7th June 2009

Real Yoga has been a new inspiration to us. Sleep comes more easily and our general energy levels have been boosted. The staff of Real Yoga is friendly and professional from A to Y or Admin to Yoga Trainers. As a man starting yoga at the tender age of 40 something can be daunting, but the instructors know how to push you to the limit but not beyond, ensuing you get the best out of the sport without having to take time off work to recover after each session. The various types of yoga offered cater for those wanting to learn the basics through to the hard core power sessions. The overall atmosphere at Real Yoga is friendly, professional and not pretentious in the way that some clubs can be.

*by Kenneth Kow (member), 4th June 2009*
It's a Friday night, and I am out on a hot date - with my yoga mat at Real Yoga centre. Boring? I don't think so. Crazy? Maybe not. Obsessive? Perhaps. Yogaholic? Definitely yes! The amazing part is, I never imagined this happening. After all, when I picked up yoga close to a year back, it was only to supplement my sports training. Back then, I was doing combat sports, and yoga was simply an avenue for me to increase my flexibility. There was nothing attractive about it. Enter Real Yoga. I joined the centre in February 2009 and have never looked back since. I attribute it to its excellent instructors and conducive learning environment. It is easy to teach yoga, but not many can do so with such unparalleled dedication and passion. There is so much to learn and discover in every class, and that certainly wet my appetite further. My initial flexibility goals turned into much more. I began to embrace yoga as a form of holistic healing for both the mind and body; as an all-round workout that activates every single muscle and joint; as a platform for gaining greater self-awareness, and more importantly, as a lifestyle. Someone once told me, "When you join Real Yoga, you are not just a member, but a student; a student within a close community that grows and learns together." Looking back now, I fully agree.

*by Wen Lene Tan (member), 29 May 2009*
Coming from a sports background, I developed the habit of running everyday from my competitive hockey days as a teenager, and love the adrenalin rush cardiovascular exercises give me. If you had told me even a year ago that I would stop running altogether one day, I wouldn't have believed it. I fell into yoga entirely by accident, after deciding to try out some "alternative low impact exercise regimes" so touted by the everyday fitness and female magazine, because my knees were hurting at 25 after years of running. One class turned into two, two classes turned into six months, and come end August 2009 I would have practised yoga for two years. I initially wandered among various styles of yoga and yoga teachers but favour Real Yoga because of the smaller class sizes. I get more individual attention as the teachers are highly experienced and at the same time, they know us by name. At gyms and fitness clubs, we go to yoga classes for a stretch and maybe a workout. At Real Yoga, we are taught to use our breath to go deep into each pose and our endurance and will power is tested in every class. Yoga resembles life in that it is a neverending journey as there is so much to learn, unlearn and relearn in every class. The teachers at Real Yoga pave the way for me, my job is simply to tread on the path they have created for me as they have done for everyone else. Today I feel stronger, so much more supple, and calmer than I did two years ago. I no longer put on my runners for my cardio hit but am instead barefoot at Real Yoga working every muscle and joint with the rest of my peers soaking in the wisdom and knowledge of the human anatomy of the yoga masters at Real Yoga. My knees while not quite the same as they were when I was 13, have never felt better. An added bonus that comes with my increased flexibility is much my cleaner lines when I dance. My name is Wen Lene, and I am a Real Yogaholic.

*by Irene Neo (member), 30 March 2009*
In the beginning I choose cardio exercise to keep fit. Until one day I decided to do yoga as stretching exercise to balance out my cardio routine. After tried a few classes, I never expected that I would be hooked to yoga. It's been 3 years now and I’ve been practicing yoga daily. I realize that it improves my health and strengthen my mental awareness, which help me to face daily challenges and stress at work. It even helped me to shed a few unwanted kilos! But I still feel that something is missing.. until I met some really marvelous and passionate teachers at Real Yoga. Under Master’s guidance, I began to understand the union of the mind and the body. Yoga is not only doing postures, we need to feel and understand our body to achieve the correct alignment and gain the benefit from posture. I enjoy Master’s class very much, as there’s always a challenge in every class. I learn something new every day and with his encouragement I could do some postures that I thought I would never able to do it either because of my physical limitation or my fears. As I will always remember, once he said that we must try to push ourselves and love the pain (within the safe limit of course). Now yoga is part of my life, I can’t wait to see how much more I could learn from it and make me a better person.

*by Gilbson Lee* *(member), 18th March 2009*
Yoga is indeed beneficial to me since I have joined Real Yoga in 2008. It helps to maintain my body in a balance mass and has not only enhanced my soul and mind concentration, but also improved my body flexibility. The masters from the centre are also very professional. With the expertise of these experienced masters from the centre, I have learnt how to perform various advance postures safely which I have not done previously in other exercises. This is another form of exercise whereby everyone of all ages can do it in order to keep them healthy.

*by Anja Koltes & Dawn Chin* (members), 18th March 2009
If we were one person, we would be the perfect yogini – flexible and strong. But unfortunately, both of us only have one quality each and are currently working towards achieving the other with Real Yoga. We started our yoga classes quite spontaneously during mid-November 2008. For Dawn, it was more a restart after a couple of years without yoga, so she just wanted to de-stress and regain her flexibility, as well as tone up and trim down. Anja, on the other hand, has never ever done anything like yoga before and thought it’d be a great idea to slow down, relax, and increase her flexibility. We loved the place instantly! The atmosphere in the studio is more like in your living room, and we swear our master is a hundred years old but has found the fountain of youth through yoga. Every class is a challenge and no two classes are the same. Some days it is easy to get into the postures and hold them; other days it’s difficult to focus as everything feels stiff. But no matter which day it is, we always walk out of class feeling positive and rejuvenated. It’s actually quite addictive. Now at every class, we feel the stretch, experience the pain and ENJOY!

*by Maryline* *Guilloteau (member), 14th March 2009*
Everyone has heard at least once in their life, no matter where they come from, that Yoga is good for the mind and the body. That’s actually right but there is no such thing than experiencing it. Just try and you will understand how fun and rejuvenating it can be! It all started when I told my colleague that I was bored at a gym club. She spontaneously replied that I should try Yoga. She spoke about it with a lot of passion, highlighting the benefits of exercising while relaxing the mind. She made me seriously consider joining Real Yoga, a cozy yoga center with a remarkable teacher (and not only one) that she had known for some time. As I was personally interested in holistic activities, I had already heard about the benefits of Yoga. Now that I am practicing Yoga, I realize that it is even beyond my expectations. Yoga really stimulates my body and my brain as it makes me consciously stretch all my muscles compared to other physical exercises. It also relieves the tension and stress I may experience with my job which requires that I sit in front of a computer most of the day. I reached a Hatha Yoga class today with lower back pain. The pain had completely disappeared by the end of the class after proper breathing, stretching and mind relaxation. Yoga develops not only my physical awareness but also my mental awareness. I better understand that a lot of what I may accomplish begins in my mind. It actually serves me for other activities such as golf for which keeping focused and relaxed are keys for improvement. Yoga really helps reuniting my mind and body; and when I feel one, I am happy.

by *Hooi Pui Yee (member), 13th March 2009*
I have been practicing yoga since 2005. Initially I treated yoga as a form of exercise that could help me in weight loss. However the more I do yoga, the more I found that it has more health benefits for me physically and mentally. After practicing for a few months my back pain, shoulder pain, and kneecap pain are gone. I feel more energetic during the day even though I wake up very early in the morning. This physical benefit indirectly causes me to feel good about myself, which boost up my self-confidence, help to think positively, and have a better control over my temper. Furthermore, my mind become calmer and clearer and my concentration power improved. With so much benefits that I could gain from yoga, weight loss is no longer my main goal. By practicing yoga, everyday I learn more about my body and myself. Now I am ready to face daily challenge at work and personal life. I believe that excellent instructor’s guidance and environment plays a very important role in practicing yoga. Experienced instructors with passion for yoga who could give clear instruction and guidance in class help me to understand my body better (in term of limitation and strength) and achieve the correct posture. Conducive environment will facilitate us to relax ourselves and enable us to concentrate more on our practice. These are the reason for me to choose Real Yoga for my yoga practice.

*by Judy Khoo (member),* *13th March 2009*
I am Judy, aged 46 and have been with Real Yoga for 5 months now. Actually I found out about RY thru Great Eastern Women’s Run 2008 and at that time I was looking for a studio to pick up yoga again as I had stopped for sometime when I moved house. I had previously learnt Hatha Yoga at community centers but when I joined RY I find that I have to learn the asanas all over again as what I have learnt so far can barely measure up. Firstly, I find the environment at RY is really cozy and friendly and all the staff and members know each other unlike other studios and centers where the service can be quite impersonal and cold. But what I really wanted to share is the benefits which come from my daily practice at RY. I have shed unwanted kilos and gain a new glow to my skin. My posture and flexibility has improved and my weekly tension headaches are gone! Even my friends have been complimenting me about my physical appearance now. I don’t even need to go for regular facials now. As a regular runner, I also find that my stamina has improved a lot and am now able to focus more on breathing correctly. Unlike my earlier experiences of going to classes where the teachers do not correct your postures, I now look forward to attending every class as I find that the teachers at RY are really good at what they are doing. I normally come out of every class smiling and happy to know that I have learnt something new and challenging each time. Although the first few months left me with an aching and sore body each time, but as time passes it is as one of the masters used to say “a sweet kind of pain” which is like no other. I really want to commend on the instructors at RY as they are a truly professional and dedicated team.