New miracle with Apple Liny



Apple Lin, who moved from Taiwan to Xiamen in 1997 to reunite with her family (her husband built a factory in Xiamen), was in a hurry to find a gymnasium to practice the Yoga that she had enjoyed for nearly 8 years when in Taiwan. But at that time, it was hard to find a big sports center and also you could hardly find people in Xiamen who knew of Yoga. When Apple practiced Yoga herself in hotel gymnasiums, the trainers there were very surprised to watch and couldn't help asking, "What's this sport?" After Apple told them that it was Yoga, the trainer became more curious, "What's Yoga?" Apple defined it by herself, "Yoga is a kind of gentle sport that mostly depends on breathing."

Now, more than 200 Yoga fans practice this gentle sport with special breathing under the guidance of Apple Lin in her "Heart of Yoga" class at City Trend Club every week. Is it a miracle? According to the result, Apple said, "It's Yoga's miracle."



A sport tied with breath
The basic breathing technique of Yoga is abdominal(腹式呼吸) breathing. The deep breathing with some concentration can help blood acidification (酸化作用) in order to discharge toxins (废气) and clean the inside of the body circulation. As Apple said, using abdominal breathing can stimulate five of our internal organs that are hardly ever moved by any other sports, when "Qi"(气) is running through the body, the organs can become well placated(抚慰).

Before doing Yoga exercises, one should do this special breathing first in order to warm-up the body(暖身). To help you stay centered, you can lengthen your inhalation if you are feeling sad or depressed, or lengthen your exhalation if you are feeling anxious or fearful. Strong emotions and tears might still arise while you breathe evenly but you will be more likely to stay centered if you focus on controlling your breathing.



Focus on body position
Definitely the difference between Yoga and other body exercises is that it is done with very gentle and static positions or poses. Instead of doing rigorous actions with heavy music, Yoga uses relaxing soft music. You just need to follow the teacher's movements and poses and even the beginner can feel their muscles or bones becoming soft by doing Yoga.

There are many genres of Yoga but the most popular for Asian people is the original style called "Hatha Yoga"(哈达瑜珈), which intensifies body positioning to cure pain in one's body by breathing. It has different poses for each part of the body from the head, neck, back, arms, wrists, sternum, legs and ankles as well. Also different people have different body constitutions (体质) and need different exercises to make the body soft and to cure pain. One needs to clear one's mind and concentrate on the part of the body that needs attention while making sure to keep the pose and not get distracted. Controlling the "Qi", doing the exercises and paying close attention to it could cure one's body pain in a natural way.



Enter one's spirit
The other feature of Yoga is meditation (冥想) for relaxation. Whichever pose you do, you must learn to relax immediately and focus your concentration on relaxing one part of the body; head, feet, back, etc. How does it work? Apple said that Yoga is not only a body sport but also a spirit sport and it needs balance in both most of all. One should relax their mind and then they can experience the prime benefits of Yoga.

When you immerse yourself in this beautiful peaceful world, you will find a huge potential in yourself and will finally achieve great self-confidence.



What will your harvest bring?
Though many students are keen on Yoga because it's so soft on their body and does no harm to their muscles or bones, some find it can also be very useful in keeping you fit. And when wondering why Apple has such beautiful skin and looks so young, people think of Yoga. Of course she has had huge benefits from almost 17 years of continued exercise.However, those are not Yoga's most important functions. "While it softens your body, your heart must be softened too," Apple emphasized.

"I was a workaholic and had a testy temper and tried to achieve all my goals at the same time before I learned Yoga. Yoga let me loosen myself and slow down my step. I began to accept the environment around me instead of trying to change things as I wanted." Apple concluded.
It seemed that loosening pressures, releasing emotions and setting the spirit free are Yoga's three main functions as Apple Lin told her students. Yoga provides an unimaginable chance to balance our heart and body while talking to our bodies with deep breathing techniques. However, how much you harvest from Yoga only depends on how diligent, continual and regular you are with exercise.

Apple always said, "When I found the harvest my students got from Yoga I felt really happy, even more happy than if I had done it only for myself." It's Apple's miracle, from a beginner to a professional trainer and from enjoying herself to sharing Yoga with others. How about yours?

Note:
1. What do you need to begin practicing Yoga?
All you really need to begin practicing yoga is your body, your mind, and a bit of curiosity. But it is also helpful to have a pair of sweat pants, leggings, or shorts, and a T-shirt that's not too baggy. No special footgear is required because you will be barefoot. It's nice to bring a towel to class with you. As your practice develops you might want to buy your own yoga mat, but most studios will have mats and other props available for you.

2. Why Yoga works when diets often fail
Initially, the sole purpose of practicing yoga was to experience spiritual enlightenment. In Sanskrit (the ancient language of India), yoga translates as "yoke" or "union", describing the integration of mind and body to create a greater connection with one's own pure, essential nature.With a focus on balanced breathing, even muscular engagement and uniform stretching, mindfulness, and a positive mindset, Hatha yoga can be one of the healthiest ways to begin to clear unresolved feelings such as sadness, anger, or fear. Yoga offers the inner harmony and body awareness required to achieve a healthier approach to eating.