Let's go of your ego (From 8Days NO.116)

Rebecca Lo is a full time kundalini yoga teacher at Kundalini Yoga Asia, and has been practicing yoga for 11 years. "I started doing yoga to reduce stress and elevate energy," Lo say. "Today it is my lifestyle."
Every morning, Lo wakes up at an incredible 3.30am to do morning sadhana, a daily morning practice. "I start with a cold shower." Then I do a kirya (exercise set) followed by 62 minutes of meditation. I finish around 6.30am."And on top of that little morning routine, Lo teaches about three classes every day.
Except for yoga, Lo unwinds by spending time with her dog Mocca and her rabbit Little White. "I also listen to mantra music, take my dog for long walks, or go to sleep for 11minutes." Eleven minutes being the length of time she sleeps before entering the dream stage, in case you were wondering.
After one year of practicing yoga, Lo also became a vegetarian." Kundalini yoga has a system to raise kundalini, which is a reserved energy that is located at the our spine. It also opens and balances the energy centers that our bodies hold, which are called chakras .When I started practicing it, the transformation of these things was very effective. I found myself starting to love vegetables and finding meat tasty anymore. Now I have been a vegetarian for 11years."
Lo's best advice to people who wish to get rid of stress is to "let go of your ego and listen more to your body." She also advises people to eat more vegetables and less meat." By becoming a vegetarian your blood will be purified and you will feel and look great."
Lo prefers kundalini yoga, as she feels other kinds of yogas are either too physical or too mental. "Kundalini yoga is more balanced. Each session include tuning in with mantra(chanting words), prananyama (breathing exercise), kriya, and meditation. For me, wellbeing means to balance the state of the mind with health and spirituality, and I find much of that in kundalini yoga"กก

Yoga is enhancing my life
Mathieu Jacquenet (Landscape Architect)

Thirty-two year old Frenchman Mathieu Jacquenet is a busy man. For almost three years he has lived in Shanghai where he works as a landscape architect, working 9.30am-7.30pm. "I try to avoid overtime," he says, "But at times it's impossible."
In order to balance his heavy workload and find a balance between stress and relaxation. Jacquenet practices kundalini yoga. "I started doing hatha yoga when I lived in France, and two years ago I managed to find a place where I could take kundalini yoga classes in Shanghai," he recalls. "Since then I have practiced yoga three times a week. Each session is 90 minutes, and I would never give it up. It means too much to me."
Jacquenet describes kundalini yoga as a "pure yoga," which, according to Jacquenet, has got nothing to do with fashionable "yoga litness." Rather, kundalini yoga focuses on spiritual benefit. "Also, because the sets of exercises are so many and constantly change, you never get bored with it. Kundalini yoga is not such a practice where you are forced to push your limits. You lay down your own limits so you never really get to suffer or feel pain."
Because of Jacquenet's busy work schedule, he has to make special time for yoga, and leave the office in time to make his evening classes. When asked if the yoga interferes with his work, Jacquenet says that he has made sure it doesn't. "My boss has no choice but to let me attend my classes. Yoga is enhancing my life and how I work, and he perfectly knows that it is essential to my spiritual wellbeing."
For Jacquenet, wellbeing means "being able to face all kinds of situations effortlessly and with joy." He adds: "Yoga is a way to clean up your body and mind and it helps you to face life in a better way. I would recommend anyone to do it. But don't get my wrong, people unwind differently. I am also a diehard clubber! If need to release some stress, and maybe don't feel like yoga, I turn to Shanghai's nightclub scene instead."กก