By Harsh Dave
The spirit of Lan Lan Yoga is rooted in the principles of compassion, integrity and having a full heart of joy. It is through these principles that our company can continue to offer guidance. Please enjoy the following interview with Lan Lan! Her joyful journey into teaching Yoga is why Lan Lan Yoga exists today, and her experience with teaching children has been her inspiration to continue the journey and lifestyle that Yoga can offer to all of us.
Q: BEFORE YOU STARTED PRACTICING YOGA, WHAT DID YOU DO?
A: I worked as a trader in finance in New York City for seven and half years, and I grew up in China before moving to the US. It was very competitive, but the people around me were all very nice. What stood out to me was the pressure to not make a mistake, and the fear of losing your job if you did because you are responsible for managing a lot of capital that didn’t belong to you. That responsibility made working as a trader in New York was very stressful.
WHEN AND WHY DID YOU FIRST START PRACTICING YOGA?
I actually first started practicing meditation. A friend of mine who worked at an investment banking company for twenty years recommended it to me. She had been practicing meditation for three years and it helped her be calm in any situation. I learned the value of mediation by practicing it myself, and I went on to discover the value of Yoga as well. I think it’s such a powerful practice and I want to be able to offer it to people.
HOW DID MEDITATION HELP YOU DEAL WITH THE DIFFICULTIES OF A CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT?
There are a couple things. I can tell the difference of whether I practiced or not in the morning. If I practice yoga and meditation, I feel calm, and energetic. If I’m not practicing, I can quickly feel the stress. Sometimes in the afternoon we want to find a way to relief our stress, and in those moments, we feel like there are too many things happening. All those situations and our emotions drain our energy, and that is the perfect time to practice yoga or mediation, and refresh.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM PRACTICING YOGA?
The biggest lesson I learned is to just keep practicing. The yoga and meditation practices; its special, people think that its just a physical activity when yoga is a lifestyle. To keep practicing and learning the physical asana. The practice of Yoga is for us to manage our emotions regardless what situation is happening around us; to always bring ourselves back to be joyful, and calm. That itself is the practice, the practice is the journey, and on the journey, we might have difficulties. In life, you might be frustrated sometimes, you might feel your body is paining, you might feel like nothing is working. However, it is our practice, it is our journey is to continue to move forward with calm, peace and joy.
HOW DID YOU FIRST START TEACHING YOGA TO KIDS?
I was introduced to the curriculum for kids during a meditation teacher’s training, and it was so much fun, I loved it and I didn’t have any experience before that, but in that moment, I knew that this is the way to teach. We teach kids by playing games together; we have fun together, we have discussions. We go on a journey of discovery together. I think it’s the same for ourselves, eventually it’s for everyone to discover, I think, the true knowledge in everyone’s heart.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR INSPIRATION TO KEEP TEACHING?
I think the key is the love from the kids. It’s a big motivation for me, and the fun I have while teaching. When you see the kids engage themselves, and practice and learn from the practice, you can see the progress they make and how much they love coming to class. For example, there’s one kid I was teaching who plays tennis and he’s super smart, energetic, and he doesn’t want to lose at all. He always tells me, “95 percent of the time I win!” but whenever he would lose a game he lost his temper and threw his racket on the floor. Earlier this year, before we started his 10-week program, he already broke three rackets. His mom saw the way her son expresses himself, his emotions around losing the game, and she wanted her son to have the tools to manage his emotion. At the last session of the ten week program, the other kids who were playing tennis with him acknowledged that in the last two months did not break any rackets, and that they could see that he was better at managing his emotion. I was very happy to hear that, and those little moments serve as my inspiration.
WHEN YOU SEE A CHILD MAKE PROGRESS WHERE THEY HAD BEEN STRUGGLING, HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL?
When I see the kids face difficulties I get very heartbroken. When they can manage their emotions, I feel very fulfilled myself and I also see that for a lot of kids, it is a good help to them to practice yoga. You want the kids to practice, however you don’t want to force them to practice, we want them to practice with joy, and we want the practice itself to be something interesting or fun, so that they love to practice, that’s what we want to bring to the kids. In our class we want them to be loved, completely and unconditionally. Totally loved. Kids know what they want, and there were times when the parents really forced the kids to come to class. The kids don’t know what they’re coming to, and the parents pay for it, bring them there and drop them to class. And the wonderful moments are when every kid like this in the class are engaged, play together, have fun together, and together, make a place where they always want to come back, that’s one joyful thing.
There was one kid who shared with me that his teachers are always yelling at him, but to me he’s such a sweet boy. I saw that one day, another kid got really hungry, and felt uncomfortable, so he walked away to sit by himself, and the boy who had problems at school was always very sweet and he was the first to ask him if he was alright. I don’t know what I can do to help him at school, but I know I offer a place for him to have fun, and develop tools to manage the difficulties that manifest in their lives.
FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE, HOW DOES YOGA CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING FOR KIDS?
As I mentioned before, yoga is a lifestyle, it’s a practice. It’s a practice of communication and love. Teaching other people how to communicate your love. It’s a practice of our mind, and how to manage our emotions when we are faced with failures. For kids it’s really important. When they are born kids are full of love and joy, and are curious for everything, and along the way if anything happens, it shifts the way they think about the world. For example, if they think someone is not trustworthy, if something occurred to them to make them think that way, their actions will be aligned with that occurrence, but if we can bring the awareness to them that we are essentially the same, we are one, it will shift the occurrence for them, and it takes some practice and work but eventually the world opens up for them. They can do whatever they want in their life with passion, even if there are failures.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START LAN LAN YOGA?
I have been working with a nonprofit Yoga organization, and in the process of offering my service, I realized that Yoga and meditation is something that will empower kids for their whole life. It’s a treasure for them to have. I wish I learned the lessons that Yoga has taught me when I was younger. Not many people know the value of yoga or meditation and I really want people have the awareness and know how important of yoga and meditation can be. When I grew up in China there were no courses for social and emotional learning. We had moral courses, and conventional courses. It’s obvious that not every kid has to be great at math, but every kid should have the tools to manage their emotions. Once they learn how, they can reach their full potential in whatever they are passionate for. So, I started Lan Lan yoga, and I want to design something easy for kids and parents to practice at home. Kids are very busy, their whole schedule is packed, and families are busy, so I want to offer something that is not so long, and easy to do at home. I want kids and their parents to practice together, so that can develop the tools to continue their journey.
