We recently interviewed Shay Fang from Beijing, China, about her experiences studying with Yoga Therapy International (YTI) 2017-2019. She received her CYT 1000 certificate from Yoga Therapy International in June 2019, and soon afterwards, she became the first C-IAYT (Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists) from China.
Update Post Graduation from YTI
Shay is currently working full-time at LALASA Yoga Club, which has three branches in Beijing. She teaches group yoga therapy classes and several private Yoga Therapy clients. Shay is also one of their faculty training students at the 200-hour level, which she hopes will be a preparation for them to do further Yoga Therapy training with Maggie and her faculty at YTI in the near future.
Yoga Therapy Specialization
When asked whether she now specializes in certain conditions as a Yoga Therapist, Shay explained, “Deep relaxation (through stimulation of the parasympathetic nerve system and restorative yoga) is the most powerful tool I’ve worked with since becoming a Yoga Therapist. Sleeping problems and anxiety are the most common conditions that I have dealt with. I also started a workshop on relaxation, which received pretty good feedback. I think I will keep on doing it in the future.” She was deeply influenced by her studies in chronic pain with Neil Pearson while in YTI’s CYT 1000 program.
Future of Yoga Therapy
When asked about how the roles of Yoga Therapists within the health and wellness fields will be evolving over the next five years, Shay shared, “I do believe what I do as a Yoga Therapist will have a bright future because I help people with their problems. Also, we have a large number of senior people right now, and people care about their health more than ever. What is lacking is how to make people understand how Yoga Therapy can work on their body and mind and how to make people understand the difference between Yoga Therapy and Physical Therapy. So there will be a lot more work to do; that is also why I'm training RYT 200 teachers now.”
Yoga is more than Postures
When we asked if Shay would change anything about working in this field, she responded, “I would change the common perception of yoga that yoga merely works on the musculoskeletal level. I have tried my best to make people understand that yoga (especially yoga therapy) can also work on our inside systems and mind.” Recently, she has been taking a Yoga Sutra-s on the Psychology and Philosophy of Yoga, a new graduate course with our Master Teachers in Chennai, India, D.V. Sridhar & Radha Sridhar of the Krishnamacharya-Desikachar lineage of Yoga Therapy teachings. She visits them in Chennai whenever she can to further her studies and looks forward to coming back to Vancouver to study with Maggie for in-person Graduate courses when we are able to travel again.
