The yoga dream of the disabled

In the yoga team, Tu Lan and Xiong Yan are practice partners. After class, they usually help each other relax. As the only two team members with major physical disabilities, it is more difficult for them to perform some tough yoga poses, but their firm will, their love for yoga and their encouragement of each other keeps them going. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Gu Wenzhi, who is disabled, has been practicing yoga for some time. Last July, she came up with the idea of organizing a yoga team for the disabled. She said yoga has not only improved her body but boosted her mood a lot. "It's not a performance, but a way to change ourselves."

The team now has more than twenty members, all of whom are women, including deaf-mutes and those with physical disabilities. They attend class every Sunday morning, and Gu volunteers to be the teacher. This October, they moved to a training room provided by the Baogong Community Office.

Practicing yoga requires the disabled to overcome problems with balance and coordination. Both Xiong Yan and Tu Lan have leg-related disabilities, but there are some poses they can make that are complementary. Having done yoga for just one month, Xiong is so highly motivated that she even keeps practicing at home after class.

For those deaf-mute team members, it was difficult to communicate with each other in the beginning. But now, they can understand the teacher's instructions from just a glance.

Without any financial support, the team members have given many yoga performances for free. "It's difficult to require all team members to perform, since it is totally at their own expense."Gu said. She wishes to introduce a healthy lifestyle to more disabled people through yoga. "Just like us, I hope more disabled people can change themselves and become happier."

However, her ability is limited. Gu hopes that more yoga teachers will volunteer to join the team. In Gu's eyes, the grace of yoga can move people just like the Chinese hearing-impaired dancers do with their performance of "Thousand-hand Kwan-yin."