How nada yoga can destress Hongkongers. We take a 30-minute trial session to find out
Martina Lee, a senior yoga instructor at Hong Kong’s Pure Yoga, teaches a form of yoga that uses singing bowls, the human voice and sound energy to release negative emotions, relieve stress and focus the mind
As the body of scientific research highlighting the benefits of meditation grows, more people are embracing it to reduce stress and boost their well-being.
Wanting to experience some of this R&R – rumination and rejuvenation – for myself, I went on a quest to sample something a little more ‘out there’. The definition of nada yoga from Pure Yoga was intriguing: “Nada means flow of sound. Students concentrate on sound vibrations generated by chanting, singing, mantra repetition or external sound from singing bowls … These sound vibrations balance and optimise the brain frequency and help release negative emotions and relax the body.”
Though I am neither a yogi nor an experienced meditator, I went along to a nada yoga session to learn more about the “singing bowls” and experience some mindful relaxation.
“Sound is an effective way to shift energy because it works at a primal level,” Pure’s senior teacher and country manager Martina Lee said. “I’m very sensitive to sound. I’ve been singing since I was small.”
In one of the newly introduced 30-minute sessions – some people feel an hour is too long to sit through, and this makes it less intimidating for newcomers like me – Lee combines the angelic sound of her voice with the sound of vibrations from crystal singing bowls.