Limber up for the first-ever Yoga Gala which hits Hong Kong’s KITEC this fortnight. Yoga enthusiasts can meet master yogis from around the globe, show off their poses and shop for yoga gear during the two-day conference.

Kicking off the event at the ripe hour of 7.45am is a workshop from Master Monk Haegak who demonstrates the Korean practice of Sunmudo, which blends yoga forms with zen martial arts. The pillars of yoga, as well as its many systems such as bikyasa, vinyasa and astho Thai yoga, will be covered in addition to workshops on themes like breathing and meditation, using your spine effectively, awakening the emotional centre of gravity and stress management. Om to that!

Master yogis will be running the workshops, including Sandhi Ferreira from the USA – who has been practicing Jivamukti yoga for the past decade and a half in addition to being a professional hula-hoop dancer – meditation expert Gilbert Ng from Malaysia and local yogi Dickson Lau who is the chief master of the Hong Kong Yoga Association.

In addition to leading workshops, the eight masters will be helping to judge four competitions. Open to any yoga enthusiasts, participants will be judged based on the execution of pre-designated and self-chosen poses and their accuracy, difficulty, poise, steadiness and breathing. Those with lung capacities that rival deep-sea pearl divers can enter the chanting competition – ‘om’ the loudest and longest to win up to $3,000. But if your revolving half-moon pose isn’t quite up to standard (or you’re a smoker), cheer on your friends from the sidelines and pick up some yoga gadgets and DVDs at the special sale. Namaste!

Andrea Yu

The Yoga Gala runs at KITEC from Saturday May 26 to Sunday May 27. Click here for more info.