Jasmin Bhullar has practised yoga for 20 years and taught it for a decade. She’s 25 years old.
If you do the math, yes, she was just the tender age of five when she first experienced the ancient discipline.
Now the Richmond girl is opening her own yoga studio – something she was always eager to do – and hopes to revolutionize yoga practice by making it fun, mobile and open to children as young as Kindergarten age.
“I have been practising yoga with my mom (who is a yoga teacher) since I was five,” said Bhullar. “Yoga has been huge in my life… I can say yoga makes me who I am. I hope to share the benefits with more people.”
She recently launched her yoga studio, Laughing Buddha, and held a free pop-up class at Minoru Park last Saturday.
However, Laughing Buddha doesn’t have an address or a set schedule – it’s a “mobile” studio that can move, following participants throughout Metro Vancouver.
“Through my years of practising and teaching yoga, I noticed that many people don’t go to yoga class because it never fits their schedule,” added Bhullar, the younger sister of Richmond’s former Olympic wrestler turned MMA fighter Arjan.
“They’d much rather do things that fit around their own agenda. So my studio will not set schedules or locations for students - I bring the class to you.”
Bhullar explained that classes will be arranged upon the students’ request, at a time and location that’s convenient for them.
It can take place in a public park, at someone’s backyard, at their homes or in a community centre.
Bhullar, who has a full-time job on the side with a flexible schedule, said the convenience will not be added to the price.
A $13 drop-in fee for classes of more than six and $80 per hour for a whole class of five students or less.
Aim to teach yoga to kids
And launching a mobile yoga studio is the first step in achieving Bhullar’s bigger goal - to bring her class to school children.
Starting practising from a very young age, Bhullar said she enjoyed the experience when she was a kid.
“I’m always on the go, and my friends wonder how I have so much energy,” said Bhullar.
“Because I have practised yoga and meditation for so long, I learned how to be a relaxed and calm person. People often think yoga is an adult thing, but it can help children, too. It can help them handle pressures and ease anxieties.”
Bhullar has taught yoga as part of a martial arts program and thinks teaching yoga to children “is the most rewarding experience ever.”
“I incorporate games into yoga moves in my class. For example, I tell a story of a lion in the jungle, then we do lion pose, lion breathe, but they are actually yoga moves. Kids love it.”
Bhullar recalls a time when a parent, at one of the martial art/yoga classes, came to her and asked what she taught her kid in the class.
“The student went home and started teaching her parents yoga and meditation, and they have practised it ever since,” she recalls.
“That brought me to tears.”
Bhullar is now approaching Richmond schools, hoping one day to bring yoga mats into the classroom to teach the little students during lesson time or at lunch breaks.
Breaking yoga stereotypes
Breaking stereotypes associated with yoga is another focus for Bhullar, especially if, in her mind, it presents a barrier for people.
“When people talk about yoga, they often think about the serious environment and those high technical moves. But they are not really what yoga is all about,” she said.
Bhullar, however, said she doesn’t plan her classes or label the moves, but, instead, flows with her clients’ abilities.
“I observe how my students react, what they are capable of, then decide what to teach next.”
Creating a fun vibe and making students smile is also an important part of Bhullar’s class.
“Everyone should feel comfortable and happy during a yoga class,” said Bhullar. “Yoga is not anything but moving and breathing.”
