A little flexibility can go far; which is why tens of thousands of Hongkongers are bending and twisting their way to health and happiness, making the city the largest hub for yoga in Asia, outside India.
The fourth Evolution Asia Yoga Conference (AYC), an annual four-day event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre starting on Friday, seeks to bring yoga's universal benefits to as many people as possible through more than 150 complimentary and paid-for classes covering all aspects of the practice, including posture, breathing, theory, anatomy, astrology, science and meditation.
Patrick Creelman, a participating yogi from Pure Yoga and an instructor of Anusara yoga, says, 'Evolution is a platform for someone to come and try clearly defined methods of yoga, with each teacher representing a lineage of yoga or style.
'You can come to one space and do a class or two over four days and see the difference; that's one of the biggest draws of this kind of conference. Years ago, I went to my first because I was 'shopping' for a teacher.'
'We find that the networking community has grown bigger over the years,' conference manager Alda Lo says. 'The AYC is now the largest annual yoga event in Asia. This new decade is about the environment and health, and people in modern Asia are really catching up to being on top of the trend.'
For the 30 instructors and 3,000 practitioners taking part, Evolution is also a celebration and 'home'-gathering of all enthusiasts, according to Lo. And you certainly don't have to be a serious practitioner to take part. There is plenty of space for merriment, with Michel Besnard's Laughter Yoga (free); crying, with Gahl Sasson's session on throat singing and chanting; and dancing, with Hemalayaa's Bollywood 101 (free) and a big Trance Dance party, which starts at 5.30pm on Saturday, presided over by world-renowned DJ Cheb I Sabbah.