Yoga course may provide fresh approach to Sino-Indian relations

Greater understanding

Ping used to think of yoga as a kind of physical and mental adjustment and training. Now, after six months of study, she has discovered that it is a huge system with high physical and academic requirements.

"I think yoga is a combination of theory and practice," she said.

In addition to sports physiology and anatomy, the science of training, and psychology, the curriculum includes traditional Chinese philosophy, which has many similarities with yogic thought.

"I want to be a teacher specializing in Sino-Indian culture, so I can work toward the harmonious development of the two cultures," Ping said.

Wang has also changed her opinion of yoga. "We don't just learn Indian culture, but a combination of wisdom from two ancient countries."

She pays great attention to how women adjust their yoga routines during pregnancy, and is hoping to extend her studies to devise exercises suitable for children, whose bodies are still developing.

"Yoga is about balance, and fortunately, what I've learned has enabled me to achieve a balance in my life, work and study. Studying at the college is part of my life experience, but we are not part of any experiment," she said, referring to the newness of the course.

After gaining greater understanding through the integration and exchange of the two countries' cultures, she hopes to make good use of her three years at college and reinforce the relationship between China and India through yoga culture.

The biggest positive for Yu is that he is less confused than when he entered the college six months ago. He has also benefited from comparative study, which has shown him that yoga and the culture of Chinese Taoism share many similarities.

"We need to imbibe traditional Chinese culture, and build cultural confidence after understanding the two countries' cultures," he said.

One of his main nonacademic challenges is paying the tuition fee. His other major concern is that no universities in China offer doctoral studies in yoga. That is because he wants to teach the discipline at a university in the future, but most of them require lecturers to have a doctorate.