Students get stress-buster

Yogi Mohan believes yoga can help those who suffer from depression to balance the oxygen and carbon dioxide level in the body.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Elle China, she cofounded Yogi Yoga with Indian yoga master Man Mohan Bhandari, who is better known as Yogi Mohan in China, in 2003. Later, they became a couple and they now have two kids.

"It is estimated that more than 90 million people in China suffer from depression. The campaign aims to help those who have the potential to fall victim to depression," she says.

Bhandari has also developed some yoga postures that are helpful in stress management for university students. He speaks at universities and shares a teaching video online so that students can benefit from yoga. He also has a Sina Weibo account to answers questions from those who practice yoga.

As of now, every day at 7 am, until the end of December, they have a yoga teacher doing a live broadcast on an account named Yoga Digest on Sina Weibo, to encourage the Chinese to learn the ancient Indian practice. Each video attracts tens of thousands of hits.

Yogi Yoga has also worked with Peking University and established a yoga training center, to offer one semester of free courses for university students, including meditation and breathing.

"Scientific research shows that yoga has positive effects in combating depression and anxiety. Yoga can help deal with one's nervous system. And once your system becomes quiet, your mind will be quiet," says Bhandari.

According to him, those who suffer from depression have one problem - they cannot breathe properly. Yoga can help them to balance the oxygen and carbon dioxide level in the body.

In India, most people know about yoga. They know that it is not only a physical exercise, but also deals with mind, energy and spirituality. But for Chinese students, he has to first teach them the basics about yoga.

Besides that, he believes there are not many differences between teaching in India and in China.