Yan Ong

Month in Mysore …

It sounds long, but it went by fast & furious. Arriving depleted & with some pain inside & out from a hard year, but amazingly leaving stronger, more mobile & hopeful.

Nowhere in the world right now you can practice Ashtanga in a shala being taught with 6 certified teachers & 6 authorised teachers together in a room. More than half the teachers assisting in the shala have been practicing with Sharath Jois & teaching Ashtanga as he did, for about 20 years, plus practicing for even longer. You are lucky if you have one of them in any shala in the world. At .yoga.centre you are looked after by several.

I say looked after because, I felt looked after and I don’t say that easily. I have been hurt severely twice in my life by being adjusted in backbending positions that left me fighting to continue moving and practicing the past 13years. I don’t trust easily, my own late teacher told me not to let anyone adjust me again except him. I know pain, I know fear and I have spent years working hard to depend on myself to move in a way that may not be deep or fancy but lets me practice & progress safely. For the first time, I practiced in a room this past month of not only one but multiple teachers whom I also consider friends (+ 1 husband 🤣) that are great at what they have been doing for decades… teach, adjust and support practitioners without ego, the safest & only way to truly teach Ashtanga.

I wish had more time to hang out with friends, there were lots I wanted to do but didn’t get a chance, but the smiles in the shala, working hard on practice & quality time with Kai in the town where his mom and dad met filled my heart so much that I am ready to take on 2026. I guess that’s the magic of Mysore.

Thank you Shruti, Shraddha & Sambhava Jois in doing absolutely everything you can for as many as possible to experience Sharath’s Yoga Centre. You have already created something unique for Ashtanga in this world.

Thank you to all the teachers that assisted in December and January whom kindly carried me physically and emotionally through each practice with your kind support. Thank you for creating a safe trustworthy environment.

Some things I have heard repeatedly over the years said by Sharathji in conferences that not everyone might have attended or had the chance to hear in their language. I hope it ‘s helpful!

One of the things I have been busy doing is working on making sure his words are not lost in my Sharathji Conference Project, collecting his talks in various formats (link in bio). If you have any full recordings of his talks in audio or video send a msg!

Looking back many of us have spent alot of time the last year thinking about what the Ashtanga community has lost, and rightly so.

It was massive. But looking around me this month I realised Sharathji didn’t just leave behind a special practice but one of the most spectacular things he also created and left behind is a beautiful community of Ashtanga practitioners.

Protecting his legacy is not just protecting his teachings but also the community he left behind, honouring his work is not only preserving the practice and but also strengthening the unity of community.

Community is a collection of individuals with commonality such as an interest or location. What makes it a beautiful phenomenon is that each are individuals, unique and different in our own way but still brought together. It only works when we respect our differences, perhaps admire it even, and enjoy the diversity as we enjoy a shared interest.

What a wonderful experience to be surrounded by people from everywhere bound together by one simple practice.

Chill and Heart Filled Birthday and Christmas in Mysore today.

Started the day with an early morning yoga practice next to Manuel .yoga.centre, followed by family cuddles, muffin and flowers at home and an afternoon of wine n cake with friends around the world and students from home.

Grateful for all the simple things in life , blessed for the kind and genuine people around me and love from all directions.

Wishing everyone quality time with those that you love and a very Merry Christmas from the 3 of us here in Mysore!

Coming to Mysore is just like the Ashtanga practice itself. Sometimes when you do something repeatedly that’s the best way you can observe growth, change & development.

Spending time here every year has been the foundation of my life, the constant backdrop to the evolution of this short life. When I first arrived in Mysore I was 30 years old, so much has changed since then, lifestyle, life choices, physical body but mostly the person I am inside.

When I landed in Mysore, never in my life I would imagine I’ll be walking around the streets of Gokulam holding the hand, chasing around in the shala and taking a photos of my baby in the women’s lockers… not in a million years.

So so so many things have happened in the 16 years in between then and now. Both joys and heartbreaks. All of it unpredictable.

Yoga is meant to be done for a long time. It is a tool of transformation. It’s taught me to accept, do without expectation and never say never.

Ashtanga weekend with Yan in KL this coming weekend!

Saturday 7am : Led Primary & Yoga Talk
Sunday 7am : Morning Mysore

Book your spot

Happy Anniversary my love …

Always a special day for us today, and a little hard for me this time. On our wedding day I had the 3 most important men of my life stand in a line, my father walked me down that aisle, towards my dear friend & yoga teacher to marry me to husband. In a short space I have lost 2 of those 3 men, & not yet recovered.

But I have gained one extra little man, & he has more than filled my heart.

So grateful for a husband that has held me throughout so much since we met, that love & devotion to each other grows & deepens every year as we get old together & face all that we eventually have to go thru in life. I’m glad to have you by my side to go thru it be it up or down.

Today we celebrate love & the support we give each other in order to keep going. I love you.

I love this song we played right after we got married!

August with Kai.

Although I restarted Sunday Mysore Mornings in KL at the shala last month, my weekdays are dedicated to spending time with my lil baby boy (& my online privates outside of KL).

Days fly by with school drop offs & pickups, walks in parks and around lakes, swings and slides in playgrounds, reading & cuddles, baby gym class or just rolling around the bed and this week we run around the gardens & splash in the pool at the yoga retreat.

Finding a way to balance teaching & family life is different for everyone, we all experiment with what works best, with what energy we have. As long as our intentions are to give love, you can never go wrong, and it can come in anyway form & shape. Teachers teach in whatever format they think is best, moms raise their kids in whatever environment they think is best. Everyone does somethings differently but is trying their best and that’s all that matters.

Excited for our annual Malaysia Ashtanga Retreat starting this week!

It’s been so fun to design the menu and get my fun wellness elixir shot recipes arranged for post practice and daily power smoothie concoctions for each student participating in our 5 days of Ashtanga in the nature of Borneo.

I don’t believe in dictating what one should or shouldn’t eat, nor enforce principles on others when it comes to nutrition, everyone has different heath situations, it is not my position or business to know it, so every main meal has options of varying sources of protein that can be personalised to each student’s needs, and all shared plates are vegan.

There are 3 areas in life I truly believe it is not a anyone’s place to convince another:
1) how to nourish
2) who to love
3) what to believe

The person we choose to love, the food we need to eat & the spiritual quest we take is so deeply personal and can only be best made by ourselves as we work on ourselves and continue on our journey to consistently make better choices in our lives, nobody will ever know another’s full past experience and knowledge held within.

In a world where people get more attention & fame because of tightly held opinions, it is hard to find a community of acceptance, tolerance & freedom of judgment.

Yet it is vital for our growth …. Individually and as a society.

Practice Ashtanga. Be joyful & kindhearted.

It’s been a difficult process moving into my parents home and slowly clearing out things, I finally got the courage to clear out my dads room.

It’s interesting how material items can evoke memories & such strong emotions, giving everything so much value & yet observing simultaneously how unimportant material things are when we are no longer.

There’s so much judgement & misunderstanding about material objects & the yogic path. Unless one has made a conscious decision to follow a path of renunciation, the majority of us are considered ‘householders’, people with either homes, family or work responsibilities or all of the above. Thanks to Krisnamacharya yoga became available to householders & not only renunciates. The balance between material ownership & walking a yogic path is one of vairagiam, non-attachment. Enjoy whatever you choose to fully enjoy, but remember your identity is not that, that you may have & yet you will be ok without it as well. Be fully present & appreciate things you know is temporary without guilt. Our worry is not found in objects & they cannot be taken with us when we leave this life, at the same time life is too short not to live & experience gratitude for all that the universe brings.

I also want to thank my students that shared a wonderful & meaningful message from the Gita during a very hard time for me, thank you for being there for me, it touched me more than you know.

Today is the 49th day of my dad’s passing. Chinese culture recognises 49 & 100 days as significant grief periods. I do t know why, if someone does do let me know.

Meanwhile it’s still a process I’m taking a day at a time.

Guru Purnima…. Teachers Day. Grateful to have had the opportunity to experience a wonderful relationship in my life with someone that shone a light, shared love & believe me in me.

A teacher is vital for self growth, spiritual development & to keep us humble on this path that there are things we may not always know. Having a teacher not only shifts the mental attitude that we are not the ones that know everything (which the opposite of the yogic path). Learning to trust & surrender is not easy yet essential to living a life with love, as is having the experience of another believe & guiding you. And not needing another to be perfect for us and a sign of confidence & trust in ourselves. Growth and gratitude go hand in hand.

Thank you for shining a path for me, you may not be here, but the path is now illuminated and I am walking it to the end with all the tools you have set out to go forward.

In honor of my teacher, to keep his teachings alive & to make sure his words are never lost, I have dedicated a page in my website to sharing as many conferences he has given in his life time that I have. His sharing should never be lost, but most amazingly the love he emits from his talks too. If you have any full audio or video talks of Paramaguru Sharath Jois feel free to contact me & add to this project.

Sunday Mysore with Yan starts next week!

7-9.30am every Sunday at Mysore Room Kuala Lumpur.

For all levels. In-person only for now.

Get your pass at and book for spot! One time a week pass is now available!