I’ve never tried yoga or any variations of it, but I am interested on finding out how people react on the numerous yoga shops or wannabes that put Hong Kong yoga standards in question.

Good thing I discovered Miss Fong’s rant about Planet Yoga, one of the many prominent yoga establishments in Hong Kong. While I’m not a member of any clubs in Hong Kong, she is one. Unfortunately, she doesn’t think it was a good decision to be a member of Planet Yoga.

I started laughing upon reading the reasons of her general dislike of Planet Yoga
(Note to self: it’s not a laughing matter to get quality services aimed at promoting health and well-being.):

1) Phony yoga classes (I’m sorry, but Yoga Combat, Yoga Punch, etc. are not yoga classes, they are just aerobics/taebo -ish classes!!) You can’t just attach the word ‘yoga’ to anything, geez.

Wow, maybe there is a new yoga technique that’s better than sweating out in the gym. This technique could render some business irrelevant and shut down.

2) Over-emphasis on INDIAN instructors. Planet Yoga loves to tell prospective customers “Over 80% of our instructors are REAL INDIANS!!” But, just cuz they’re Indian doesn’t mean they are the best Yoga instructors. In fact, their English is quite bad, so instead of hearing inspiring words of encouragement during ur practice, you just get, “Up, breathe, more down, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1″ repeated a gazillion times, making you feel absolutely BORED AS H*LL.

You don’t need to be a member of Planet Yoga to notice this one. You can simply go to Lan Kwai Fong and observe the ad (unless their time is up, and have to be taken off).

I also learned that Planet Yoga’s sales people are so aggressive that they don’t even know how will newcomers be accommodated at such limited session slots. Best sales people are customers who are happy about the service and will gladly volunteer spreading the good word. That’s why I (or Ms Fong) am not surprised these sales people are working doubly hard to fill the role no client is perhaps willing to take.

Photo credit: markashepard