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OM meets...
MICHAEL JAMES WONG Born in New Zealand, raised on the beaches of Santa Monica, and now living in London, Michael James Wong is a truly international yogi
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is relationship with yoga and physical movement spans two decades. Always a student first, he continues to practice and teach with a powerful body, an open mind and a fearless heart. He is also the founder of Boys Of Yoga, a project helping to change the perception of yoga for men around the world. How did you first get into yoga Growing up in LA, yoga was always all around me, but I didn’t cross paths with the practice until my early twenties and like a lot of people I was sceptical at first, and
probably there for all the wrong reasons. But, regardless of that, I was lucky enough to have a few friends who dragged me into my first class and I never looked back. It never dawned on me in those early years that it would be something that would become my
POWER UP
Michael James Wong teaches West Coast Power Yoga, a strong and dynamic union that joins the physical asana with the breath. He aims to teach traditional yoga concepts with a modern day approach, whilst still offering space for all students to find their own balance and grounding on and off the mat. FIND HIM IN 2016 AT THE FOLLOWING EVENTS: Yoga Games — Stockholm, Sweden Wanderlust 108 — Australia and New Zealand YogaFest — Amsterdam, Netherlands Udaya Live — Sofia, Bulgaria Icelandic Yoga Retreat — Reykjavik, Iceland
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passion, my community and my life, but here I am, a yogi through and through. What inspired you in those early days At first it was the asana, but then, like many, it became so much more. The physical practice kept bringing me back to the mat, not because of the way I looked, but because of the way I felt. In those early days my body was tight and each and every practice started to make space in ways that were new to me. But as I continued it started to open me up in a deeper way. LA life can be hectic. But each time I stepped back into the studio, the busyness and noise of LA seemed to dial down each time. The practice became my way of stepping away from the chaos. Any favourite studios or teachers you admire Every day is different for me when I practice, sometimes I like it hard and fast, other days it’s better slow and calm. But I’m a big believer that when you find teachers and friends you connect with in the practice, you get so much more out of it. If I’m in London, friends’ classes I visit regularly are Emma Henry and Emily-Clare