Meet Dr. Chang - yoga

Chang is a general practitioner, lifestyle doctor and yoga teacher. Your trips in both medicine and yoga inform each other and believe that we promote health through committed attention to our many layers - physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritual. We have with Dr. Chang met to learn more about your trip to yoga and well -being and why yoga in healthcare is so important for you.

What time does your day start?

I wake up around 6am and usually leave around 8am. The early quiet hours of the morning are the sweetest. When I start a yoga practice in the morning, I always feel better throughout the day.

Do you tell us something about you and your career?

I have been practicing yoga regularly for about 12 years. I found an Iyengar yoga teacher at my local gym and she was the one who started me on my journey. I completed my foundational teacher training with Triyoga London in 2017, led by the most incredible teachers, Anna Ashby and Tony Watson. I took the training to delve deeper into yoga and I didn't know if I would necessarily teach afterwards, but I did and here we are.

I also work as an NHS GP in London. So I would describe myself as a part-time yoga teacher and part-time family doctor. Yoga kept me healthy and optimistic while working as a doctor; Over time, I have seen how both areas complement each other very much.

What does a typical day look like for you?

It depends on. GP days are full all day. I just take my head down and continue until the day is over. It is a day when you come early and come home late to cope with the workload. I teach yoga during my GP days, but try not to teach too many courses to do the old work-life balance properly.

Whether teaching or doing a doctorate, the associated preparation, self-reflection and professional development require a lot of time and effort. In order to do both, I'm often guilty of making life all about work or yoga. I'm better than I used to be - I used to pack too much into a day because I thought I could and should do everything, but I've gotten better at saying no and spending more time doing very little.

Do you tell us about your yoga/wellness trip?

As a child, I was sedentary, overweight and hated sports. I was a picky eater and had terrible back pain as a teenager. My years as a student and as an intern were characterized by bad food, too much alcohol and crazy working hours. Every exercise I did was more out of a self-imposed obligation to lose weight and punish myself than for pleasure.

Finding yoga helped me develop a positive relationship with movement and movement for the first time. Gradually, I started caring less about how I looked and more about taking care of my body and keeping it strong and healthy. I find regular practice to be the driving force behind making better decisions, achieving balance in so many areas of my life: what I eat, how much I sleep, who and what I spend my time with - I naturally began to rethink all of my priorities. When you start this shift, you realize you can't go back, so move on!

Yoga also has the way I practice medicine and influence my choice of career - I always thought that training as a general practitioner taught me how to practice holistically, but I think that the years of practicing yoga have honestly contributed more to change my approach to my patients. Through my own experiences, I passionately deal with lifestyle medicine and work for this in everyday health life.

I hate running around with a cliché, but in many ways yoga really has changed my life.

Where would be your dream place to put your mat?

Somewhere near a water. If I could transport myself there now, it would be my parents' house in Suncheon (a city in southern South Korea) with a view of a large window with a view of a lake through which the sun is shining. It's warm inside, but I can smell the garden outside.

Who or what inspires you daily and do you have a mantra or quote that you live by?

I admire people who are disciplined and brave and who don't care what others think about them, probably because I have to struggle with these things myself. But for me there is no single person; I am serious when I say that someone else can inspire me every day. Whether stranger or old friend, everyone has their unique gifts - friendliness, patience, humor or a broad smile, and that inspires me to maintain these properties too.

The quote that I try to live and that I pinned on my wall reads: "In the state of love, everything you do will be good", Paramahansa Yogananda

What is your most memorable yoga moment?

It is not necessarily a positive moment, but someone who comes to mind is when I got into a headstand in a certain class. I was not strong enough to keep it for a long time, but I did it anyway - my right shoulder gave in very suddenly and I had terrible neck pain for about 2 years. For a long time it has aroused an aversion to headquarters and I still have problems keeping long reversals. However, it gave me a good lesson - being present and working where I am. This does not mean that I spoil challenges, but it taught me to keep my ego in check.

What is most important to you in your yoga offering?

That people feel warmly welcome; I hope students can feel (even online) that my arms are wide open. But I also love to provide a challenge in some way. What I appreciate so much about my own teachers is that they have helped me change something within myself, be it a specific muscular or energetic action in the body or to become more aware of my habits, thoughts and tendencies. I don't want my lessons to be so automated that someone can switch off, go about their daily routine or just exercise. I would love for people to safely explore the edge of their comfort zone, because working on that edge can lead to new learning and insights.

What's the best thing about being a yoga teacher?

To see the softness in the eyes and shoulders of someone when they come from Savasana gives immediate satisfaction. Beyond this moment, it is as worthwhile to see someone accepts yoga and practices regularly. I also love the feeling of being part of a great movement of people who love yoga, seeing and wanting to share its value in the modern world-our brilliant yoga community.

What is the worst thing about being a yoga teacher?

Market yourself. You know that what you share has a value, and you should expect to be paid for the service you have paid, but the attempt to "sell" it to others feels cumbersome and easy to enjoy. I am lucky enough to not earn my livelihood solely by teaching yoga, but I don't like the fact that many teachers are paid so little and it is difficult to survive despite their hard work.

Which podcasts or books would you recommend?

So many, but 3 books that come to mind today are:

The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk is excellent and important - I think this book is worth being read by everyone who has a brain and a body, ie all!

This is going to Hurt from Adam Kay recently adapted for television and reminded me that I liked the book. It is like a strange love letter to the NHS - in equal parts comedy and tragedy - but I was able to identify so well with it. There is an unprocessed feeling for the revised, undervalued environment that doctors have to endure in the NHS, and is more important than ever today.

Spark Joy from Marie Kondo. A little strange, but I think the topic relates to well -being because it stimulates a re -evaluation of its material property.

A few yoga books I enjoyed: Yoga FAQ by Richard Rosen, The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope, Meditation for the Love of It by Sally Kempton. Health and Wellness Books: Feel Great, Lose Weight by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee (ps: This is not a diet book, which is why I like it), Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig.

I would also like to recommend a YouTube channel: AFTERNONTAWITHDOCS by Dr. Linda Mizun and Dr. Erica Lin, two colleagues who do great work to promote lifestyle medicine approaches for health.

What change do you want in the health system/yoga industry?

Much stronger emphasis on public health and prevention. If we know that prevention is better than healing, why is it so difficult for us to invest in the prevention individually and as a society, just as we do at the sharp end of health? We use enormous resources for the treatment of avoidable diseases-diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and even some types of cancer.

What people often do not recognize is that it is not their fault when they eat badly, do not do sports, smoke and spend too much time at the desk. Our systems, environments, inequalities and our culture all affect the decisions that we make for our health. It is easier to prescribe a pill and to blame individuals for maintaining a bad lifestyle than to deal with the overall picture (the broader or social determinants of health). Making the healthy path to the easy way for everyone must be the way to make sensible changes and requires an enlightened leadership.

It is also important that we have to give people the opportunity to be enabled on their own health path. The nice thing about yoga is that it cultivates a self -confidence that spurs us to attitude of self -care (as well as care for others), which is profound and sustainable in a transformative manner. The integration of yoga into general health care in a way would be another big step for my future hopes for the health industry.

Share your yoga offerings, courses, workshops, books, etc

I have 2 online courses that are currently open to everyone:

Open Hatha Yoga, Saturday morning with yogamates and Restorative yoga, Wednesday evening. I find it so interesting that people are resistant to resting and slowing down - so many of us feel like we have to be doing something all the time. Restorative yoga is kind of the antithesis of that – learning how to be righteous.

I am also happy to offer the amazing 10-week Yoga4health program with Yiha (Yoga in Healthcare Alliance) for NHS patients-shortly.

What would you advise someone who is going to be well -being on his journey?

Start with a little thing. The way to good health begins with one step. If you don't get any further, start with something that feels manageable and where you are sure that you can easily stick to it - maybe sleeping for 15 minutes earlier, walking on a short distance instead of driving by car, reciting a mantra every morning to be nice to yourself. A small change leads organically to the next - a wave becomes a wave that can steer it in the right direction.

Here you can find more information and contact Dr. Contact Chang.