Words With Wendy

To summarise an eventful and successful year for Yoga Circle, we sat down with our Founder, Wendy Chan to share her vision and objectives with our readers. Read on for the full interview!

IC: To start, if anyone reading is interested in showing support for Yoga Circle – what is Yoga Circle and what are you all about?

Wendy: Yoga Circle is a non-profit organisation, on a mission to make yoga inclusive and accessible to all. We are made up of a group of volunteer yoga teachers, practitioners and more, with the hope of involving diverse groups of people with yoga. These groups include wheelchair users, persons with disabilities, seniors in the community and the underprivileged.

IC: Tell us more about some of the organizations Yoga Circle works with, and the various activities made available to participants.

Wendy: We currently engage actively with organisations like Parkinson Society Singapore, Home Nursing Foundation, AWWA, HCA Hospice, Renci… the list goes on. In any session hosted by Yoga Circle, participants get the chance to benefit from adaptive yoga classes, specially catered to their needs. The most common of which is chair yoga, a form of yoga where an entire sequence of yoga poses are done seated on a chair, thus giving the possibilities of yoga a wider reach.

IC: What does it take to be a volunteer with Yoga Circle?

Wendy: Yoga Circle has its origin rooted in the belief of Karma Yoga (yoga as a service), and that yoga is for everyone. Volunteers actively make this a reality by bringing yoga to groups which may otherwise find yoga inaccessible in Singapore. We open our doors to volunteers regardless of yoga experience, but we strongly encourage trained yoga teachers to step forward to join our team. Requests for community engagement are constantly growing and we wouldn’t want to disappoint!

IC: What would you say was Yoga Circle’s proudest moment in 2022?

Wendy: We received the ‘Most Active Community Group Award’ from HCA Hospice and we are really proud of the strong connection we have built with the beneficiaries and staff from the hospice. Yoga Circle is a deeply rewarding experience, and we hope to be able to do the same for our other partners as we have with HCA.

IC: Looking forward to 2023, what exciting things can we expect from Yoga Circle?

Wendy: I’m glad you asked! We are in the process of writing, designing and publishing an Adaptive Chair Yoga for Seniors Toolkit, with the support of Agency of Integrated Care (AIC) Singapore. Our plan is to make this toolkit available next year for the public and various nursing homes as a free resource, so that caregivers can be better equipped to lead their charges in some simple yoga-related exercises.

IC: You have a dedicated and loving team of volunteers working with Yoga Circle, is there anything you would like to say to them?

Wendy: Words cannot express my deep gratitude to all the volunteers of Yoga Circle, who commit their time and efforts selflessly. All of you are my inspiration and motivation to keep pursuing our mission, to make yoga accessible to all!

IC: Any final words for our readers?

Wendy: Yes! If you, or anybody you know, might be interested to join us as a volunteer, please tell them about us. Our Yoga Circle family is constantly growing, but we always welcome new members with open arms! Don’t worry about what you can or cannot do, the intention of lending a helping hand is reason enough to send in your application. We can’t wait to hear from you!