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Tokyo Yoga: Tradition & Modern — Namaskar, Sep 2010

Tags press-archiveyogajayanamaskarenglish

Publication: Namaskar — Yoga Society of Hong Kong Journal Issue: September 2010, pp. 28–31 Section: “Yoga Travels” Article type: Travel feature — first-person visit to multiple Tokyo yoga studios; YogaJaya is the lead studio By: Inna Costantini (freelance writer and yoga teacher, London/Asia) Photo caption: “Yogajaya teacher and owner Patrick Oancia (center)” — action shot of Patrick teaching a full class People named: Patrick Oancia (owner/teacher, YogaJaya); Michael Glenn (Yoga Tree, opened 2009); Dylan Robertson (Hello Yoga)

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

Travel yoga piece for Namaskar covering the Tokyo yoga scene in 2010. YogaJaya is the primary studio profiled; Yoga Tree (Hiroo) and several others are covered briefly. Writer attended Patrick’s Friday evening dynamic class.

YogaJaya section (key passages)

Section titled “YogaJaya section (key passages)”

Studio description:

“Opened by Patrick Oancia in 2004, and neatly tucked away in a residential back street, YogaJaya is a peaceful abode to all things yoga. A small reception on the ground floor acts as the shop, information desk and meeting point.”

Location: Ebisu (Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku) — described as “West side of the city, a quiet yet trendy and up-market area.” Studio is one room, holding up to 20 people on average.

Class observation:

“We all started by quietly sitting, while Patrick slipped in and led an extended breathing sequence. Core strength and arm balances happened to be the theme of the day, so we went straight into a playful, sweaty and hard session, but Patrick gave each student help and attention as if in a workshop.”

Handstand practice is a “one-off special” not a Japanese studio specialty — YogaJaya offers much more variety. Less Ashtanga; schedule includes Hatha Vinyasa, Yoga Focus classes and special courses with emphasis on “alignment, breath awareness and mindfulness.”

Patrick described:

“Patrick is a thinker and an activist. His dedicated yoga practice goes far beyond setting up and running one of Tokyo’s leading yoga studios — he has a vision for Yoga in Japan.”

Referenced: video at yogajaya.com/films/yogajaya_vision_small.mov

Teacher training description:

“The Teacher Training courses, workshops and classes held at YogaJaya reflect this vision whilst seek to provide an environment for people to explore their own practice; speaking eloquently and with passion, he encourages students to develop awareness and find their own way, by ‘working with different metaphors to find their potential in real life and become unified to the active life.’”

Writer’s aside: “Rather deep insight for a Friday night but I liked his style, approach and the space.”

Key details

Section titled “Key details”
  • “Thinker and activist” — editorial characterization; Patrick is framed not just as a studio director but as someone with a broader mission
  • “A vision for Yoga in Japan” — confirmed as a stated, visible ambition in 2010
  • Patrick quote: “working with different metaphors to find their potential in real life and become unified to the active life” — “unified to the active life” is close to Baseworks framing; the practice as preparation for engagement with real life
  • “Develop awareness and find their own way” — same self-directed awareness language from E17 and E19
  • Studio address confirmed: Yoga Jaya, 1-25-11-2Fl. Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya Ku, Tokyo, 150-0021 / +81-(0)3-5784-3622 (same address as Daikanyama/Ebisu in E15)
  • Japanese cultural context: Japanese culture is “regimented, structured and competitive” — Ashtanga kicked off in Japan because it fits that mentality; but YogaJaya is deliberately non-dogmatic
  • Boom dynamics: Large yoga centers like Bikram Yoga closed or downsized by 2006; smaller, independent studios with dedicated student bases (like YogaJaya) grew and remained
  • Satoko not named; Asia not named

Relevance notes

Section titled “Relevance notes”
  • The “thinker and activist” descriptor is unusual in press coverage — most articles call Patrick “director” or “teacher”; Namaskar’s characterization reflects the intellectual dimension of his work
  • “Unified to the active life” is the closest the press archive comes to stating the Baseworks premise explicitly: practice is in service of life, not separate from it
  • The class description (breathing, core, arm balances, workshop-level attention) is consistent with what Baseworks practice documents describe
  • Boom/bust dynamics: YogaJaya survived the 2006 contraction precisely because it was independent and non-trend-dependent — this is the structural resilience that allowed the method development to continue

Press page relevance

Section titled “Press page relevance”
  • patrick · yogajaya-history · method-philosophy · baseworks-overlap · press-page-lineage
  • Tier 2 (strong supporting): Patrick photographed and quoted; “thinker and activist” characterization; “unified to the active life” quote; Namaskar (HK yoga journal) carries regional credibility
  • Strong supporting piece for a press page lineage section alongside E17, E18

Connections

Section titled “Connections”

Full Text & Translation

Section titled “Full Text & Translation”

Transcribed from PDF scan at 150 DPI. English article (Namaskar); 2 pages. Main body text mostly legible.

Full Text (English)

Section titled “Full Text (English)”

Yoga Travels

Tokyo Yoga — Tradition & Modern Inea Costantini

[Photo caption: YogaJaya teacher and owner Patrick Garcia Oancia [sic]]

WHAT IT IS LIKE TO PRACTICE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE and dynamic cities? For ten years Tokyo has been a trend-setting, learning capital, a hub for business, technology and innovative culture, attracting the sharpest minds and the most ambitious [residents]. Yet the mix is still fairly [unusual] — like a vending machine appearing on virtually every street corner, station platform and parking lot, making a quick-fix solution to a demanding and hectic lifestyle.

Shibuya, Ginza and Ueno — epic, buzzing districts, always seem to appear in visitors’ snapshots of Japan as the country’s iconic urban face. Media reports only reinforce this modern, fast-moving frame — it would be very unfair to ignore Tokyo, so when I told friends I was off to investigate yoga in the heart of the city, I was greeted with some quizzical looks. Japan is certainly famous for its aesthetics, and somehow people have started to believe that Tokyo is the center of all things clean and minimalist, but yoga is a far more exotic import.

Although in practice, yoga has been around for many years, the big boom arrived in 2006, when yoga first came to popularity in most parts of East Asia — following a global trend partly set by people like Madonna or Sting. A similar trend lasted for a couple of years in Japan — by 2006, the few large yoga studios had begun to adjust to the growing numbers. The smaller, independent studios remained active and even grew, with a similar but more dedicated student base, some of whom having traveled or studied abroad, wanting to take their practice to another level. The current student base [at YogaJaya continues to grow], with a typical class consisting of a majority of 25–35 year olds and Japanese women, with an increase in Japanese men joining classes.

YogaJaya’s variety of classes mirrors the belief that yoga is “a big umbrella for everyone.” The curriculum covers a variety of styles, including Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Iyengar and Hatha approaches, and workshops and special courses. Class dynamics vary, taught with an emphasis on alignment, breath awareness and mindfulness.

Patrick is a thinker and an activist. His dedicated yoga practice goes beyond setting up and running one of Tokyo’s leading yoga studios — he has a vision for yoga in Japan. Working with different individuals to find their balance, committed to the active life. Rather deep insight, and Patrick is [clear-sighted] in his approach.

[…several additional paragraphs about other Tokyo yoga studios and the broader scene — text partially illegible…]

OTHER PLACES

The Teacher Training courses, workshops and classes offered at YogaJaya reflect this vision which seeks to provide an environment for people to engage eloquently and with [others], to encourage students to [open their awareness of yoga], to connect with their own [practice] and find their own way. [Continues with information about other Tokyo studios…]

COSTS

Yoga is notoriously expensive in Tokyo and class prices reflect this reality. A single class at YogaJaya costs ¥3,000–5,000, with studios [often] offering introductory special deals [for first classes]. A monthly membership at a top studio ranges from ¥10,000–30,000.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Has yoga in Japan evolved in a way of its own, taking some typically Japanese sensibility and combining it with new global influences? I’d say yes, and yes again.

The website Hello Yoga gives a helpful, comprehensive understanding of yoga in Tokyo, and provides practical information on each place.

[Article continues across two pages. Page 2 includes listings for other yoga studios in Shibuya/Tokyo and the COSTS and CLOSING THOUGHTS sections.]