Guinness World Record Holder teaches Yoga at Planet Yoga Hong Kong

If you haven't attended a class with Yogaraj C.P of Planet Yoga yet, other members will gladly tell you what you have been missing! Just try to walk in to his Hot Yoga class on a weeknight and you will see about 50 people lining up to go into the steamy room. Yes he is that good, and here is a glimpse why.

Hello Yogaraj! What is this we hear about you being in the Guinness World Records?
Yes, I am very honored to have represented my country and achieved the longest yoga marathon in the Guinness World Records. Essentially, it was a yoga marathon that lasted for 28 hours. I performed a total of 1,019 asanas positions!!

WOW, and here we thought your 90 minute Hot Yoga class was LONG. We were also told that you just came back form a Yoga Competition not too long ago?
Yes. I just came back from the 17^th International Yoga Festival actually. I represented Planet Yoga in the competition. (see photos below). I performed Agro Yoga, participated in a Group demonstration and won 1^st place in the competition! I am so honoured and humbled to be featured in top newspapers including Dinamani, Dinamalar and Tamil Murusu and Daily Thanthi in Puducherry, India.

How long have you been participating in competitions?
Well, I started to practice Yoga at a very young age. It started with my father demonstrating the walking Lotus to me--it is a very fun and entertaining pose and I do this with my students a lot now as a warm up. But then my father passed away when I was still young and I stopped practicing for a while. As I got older , i remembered that my father practiced Yoga a lot in order to stay fit during his service in the Army. He was stationed in a very cold part of India, up by the Himalayas. I picked up the practice of Yoga again when I was about 12 years old. I won my first award--- Best Demonstrator Award at the 5th International Yoga festival when I was 14.

It must be so exciting to travel around the world to participate in yoga competitions!
I truly love traveling the world and seeing how different people can embrace Yoga into their lives. I loved teaching yoga in China and Taiwan because for a yoga teacher, it is so rewarding to introduce the practice to places where people don't know as much about it and where it is still quite a new hobby and sport.

There is no question that you are a very experienced Yogi. What are you looking to accomplish in the upcoming future?
I think I am most interested in teaching yoga to kids and youth. I received my first yoga lesson (apart from demonstrations by my father) when I was about 12 years old. I still remember very clearly how great I felt when I was able to do the walking handstand my teacher taught me. I think that Yoga is an excellent way to inspire confidence and built postive self esteem. There is a great sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with being able to perform different Yoga poses and I think that it is something very important and valuable to instill in youth today.

Finally, What does Real Yoga mean to you?
Real Yoga, to me, means introducing traditional yoga to people. Whether it is the postures and practice itself or the philosophy behind it.

Thank you so much Master Yogaraj C.P for speaking to us. Namaste.

Planet Yoga Hong Kong: Marc Santa Maria & Jess Gronholm

Hong Kong is a community seduced by superlatives – the biggest, the latest, the fastest. It’s a small wonder that the city’s cosmopolites have developed a discriminating taste for only the best in all aspects of life, including exercise.

We work hard and play even harder, which is why it is all the more essential to take good care of our mortal shell. From vibrating plates to pole dancing, our fitness regimens are virtually a hodgepodge of the quirky and the trendy. We might as well be a city of over exercised bunnies – lethal in the board room and just as ruthless in the gym – if it weren’t for the blessed stillness and discipline that Planet Yoga instills.

Keeping in mind our collective penchant for superlatives, Planet Yoga introduces two superstars of the yoga world who also happen to be supermodels – Jess Gronholm and Marc Santa Maria.





Both are living proof that practicing the most outstanding, unusual and unique way to tone your body, tune your mind and fly into the present moment can have fantastic results.
Jess Gronholm has taught fun and challenging yoga classes for all levels of practitioners for almost a decade. He is particularly well-known for his innovative design of over 20 distinct yoga workouts (including Anti-Gravity “Wings” Yoga), his collaboration with MTV on their first-ever Yoga videos, and his down-to-earth, humorous approach to coaching his students. He is also a brand ambassador for yoga inspired athletic apparel, Lululemon.
Marc Santa Maria is possibly the yoga world’s most dynamic force. He the creative consultant of more than 60 different dance and wellness-inspired workouts. For over four years, he has been the Crunch New York Regional Director of Group Fitness, where he currently oversees nearly 700 weekly classes in the New York area.
Marc also is an Elite Athlete and Master Trainer for Nike. In this capacity, he has trained instructors in over 30 cities internationally. He has trained a select group of private clients in both fitness and dance, including actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
There hasn’t been a better time to get into yoga. With the arrival of these two celebrity instructors, there’s certainly plenty of reasons to engage in the exciting, inspirational, and life changing experience that yoga offers. From the Himalayan Mountains through Hollywood direct to Hong Kong, we live in a Yoga Planet!