KUCHING: AirAsia X Bhd yesterday announced the commencement of four times weekly flights to Narita from Kuala Lumpur while Thai AirAsia X also will flying from Narita and Osaka to Bangkok respectively.

AirAsia X commenced flights to Japan in December 2010 to Tokyo (Haneda) and flights to Osaka commenced in November 2011. It increased its initial three weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo (Haneda) to daily in June 2012.

At a press conference in Narita yesterday, Azran Osman-Rani, chief executive officer of AirAsia X said, AirAsia X is responding to the strong and growing travel demand to and from Japan.

The airline has recorded on average 89 per cent passenger load in the first half of 2014, proving the strong demand for the route since the commencement of its inaugural flight in November 2011. Overall, the airline has carried over one million passengers to and from its Japan routes and Japan contributes over 12per cent of the airlines total revenue to date.

The additional flights from both AirAsia X and Thai AirAsia X would further provide our guests from Malaysia and the surrounding region to Japan and from Japan to South East Asia and beyond the flexibility in their travel with better connectivity.

With the convenience of our Fly-Thru flights, guests from our long haul network and that of the AirAsia Group may connect seamlessly to over 90 destinations across the Groups network.

The additional flights from both AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X will indeed open up new horizons for commercial activities and boost tourism in Japan and the Asean region, Osman-Rani concluded.

Nadda Buranasiri, CEO of Thai AirAsia X added, Thailand has always been a popular destination for Japanese travelers and we are pleased to offer more affordable and convenient travel options for those who wish to visit Bangkok and beyond. In 2013, Thailand welcomed 1.5 million Japanese travelers, an increase of 11.9 per cent compared to the previous year and we are confident that we can contribute to the further increase number of tourists travelling between the two countries.

Further to this, AirAsia X will also fly into Narita four times weekly and will increase to daily flights in May 2015. The airline is committed to Japan and the additional flight frequency to Narita is in line with its expansion strategy for the region.

AirAsia X will be offering promotional fares from as low as RM299 (9,990 yen) on economy and RM799 (38,000 yen) on Business Class from Kuala Lumpur to Narita, Japan. Fares are available for booking online from 8 July to 13 July 2014 for travel between 21 November 2014 and July 31, 2015.

Continue reading here:
Site Last Updated 2:17 am, Tuesday

Beijing: India today held its biggest yoga summit in China in a bid to reclaim its ancient legacy over the iconic spiritual practice.

Yoga has, in recent years, become a rage in China but also stirred up concerns that its popularity is being cashed in by poorly trained coaches.

The six-day summit was formally inaugurated at picturesque Dali city in Yunnan Province in which renowned Yoga teachers like Geeta Iyengar, daughter of Yoga Guru B K S Iyengar and Hollywood model Yogi Cameron are taking part.

Top local officials as well as Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K Kantha took part in the inaugural ceremony.

The event is being held as part of the 'Glimpses of India Festival' to celebrate 2014 as Year of Friendly Exchanges between India and China.

Around 1,500 yoga practitioners from all over the world, majority being from China, participated in the event besides local government officials, media and academicians.

The theme of the Summit is 'Science of Yoga' during which lectures, physical demonstrations and video presentations on different aspects of yoga will be made.

Elaborating on the initiative, Kantha told PTI that as yoga is gaining traction at the popular level, there is need to teach correct techniques and engage in dialogue with practitioners.

Seventeen prominent teachers of yoga from various disciplines have been invited to take part in the summit to address the concerns that correct techniques are not followed, he said.

"These masters will engage in dialogue with yoga practitioners. This interactions will benefit them," he said.

Go here to see the original:
India Holds Biggest Yoga Summit in China

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -

Walking into Open Barre studio, you are greeted by all the essentials of a yoga class: big open space, mats and barefoot patrons. However, there is one other addition in this studio. Suspended from the ceiling by sturdy straps and secured by military grade hardware are a series of individual hammocks made from a stretchy, jersey material.

It's so weird. It looks like a little bat cocoon or something, said instructor Ryann Pinkerton of her usual workout scene.

This studio is tailored for aerial yoga, the latest evolution of the centuries old practice. It combines the stretching poses of classic yoga with the challenging lifting of aerials- choreographed movement in the air.

It just combines to make this fantastic workout that works your body head to toe. You'll sweat, but at the end of it you feel so relaxed. It's just a beautiful thing," said Pinkerton.

Pinkerton has the petite, lean frame one expects of ballerinas. She has an extensive background in both yoga and aerials, which is why she makes motion of pulling your entire body up into tangled positions seem so easy. Believe me, looks can be deceiving. I'm no yoga guru, but Ive taken my fair share of classes and I do some strength training.

When Open Barre invited me to try their class, I felt confident that I could keep up and maybe even relive some of my own days as a ballerina. The class started out pretty easy with some of the traditional yoga warm up stretches: versions of cat, cow and downward dog. It wasnt long though, before the skill level escalated.

As the class stretched over the hammocks, contorted into the hardest crunches Ive ever done and pulled our bodies up into gravity defying poses my muscles shook, twitched and burned with the effort. Each move, even the "easy" ones, felt like it worked every muscle in the body. However, its the core that is hit the hardest. Pinkerton told me later, that is the whole point.

"Everything radiates from your core, everything starts from there. That is your base, the beginning of your being," Pinkerton explained.

There are classes for every skill level, and the moves get easier with experience.

Here is the original post:
Aerial yoga sweeps students off their feet

Hanna Weiss stretches during a free yoga class at Senior Center park Sunday, July 6, 2014 in Ocala, Fla. Julie Jenkins instructs a class on the first sunday of every month.

By Carlos E. Medina Correspondent

For Julie Jenkins, yoga has become such an important part of her life that she wants to share it with as many people as possible.

Thats why Jenkins began teaching a free monthly yoga class at Tuscawilla Park offered through the Ocala Recreation and Parks Department.

We started in March. The very first class we had low numbers, but today we had eight, said Jenkins, who also teaches at several gyms and offers classes to Marion County employees through their Health Happens program.

The one-hour class is held on the first Sunday of every month under the thick canopy of the parks oaks near the southeast corner of the expansive property. The classes run through October and start at 2 p.m.

Its a beautiful setting for those wanting to come outside the confines of a yoga studio or fitness center and connect with nature while we explore our own true nature, Jenkins said.

The class is offered for all levels and nothing more than a beach towel and some drinking water is necessary.

We can modify to all levels from first timers to the very seasoned, she said. Anyone who can breath can do yoga. Its really about breath. The misconception is that you need to be flexible. Flexibility really comes in the mind. The byproduct of yoga is flexibility of the body, but its not a necessity to begin.

For Holly Sadler, the class was her first outdoor yoga experience.

Read more here:
Locals find peace in park yoga

Yoga, in general, is not a competitive sport. Repeat.

Hows that for a mantra? This past week, I tried hot yoga, or bikram yoga, for the first time. Ive done yoga on my own for years on and off basically in times of high stress such as finals or to combat freaking-out-about-work induced insomnia. I practiced and learned yoga when I was 14 years old. I was staying (read: exiled) at Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, North Dakota, for about a month with my aunt who was a nun there. During my time at Sacred Heart, I volunteered for the sisters, helping out with the llamas, potato patch, dishes, cooking, etc. One night, another volunteer at the monastery asked if I wanted to practice yoga with her in the evening. I told her in the same breath that I had no idea what she was talking about but, yes, of course! During our time there, she taught me about the importance of breathing during yoga and how to turn something which feels and looks like a simple stretching routine into an actual workout. A non-competitive workout.

The anticompetitive nature of yoga is honestly why Ive only practiced it on and off for the past 10 years since I learned the basics of it. I like sports to make me fight for a win. There is no winner or loser in yoga you cant exactly make a competition out of trying to out-breathe the person doing pigeon pose next to you. Also, the mental part of yoga that asks you to shut your brain off and just focus on your breath is hard for me, akin to asking the Hulk not to get angry. I think thats true for most people. We spend so much time worrying, wondering and planning or focusing on our electronics, social lives or what were having for supper, giving our brain a break from life seems impossible.

Hot yoga, however, does actually force you to focus on your breath in order to avoid noticing the 105-degree heat of the studio. Even with this intense level of concentration, you will still notice your shins sweating. Your shins have sweat glands? Who knew? This distraction and realization aside, youll notice your heart rate slow if you do the yoga-breathing properly. If youre not doing the deep breathing properly, then you are just a person sitting in a hot box contorting yourself into strange positions at 6:30 a.m. because either your nightmares are that bad or youve got issues, bro. Youll find it easier to move through the positions as your body adjusts to the heat its actually been recommended for people with stiff joints or who have muscle injuries as a low-impact way to rebuild strength.

Overall, this is a Never Have I Ever I throughly enjoyed checking off my list. I mean, I am sensitive to high heat so I did nearly pass out once, but now I know what to expect from a hot yoga class. I know how much more water Ill need to drink throughout the day, and I know how relaxed Ill feel after a class. Heres to getting out of my comfort zone and finding something new to do in the Vail Valley! Namaste!

Ali Murray is a copy editor at the Vail Daily. For this article, she attended class at Vail Hot Yoga in Edwards. If you have any comments or ideas of things for her to try in the Vail Valley, please email her at amurray@vail daily.com.

There is no winner or loser in yoga you cant exactly make a competition out of trying to out-breathe the person doing pigeon pose next to you.

Link:
Vail Daily column: Hot yoga is not a competitive sport