Ali Fitness Podcast

Many believe that yoga is simply a stretching exercise, and a lot of endurance athletes assert that they are not flexible enough to take it on. But if you ask ChauKei Ngai, yoga is so much more than that. The practice requires a balance of both flexibility and strength in order to hold the poses into stillness—and that is where the magic happens. Most importantly, yoga incorporates a component of mental strength that helps endurance athletes improve their focus and better their health, from the inside out. ChauKei was born ‘without breath.’ A mechanical ventilator and extra oxygen was necessary to keep her alive for the first 30 days of her life, and she continued to deal with breathing issues until the age of 25. Extreme chest pains and breathlessness triggered frequent trips to the emergency room for supplemental oxygen until ChauKei discovered yoga, and the attacks of breathlessness went away. ChauKei is now a modern yogini, teaching yoga worldwide for more than a decade. In 2013, she won the prestigious I