Angela Swartz/Daily Journal Yiwen Chang in a pose with her dog Blackberry at Prajna Yoga & Healing Arts studio in Belmont.

Going into the New Year, yoga owner and instructor Yiwen Chang says to improve ones health quick fixes wont do and recommends longer-term solutions.

A little hard work will help improve health and wellness and yoga is one such way to be well, said Chang, who runs Prajna Yoga & Healing Arts in Belmont where she is often found with her dog Blackberry. There is the misconception that one has to be flexible to do yoga and she says people who are less flexible, or lead sedentary lives, actually need it more.

I would love to inspire them to do yoga, said Chang, who practices yoga six times a week herself. Anything that takes commitment, people have a hard time with. In our society, theres a lot of instant gratification. Yoga takes consistency to get into a state of well-being; thats why its called a practice.

Chang first discovered yoga 27 years ago when she attended Louisiana State, taking classes for the physical education requirement while she studied finance.

At the time it wasnt very popular, said Chang, who lives in Redwood City. I remember after my first class, a teacher said to me how long have you been practicing for?

It felt like she had done it before, however, she didnt know it was called yoga. As a child, she would go into different postures, but learned the breathing components when she started doing yoga.

After college she moved to California for a job in the business world and stopped doing yoga for two or three years. She remained in the corporate world for more than 20 years, but with a divorce and bad knee injury she decided to focus more on yoga. She taught six to seven classes part-time on top of her 40-hour work week, while raising two children. Chang then opened Prajna two and a half years ago.

I decided the corporate world wasnt for me, she said. I wanted to do what felt right for me.

Chang, who has studied biomechanics, believes understanding the science of the body is important for knowing what positions are good for the body.

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Yoga instructor offers wisdom