Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode #33 – Yoga is the Best Medicine – Yoga in Cambodia with Soveth Vath

Welcome to Episode #33 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! This week, I welcome Soveth Path onto the show. She is a yoga teacher from Cambodia, and owns a crystal and stones studio in Phnom Penh which you hopes to expand into a yoga studio one day. 

Soveth worked for four years at a non-profit, teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia. She worked with young children, and with pre-teens and said she enjoyed the younger children as they had an enormous sense of playfulness and there was always a lot of laughter. 

My conversation with Soveth Vath, a yoga teacher from Cambodia, was so sweet and special. Soveth told us stories about teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia, about their laughter and their excitement to learn something new. I hope that this conversation made you smile.

We talked about the Cambodian people and how yoga can be a source of stillness, patience, and compassion. If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode, that’s all about yoga in Cambodia, whether it’s popular or not, and learn more from a Cambodian yoga teacher, then this is the conversation for you.

Tell me more about Soveth Vath

Soveth Vath is a yoga teacher from Cambodia, and she teaches yoga in the capital city of Phnom Penh. She taught yoga at the Azahar Cambodia Center for four years, and she now works as a freelance yoga teacher. She teaches Vinyasa flow yoga and has spent many hours teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia.

What to expect in the Yoga In Cambodia episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast

Soveth was very brave in agreeing to be a guest on the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. She was nervous about her ability to communicate in English, and throughout the podcast, she conveyed a sweet energy and an enthusiasm for the importance of bringing yoga to rural communities. 

Yoga isn’t available to everyone, everywhere. While yoga is becoming increasingly popular around the world, it is still not available to people in all communities and at all income levels. I feel grateful to Soveth and the work she has spent helping others relieve stress, pain, and to learn about the path of yoga. 

If you’re curious about yoga in Cambodia, please tune into this short, sweet, and special episode on the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast.

For the skimmers – What’s in yoga in Cambodia episode?

• Nonprofit yoga initiatives in Cambodia
• What it’s like to teach yoga to children in rural areas Cambodia
• How yoga teaches patience and compassion
• Why yoga is not yet popular in Cambodia
• Yoga is the best medicine

Favorite Quote From Soveth Vath

“There is a theory: yoga is yoke or a union. But, for me, when someone asks me that question, I say yoga is a way of my life. It’s like a life full of happiness, a life full of connection between my mind, but the spirit. And yoga also is the best medicine for me.”

Connect with Soveth Vath 

https://www.facebook.com/su.vei.7

Want more?

https://wildyogatribe.com/thepodcast/

Everything you need is just one click away! Check out all the resources here: https://linktr.ee/wildyogatribe

JOIN ME FOR LIVE-STREAMED YOGA CLASSES!

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode #33 – Yoga is the Best Medicine – Yoga in Cambodia with Soveth Vath

[00:00:00] Lily Allen-Duenas: Namaste family. Welcome back to the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. Today, I’m joined by Soveth Vath, from Cambodia. She’s a yoga teacher from Cambodia and teaches yoga in the city. The capital city of Phnom Penh. She taught yoga at the Azahar foundation in Cambodia for four years. And she now works as a freelance yoga teacher.

[00:00:26] She teaches Vinyasa flow yoga and spent many hours teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia. So please join me in welcoming Soveth onto the show. Thank you for being here. Soveth.

[00:00:39] Soveth Vath: Thank you, Lily, for inviting me to your program. Yeah, I’m really excited. 

[00:00:45] Lily Allen-Duenas: Me too. So let’s start off by just telling us how you first came to know of yoga. How did you first get introduced to you?

Soveth got introduced to yoga

[00:00:56] Soveth Vath: The first time that I practice yoga in 2015, [00:01:00] at the time, I’m not really interested in practicing yoga because like, I’m go to the club because on my team, I joined one program and the program offered a yoga class. Yeah. So I joined the class and I’m not really interested the first time we called, like after class, I felt a little bit dizzy and exhausted.

[00:01:23] So I see that I’m not fit like with yoga. And later on in 2017 as I go back to yoga class again, and after class, I feel a little bit dizzy again and again. And one week later I feel much better, better and better. So I will keep practicing yoga until 2018. And I feel like my knee and my back will heal and I feel more healthy and strong. So I’m interested [00:02:00] to join the yoga teacher training in 2018 . 

[00:02:04] Lily Allen-Duenas: Great! So, I wanted to ask how yoga makes you feel? 

How yoga makes Soveth feel

[00:02:08] Soveth Vath: Yeah. Well, yoga is to make me more healthy and strong. And also I had an injury on my left knee when I was young. And also I feel a little bit of back pain. So after I do the yoga, it feels like it’s not hurting anymore. Yeah.

[00:02:31] Lily Allen-Duenas: And does yoga change anything for you in terms of your confidence or your happiness? 

[00:02:37] Soveth Vath: Yeah. Yeah. Yoga brings me a new person. 

[00:02:42] I do have self confidence that I can speak in public areas so that I could lead the students in the class. They like to stand in front of many people. And yoga also brings me to be compassionate. We learn a [00:03:00] lot from the yoga and also yoga can bring me more patience. So I can see that my personality is growing up. 

[00:03:09] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yes, yoga definitely teaches patience. It’s amazing how it changes so much about how we perceive the world and other people and having that compassion as well. So Soveth, I love that you’ve spent so much time teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia. That’s amazing. Can you tell us more about it?

Teaching yoga to child in rural Cambodia

[00:03:34] Soveth Vath: When I work in yoga and in the socio-economic academic program. So the program is like, I go to teach the children in the rural area. So yeah we take in the province in Cambodia that is like them. It’s like being far away from the city. So they really don’t know what yoga is, and yeah the [00:04:00] condition of living is also really hard for them.

[00:04:04] So for me, I see that I bring the yoga to the kid, to the adult there, to make them feel more relaxed to make them know the way, how to release the stress. So, the program is not focusing only on yoga, but also education as well. .

[00:04:27] Lily Allen-Duenas: How did the children react to learning?

[00:04:30] Soveth Vath: They are really happy because like during the practice they have fun. Because we teach kids yoga. So we include more animal poses, like downward facing dog, crocodile pose and many poses that make them happy and have fun. 

[00:04:50] Lily Allen-Duenas: What ages were you generally teaching? 

[00:04:52] Soveth Vath: They are five years old to 11 and from 13 to 16, they have two [00:05:00] groups. 

[00:05:00] Yeah. And they really enjoy the class. Because they never have known yoga before and they don’t know what it is yoga, so we try to explain them and we try to make them more understanding about the yoga because the yoga is not like only the fitness or the exercise but the yoga can heal them can make them strong and both physical and mental health. 

[00:05:31] Lily Allen-Duenas: So if they’ve never heard of yoga before, where they weren’t scared to try it or really confused about it, did they make jokes or did they just listen to you and treat it more like an exercise?

[00:05:45] Soveth Vath: Yeah. The kid group we really had to control because yeah, because they were really excited and some they really really do not like lessons, but we try to shape them in the group. [00:06:00] And because they are just like the teacher, I want to do yoga. I want to do yoga sometime.

[00:06:06] They don’t understand what yoga is, but we try to explain to them. And then it, like, it really happened for the first time we met. Later on, they really understand and are easy in and they start to listen and practice in the group. 

[00:06:24] Lily Allen-Duenas: That’s really sweet. I’ve taught yoga before to hundreds of 12 year olds, 11 year olds, 13 year olds, but I’ve never taught kids as young as five, do you prefer the younger group or the older group? Which one do you like more? 

[00:06:42] Soveth Vath: From my experience, an adult group is easier because they can call, listen to me too during the class. But for me, I like to have a kid group! I recall it’s not easy, but from my experience[00:07:00] we know the way, how to control, how to shape them. So it’s easy for me now.

[00:07:06] So Yeah, I prefer the kid group. It also makes me have fun. Enjoy.

[00:07:12] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah, so much smiling and laughing and it’s very sweet. So Soveth, in Cambodia is yoga popular?

Is yoga popular in Cambodia?

[00:07:22] Soveth Vath: Not DACA is not popular in Cambodia. I mean, Cambodian people. Because some community people still think that yoga is just exercise, just focusing on fitness and body. They don’t know about yoga and the teacher is very challenging with some other people who do not really understand the yoga theory. So during the class, when the student comes to the class, the teacher really tries to explain. So we don’t force them, but we just like to include theory [00:08:00] include the mantra to make them feel more calm and release. 

[00:08:04] Lily Allen-Duenas: Are they usually seeking exercise, do you think, or are they looking for a way to remove their stress?

[00:08:13] Soveth Vath: Some Cambodian people are really stressed. Because they know much more about yoga and some not. So we really had for the teacher and for the teacher to come when the the student yeah. 

[00:08:28] Lily Allen-Duenas: Okay. And how do you feel if somebody, you meet them and you tell them I’m a yoga teacher, what do they say? How do they react when you tell them?

[00:08:39] Soveth Vath: Yeah, of course Some of my friends said, Oh, my God, why did you become a yoga teacher? Yeah. Because in university we learn different skills, so after university I became a yoga teacher. Yeah. They were also surprised. 

[00:08:56] But after, you know, after, during [00:09:00] the lockdown or the COVID-19 yeah. Yoga is a very important bond that they need. So they just asked me how to practice yoga and how to do the yoga to relieve back pain. So to help to digest some system. Yeah. So I have felt proud since that time. 

[00:09:22] Lily Allen-Duenas: Oh, that’s great. So a lot of your friends have, and family. They’ve tried yoga now.

[00:09:29] Soveth Vath: Yeah. Yeah. My sister also practicing yoga. 

[00:09:32] Lily Allen-Duenas: Okay. So if you’re, if you had the ability to get every Khmer to come to one of your yoga classes, what would be the most important thing for them to learn? Or what would you be so excited to teach them?

Most important thing to learn in a yoga class 

[00:09:49] Soveth Vath: When the Cambodian student comes to my class, I don’t talk any things about your Gasol mind, because like, I just went in see [00:10:00] and then I just light the incense and play the mantra to make them release. Okay. And then, yeah, after class, I talked to them about the mantra, because I, some mantra is also the heal people.

[00:10:19] So the first time I’m really excited when they listened to me and also asked me about the mantra song, the mantra title. So yeah, is it really happy to share with them? And I think that all they might engage with the yoga, much more than before. 

[00:10:40] Lily Allen-Duenas: That’s great. And when you practice yoga, do you practice it sometimes when you know that you feel really stressed or you’re feeling strong emotions, do you say, oh, Down and meditate, or I need to get on my yoga mat and practice yoga. If you do that. And if you do, how do you [00:11:00] feel before and after?

[00:11:02] Soveth Vath: Before, before class, and after, up to doing yoga. I feel more relaxed, feel more energy. Before practicing yoga I feel stiff. I feel like when I’m not feeling good, I just like seeing a lot, but when I go to the mat, I can do all that. And after I could make Me like, feel more relaxed and I feel more energy. We can say, I can say that, like it could make me calm down.

[00:11:34] Lily Allen-Duenas: Me too. I definitely feel that. Soveth what is your definition of yoga? When someone asks you to explain, wait, what is yoga? What do you say to them?

Soveth definition of yoga

[00:11:48] Soveth Vath:  Yeah. Normally when I learn yoga, they have a theory, you can yoke or a union, but for me when [00:12:00] someone asked me that I just like yoga is a way of my life. It’s like a life full of happiness, a life full, a connection between my mind, but the spirit. And yoga also is the best medicine for me. That could heal my ailment without any side effect. 

[00:12:22] Lily Allen-Duenas: And Soveth, how has yoga changed your life?

How yoga changed Soveth’s life

[00:12:26] Soveth Vath: Yoga can bring me the opportunity to support myself. I can like yoga is a skill that I could earn some income to support myself. And also the yoga is also like, kind of that make met it really make me happy. No stress, no pressure. 

[00:12:50] Lily Allen-Duenas: If you weren’t teaching yoga, if you weren’t a yoga teacher, what do you think you’d be doing? 

[00:12:56] Soveth Vath: During university I’m studying international [00:13:00] relations and during university, I also work in the company and in the NGO. Yes. So after that, after I finish school, I keep working in the NGO. Yeah. And then I stopped working there and I became interested in working with Azahar Foundation at the time. And then I have a chance to join the teacher training. So at the time I dropped work.

[00:13:30] Lily Allen-Duenas: Are you happy with that choice?

[00:13:32] Soveth Vath: Yeah. Yeah, sure. 

[00:13:34] Lily Allen-Duenas: Wonderful. And so if some of our listeners want to find you on social media, where’s the best place to do that? Is that Facebook?

Finding Soveth on social media

[00:13:43] Soveth Vath: So Facebook is the best way for me, yeah. 

[00:13:47] Lily Allen-Duenas: Great. I will put a link to your Facebook page in the show notes, wherever you’re listening to podcasts, as well as on my website, wildyogatribe.com. So you can say hello to [00:14:00] Solveth on Facebook. And Soveth, I think you’re also into crystals. Is that right?

Soveth having crystals

[00:14:06] Soveth Vath: Because I’m a yoga teacher and I’ve heard about the chakra, and also we have the chakra stone. Really loved the chakra crystal and then I started to like to buy it and then later and later, I also like to make them a business. To sell, to make like a small shop to sell like the crystal. 

[00:14:34] Lily Allen-Duenas: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Soveth for joining me on the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. It has been so fun to be with you today.

[00:14:43] Soveth Vath: Thank you, Lily. 

Wild Yoga Tribe outro

[00:14:44] Lily Allen-Duenas: Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. My conversation with Soveth Vath, a yoga teacher from Cambodia. It was so sweet and special. As she told us stories about [00:15:00] teaching yoga to children in rural Cambodia. I hope that this conversation made you smile.

[00:15:06] As we talked more about the Cambodian people and how yoga can be a source of stillness, patience, and compassion.

[00:15:18] Thank you so much, dear listener. Okay. We are finished. How do you 

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