Xuan Lan (Paris 1976) is one of the best known faces of wellness on television and social networks in Spanish. Her name means spring orchid in Vietnamese and she has a degree in economics and business with a master’s degree in digital marketing, which has helped her to become known on digital platforms. She worked in marketing and banking, is the founder of the Free Yoga movement, was the first yoga teacher on Operación Triunfo, has edited two books and has a YouTube channel with 1.8 million followers. Her slow and relaxed way of speaking has conquered thousands of students who follow her vinyasa yoga classes, videos and posts.
You have participated in two events at a hotel on Ibiza and at the Formentera Zen. How have these experiences been?
Last year I was on Formentera, I taught a class for the International Day of Yoga. I have very good memories of Ibiza and Formentera as I often come here for pleasure or work. This year I changed the formula and taught classes at [the hotel] Six Senses for nine days and also to the swimmers of the First Ibiza Open Water Crossing after swimming with them. I have a very good relationship with the island by participating in wellness and sporting events.
What is yoga for you?
It is a bit of everything, it is my job because I am a teacher, my passion since I have been practicing since I was twenty-one years old, and it has become my profession. Yoga, more than a discipline is a spiritual path, a philosophy with values that allows us to really have a healthy direction in our lives. It gives you another perspective to see and relate to the world. Yoga is very spiritual, connected with the planet, the universe and, at the same time, provides tools for wellness and feeling better in our earthly life.
Is there a difference between yoga and wellness or does it tend to be confused now under wellness?
Yoga and wellness are two different things. Wellness is how you feel and yoga is the tools, it is an ancient discipline that comes from India and has been evolving. Some people today forget its millenary and oriental origin, it has many pillars that are the postures, breathing, philosophical values, energy and inner cleansing techniques that help us to improve our well-being in a holistic way. It is not the only way, there are other techniques to achieve wellness.
What about nutrition?
I connect with my nutrition because I know what feels good or not, and I connect with my body with emotional issues because when things happen the body reacts and gives us signals, with nerves in the stomach, for example.
What role does breathing play in the practice of yoga?
Yoga keeps you fit thanks to the postures (asanas). It is very complete. Breathing is fundamental because it is a direct connection with the emotions; when we are stressed we do a shorter, higher breathing, we do not use the diaphragm very well. When we are calmer, our breathing is more relaxed and longer. The fact of working with breathing allows us to control our emotions when we realize our emotional state. All this is very complex but it is united and linked, it is not just doing postures to stretch the back and there is nothing else. When you leave a yoga class you feel better, many times you do not know why and it has been a set of things: you have stretched, breathed well, toned, you have been disconnected from the cell phone for an hour, you have connected and listened to your body …. All this is a set of factors that improve our well-being.
Xuan Lan practices a yoga asana in her Xlys studio in Barcelona. | X.L.Is it a fad?
No, because it has been in fashion since the seventies and continues to grow steadily. Now it is also booming because of social networks and among young people. I don’t think it is a fashion, I have been practicing non-stop for twenty years and it is growing more and more.
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