Yoga with Shena (2026)

06/12/2025

Yukkuri is a special travel project birthed by my love for the countryside life when living with Shiori, my Japanese sister. The retreat is named by her eldest daughter, Maholo-chan when she was only one year old 😮 ゆっくり (yukkuri) means “to be slow and at ease”.

Come yukkuri with us🎋

This is a really special project to us and our growing community of Japanese friends in Shizuoka. The first Yukkuri retreat was in the spring of 2025, Sakura Edition. During the retreat, more local women came in to support us, and now we have a network of Japanese friends who are looking forward to meet you!

For Yukkuri 2 Retreat in April 2026, our Bamboo Edition itinerary involves late-spring activities such as harvesting your own bamboo shoot and a bamboo-weaving workshop! We will also be visiting places that are mostly only known to the locals living in Shizuoka. ✨ I can’t express how grateful I am to our Japanese friends for welcoming us so warmly into their community. ✨

This is not your usual yoga retreat; we’ll be living this retreat like we’re part of the deeply peaceful community, going with the flow of countryside life and time 💛

If this is your type of travel experience, join me. Write me a message or gather more retreat details on my website (link’s in bio)

2 spots left ✨

10/11/2025

Hi friends! You’re invited to join me on a rise early, sleep early, sunrise chasing, mountain trekking mornings, and luxuriating in doing almost nothing afternoons~ 🌿⛰️

4D3N Kintamani Rise & Reset Retreat 🔥
24-27 January 2026

Mmm if you’re feeling like life’s pretty alright but also you’re open to inviting more goodness more focus more purpose into 2026, this can be a good reset and rise for the new year!

Lately, in my circle of friends and family, our chats often touch to the topic on 〔something’s missing〕. “I am grateful for all that I have, but also I want something else.”

And that is so okay! The desire for something else is natural I believe; it may be a longing for what satisfies your deeper self. It is a good thing to get acquainted with this feeling.

Listening in helps me a lot.

I invite you to join me in this forest-clad, traditional joglo stay with luxurious 4-star amenities for a deep rest. To escape for awhile from city noise and distractions. To listen in.

Sunrise mornings include a cafe run at 5.45am, and a Mount Batur trek at 3am. These may light up the innerfire of action and inspiration for you—but all activities are optional and therefore you can choose to opt out for a extended quiet rest and reset.

There will be yummy food and plenty of time to do nothing 🫧 If this feels right like a balm for your nervous system, your headspace, your heartspace—drop me a private message and I’ll drop you the retreat brochure with room types & rates.

Sending everyone so much love as we savour the last few weeks of 2025 left ✨💛

05/07/2025

Gift yourself the gift of peace, rest and connection 🍃

In this 5D4N Bhakti-Silent Retreat, we explore the themes of mouna (inner silence) and bhakti (love & devotion). Our mornings will be spent in silence, giving ourselves ample time & space to introspect, recenter and explore the wisdom of our inner stillness. Post-lunch, we lift silence and open our hearts to connect through open-hearted sharings, heart songs and friendship.

The modalities through which we explore mouna & bhakti include:
🧘🏻‍♀️ Yoga Asana & Pranayama
📿 Guided Meditations
🤫 Sacred Silence
📝 Lectures & Teachings
🎵 Music, Mantras & Heart Songs
💚 Storytelling & Connection

In short, this is an invitation for you to Come Home to Yourself,
through silence and love

We hope that you can join us ❤️

More details: https://shenayoga.com/chiangmai2025/

With love,
Shena & Shao Hao

09/06/2025

Yay to friends who said yes! 💛 June, let’s go!
Two pop-ups to pop into. There are some mats available, please come. Don’t be a stranger 💘

YIN YANG
(This!) Saturday 14 June
4pm, 1 hour session

SUNDAY FLOW
29 June, a Sunday indeed
2pm, 1 hour session

Location:
Petain Road, YIC studio
5 minutes’ walk from Farrer Park station

DM for link to register. Also in bio!

Love love love x
Shena

27/03/2025

4/3(木) おかげさんマルシェ、10時〜遥々シンガポールから来てくれているシェナちゃんが1時間のヨガin English を開催してくれます☺️🇸🇬(フリーのイベントです！)

昨年藤枝を訪れて、とっても気に入ってくれたシェナちゃん。今回なんとシンガポールから参加者を引き連れて、藤枝でリトリートを開催中🕊️✨その一環で、今回シンガポールから来ている参加者のみなさんと大慶寺さんの本堂でヨガを開催してくれます。彼女のloveに満ちた人柄や落ち着いたトーンの声、英語でのスローなヨガをこの機会にぜひお楽しみください☺️

🫧日にち: 4/3(木)
🫧場所: 大慶寺本堂
🫧時間: 10:00-11:00
🫧料金: 無料
🫧持ち物: ヨガマットや下に敷くタオルなど、水、動きやすい服装で

18/03/2025

💙 MINDFUL WINTER RETREAT NOZAWA 💙

During our 6d5n together we often laughed at how this ain’t a yoga retreat but a snow experience week, or as I’d prefer to call it 🔥winter bootcamp🔥

Haha it was such an ambitious project. It’s my second retreat (the first one was mum+kid in Chiangmai in 2019 that’s eons ago) and here we are, up on the mountains, our legs clipped onto boots and gears, as we navigate unfamiliar terrains and unpredictable weather conditions. Each evening at 4.30pm as the slopes closed, I let out a sigh of relief that everyone is home at the lodge safe and alive!

But- in all seriousness, this is EXACTLY how I envisioned the retreat to unfold. Mindfulness beyond the mat. I’ve planned only two yoga classes, and they weren’t even really full asana practices.

Life on (and off) the mountains IS YOGA 🔥 I wished I had explained this a bit more to our snow tribe at the start, but I also intended for everyone to receive this at their own pace, through their own ways of experiencing the mountains.

Do we go hard, do we rest? If our legs hurt, but the way home is long, how do we respond to the helplessness of the situation? When the snow storm hits hard and surprises us, are we afraid or can we internally breathe calmly in the eye of the storm?

I confess: I watched with heart eyes 😍 at everyone of you. I have to hold myself back from freaking out as we split up (some alone!) on the vast mountains, or that the itinerary didn’t go as planned (I am compulsively overcontrolling sometimes and am learning to relax~)

I 😍😍 as you showed up for yourself, for each other, again and again. Every little moment, be it to take on a more challenging slope or an easier one, practise harder “one more ski lift!” or nah, rest and join me for coffee haha. Choosing onsen over yoga, moving your way in yoga, skipping snow monkey tour for more snow playtime, or choosing the rest day tour.

Your yes’s and your no’s are clear and they come from your heart ❤️‍🔥 Mindfulness is never limited to the yoga mat. Being in winter nature has taught us to balance action & reflection, to be a happy child again, and to be present. Thank you my snow tribe for playing together! 🏂⛷️

16/02/2025

🌼 Shizuoka 2023/24 nostalgia 🌼

Waiting for a red eye flight to Japan, my phone alerts about insufficient memory storage so, before I delete photos, here’s a small documentation ❣️

Summer 2023 I flew to Japan, fatigued. The skin around my eyes was wrinkly from a year of eczema. I was tired and done. Here in Shizuoka was where I first rested deeply after leaving my full-time yoga teaching job. This was where I was held gently by Shiori and Sumiechan, both who urged me to sleep, rest, slow down, drink loads of water and breathe in deeply the crisp mountainous air.

Anyone who suffers from eczema, or any forms of struggles physically or emotionally, would know. The end never seems possible nor near. I know I’m lucky—here in the presence of sweet friends and nature I was healed.

I thought it was 100% but hey, nothing is for sure. Typing this now at the airport, waiting for my flight, my eyes are mildly wrinkly again, an allergy reaction. But I am less angry now, less “why-me” now, more okay with what-is now.

The healing nest I was in has strengthened my heart and my resilience. This March we are a group of 7 visiting Shiori and Sumiechan in their homes, for Yukkuri Countryside Retreat in March, that is more than the craft classes, ceremonies and cooking workshop we’ve planned together. It’s really a revisiting of the places and people healing for me. Hopefully you’ll feel the sacredness of slowing down, living simply, and being in the embrace of pure pure nature. Can’t wait~

Meanwhile, looking forward to the Mindful Winter Retreat first on 21 Feb! (See previous post about it too ⛷️) I’ll be on IG stories quite a bit- follow our journey if you’re curious! ☺️ Love you! xx

31/12/2024

2024—
Snippets from my journals this year. I’m not 100% sure if it’s a good idea to post photos of my personal scribblings on IG but it’s been a deeply transformative year I feel like sharing. These were written when I was feeling spirited. The rollercoaster of 2024 has many dips and topsy turvy spin; these rare (therefore, precious too) pockets of clarity kept me going, quietly, walking at my pace, trusting.

If you can’t read my handwriting:

Live boldly, live freely, live with purpose, live in abundance.

I am not afraid and trusting.

Standing ankle deep in the river, I realised I’ve been asking for divine messages the wrong way. There will never be a yes/no answer; but there will be given—clarity.

I need to define my own abundance.

There is no answer, just clarity.

You don’t always know what you’re getting into. You don’t always know what Universe is protecting you from.

Be clear of what you believe, your values, your worth, what you deserve.

I am patient in the unfolding and the process of journeying.

To tap into the source of divine wisdom. To live a life of purpose and joy, be of service that’s meaningful and powerful, filled with abundance and love.

You have to stop waiting for an invitation to celebration—you have to create it.

Our lives are God’s breath in action. / We are being done. Stop over analysing it.

Find your flow first, then apply effort. Not apply effort to manipulate flow.

“Anything under heaven is a sacred vessel and cannot be controlled. Trying to control, leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose. Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection. Just as you breathe in, breathe out.”

I will live my life, do things, make decisions for myself, without needing to get permission.

One step at a time, Shena. You’re divinely guided.

You deserve someone that reminds you that you are not hard to love.

To be of service to others, or community.

Live the life you want to live. Not the life others want/hope for you to live.

Mum said, “life is short. Right now your life is good right?” I nodded. “That’s enough. Be happy! Just enjoy each day.”

I almost forgot—everything is temporary.

26/11/2024

I was asked many times “what were you doing in Japan?” and too often I can’t put my experiences to words. Maybe that’s why I don’t post anything about them too.

So here’s a weak attempt to share about my winter work vacation in a lodge in Japan, Dec 2023-March 2024 ❄️ (I’ll share Aug 2023 summer vacation work at a vegan cafe at a later date!)

1) Warmest place in the lodge—literally and emotionally 🥹
2) Cosy spot for cuddles, Netflix, reading books, mostly just spacing out watching the snow and trees
3) The boys I worked with. They’d probably think I’m crazy if I confessed to them how deeply impactful it has been—living with them for just three months has immensely changed my perception of my worthiness and taught me that I am loveable (something I really struggle with)
4) Olliebear and Angus dancing for warmth, after jumping into an icy lake. Apparently it’s a good cleanse for our spirits on New Year’s Day! This (then) 37yo woman joined in too
5) On a gondy with two Felix’s and Riku-chan, one of them is my son 👦🏻
6) Grilled onigiri for breakfast? Yes please
7) We prepared high quality dinners for the guests (I mostly watched 👀)
10) Our staff meals are crazy good! This is X’mas~
11) Rare occasion that the whole gang got to go up on the gondy together (minus Riku who joined us later in the season) with Ling Ling my newfound friend 🫶🏼
12) Fire festival 🔥
13) Izakaya booths are too small for my tall friends
14) Being your strange self is celebrated! Kawaii Minowa~
15) Hahaha
16) Sending postcards home 🏠
17) When it snows in the village 😭😭😭
18) Fireworks in Japan are my favourite. They set them off one by one, and the sounds of the fireworks make when released echo that of a heart beating
19) Ski lift views are gorgeous
20) Watch me getting wiped out on skis 😆

These really ain’t doing the experience justice!! But it’ll do with some documentation of core memories. I’m learning how to be available online more 🥲

Some spots left for Nozawaonsen Mindful Winter Retreat 21-26 Feb 2025. PM me for deets ❄️✨

07/11/2024

Hihi friends! Full moon sleep party, join? ✨

🌝 The full moon on 16th November is in the earthy Ta**us sign, which means the cosmos will be cocooning us in her warm soothing embrace during our 2-hour REST NEST 🪺

I’m learning from experiences and friends (you know who you are!) that it’s a much better idea to lay low during full moons, when energies are electrifying and magnified. Tuning inward, the light within is glowy and illuminating. Equally, if not more, deserving of your time and care :)

This 2-hour rest nest may also be soothing for friends who have trouble sleeping during full moon seasons. I see you 👀 Come after dinner, go home to bed right after. Rest is often underrated, but an essential part of our mental and physical health.

In our 1-hour yin, let’s allow tensed muscles and tissues in our bodies to slowly unwind in deliciously stretchy poses. This is followed by a 1-hour restorative yoga, a deeper dive after receiving a felt sense of rest from yin, to regulate and rebalance our nervous system.

If this is something up your alley, here are more info.

Date: 16 Nov, Saturday
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Venue: Yoga in Common, 22 Petain Road
Mats, bolsters, blocks and blankets all provided 💕
$60 to join ✨

5 mats left!
PM me to register 🫶🏼

01/10/2024

🌻 hi friends! Let’s practise together in Oct! 🌞 This month’s classes are all 90-minute practices. The spaciousness of a longer practice brings more ease, more grounding, more time for pranayama and meditation. I hope you’ll join us 🙏🏻

$32 to join each session ✨

For now, 4 spots left for 12 Oct!

10/09/2023

10 photos + a caption isn’t the best way to sum up 5 years at Hom, maybe that’s why I really struggled to write this farewell post asap 🤍 It’s been five weeks in Japan, I took my time to sit with the discomfort of leaving something good.

In short, I was sad but certain that my time at Hom is up. Life hasn’t really been kind in the last 2 years. I’ve lost loved ones and struggle with sudden eczema. Exhausted, I felt the need to go somewhere alone, be in nature. Live carefree and solely for myself.

Today as I walked by the river, I had a sudden recollection of being in disbelief and joyful, getting a teaching job at 🫧 I knew I was lucky; I was an awkward potato, super raw as a yoga teacher and felt undeserving. From the bottom of my heart, thank you and for taking a chance on me 🤍 So much has shifted since. It’s more than just being able to share yoga at the most wholesome studio ever—my time here at Hom has been deeply transformative.

It’s as though a divine finger hit the fast-forward button on my inner work while working at Hom, which is to build my self-worth. From hiding in towel room being too shy to make conversations to today’s can’t-shut-her-up me; from panicking forgetting memorised sequences (um yes I still do forget the left side humble warrior sometimes!) to sensing into the room’s energy and move with it, and with the tough love push by and my dearest front desk girls old and new, aunty Deepa, they encouraged me to birth my first offerings of 2h restorative intensive, bhakti flows and women’s circles. I’m never one who start something, but I did 🫧

These 5 years have helped me grow in ways that I could not do it alone. I’ve 10 photos here which each tells a little personal story. I will not elaborate here but if anyone from Hom here is up for it, let’s catch up one day and talk about beautiful memories, while making new ones 🦋

So so so thankful to everyone I’ve met at Hom. I love you all so much x

Yoga with Shena

06/12/2025

10/11/2025

05/07/2025

09/06/2025

27/03/2025

18/03/2025

16/02/2025

31/12/2024

26/11/2024

07/11/2024

01/10/2024

10/09/2023

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