TEA TALKS: meet Kevin - professional ballet dancer and yoga teacher on the Fiji island retreat

let’s slow dawn and have a cup of tea. Yes, we invite you to meet a big heart, wild spirit and adventurous soul - professional ballet dancer and yoga teacher Kevin Yee-Chan who is organising a yoga retreat in paradise - Fiji islands. 

Kevin has been an activist from an early age and has fused that with movement through a 10-year career as a ballet & modern dancer and a dedication to the art of yoga. His passion for expression of the soul through movement has carried him around the world- dancing f

or companies such as Smuin Ballet, BalletX and Zhukov Dance Theatre in the USA as well as Stadttheater Bremerhaven in Germany and most notably Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin in France. As a yogi, he has had the opportunity to train in places steeped with tradition such as India and Bali while continuing to teach for communities in Bali, San Francisco, Australia and Fiji. He holds a RYT-500 certification with Yoga Alliance from Janet Stone Yoga as well as a Shi Ba Shi Qigong teaching certification from Forest Rock Monastery. He is also a co-founder of the LAB community - a holistic development space throughout the Global South and a platform through which he shares his experience using physical movement as a tool for manifesting change and living fully and mindfully.

When did you start practicing yoga and why?

I started practicing yoga at the age of 20 as a way to supplement my dance career. At first I was drawn to yoga by the physical asana practice, but over time what drew me in deep and what still holds me is the way it allows me to experience the full spectrum of life with gratitude and a smile.

What is a retreat to you? 

A retreat is sacred. A retreat is healing. A retreat is fun! A retreat is where we can drop the obligations of daily life and find new layers to our self and our love.

We’ve heard you chanting & your voice is amazing, it’s so touching and powerful. Can you tell us more how chanting crossed your way? 

I have always been deeply connected to music. When I first chanted with Janet Stone there was some apprehension with Sanskrit and insecurity about how I sounded. But what I found quite quickly was that the vibration of sound coupled with mantra has the power to touch the body, soul, and space around on a visceral level. I began to feel the way sound can actually change the vibration of our bodies. When I chant now, it's a way to extend my natural spirit- my natural vibration- past the limits of my skin. It's a way to share my devotion and my love.

What drives you? / What most inspires, most motivates and most charges you up?

The thing that drives me the most is that feeling of being in rhythm with the flow of life. It can be while I'm dancing, practicing asana, in meditation, teaching, at the grocery store... but it's a sensation of ease, comfort, and freedom that allows me to dream big and fly.

What advice would you give a practicing yogi to take their practice to the next level? 

Keep showing up. There are so many levels and layers to this life, to this yoga. Just keep showing up every day in whatever way you can and follow the breadcrumbs. Sometimes they will lead you to a barren desert, sometimes they will lead you to a lush oasis. But they always lead you exactly where you need to be.

Would you like to share another cup of tea after a morning yoga class with Kevin, talking more about your passions, yoga or beautiful world? Join us on a Idyllic island escape - Awaken to the Elements Yoga Retreat in Fiji, which starts on the 14th of December. 

More about Fiji retreat and booking follow the link