Villagers practice yoga to relieve fatigue when herding cattle in Zhangbei County of Zhangjiakou City, North China's Hebei Province. [China Women's News]

Jin Xiuying, President of the Women's Federation of Yugouliang Village, promoted the country-style yoga aerobics created by Lu Wenzhen, first secretary of the village, to the local people, with the purpose of toning up the villagers' bodies. 

The village has now become famous for the yoga exercises, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign travellers.

Yugouliang, a village of Zhangbei County in Zhangjiakou City, North China's Hebei Province, was once a state-level poverty-stricken village. Among the 457 registered residents in the village, 254 were impoverished, and 60 percent had fallen into poverty due to illness. The young people have all gone out to work for a living, leaving only about 100 elderly people and women in the village.

As a member of the poverty relief team of the Shijiazhuang Post and Telecommunications Vocational and Technical College, Lu became the first secretary of the village in February 2016. He found that every family still had the traditional habit of sitting "cross-legged" on the bed. Inspired by this discovery, it occurred to him that building a strong body through yoga practice would create a stronger workforce more capable of escaping poverty.

Lu developed a set of country-style yoga aerobics and sought cooperation with Jin Xiuying, who has served as leader of the local women's federation for more than 20 years, to popularize the aerobics across the village.

Jin Xiuying, who has worked in the local women's federation for more than 20 years, practices a yoga pose during her break time after feeding rabbits. [China Women's News]

Considering that there are many elderly women in the village who might find it difficult to do the exercises, Jin tried it on herself first. After three months of practice, she could bend down to pick up things easily and the pain in her back and legs was eased a lot, which made her realize the benefits brought by yoga. She decided to promote yoga in the village to relieve the villagers' back and leg problems that greatly affected their farming.

Led by Jin, the lifestyle and attitude of the villagers gradually changed, and the village became more alive than ever before. "Women who used to stand on the wall and talk to each other are now doing yoga, and even women in their 80s join our activities. I'm very delighted to see the change," she said.

The General Administration of Sport of China praised Yugouliang as the "First Yoga Village in China" in February 2017. And the village's yoga team has been frequently invited to perform and give interviews across the country.

"Our rural women have never travelled far before, but now we have been invited to perform in many places, which has broadened our horizon. However, we will not be swellheaded. We will continue to improve the skills, striving for a higher stage!" Jin said.

During the Spring Festival holiday of 2019, Jin opened an account on a livestreaming platform. She worked hard at Mandarin and dove into techniques of shooting short videos. She also launched online yoga teaching courses for seniors, and promoted local agricultural products such as potatoes and oats in her livestreaming room.

Jin Xiuying and her husband practice a yoga pose between work hours. The couple always communicates on yoga practice with each other. [China Women's News]

At present, Jin's livestreaming account has nearly 200,000 followers, and a single video has received 
views of more than three million times. She has earned nearly 50,000 yuan (US $7,033.83) in the past six months.

In keeping with the old saying "Make hay while the sun shines," the poverty relief team seized the opportunity to explore further ways to increase income in the village. Jin always coordinates with the members to carry out various types of anti-poverty work.

After practicing the yoga aerobic exercises, the villagers have been inspired to release more energy to develop the local planting and breeding industry, and every household is living a better life. 

Li Yeqing, a woman in the village, has improved her health condition due to the yoga, and planted 20,000 square meters of oats and green corn in her field last year, which brought her a net income of 60,000 yuan (US $8,440).

"By practicing yoga, villagers have gained more vitality and the village environment has become better. Now, everyone is busy learning how to use online means to sell agricultural products, and seeking 
diversified ways to increase income and get rich," Jin concluded.

Jin Xiuying organizes women to practice a yoga pose between work hours. [China Women's News]

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)