Siwen Xi

Email: siwenxi@usc.edu 

Siwen Xi is a certified yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance in Dharma Yoga (a classical Hatha-Raja Yoga), Yin Yoga, and Pregnancy Yoga. 

She started her journey of yoga and meditation in 2010 when she was in high school. Suffering from anxiety of the auditions for music schools and exam preparation, as well as the confusion about the future life as a teenager, she found her inner peace from yoga practice and meditation. 

Growing up in China, she was immersed in Daoism and confucian philosophy, meridian theory and Chinese medicine from the older generations. She deeply believes in the philosophy of wu-wei (無為), non-purposive action and doing without force. Wu means none, nothing, non-existence, while wei means purpose and action. The concept of wu-wei slows down her pace, calm down her mind. She discovered her way of wu-wei, Yin Yoga. The practice of Yin Yoga embraces both ancient wisdom from China and classic Hatha yoga asanas from India. While holding each pose for a prescribed amount of time, there is an opportunity for meditation, for tuning the breath, mind, and the body. 

Moving to New York City to pursue her master’s degree at Columbia University and living a stressful life between study and work, she found and gained the opportunity to study yoga with her guru Sri Dharma Mittra and her mentor Pam Jones. Influenced by them, She gained a deeper understanding of yoga as a lifestyle. She believes that success comes from constant effort and what she needs to do is to try her best but not expecting any results. 

She is positive that yoga is for all, and one will develop not only a healthy body, but also a kind heart and a calm mind. Yin Yoga provides everyone a safe pathway to develop one’s flexibility and mobility, to become more mindful, to heal and to love yourself. Due to the fact that our bodies structure differently and everyone has different purposes and needs for yoga practice, her teaching is inspiring and always provides different variations or modifications to support and help everyone’s yoga practice. 

And now, she is pursuing her doctoral degree in Music Teaching and Learning at USC’s Thornton School of music. Apart from being a doctoral student and a yoga instructor, she is also a Japanese koto performer. Due to the pandemic, she is currently living in New York City. She feels grateful that the people she loves are safe and healthy. She is so excited to be part of Yoga USC!