International Yoga Day is celebrated annually on June 21 since its inception in 2015. An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In India, a lot of people practice yoga and also spread the knowledge to others mostly free of cost. Also, the ‘Guruji’ of yoga is normally associated with a person in his late 40s or 50s. But imagine a seven-year-old doing it! Well, something of this sort is happening in China’s Zhejiang province. Sun Chuyang or Mike hails from Wenling in Taizhou City. He started learning yoga at the age of three and now seven, the young boy earns 100,000 yuan ($15979.04) by teaching yoga, as per a report by China Daily. It means he earns over Rs 10 lakh as pocket money just by teaching the ancient art.
Sun was certified as a yoga teacher in 2017, and is the youngest certified yoga teacher in the world. Sun’s mother told state-run China Daily that her son was taken to a yoga school at the age of two after he was diagnosed with “slight autism”. “Sun was found to suffer from slight autism after he was put in a daycare centre when he was two years old. To help heal him, his mother closed her apparel store and took him to practice yoga,” the report said. Within about a year, Sun displayed a natural talent for the yoga postures he was being taught. “After two years, Sun got rid of autism,” the report said.
Scientists have claimed that certain yoga postures help children with autism. Autism is a mental condition that can impact communication and social skills and trigger repetitive behaviour. However, it has been seen that children found with this rare problem possessing some special talent.
By the age of six, Sun had become a social media celeb because of his special talent. Since the early 2000s, yoga has become quite popular in China. It is seen as more of a fitness regime than a spiritual routine.