Yiran Wang
PhD, RYT-200
Movement Background
I’ve enjoyed moving since I was little. Dance was my first movement language - I studied ballet, contemporary dance, and Chinese folk dance since age 5. During my college years, I also competed and toured nationally/internationally with Peking University’s dance company. In the past decade, practicing improvisational dance forms such as Contact Improv and Gaga Dance has taught me a great deal of creativity, functional movement, and moving meditation.
I stepped into my first yoga class when I was a new graduate student back in 2009, desperately needing a way to get out of my own head. Yoga has since accompanied me throughout a “brain-first” career path. Currently, I am a Yoga Alliance registered 200-hr yoga teacher (RYT-200) and completing my 300-hr advanced yoga teacher training. My yoga teacher training includes:
Vinyasa (Bala Yoga)
Yoga Alignment: Biomechanics and Foundational Form (Amy Ippoliti)
Yin Yoga (8 Limbs Yoga)
Trauma-Informed Yoga (Collective Resilience)
Yoga Nidra (8 Limbs Yoga)
Yoga for Strength & Stability (8 Limbs Yoga)
Restorative Yoga (8 Limbs Yoga)
Myofascial Release (8 Limbs Yoga)
Professional Background
Before starting Flow into Focus, I was a researcher in the field of Human-Computer Interaction that intersects psychology, computer science, social science, and design. I spent 8 years in academia, conducting scientific research on the implications of computing technologies, in particular, how social media, computer, and phone usage affect our well-being (e.g., stress, mood, multitasking, sleep).
Subsequently I spent 5 years doing design research for user experience and product strategies at Google, working on Google’s messaging app, Google Maps, and more.
My go-to bad posture when I’m sucked into work, the culprit of my chronic back pain.
The Struggle & Transformation
On the outside, I appeared to have a dream career, a respected profession, and a beautiful life. On the inside, I was struggling on a daily basis.
For years, I ignored chronic pain in my shoulders and back. I pushed through long days made of back-to-back meetings and demanding deadlines. I was stuck in constant stress due to frequent re-orgs, strategy changes, and last-minute fires. I got sucked into the screens, running 100 miles/hour since dawn, only to collapse as a couch potato at the end of the day unable to move, despite my best intentions to exercise and do things with my family. I was simply burnt out.
If that describes your day, you are not alone. I know the incredibly difficult feeling of enduring constant stress and endless expectation to “push through.” I also know how difficult it is to get out of that space. Don’t get me wrong - I have always been a strong performer and I LOVED my jobs. But I spent all the waking hours in my head that I lost touch with the rest of me. When I saw that my work was becoming so unsustainable and my life so unbalanced, I made the hard decision to take a step back. I prioritized reconnecting with myself through yoga, dance, and mindfulness practices. Flow into Focus is born out of the resilience that fueled my growth and the desire to share what I’ve learned to help you find more balance and clarity in your life.
My Teaching Principles
I believe all of us have a multitude of interests, capabilities, and paths. You have agency and you are able to make choices that work for you. My role is to guide you and give you tools.
I believe science is real and we need more evidence-based foundation in the wellness industry. I also believe spiritual journeys are personal, varied, and virtuous. Therefore, I avoid commercialized pseudo-science, pseudo-spiritual attempts.
I believe being needs to come before doing. We are systemically conditioned to do more; yet, we are rarely encouraged to just be. My role is to hold space for you, meet you where you are, encourage you to feel how you really feel, and work with your unique set of needs and capabilities.
I look forward to working with you. We are on this journey together.