Hui Lan Zhang facts for kids

Zhang Huilan, also known as Wai Lana, is a famous yoga teacher from Hong Kong. She is well-known around the world for teaching yoga. In China, many people call her the "mother of yoga." This is because she helped make yoga very popular there in the 1980s and 1990s. She has written many books about yoga in Chinese. One of her most famous books is Yoga: Qigong and Meditation.

Spreading Yoga Through TV

Wai Lana created her own TV show called Wai Lana Yoga. This show started airing across the United States in 1998. It continued for 18 years, helping many people learn about yoga. Her show was also shown in many other countries. It reached viewers in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Even earlier, in 1985, China Central Television started broadcasting her series. This show was called Yoga: Exercise Methods for One’s Body and Mind.

Yoga Products and Music

To help more people learn yoga, Wai Lana also created many products. She sold music CDs and DVDs that teach yoga. She also offered other items for a yoga lifestyle. Besides her yoga books, she wrote two cookbooks. These were Wai Lana's Favorite Juices and Wai Lana's Favorite Soups. She also made a kit called Easy Meditation for Everyone Kit. For younger children, she created special yoga products. These included Wai Lana’s Little Yogis Daydream Kit and Fun Songs Cartoon & CD. She also made Little Yogis DVDs & Books.

Celebrating Yoga Worldwide

In 2015, Wai Lana made a special music video called Namaste. She created it to celebrate the very first International Day of Yoga. This day is held every year on June 21. Wai Lana wrote the Namaste song to share important yoga ideas. These ideas include being kind to everyone and showing love. The Namaste video was shown at a big event at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. It was also streamed live to thousands of yoga fans in Times Square. Her Namaste video has been watched and listened to over 4 million times.

Awards and Recognition

In 2016, the Government of India gave Wai Lana a very special award. It was called the Padma Shri Award. This award recognized her amazing work in making yoga popular around the world. She achieved this through her TV shows, videos, and books. Wai Lana is only the second person from China to receive this high honor. In 2016, for the second International Day of Yoga, Wai Lana released a new short film. It was called Alive Forever.

Personal Life

Wai Lana is married to Chris Butler.

See also

• Wai Lana Yoga