A 7-year-old boy, once autistic, is youngest yoga coach in China

At the tender age of seven, Sun Chuyang has attracted national attention as China’s youngest yoga instructor. And he has a pot of money to prove it.

After being diagnosed as autistic, Sun, from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, began learning yoga, which led to him becoming certified and instructing over 100 students.

He has so far earned more than 100,000 yuan (15,900 US dollars).

That’s not all. The stretching exercises involved have also alleviated his medical disorder.

Four years ago, Sun’s busy parents sent him to a boarding school when he was just two. In the beginning, it seemed that he was unusually bashful and would take off immediately when being surrounded by other kids.

But a later diagnosis of mild autism finally made Sun’s mom, Ye Wenyun, realize they spent too little time on him.

Feeling remorseful for negligence of her son’s development, she gave up her job and became a stay-at-home mom to devote time to Sun.

Ye took him to a yoga class at which he quickly demonstrated his exceptional skill. “I hoped the deep breath, energetic moment during the practice would help him get confidence and happiness,” she said.

In the first class, instead of feeling bored during the stretch section, Sun felt enraptured. When going back home, he can repeated all of the positions he had learned at class, some of which had escaped his mother’s memory.

In the next two years, yoga helped him became more playful and outspoken. He is now a totally different kid, brave and smiling. “He even introduces himself when meeting strangers, which he had never done before,” mom said.

Besides, he was also discovered by stardom scouts and signed by yoga gyms at the age of five.