Straight from the heart – (General)

Finding the balance in life has always been my priority. Having to grow up & live in a small, fast paced island like Singapore, I often feel claustrophobic & that leads to many anxieties that suffocate my mind. I am one that gets affected easily by what surrounds me. I am in constant search for [...]

The Night Surrounds Me

From a unknown poet: Sometimes night surrounds me, sometimes i summon the day. Sometimes a radiance seeks me, sometimes i radiate light. How do i know when it is the voice of my being and when it is the mind? You know but you don’t know. You know but don’t know that you know.  You [...]

Yoga Boom in Paris

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/travel/excusez-moi-parlez-vous-yoga.html?ref=health

瑜伽，值得品味一輩子

瑜伽是一門學問！！這是參加200小時師資訓練課程後所感到的結論! 從每天的體位法到下午的解剖學.瑜珈哲學,在在顛覆我對瑜珈的認識!   實踐的學問，結合哲學與思想，生理及解剖，最重要的是透過呼吸與冥想，串連內在的心靈與外在的身體，瑜珈的精髓只能透過練習來領悟.   瑜伽真正的修行，是希望能夠讓心靈抵逹三摩地的狀態，一種平和喜樂的狀態，而非三魔地，心中充滿著好勝與自大的心態，瑜伽不是術，你也不是特技表演者，很多大師並非都是瑜伽體位法練得高深，但你卻能感受他的能量，當他觸摸你時，你的心靈當下會有感應，那是愛與慈悲，那是能量的交流．那就是瑜伽的精髓，讓你變得很溫暖，變得有能力去愛別人，若你因為練瑜伽而傷害了周遭的人，那是不對的，你深陷在體位法的迷宮中，就像小孩看到糖果屋一樣．   瑜伽，像咖啡，愈練愈甘醇，喝太急，練太多，是無法體會其中的奧妙．細細品味當下，讓每一個味蕾，每一條神經都能享受到伸展，停留，所帶來的樂趣，你的大腦會分泌多巴按，你會樂在其中．   瑜伽的體位法有數千種之多，每一種體位法都有很深的醫學奧妙深縕其中，若你循序漸進，你就能體會個中滋味，若你操之過急，那就容易受傷，而且這個傷，會深深烙印其中，原因就在瑜伽的傷害是慢性累積而成的，就是因為慢，所以等你發現時，傷害己然造成．   瑜伽的體位法，不求一時，你可以用一生的時間慢慢地去練習，有時，時間到了，自己就練成的，重點在於每一次練習時，都要專心專注，做到那算到那，不要強求一個高乎自己能耐的目標，這會讓自己壓力過大，練習瑜伽的本意是求快樂，內在的平靜，若在追求的過程設限過高，反而會讓自己得失心過重，不快樂之心就此種下，不快樂會衍生出許多負面的情緒，像是討厭那些比自己做得好的人等等，這些都背離當初練習瑜伽的初衷．   瑜伽，對我而言，絕非速成，也非參加個研習營，200小時魔鬼訓練即可出師，那是很恐怖的事，在醫療的臨床經驗指出，很多學生受傷，指導者要負很大的責任，因為他沒有很清楚地明白每個學生的狀況，以一種標準姿式要求每個體能不一的學生，那是有點危險的舉動，要求可以，但必須清楚這個體位法的好處及禁忌，像是有膝蓋痛的同學在做英雄式時，就必須先讓它單膝著地，慢慢地重心穩了，才能提起患肢，此時要不要提起，決定權在學生，而非老師，學生自己會明白自己的能耐，但東方人總是以吃苦好勝聞名，因此很容易發揮拚命三郎的精神，若知道哪個學生有膝痛問題，就必須禁止他過度操練患肢，這是避免他惡化他的膝傷．或是像有些人有高血壓的毛病,肩立或頭倒立都不適合做.以免血液快速匯流到頭部造成血壓急速的上升.   永遠記得，學瑜伽，是在學放心，放下心中的恚念，好勝，是最不足取的．   永遠記得，心靈保持開放，不要想要握住什麼，因為那會讓心靈變得狹礙   永遠記得，瑜伽學無止境，沒有畢業的一天，這樣才會保持謙卑的心．   瑜珈，為我的心開啓了一扇窗，陽光灑進來。 瑜珈，是一趟值得你親身體驗的身心靈之旅。   衷心感謝Wei ling 老師 及 Paalu 老師這一個多月來的諄諄教導所帶給我的啟  發與教導.以及 謝謝每周一路伴隨成長一起練習的同學們,你們的砥礪與幫助,讓我有機會和你們一起在這條路上快樂地修行,進步! Namaste!

Yoga Mats

Before I started learning yoga, I was curious why is there a need for yoga mat? Can’t we just perform yoga without a mat?  I started practising yoga with a normal mat (mat not meant for yoga) and within a short while, I’ve bought  3 more yoga mats of different made. I’ve come to understand that yoga mat is to prevent injury [...]

How to Steer Toward the Path of Less Treatment

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/health/04CONSUMER.html?_r=1&ref=health

Did you know…

My initial idea for this post was a “Day of Body and Soul”.  I was ready to share some ideas about the perfect yoga day… Ashtanga Yoga by the pool, followed by a nice brunch.  All in the company of great friends.  To complement the post, I wanted to share a Puertorrican recipe but I was struggling [...]

Philosophy- Introduction to Yoga

My brief introduction to Yoga class for beginners. Namaste to Everyone. Yoga practice includes breath control, meditation and adoption of specific body postures. With these postures known as asanas, you can achieve strength, balance and flexibility within you. The benefits of yoga is extensive which includes stress and pain relief, weight management, improvement of circulation, [...]

My 4th training session

The training sessions have been great so far. Initially, before I started the class, I thought that all my weekends for the next 10 weeks will be ‘burnt’ –> meaning after each training session, I will be so exhausted and drained of energy that I won’t be able to do anything else. But I am [...]

Am I fat??

Yamas means “Restrain”. Yamas is one of the 8 limbs. Yamas includes Ahimsa (non violence, non-injury), Satya (truthfulness), Brahmacharya (Chastity, sublimation of sexual energy), Asteya (non-stealing, non-covetedness), Aparigraha (non-accepting of gifts or bribes). It is not easy to restrain ourselves and reach perfection in the 5 points above. To achieve these slowly we need to [...]