Adventures in Thailand – Page 3 – pause then press play

Time has flown right by and it’s almost time for me to leave this beautiful island.

I remind myself of the reasons to leave.

I have relationship ties – a wonderful dog and a loving fiancé who means the world to me
a beautiful home and a great support network waiting for me when I get home
I love Canada – although the winters are long, I do enjoy snow-related activities
it would be nice to use a washing machine and a dryer again
I have an upcoming wedding to prepare for in a couple months

And so with a heavy heart, I must go and get my affairs in order. I must re-enter into the structures of society and the boring old routine of consumerism.

What is that routine you ask? It’s simple. You work to get more stuff, work to pay off that stuff, have kids because everyone else is having them, unable to spend time with those kids because you need to work to pay for kids’ stuff, then work some more so that you can stop working and retire so that you can then spend your feeble days waiting out your death. It all seemed less than appealing to me. Somewhat pointless.

I would rather just spend my days here sipping coconuts in a hammock with my man and my dog, Koya, who would run around playing in the sand chasing crabs or something and having a good time as dogs always so. And not having the stuff that everybody is programmed to want.

I envy my dog’s life. Humans are to me the most blind of all the species. We created a society full of rules and structures and now we screwed ourselves over working in little cubicle cages for 8-10 hours a day with the inability to see much of the sun, let alone run and play in the sand.

Some form of paper money or numbers on a screen control our lives and determines how important a person is, rather than their traits of integrity and honesty. I suppose you do need some structure as dogs do in their dog world, but I think we humans took it a tad too far. It is what it is.

Societies do change, it just takes thousands of years to do it. In ancient Egypt, slaves were worked to death to build pyramids. And this is the same for other ancient civilizations. And what were the slaves thinking? They probably just accepted that that was life and I need to carry this huge chain on my back, attached to this huge stone. Then the Roman Empire came a few more thousand years later, a much more improved, more ethical society. Yet, still with slaves, crucifixion and death games as a norm.

Sure, we realized slavery is bad now (in this century, it took us that long), and we’re a far cry away from being in chains…but I hope you see my point that sometimes the reality you live in, isn’t always a reality that needs to be. Who knows? Maybe in a couple thousand years, our post-decessors will get it right. Maybe they will only work 5 hours a day, spend lots of time with their families and all energy will be green, and people will be happier and healthier.

Hey, you never know, right? There’s always room for betterment and for improvement. But for time being, It is what it is.

And so I take pictures of dozens of real estate ads instead. Dreaming of owning a small resort here, have a lush garden for vegetables and fruits, and teach yoga so I can earn a humble income to pay for simple pleasures such as coconuts and hammocks. Hey, you never know, right?

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Adventures in Thailand, yoga

Your First Yoga Class, Part I – Introduction to Yoga

October 7, 2015October 15, 2015 Evelyn Loh

So you’ve decided to give this yoga thing a shot. Seems pretty simple. If old ladies can do it, I’m sure I can too, right? If that sounds a little bit like you, keep reading on.

Yoga is a 5,000 year old practice from India that encompasses nutrition, meditation, exercise, spirituality, and the study of scriptures. It’s a whole pre-determined way of living. It even prescribes how to clean your nasal passage. That’s how in-depth yoga can get.

What yoga is widely known as today is the physical postures of that entire lifestyle, which are known as asanas. Asanas can be extremely beneficial to your body and mind, as with many other forms of physical activity. These asanas have helped thousands of people with claims not only from their overall improvement of their overall fitness, but with their stress, anxiety and depression. Without surprise, as these asanas were formed as a way of active meditation to discipline the monkey mind through controlling the physical body. After all, it’s difficult to feel sadness or stress when you’re balancing on one leg in tree pose. You are probably trying not to fall over, rather than worrying about your presentation on Monday.

Now, in a modern day yoga class, it’s mainly all asanas. If it’s your first yoga class ever, try to find a class directed at beginners, so hot yoga, acroyoga and power yoga is out of the question. Instead go with yin yoga, gentle flow or ask the instructor if his/her class is a good fit for a beginner. When the instructor knows that there’s a beginner in the class, he/she will always provide options (beginner, intermediate, advanced). And you, as a beginner, should take those options. Ignore what your neighbours are doing and look at your teacher for guidance.

Let’s use the analogy of buildings. Each asana (posture) is like a building. First you need a strong foundation (your alignment), then you need the materials (the strength and flexibility) to continue to build on top of that. And how high you go depends on factors such as the type of materials you have (your current fitness level/where you are in your practice) and what the environment allows (your body type/even your genes). The tendency is for beginners to want to build skyscrapers before ensuring the foundation is sturdy. The outcome of a building that is too high without a good foundation is that it will fall.

I definitely am not worried about the past or future when I'm in tree pose, balancing in the mangroves. Okay, maybe I was a little bit worried there might be snakes. — Balancing in tree pose requires your mind to remain completely calm and balanced. Your mind is focused and free from all unnecessary worries, fears and troubles.

But those postures look fun! It’s completely fine to try. Just remember, it’s your body that is the building, so your fall could be a simple, meaningless stumble, or it could lead to the revival of an old injury. You know your own body better than anyone else, so you need to listen to it and remember to rest whenever you need to.

To ensure you have the best experience, here are a few mental tips for your first practice.

Patience: Build the foundation of your body, take your time to get into postures with grace rather than jerking into them
Awareness: Check your body for alignment cues that your teacher will provide you either verbally or visually
Humility: Maybe you could do backbends when you were 12, but it’s been a while since then and this is not the time to try. Keep your mind on your own mat, with a consistent practice, that strength will return, and when that day comes you’ll be ready for that full wheel.

These are key for getting the best out of your yoga experience.

If you want to know what physical requirements to expect behind the doors to the yoga studio, click here.

Adventures in Thailand, art, pets, rants, yoga

The Young Yogi and The Island

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 Evelyn Loh

Oh gosh, it’s already September! 4 months has passed since I first arrived on this beautiful island.

My fiancé arrives next week and I’m very excited to see him. He told me it feels like forever since he has seen me. Whereas I feel like it was just a month that has passed since I saw him. I miss him but it doesn’t feel that long in my mind.

And so I reflected on my time here. So much has happened. I’ve met so many great people and had lots of amazing experiences. But why does it seem like such a short time?

Here on the island, I’ve been in this strange state where time seems to stand still. I feel like I’ve been suspended in time and I could stay here forever. Like some sort of trans-state or hypnosis. It’s an amazing feeling. I wake up feeling great everyday and happy to go about my day. Sometimes I forget what day it is. And sometimes I forget what time it is.

After teaching morning yoga I have so much spare time, yet I never once felt bored. I spent my days learning Thai, reading, practising yoga, and riding my bicycle/scooter to explore the island. In this constant state of exploration, I feel like the pages of my life story have just been a constant page turner. You know the kind of good book you can’t put down so you stay up reading it till 3 AM. I think right now, this is my life. Only there my story is pretty anti-climatic. It’s probably a lot like The Old Man and The Sea – some people love it, some people hate it.

Recently during my explorations, I wanted to look for interesting places to take my fiancé to when he arrived. I found an artsy boutique hotel where I fell in love with. It was that kind of vibe that I was drawn to. It beautiful handmade decorations from paper flowers and stars to large painted canvases. It conjured beautiful emotion.

As soon as I saw him, I knew immediately that he was the owner and the artist. I knew we could be friends. Initially, I asked just about the rooms, not wanting to impose. Then, I cycled home.

All the way home and the next day, I was washed over with the feeling of longing. I missed painting. I went to Art School and I miss the days where I and fellow students alike stayed up all night to finish projects. I missed creating.

That place brought back my desire to create. And so the next day, I went back to visit him. I asked him if I could buy canvas and paint from him. My Thai was as good as his English, but we understood each other. He understood I was an artist too. I interpreted his expression and his few words as, “Every artist needs to create, we will find you something.” And so he led me to his small studio, where he was painting a girl, who I found out later was his girlfriend.

After a little bit of shuffling, he sent me off happily with an old watercolour set, brushes, and paper. I grew up painting with watercolours but I quickly switched to acrylics like many artist do to the convenience of fast drying times and its adaptability to mistakes. With watercolours, you needed to paint in “layers” and can be somewhat technical at times. There are ways “to erase” mistakes, but it’s better if you don’t make them at all.

The last time I used watercolours was probably when I was 18, almost ten years ago. So I decided to paint Koya (again) to get my feel for it back again.
Turned out alright! 65 likes on Facebook! Which is a lot of likes for a person like me, who only gets 5 likes on any given post…and that’s if I’m lucky. Which makes me wonder do people like this post because it’s a good painting or because it has a cute dog on it? Maybe a little bit of both?

Whatever it is, I’ll just keep doing what I love and let days like these be imprinted into my mind. One thing is for sure, if and when I have grandkids, I’ll never run out of stories to tell them.