Adventures in Thailand – Page 4 – pause then press play

Fighting with Yoga

August 7, 2015August 7, 2015 Evelyn Loh

One of the biggest misconceptions about yoga is that it’s all about peace. Since it’s all about peace, yoga practitioners never fight and they never confront. Right? Right? Ahh, not exactly.

Sure, for the most part we are easy going. We have chosen a spiritual path and usually that goes hand in hand of not being affected about what society may think of us = free spirited = easy going. I actually think of us more like elves in LOTR, we do our own thing but we are pretty skilled archers. Speaking of archers…

Here’s the shocker for those of you who don’t know. One of the most cherished texts in yoga, the Bhagavad Gita, or known simply as the Gita, is a story about war. And the main character is Arjuna, an archer. An archer with a moustache. Here’s a picture of him and Krishna (the avatar reincarnate of Vishnu).

Krishna_Arjuna_Wallpaper_g0mp2

So back to the Gita, the story of the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna on the brink of war. It’s a very long story, so forgive me if I miss a few points. In a nutshell, Arjuna seeks the advice of Krishna as he is about to go into battle against the evil cousin, Duryodhana. Arjuna and Duryodhana grew up in the same kingdom, being cousins and all, are related by blood. Since they grew up together, they knew the same people.

As Arjuna is about to charge into battle, he sees these faces on the other side – the faces of his teachers, friends and family. Naturally, he feels a sense of sadness and doesn’t want to kill them. He questions the entire war, the needless suffering of loved ones and what the outcome of war will bring.

Krishna begins to counsel him and the major themes of the Gita play out – Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. Time seems to stand still while Krishna explains how the celestial universe works to Arjuna. Arjuna then comes to a higher realization of self and the universe.

In the end, he goes into battle and wins.

I have thought a hundred or more times about this text during many stages of my life. And each and every time, I find more and more meaning to it. Even the meaning changes every time I read a line or two from the Gita. It’s really something special.

It represents my most favourite thing about yogic philosophy. It teaches me about strength, not the muscle kind we get from chaturangas (which is great too), but the true individual strength. To be more precise, it teaches me about when to be strong and brave, when to surrender, when to hold on and when to let go.

It extends to people in your life. Being strong, knowing when to say, “No, enough is enough.” and also when to be soft-hearted and say, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake.” It extends to experiences in your life. Keeping your values and being honest with yourself and others, yet, knowing when to let go of experiences and events that we had or have no control of. It teaches you to move forward. Be more balanced.

The point of this post is to say, yoga is not just about non-violence (ahimsa) and peace. It’s much more than that, it’s both and it’s more. While I do practice ahimsa, I have also used yoga to fight my (metaphorical) battles. And equally as many times, I’ve used yoga to forgive. I’ve used it detach from negative influences in my life and to cherish great ones. I can be a cobra or a rabbit. I can be a warrior in battle or a humble warrior.

At the end of the day, my goal is to stay balanced, to choose my battles, to stay completely present and experience the world with a calm confidence. These teachings I have learnt in yoga teach me to continue to grow with grace. And that, to me, is true strength.

Adventures in Thailand, lifestyle, travel

How I coped with changing careers, no income and staying positive. Don’t quit your desk job just yet.

July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 Evelyn Loh

It’s not easy. I live with my very supportive fiancé and I have no kids…well I have furkid – a dog. But that’s besides the point, the point is my responsibilities are still relatively low.

I just want to share my experience with you because I know you are out there, like I was, looking for the stories. Perhaps my experiences may serve inspiring or perhaps completely useless. Who knows?

All I can do is tell you that I’m a real person, relating a real life experience and you just take what you need to.

Before you read any further, here are the disclaimers:

I do not know if you should quit your desk job – I did this for me and it works for me.

I do not know if I will go back to a desk job – never say never, circumstances can change.

I love every minute of my experience right now – no regrets, this experience will be cherished forever till I’m old and grey.

I do worry about the future and going off the beaten path from time to time – but I am letting the universe guide me.

So here’s my story.

I am past 1.5 year mark of not being in at my desk job. I did go back to a desk job for about 1.5 months back in September, but that didn’t really count because it was such a short time. I actually took the job ready to commit long term, but things turned ugly really quickly and the worst sides of the oil and gas industry came out and I found myself again, thinking about change.

After quitting, many times, especially at the beginning, I would look at job postings on the daily and send out my résumé. And even though I did not want a desk job, those little voices in my head called me a hippie, a failure amongst other things and I really felt compelled to do so.

After quitting the second time, I went for yoga teacher training. Yoga was the one thing that was my constant in my life no matter where I was or what I did. It stayed with me long after I left the studio. So when I got back to Calgary, I wanted to teach.

I volunteered at a local studio every Sunday doing some light chores for 3 hours, in the exchange of free unlimited yoga. This seems to be quite common in yoga studios these days and it’s a great way to save money and establish relationships with the yoga community. Those monthly passes cost about $140 and back when I worked in O&G, it was such a small expenditure that I wouldn’t think twice before buying a pass. Then, I asked if I could teach, but they said they didn’t have any openings. Plus, I was a newbie and they probably didn’t want to hire me.

So meanwhile, to supplement my income (or lack thereof), I dog-sat. I used to volunteer fostering dogs for the humane society. So I thought why not dog-sit? It was great. I walked the dogs everyday and enjoyed watching the dogs romp around tails and tongues a-wag. I took on a young Labrador puppy with separation anxiety for 2 months. Her owner was a nurse, so she worked shifts and it was difficult for the young pup. So she would drop her off whenever she went to work and I would work with Madden (the pup) on housetraining, basic obedience and separation anxiety. I spent way too many hours working with that puppy and at times I was exhausted, but I didn’t mind one bit…which really goes to show that when you love something you do, you’d do it for free. It’s so rewarding to know that you were the first person to teach a puppy to sit, stay, lay down, shake paw, roll over, ring a bell and fetch. Some adult dogs don’t even know how to roll over!

Using the law of attraction (ha!), I applied for a yoga teaching job in Thailand and got it. So now I teach yoga at a resort on Koh Chang. I bet you are wondering how much I make and let’s just say I made more an hour at my desk job than I do here a day. But no matter what, when you choose a different career path, one that will make you happy, you take the hit.

It’s a hard pill to swallow at first and it’s definitely not for everyone. Some people like being able to shop, to eat out, to get Starbucks every morning and to fork out $60 for sushi with a friend, like I used to. But I couldn’t do that anymore. My fiancé would take me out, but I didn’t like him wasting the money on what could be a week of groceries. So I cooked lots and guess what? I loved it. It was relaxing and the best part was we ate super healthy all the time and had lots of energy.

So to sum it up, I have managed in the past 1.5 years to hold my ground. I worked hard in O&G for 3 years, saving a comfortable amount for emergencies and an upcoming wedding. I worked really hard doing odd jobs to cover my basic expenses. My dog sitting paid off my flights and my expenses in Canada and I managed to come out deficit free. My yoga teaching term will end up paying off my yoga teacher training and if I’m careful maybe even some savings!

I am still trying to figure out how to make this work long term, but I am not (too) worried. I’m a hard worker and the praise I got while working my desk job has given me the confidence that I can easily do it again if I had to.

At this very moment, I’m the poorest I’ve ever been but I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been. -The End-

Adventures in Thailand, travel

Part 5: How to learn really basic Thai

July 9, 2015 Evelyn Loh

So before I left Canada, I decided if I’m going to be staying in Thailand for 6 months, I’m going to learn Thai.

My goal : to learn the Thai language!

I started listening to Pimsleur Thai about 2 months before I arrived in Thailand and by the time I was on the first plane, I could already say:

“Where is Sukhumvit Road? Here or there?”, “I don’t understand.”, “Where are you going?”, “Yes” and “No” and then some.

I was pretty happy with myself. I was all like, oh yeahhhh, “I’m going to ask them where the bathroom is, just because I can!!!”

Then I got to Thailand. Maybe it was jet lag but somehow I had forgotten everything I had learned and everything became “Sawadee-ka” (hello).

I was ashamed. Here I was trying to be the integrated traveller, speak the local language and I wasn’t better than the average-full-moon-party-going-Aussie-college boy.

I decided, to reassess my goals for 6 months. Instead of learning “Thai,” I’m going to learn “really-basic-Thai.” Which is basically being able to count and haggle in Thai (which will come in really handy for shopping). After all, the key to success is achievable goals.

My new goal : to learn *basic* Thai

“Hungry. Eat pad thai. Please. Drink beer. Thank you.” would be everything I hope to achieve in 6 months.

For the first couple of weeks, I did pretty well. They were helpful and encouraging, they were slow and understanding. Smiley and helpful. I learned so much.

Then as I grew closer to them, and became actual friends with them, their attitude changed. As all close friends do, they began to give me a hard time. This is what it felt like:

And this…

And so, that’s the life I live here, annoying every Thai person I encounter. But I have come a long way from a month ago. And I can actually haggle now – oh yeah, all numbers and stuff. And I can order Pad Thai politely. And this right here: