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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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Freedom or Fear?

October 20, 2015October 20, 2015 Evelyn Loh

As I’m typing this blog post, this is my view right now.

Leaves as large as my body are fanned in the foreground, palm trees and other flowering plants in the background surround a lake. The rain has just stopped and the sound of the raindrops beat like the drums of nature. Perhaps it is this percussion-like rhythm that makes the birds and insects chirp loudly in excitement after each rainfall.

Yesterday, it was sunny and I spent my day at the beach. The water was turquoise and warm, just the way I like it. Today, it rained, which is to me equally as beautiful and a great day to stay indoors to write, paint or play music.

And so this is my life. How did I get so lucky? A few years ago I remember wearing a dress and high heels and the only time I was really immersed in nature was during my lunch hour run. And though I like my life in Calgary, I would choose this over that on any given day. Now, I am in nature all day, every day.

The only downside is probably not being able to purchase an authentic Louis Vuitton purse. I’d have to travel 6 hours to Bangkok to do that. But hey, wait a minute!!! I don’t need that! I don’t have any big meetings to go to where I can show off my purse, and if I brought it over to beach, it’s just going to get sand in it.

I much prefer this canvas bag I got for my birthday from the resort manager. I bring it around with me everywhere I go. It’s a simple handmade bag from a village local. When it gets a little dirty, I scrub it down with laundry detergent. It has got 23 elephants on it. Which is my fiancé’s birthdate and lucky number. I counted them because I had the time to. 🙂

How did I get so lucky? I tried. I tried and I got lucky. But had I not tried, I wouldn’t be here. Like they said, “If you want to win the lottery, you’d have to buy a ticket!”

Find out what is important to you. Health or wealth? Peace or position? Freedom or fear?

For most of us, wealth has to be accrued, and usually through working up the corporate ladder. There are those out that who are lucky enough to have both, but usually most of regular people who own vacation homes either have spent their whole lives working in an office. Which brings me to the next point, climbing up the corporate ladder usually leads to a higher position of power, with leads to heighten responsibility, which leads to fear of an even bigger failure.

When I worked in the corporate world, I met many many people who made 6-figures, drove BMWs, dressed to impress, and in my head, I knew that I would get there if I stayed in that universe. It was just a matter of time till I hit a certain age and had the right amount of experience on my résumé.

Sure for some, that way of life works for them. They crave the power. But for me, it just didn’t fit. And suffice to say, that future didn’t seem to enticing to me. At the end of the day, they were still caged animals in my eyes, with fancier cages and probably better food. So I knew I had to break loose. I escaped the cubicle life and ran free into the wild. And I can tell you that I’ve never felt so peaceful, so much bliss and so excited about life as I am right now on the island.

So if you had to choose, which will it be?

I know that for me, it was always the first of the two.

travel, yoga

Your First Yoga Class, Part II – What’s behind the doors of a yoga class?

October 8, 2015October 15, 2015 Evelyn Loh

Now that I’ve written up a brief introduction to yoga. You can start to get your yoga pants ready to join your first class.

I have a lot of students that come for their first ever yoga class and ask me what to expect. In turn, I ask them what do you expect? And these are top 3 answers:

Just stretching. For 1 hour and 15 minutes, I’ll be stretching and that’s what yoga is all about.
I’ll be more flexible, from all that stretching.
Some core stuff, so I lose belly fat.

Alright, I don’t really know why people expect so much stretching. Is there an ad somewhere saying YOGA with a picture of people just stretching? Where is this ad?

Fortunately, there is more to yoga than just stretching. Well for my classes at least. In my classes, we stretch for warm-up and warm-down, and from time to time I have a yin yoga class, which is all about stretching. But most of my classes cover sun salutations (surya namaskaras in sanskrit), balancing postures, standing, sitting and lying down postures, and finally ending in corpse pose (savasana), a meditative or relaxation pose.

So what does that all mean? Well, let me break it down for you. In an physiological sense, the asana practice can be put into different groups and some groups weave into each other as well. If you’re a beginner, the groups you need to know are:

Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskars): This is like your cardio, you move through fluid pre-set movements at a brisk pace and get your muscles all warmed up, your breathing picks up a bit. If you can try to use your ujaiyi breath, breathing audibly in and out through you nose, and sounding a little bit like Darth Vader. The movements include reaching up to the sky, then down for your toes, plank pose, a reverse push up, cobra and downward dog. Cobra is an upper back strengthening postures.

Balancing Postures: Standing on one leg for extended periods of time will help your slow twitch muscles form, the ones that help your endurance.

Warriors: Lunges, lunges, lunges. Yogis tend to have this lean look in their upper body but when it comes to their thighs they are large and well-defined (and sexy). Take Kino McGregor or Meghan Currie for example. Lunges target your quadriceps, hamstrings and butt, these are your largest muscle groups in your body which means that they are your most effective fat burning machines. The stronger these areas are, the more fat you will burn throughout the body.

Sitting postures: It’s this group of postures where I find most of the stretching happens. They cover twists, forward folds, hip openers and shoulder stretches. Although, sitting postures like boat pose build up core strength in order to stabilize you.

Lying down postures: Cobra, locust and upward-facing bow pose focus on strengthening the muscles of the lower, middle and upper back.

Savasana: To end the practice, a few warm-down stretches and twists are followed by the famous corpse pose (savasana), which is a meditative and/or relaxation pose done lying down on your back with your eyes closed from 5-15 minutes, depending how long and/or strenuous your practice was. This promotes muscle memory and is compulsory relaxation for all yoga practices. To end this poses, the instructor will gently guide you verbally to move your fingers and toes and roll over to your side body in a fetal position before finally making your way up into seated position.

And that about concludes the yoga practice. This sort of practice varies from teacher to teacher, and usually most teachers are happy and willing to provide variations for beginners.

With that explanation, I hope it gives you the general idea and the confidence for you to start your yoga practice.