MinahYoga

Eat right for your type...blood type. I am 'AB negative'...find out yours.

2011-08-17T19:02:00.000+08:00

I find this book by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo "Eat Right For Your Type" is highly informative and beneficial. From the book cover, the book is 'the individualised diet solution to staying healthy, living longer and achieving your ideal weight'.
Here some excepts on my blood Type...AB negative:

Blood Type AB is less than a thousand years, rare (2-5 per cent of the world's population), and biologically complex.
Essentially, most foods which are not recommended for either Type A or Type B are probably bad for Type AB, although there are some exceptions.

The Weight Loss Factor
For weight loss, consumption of meats should be restricted, only eating small amounts that are supplemented with vegetables and tofu. (yes tofu)

The list is rather extensive but I'll be writing only 3 main food categories. Each food category is divided into HIGHLY BENEFICIAL,NEUTRAL and AVOID. Here, i'll be listing only the HIGHLY BENEFICIAL and AVOID. For more info, do buy the book and have a good read. It might help you to lose that stubborn fat and....save your life. So, here it is.

Meat, Offal, Poultry and Game
Avoid all smoked or cured meats. These foods can cause stomach cancer in people with low levels of stomach acid, a trait ABs have in common with Type As.
HIGHLY BENEFICIAL: Lamb; Mutton; Rabbit; Turkey
AVOID: Bacon;Beef;Buffalo;Chicken;Duck;Goose;Poussin;Veal;Venison;Quail

Seafood
Wide variety of seafoods for Type ABs, an excellent source of protein.
HIGH BENEFICIAL: Cod;Grouper;Mackerel;Red snapper;Sardines;Snails
AVOID: Anchovy;Lobster;Octopus;Oysters;Sea Bass;Shrimp

Dairy Products and Eggs
Beneficial especially cultured and soured products- buttermilk,yogurt and reduced fat sour cream. Primary problem is excessive mucus production. Should watch for signs of respiratory problems, sinus attacks or ear infections, indication to cut back on the dairy food.
HIGH BENEFICIAL: Cheese-Cottage,FArmers,Goat,Mozarella,Ricotta
AVOID: Cheese-blue,parmesan;Brie;Butter;Buttermilk;Camembert;Ice Cream

The list also includes several others food categories that is simply to long for me to write.
It includes: Oils&FAts; Nuts&Seeds; Beans&Pulses; Cereals; Bread,Crispbread&Muffins; Grains&Pastas; Vegetables,Sprouts,Soya Products&Fresh herbs; Fruits; Juices&Other Fluids; Spices,Dried Herbs& Flavourings.

A Fasting Yogi....

2011-08-11T00:27:00.001+08:00

It is the time of the month whereby as a good Muslim, I will fast the whole month of Ramadhan which coincidently this year will be in the whole month of August...it makes it easier, somehow, to count the number of days we Muslims have fasted which is very crucial for our day to day expectation....ok, i'm kidding on the last part. even at this not-so-young age of mine, i still keep a mental check on the number of days i've fasted on...well, hourly basis....this keeps my minds occupied and strong in facing the challenges...again, i'm kidding. well, keeping ones mind occupied is imperative in order for one to stay fasting day-in, day-out. of course, during this holy month, we are encouraging to recite Quran and go for Tarawih, after the break fast, to gain further benefits for body, soul and after life. Yes, the after life...the stage that we often forget or choose to forget.

As a yogi, i insist on staying true to my practice even while fasting. Since day 1, i've been practising minimal 60mins of yoga accompany with some soothing lounge music just to help with the flow. Yes, i admit, i do use music regularly in my practice...something that my master would not agree with. Then again, being in class with him is calming enough that no music or extra help is required. Bless you Master Bharath Shetty. When fasting, it is rather challenging to engage in the regular routine as the body is in a resting mode (and plan to stay that way whole day) that any attempt to engage in slightly more vigorous poses...will be denied! So, I opted for combination of Astanga, 6 rounds of sun salutation, and Yin Yoga. Why Yin, I always find Yin Yoga rather interesting and Paul Grilley with his Yin Yoga book, managed to capture my attention and made me a follower.

Over the years, i find that yoga is best for those fasting. It is less taxing to the body and yet, the feeling after is indeed invigorating and yes, you may take my word for it. Perhaps you can opt for less standing (e.g. warrior I,II&III) poses and more sitting (e.g. paschimottanasana,baddhakonasana) and lying (e.g. supta padangusthasana,bridge) down poses. With Yin Yoga, you are encourage if not expected, to stay between 3-5 mins depending on your body and capability as it believes this will strengthen the connective tissues (detailed explanation in first few pages of the book).

End of day...you do what you can to stay true to who you are and what you believe. I am a Muslim first and foremost...and a yogi, all year round.

6 Days in Chiangmai

2011-06-07T21:57:00.013+08:00

Recently, I spent almost a week in Chiangmai. Was there with an old friend and 2 new friends. Shared a room with one of the new friend and found myself talking about mental and emotional calmness over that few days. The old friend and one of the new friend are sisters whom silence will only be found when they are both asleep...which was much needed especially after spending the whole day together. During the entire trip, they visited more temples and religious related buildings small/big more than i did in my entire lifetime combined, and as of last sunday, 5June, i am not that young..LOL. So, you see, they did a lot of visits.

my roommate and i decided to take a more laid back approach by going for walks, massages and hairwash, and lots and lots of coffee breaks, and talked about important things like relationship and life in general. somehow, that managed to lead me into talking about my past experiences (always claimed i had the 'most' among friends especially when relationships are concerned) and how yoga has changed my outlook on work, family&friends, love and living in general.
she complained about having migraine, gastritis and sinus which stress is the common factor. i told her that i used to have all that because of stress at work. she looked a bit puzzled. now, i don't know why people seemed to assume that i've must been a yoga instructor all my adult life and failed to see why i 1.would understand anything about stress at work (how stressful can it be to teach yoga really??? 2. being a yogi with so much 'zen'ness cultivated over the years, stress managed to creep into my 'peaceful' life. but seriously??? Then, i felt compelled to explain rather briefly that i studied accounting in uni, graduated, worked in accounting firm for 5 long years where my youth was basically robbed if not stolen! And proceed to mention the rest of my work history...not a short one, i dare say.
you see, i can relate to a lot of my students and friends and whoever who wanna talk about all the happenings in their lives...well, almost anything...because at this stage of my life, I have been there and done that! i am comfortable of who i am and what i am.

Everyday, I strive to be a better friend, better instructor, better yogi, better sister, better daughter, better wife, better listener, better reader, better blogger, better twitter, better runner, better eater, better tennis player, better squash player, and in general, a better ME.

Yoga Sequence during menstruation

2011-05-19T22:22:00.002+08:00

1. Supta Baddha Konasana - support the torso on a bolsters (5mins)
2. Supta Padangusthasana - reclining big toe pose (use strap to hold the raised leg in place) each side 2 mins
3. Baddha Konasana
4. Janu Sirsasana -support head with bolster across extended leg or front edge of padded chair seat (if less flexible), 3-5mins each
5. Paschimottanasana -rest torso and head supported on bolster laid along her legs, 3-5mins each
6.Upavistha Konasana (seated wide-angle pose) - rest the torso on a bolster positioned between her legs with long axis parallel to the torso- 3-5mins- then came up and twist to each side for 30s to 1min, holding the shin or the inside of the foot
7. Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward-facing bow) - 3-5mins
8. Bharadvajasana
9. Viparita Karani (legs-up-the-wall pose)- support her pelvis on a bolster or rolled blanket
-to roll off the support before turning to her side, 5-10mins
10. Savasana - 8-10mins

(Min 45mins, max 60mins)

In practising during the menstruation, one has to listen to the body more than usual as the experience is different for everyone.

To leave or to stay...how many times is enough?

2011-04-19T21:46:00.003+08:00

A friend called this afternoon and said that she wanted to talk. So, there i was sitting on the edge of my bed with my towel for next one hour and ten minutes listening to her...talk.

why do people change? she asked. i said because they can. yes, but what if the changes affect others in bad way? she asked. probably, they don't realise that or simply don't care, was my reply. i used to hear people saying that once you get married, it will go downhill from there. i used to think that the reason that happened because of neglect by both parties and hence, started to take things for granted. the truth of the matter is, relationship/marriage will fail when one party decided not to care anymore or found other person/thing to care about. the only thing the other party can do is to fight for the relationship/marriage and maybe, just maybe, it will stay.
the problem is, the desire to fight is weak or no longer there due to reasons or hurt in the past. two things will happen at this juncture....1. you stay on and suffer...2. you leave. simple? not quite....never is. either one, the hurt will be unbearable. but if you decides to leave, your shot at happiness is higher....your hurt will be shorter....you will be a better and happier person to your siblings, friends, parents, colleagues and etc...you get my drift. staying...why on earth do you wanna do that? i asked. need to think of my kids, she answered. the talk ends till next revelation. i stood up and walked to shower. while feeling the cold water on my face i thought.....why we do this to ourselves and our children again and again?!

Convention by those wounded in love: By Paulo Coelho

2011-03-23T09:39:00.005+08:00

I would like to share this piece of write-up by famous Paulo Coelho in his recent blog entry

General provisions:

A – Whereas the saying “all is fair in love and war” is absolutely correct;

B – Whereas for war we have the Geneva Convention, approved on 22 August 1864, which provides for those wounded in the battle field, but until now no convention has been signed concerning those wounded in love, who are far greater in number;

It is hereby decreed that:

Article 1 – All lovers, of any sex, are alerted that love, besides being a blessing, is also something extremely dangerous, unpredictable and capable of causing serious damage. Consequently, anyone planning to love should be aware that they are exposing their body and soul to various types of wounds, and that they shall not be able to blame their partner at any moment, since the risk is the same for both.

Article 2 – Once struck by a stray arrow fired from Cupid’s bow, they should immediately ask the archer to shoot the same arrow in the opposite direction, so as not to be afflicted by the wound known as “unrequited love”. Should Cupid refuse to perform such a gesture, the Convention now being promulgated demands that the wounded partner remove the arrow from his/her heart and throw it in the garbage. In order to guarantee this, those concerned should avoid telephone calls, messages over the Internet, sending flowers that are always returned, or each and every means of seduction, since these may yield results in the short run but always end up wrong after a while. The Convention decrees that the wounded person should immediately seek the company of other people and try to control the obsessive thought: “this person is worth fighting for”.

Article 3 – If the wound is caused by third parties, in other words if the loved one has become interested in someone not in the script previously drafted, vengeance is expressly forbidden. In this case, it is allowed to use tears until the eyes dry up, to punch walls or pillows, to insult the ex-partner in conversations with friends, to allege his/her complete lack of taste, but without offending their honor. The Convention determines that the rule contained in Article 2 be applied: seek the company of other persons, preferably in places different from those frequented by the other party.

Article 4 – In the case of light wounds, herein classified as small treacheries, fulminating passions that are short-lived, passing sexual disinterest, the medicine called Pardon should be applied generously and quickly. Once this medicine has been applied, one should never reconsider one’s decision, not even once, and the theme must be completely forgotten and never used as an argument in a fight or in a moment of hatred.

Article 5 – In all definitive wounds, also known as “breaking up”, the only medicine capable of having an effect is called Time. It is no use seeking consolation from fortune-tellers (who always say that the lost lover will return), romantic books (which always have a happy ending), soap-operas on the television or other such things. One should suffer intensely, completely avoiding drugs, tranquilizers and praying to saints. Alcohol is only tolerated if kept to a maximum of two glasses of wine a day.

Final determination:
Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.
And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t.

my take on Istanbul-part 1

2011-01-12T15:55:00.003+08:00

i wrote this to a friend who will be going to Istanbul for 5 days. following is my email to her.

"dear, sorry for the late reply. as promised, i've included places that you should visit in istanbul during your 5 days trip.

first of all, please get yourself a map of istanbul as it will help you a great deal. since you'll be staying around sultanahmet area, getting around is easy as long as you're prepare to walk.
so, no.2, please wear a comfortable walking shoes as the streets are paved with cobble stones that makes wearing heels is an almost painful experience even for the runaway models.
no.3, get use to taking the tram that connects most of the major attractions if not all. it's really cheap (1TL , i think) and super convenient. but it's super packed during peak hours as it's one of the main transportation used by the locals and tourists alike.
no.4, refrain from buying carpets in istanbul! you will never get the best deal, i promise you that much. unless you are very well informed about carpets in general, don't even try to look as you will end up buying and you'll be spending the rest of your short trip having a monologue about how you should have walk away when you had the chance. believe you me, it's not worth it. come back to kl and i'll take you to the best carpet shop in town and from the best carpet of the world, yes, persian carpets. remember turkey had great influence from persia in terms of language and food, and i believe carpets is one of them. buy from the best.
no.5, try not to take taxi as the taxi drivers are one of the rude i've ever encountered which makes our drivers rather polite and tolerable. and yes, they will cheat you.
no.6, always try to bargain, the prices are never what it seems regardless how sorry/offended he/ she looks. bargain!

my take on places to visit while in Istanbul:

1. Grand Bazaar- a must but please, please refrain from buying anything from there. the better place to buy is outside the bazaar especially the shops on mahmutpasa street and streets parallel to it. if you walk along mamut pasa, you'll end up at spice bazaar. i bought my first trench coat there at rm120. you'll see locals buying stuffs at mahmutpasa. there are many things from tshirt, coats, lingerie (yes, best and cheapest lingerie i've seen) to hair pieces, jewellery, scarfs, bags, handbags...anything. you'll go nuts.
2. spice bazaar- but it has more than spices but mainly food stuffs like dried herbs, all kind of nuts, honey, sweets, lokum (turkish delights), dates...and alike. do walk around the bazaar. there is a stall with fruits that i like. you'll see the freshest figs and uncracked almonds, walnuts...many others....i love it. i attached the pix for you ( me in front of fruit stall). there is a restaurant called bab-i-hayat that serves good lamb kebap. choose the one from the displayed menu on the wall. also serves good yogurt drink especially after those long walks. another restaurant called pandeli has really nice interior but way expensive and the food doesn't really make me wanna jump and shout about it. i spent quite a bit of time at bab-i-hayat coz it has better and lively ambience compared to pandeli which can be rather stiff and uptight. mat and minah sallehs like it there and hence, the uptight air about it. spice bazaar is at eminonu area.
3. now, from spice bazaar, walk toward galata bridge, the only connecting bridge from old to new towns. walk around the ferry area where there are stalls that sells fresh fish sandwich (called balik ekmek, balik means fish). must try. and if you feel there's some space left, try the mussel, usually near the balik ekmek stand. 2TL for 2 stuffed mussels. super filling! but not for the faint-hearted.
4. at end of galata bridge crossing over to karakoy, walk to immediate left and you'll see a row of fish stalls, yes fresh produce. walk along and you'll see stall that sells fresh cooked fish. after all the meat, this would be a nice welcome. the istanbulus, yes they are called such, are almost vegetarians aside from their kebab and fish. they are very generous in their salad serving so enjoy lots of green and the tastiest tomatoes with the fish.
5. after the meal, i doubt you'll be in mood to walk so take a train at karakoy headed to kabatas (make sure you're the right lane). get down at kabatas and take an underground train to taksim square. this particular line only serves one way and non-stop between kabatas and taksim square (about 5mins journey!).
6. once at taksim square, heads towards Istiklal cadesi. it's about more than 1km walk of shops until you reach the end and almost too steep down back to the fish market at karakoy but worth the walk. this is at beyoglu area. i would like to suggest that you spend a good day here. go around 11am where all the shops and cafes are fully open, have lunch, walkabout, coffee, more walkabout and when time for dinner, go to any of the many restaurant in these areas. now, for good and nice ambience, take a walk into cicek pasaji or avrupa pasaji, pasaji means passage where as you walk further inside you'll see many restaurants, seafood mainly. this is where the locals hang out after work. yes and yes, guys and good looking ones. look for restaurant called cumhuriyet where you can listen to good fasil music (traditional turkish) on the 2nd floor. do this, eat your dinner on 1st floor for nice and relax ambience and around 8pm adjourn to 2nd floor to the music. that's where the guys (half drunk, if you lucky) hang out. order your raki, yeni raki is the famous one and just chill. once you're done with fasil, go out and take first, i think, turn to your right and walk all the way down and turn to right and you'll see many pubs with live bands competing with one another. again, guys and many guys. the only setback is they sing in turkish! but so what.
7. reserve a day to go to blue mosque, aya sofya and basilica cistern. bring your camera and scarf in hand, you'll know why. go to blue mosque in the morning, it's open at 9am. walk about and when done, walk around the area at back of the mosque to arasta bazaar. look for elif cafe and have your lunch there. order karniyarik among others. it's aubergine stuffed with minced meat. you'll see a lot of it around. my favorite. after fuelling, queue up to aya sofya. yes, i assure they'll be queue. worth it. and then go to cistern. must. once done, go towards topkapi palace or you can reserve that for another day. these places are all within walking distance so prepare to walk. around late noon, go to han restaurant and sit around the nargile or shisha as we know it. find a comfortable spot, order your tea and baklava, and yes, smoke nargile and chill. if it's too early for dinner, walk down to the park, not big but nice walk around to get your stomach hungry again. go to 'tarihi sultanahmet koftecisi selim usta' for your dinner or lunch or both. i love this place that i go every 2 3 days. it's crazy and addictive. order the lamb and broad beans....yes, you'll end up with excess gas"

The balance between diet and exercise

2010-12-09T22:30:00.002+08:00

Losing weight is not as difficult as some people made it to be. the question is how bad do we want it?? bad enough that you're willing to 1.change your years long habit 2. adopt new habits 3.change our perception about food 4. change our thinking altogether. yes to all that??? well, i guess you're ready.
i vow to keep my body healthy and fit as a way of giving thanks to the Almighty for each day of my being.

What is the 70% diet about?
1. don't blame the food. nothing wrong with eating rice. we are asian so rice is our staple. we eat rice since year 1 so why stop eating something that made us who we are today or generations before that. the key is in the portion
2. don't forget the drinks. coke, 7up even isotonik drinks like 100plus are high in sugar content so if you're not exercising, put that 100plus away. 3in1 drink is loaded with sugar. don't be lazy. buy coffee and sugar and mix it yourself.
3. don't think all biscuits are healthy especially those that claimed to be healthy and 'low in fat' and all the BS.
4. eat lots of vegetables daily with differents colours if possible. for e.g. spinach (dark green), cabbage& cauliflower (white)
5. eat fruits daily as meal on its own and not after heavy meal. don't juice it and turn into smoothie. only way to get the nutrients is to eat with your teeth. the more you cut, the less nutrient remains.
6. eat every 2 hours. for e.g. 7am (slice toast/fruit/egg/capati);9am (fruit, bread) ; 12pm (lunch), 2pm(fruit), 4pm(tea-1kuih); 6pm(very light dinner)

what is 30% exercise about?
1. pick up a sport e.g. badminton, football, tennis, squash, brisk walking, hiking
2. must exercise more than 20mins for the body to start burning fat. i recommend min 40mins
3.at least 3x a week for it to be effective. the more better.
4. best is morning but evening is fine too
5. put the mobile or BB away for that time. focus your mind and energy to get a good workout. you owe that to yourself
6. don't compare yourself with others. each of us response differently to exercise. blame it on our genes.
7. find something that you'll enjoy doing. gym is not the only option!!!

there are so many things i want to share but for a start, try these simple formulas. i do welcome any questions you may have.
give thanks to God by respecting His creations and, we are His greatest creation.

yoga and fasting

2010-08-24T12:22:00.005+08:00

maintaining a regular practice during fasting month requires more than will power....having nice soothing lounge music playing in the background certainly helps. quite a challenge to push it more than 60 mins. teaching while fasting is another matter altogether. 2hrs of class seems way too long when trying to maintain focus and zest for the entire class when energy is depleting as the minutes pass. my reward for end of day is this vegetarian meal. always believe that vegetarian meal is equally yummy!

tagine of aubergine with coriander and mint

dessert of 'pengat pisang' made of banana and coconut milk

yoga and food

2010-08-03T15:22:00.004+08:00

not sure where to begin really. there are way too many misconceptions about yoga and the food intake..way too many that i may need a day or two to just slowly 'unravelled' the myth. the traditionalists might scorned at the word 'myth'. like it or not, the growing number of people taking up yoga for sheer purpose of losing weight, alternative to 'hard' exercise and achieve peace of mind. i find it quite enough challenge to convince the malays to take up yoga let alone trying to tell them to mind their food.

so, here's the thing. eating a lot of any food vegetarian or not, does cause discomfort to the stomach and make breathing while practising yoga, harder...if you don't throw up, that is. moderation is key. eat meat once a week. eat rice everyday. yes, rice everyday because we are asian. we grew up with rice and therefore, our body is accustomed to it. eat lots of vege and fruits. eat fruits as meal by itself and not as dessert. eat dessert sparingly...once in few days. yes, you can eat those cupcakes (like me) for tea but stop at one and no more until the next day. you see, i still don't understand the confusions that leads to misconceptions about the food intake as a yogi. i still eat the same stuffs as before but perhaps bit more mindful.

soul at peace

2010-07-28T21:43:00.005+08:00

this morning, i told a friend over coffee that a soul can only have one resting place at a time. she didn't look at all puzzled as if truly understood every word i said. of course, there was a long talk (me alone) about how unsettling it is for me, the feeling i've been having since i got back from india. i'm not one who likes to whine about things. although i was confined to a room during my stay, i felt somewhat at ease despite having very limited access to things, in general. somehow, i was 'settled' and content, it seemed like my soul belonged there. she said it's the yoga that makes me feel that way. the more you look 'inside' yourself, more things being revealed...you grow more quiet as more thoughts come into being. and with more practise, the mind, too, will grow quiet. hopefully, by then, the soul has found a resting place....while i'm still breathing.

Funeral Blues

2010-06-25T16:50:00.002+08:00

By W.H. Arden. Made famous by movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'....

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let the aeroplanes circle moaning overhead,
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves.
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

happy birthday ...to me

2010-06-09T23:10:00.002+08:00

i celebrated yet another birthday last saturday. started with phone call from mom which i eagerly waited over the last many years. i told a friend that, to me, getting that call from her is all i need to start yet another year of my life. that day, it started like just like any other year with me going for run in the morning except that it was a walk this time around, with my sister and brother whom just picked up running and now, discovering the joy of it...something i've been trying to tell him over the last many years without much success until recently. due to my recent surgery, i'm now confined to walking and yoga for another 3 months to come...following the good doctor's order. after good long hill walk, we all went for nice and hearty breakfast at la bodega deli in telawi bangsar which till today serves one of the best breakfast in town..no kidding. breakfast proceeded by nice light lunch at prego westin and some shopping escapade. unlike most ladies, shopping was never on top on my 'to-do' list, in fact, was never on my list at all. nevertheless, i was thrilled to be taken to such route once in a while.

something was different this year. i didn't get as many calls or texts as i used to get before. i narrowed it down to the fact that i have since changed my mobile number twice. so, i decided to send this text to friends which reads "As someone who practises positive thinking, i like to think that the reason i've yet to get any wish from you is the fact that you have no idea whatsoever that today is my birthday. Well, now you do." for the next few hours, i received in flux of calls and texts with birthday wishes and told me how funny it was to receive such text from me. some even expressed regrets for not remembering it.

frankly, i believe that birthday is a private matter and under no circumstances i would wish anyone to remember it unless they are my family. why i did what i did?! well, i decided to give others chance to wish me. c'est simple! c'est tout!
besides, what i look forward the most that day were 1. my sis has baked 3 different pies for me to enjoy 2. the meals prepared were fantastic! the rest, were bonus.
i hope to be a better friend, a better partner, a better sister and most importantly, a better muslim. amin.

yogi is just another being, too...

2010-05-12T22:19:00.004+08:00

they said the person who can hurt you the most is the one closest to you. so, he or she did and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it?! i believe so. if it is someone who is close and we tend to have many of those around us, things get easier. we can just make a conscious effort to spend less time with these people or better still...slowly but surely try to have less and less things to do with them until one fine day, they'll get the message.

the thing with those really close to us, things get difficult. subtlety is the word..in malay we have a saying, "menarik benang dalam tepung...benang tak putus, tepung tak berselerak" means pulling a thread in flour (direct translation, that is) so that both thread and flour are intact. in life, however, that is not always the case. for me, when that happens, i revert back to few things i always revert back in such situation...nothing can hurt me unless i allow it...or..let it go, don't hold on to negative words...or i am what i am, who cares what they say. the problem with that is, things don't hurt too much if it was done by someone else...someone whom you think ought to know you well enough and yet could say the most 'unpleasant' things, your heart does rattles eventhough just a little...you think, how could he or she said that? but they did. i say, take a deep breath, dig deep into your heart and gather all your strength, smile, nod and quietly retires to your thoughts, positive thoughts about your dreams, your plans for tomorrow and, hold out your hands and thank THE ALMIGHTY for all his blessings. finally, say your prayer and retire to bed, early, because tomorrow, there will be a whole new day ahead of us.

lesson from a friend

2010-05-07T20:16:00.004+08:00

a friend told me that if someone or something irritates me, chances are the reason is deep within me. how can that be possible, really?! because there are many, many crazy, selfish,unreasonable and...did i mention crazy...people out there that you have had the unfortunate experience of crossing path with them. believe you me, no matter how much yoga practice and meditation you had that day, it is almost impossible not to react either emotionally or physically...yes, finger signage included.
since she is someone i truly respect and who views on life i cherish, i find myself thinking long and hard about this each time i reacted. yes, yogi is human too. i don't claim to be otherwise. i tried telling this to my mom to just let go and try to understand or rather to amuse ourselves on my the @#$%^&& drive like a maniac! that way, we get the chance to amuse ourselves a lot especially while driving in KL roads and most importantly, we stay calm and our emotion learns, slowly but surely, to just let go.

in life, it's when we learn to let go, we learn to appreciate the beautiful things that life has to offer and yet, knowing these things too will not last.

theory and practical aspect of yoga

2010-04-20T22:17:00.005+08:00

we often forget that yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory....so when a student insists on knowing the theory aspect of the poses, you are compelled to complain but how much, how deep, really. patabhi jois also said "practice and all is coming" but telling that to students, these days and age, might not be sufficient and thus, knowledge of theory including correct words and proper grammar certainly important to make ourselves understood. today's world is so demanding so it's no longer acceptable to tell the students to focus on practice without 'articulating' the reasons behind the practice which is why in US yoga is so big. Americans are simply good at talking!

everyday i thrive to be a better teacher, better practitioner and most importantly, better person. it's a lifelong conquest and i hope i'll never reach the end....amin.

healing with yoga

2010-04-15T21:59:00.003+08:00

i can now understand how having your body cut out can really affect your perspective about life albeit for just short while. it makes you more appreciative of having a fully functional body without having to worry that some part of the body gonna rip open. it make you more creative in trying to function the body as normal as possible without other staring at you for walking funny. i was told by my very concerned gynae to take it easy and try not to harm my body by engaging myself in any strenuous activities and yoga included. wait a minute....since when does yoga qualify as 'strenuous' activity...i thought most uninitiated people are quite happy to think that yoga is way too slow for them and hence, they prefer to 'huff' and 'puff' at the gym either using weights or during 'body combat' or 'body attack' or whatever it is they call it these days...i left gym 8 years back. anyway, back to my conversation with the gynae. she mentioned that yoga has some stretching exercises that are not good for someone like me...i.e. just had about 8in cut way down my abs...hmmmmmm...but doc, i said, i'm an instructor and i teach pregnant ladies to yoga. first of all, yoga is not just exercise..don't let other yogis hear that especially those europeans that have taken residency in india coz they might get offended and sue! most importantly, there are so many poses in yoga that one can engage on without being 'strenuous'..
well, against the good doc advise i decided to start my practice with 12 rounds of surya namaskar modified for pre-natal and when on to practice basic poses without much interruption to my healing abs. i felt good. master was right as he always is...work with the breath...listen to your body...no force. that's how life should be.

attachment...no more.

2010-04-09T21:58:00.003+08:00

a fine soul has finally found its resting place. i met him 18 yrs ago and spent last 13 yrs 'trying' not to be in touch with him...and i did, most times.
to me, he is the ideal being. it's either you adore (like i do) or you simply don't like him. for those like me (and we are huge in numbers), it was hard not to. as for the rest, how could they? you may ask...well, he has the tendency of reminding people what they should and shouldn't be, could and couldn't be...now, who would like that?? he was someone who constantly reminded you of your weakness..without saying or doing nothing....by being himself. he has set so high standards of himself that, most times, you felt so small being near him and it made you wanna run so far away as possible. and i did.

on april 6, the almighty decided he is too much for this world and took him away forever...in islam we say "from Him we came, to Him we will go"...heaven bless his soul.

How attachment works...

2010-04-07T22:37:00.003+08:00

the word 'attachment' is almost synonym with yoga. one of the main principle of yoga is for us 'earthlings' not to have any attachment to things, people, events etc. we may say...pas de probleme. the fact of the matter is, we attach ourselves to almost everything that revolves around us including future that we haven't even see and have no clue whatsoever on how it will be but we, 'earthlings', still stubbornly or by default, manage to attach ourselves and at times, wonder why we are 'so unhappy'.
yoga philosophy isn't my favourite subject but i do practice the principle of attachment as consciously as possible. i use the word 'consciously' because being a human i am, tend to 'attach' myself in things and matters without realising my actions or my thoughts. exhibit a: i use to say that i have to have coffee to start my day. after 2 mths in india, i realised that a. i am attaching myself to coffee, b.absence of coffee or tea did nothing to my mornings. this is a rather simple example and there are many other examples in our lives that have affected us greatly without us realising. our joy, our happiness, our sense of contentment, our being...these are serious matters. i'm not saying that we should work less harder but we do have to be aware the attachment is the source of great sorrow in our lives.
happiness is the state of being. we don't need things or a person or event to be happy. these are just bonuses. we are born alone in this world and alone we go. meantime, play with the cards that you've been dealt with and make the best of it.

Early morning and yoga

2010-04-01T15:15:00.003+08:00

I always believe that early morning yoga is a luxury that most people can't afford. for those who can, sometimes, prefer to sleep a while longer in bed..can't really blame them, early morning is a sacred time, really. the whole world in the process of awakening and here we are, packing our yoga mat into car boot and drive to class. that takes commitment and sheer dedication. in mysore, my days started as early as 4.30am. gotta to be in class by 5.30am so i need some time to drink lots of water 'and/to' empty my bowel. it is always good to drink lots of water before anything else as part of cleansing process but mostly, nothing beats water to start the bowel movement.
then again, for 'the uninitiated', getting to class in the early morning is still a challenge. yet, to see those faces is a real delight. i guess, that is what the master felt seeing us waiting for him in class each morning for 6 weeks. it makes teaching so much joy. it makes everything worthwhile. god bless to those early risers.

Recovery and yoga

2010-03-01T21:58:00.002+08:00

i like to think myself as the healthiest or at least, among the healthiest person that i know. i've been exercising and eating well way back when it wasn't hip and trendy to make such claims...but i was. all my friends will say that much about me, to say the least. so, when the doc told me that i need to undergo an operation for something brewing in body, i was shocked! i told her the exact same thing that "i'm the healthiest person i know" and "are you sure that is necessary??". 3 weeks and a half later, here i am, with stitches measuring about 8in way down my abs and temporarily lost my ability to use my abs for the next few months. i was also told to lay off teaching for few weeks for fear that this might harm my body especially after such operation making it almost impossible to practice yoga. 'almost' is the word for i am determine more than ever to start practice as soon as possible. i hope to be able do yoga soonest. when?? you may ask..like everything else in life...there's time and place for it. till then, i shall breath.

All about good vibrations...

2010-02-10T23:31:00.002+08:00

during my training in mysore, the teacher, master barath, kept mentioning about how important it is to keep the high energy in class. although this isn't always the case at times but as teachers , we have to be aware of this and try to manage the situation. having said that, managing a difficult situation i.e. difficult student, can be rather challenging definitely not for the faint-hearted because our whole being is being challenged and not just our teaching. if there's anything to gain with yoga is that the practice teaches you to have more calm attitude toward 'challenging' circumstances. i watched how he managed to bring the class energy back together after some tough times no thanks to certain individuals. then again, that's life...there'll be some who love you and some who don't. our job is to be honest about our teaching and hope the students will gain something much more than good stretches when they leave the room.

How do i explain yoga?

2010-02-09T22:08:00.004+08:00

for most people, being able to 'survive' 2 months in india is something intriguing and thus, i have successfully generated a lot of buzz about india and yoga since coming back in xmas last year. have to admit, i'm really getting sick of explaining to people what exactly i did in india. again, to most, spending that amount of time in india, is something unheard of. i told that 2 months is nothing compared to other europeans who spend 1 year going from one place to another so my stay is considered short by their standard. so, how do i explain yoga to these people? funny that amidst all the media exposures that yoga been getting last 2 years, there are some who actually think that yoga is all about meditation...where have they been really??? my answer, i admit, depends on the mood i'm in at that particular moment though at times, i prefer to cut the conversation short by saying..."what do you know about it so far" or "why are you interested?". and while they ponder trying to figure out an answer, i muttered something like "yoga has been getting bad rep in m'sia....such a shame....would be great if more people are taking up yoga" and then i gave a weak smile and changed the topic completely. wanna know about yoga?? google it and if still unclear, buy a book on yoga. just don't waste my time by asking a meaningless question on which you'll forget the answer as soon as i'm done explaining...

Diet and yoga

2010-02-01T22:33:00.009+08:00

Some people are under the impression that yoga is all about diet and the first thing they ask is 'so, are you a vegetarian?/ do i have to be vegetarian?'. the answer is yes and no. i'll leave that for another entry.
when i was in mysore recently, i picked up a book titled 'don't lose your mind, lose your weight' written by a really spunky person i met some 3 years ago in rishikesh. she is now so uber famous in india. i use the word 'uber' because a.kareena kapoor wrote foreword for her book, and b. rujuta, the author, has list of famous clients. i'm on the 3rd chapter of her famous book and am now convinced that she has figured it all out, as far as diet is concerned. she outlined 'calm state of mind' as one of utmost important thing when eating. in yoga, we strive to achieve calm state of mind with all the asanas, pranayamas and meditation that we religiously practise (or not) daily and we gush when others (non yogis) commented how calm we are when we engage ourselves in conversation and in dealing with daily tasks in general. we politely tell these 'uninitiated' people it's all due to yoga that we've been at last few years. so technically, being a yogi, i had achieved the no.1 rule of eating due to my calm state, well, most times. then, we move on to the next rule 'how to eat: relearn'. now, most of us would be offended when told that we've been eating wrongly all these while but hey, i didn't say this but she did, and i agree with her, as someone used to say to me, 100%. my favorite part is on overeating and bloatness because that i get that a lot. yes, being a yogi doesn't make us immortals and we do get problems like other mortals do. back to the rules, basically, the power of calm state of mind will easily be taken over when one is ignorant or pure blatant disregard about sensitivity of stomach which is why she outlined on 'what to eat: rethink'. in this chapter, she explained in details about carbs, protein, fats and other important things that our body requires on daily basis for it to optimise and most importantly, for me, to have fat loss. why i used the word 'fat loss'? you have to read the book to understand because until you read the book, what i just mentioned may seemed greek to you.
why do i take such interested in this book, one may ask? well, there are few reasons. 1. i met her before and think that she's kinda cool 2.it worked well on kareena 3.her recommendations and examples are more closer to home, malaysia, that is, since i eat significant amount of indian food, and malay food can be as nasty (or not) in terms of its oilyness (is there such word?!nevermind). i've also attached here the cover of the book for your next visit to the bookstore. good things must be shared, same goes for good book. the book might changed your life, quoted by kareena, or it might not or you decided not to buy it at all. i like to use quotes from swami vivekananda "take one idea. make that one idea your life. think of it,dream of it. live on that idea...."

Weird terms in yoga

2010-01-30T22:04:00.005+08:00

This term first came about when i was in a meditative posture and were asked to watch my breath. in yoga, we are constantly engaging ourselves in countless awkward positions that makes 'watching the breath' sounds normal. this is, of course, when the conversation is among yogis. we are so used to weird sounding terms like 'keep the collar bones smiling' and the likes that make our conversations, most times, plain weird. a friend once told me about a teacher who told her to hug her shins and no, by no means using hands, at all. i guess that is one of the reason why some people think that yogis are bunch of weirdos. then again, most people have the knack for generalising for fun sake which has absolutely nothing to do with religion or belief. of course, after spending sometime in india, i do admit that some yogis do behave strange and give an open invite to wrong interpretations. as for me, i try to sound as normal as possible i.e. using easily understood terms when conducting classes for simple reason that i want the students to focus more on their breathing then wasting thoughts and energy trying to decipher my words. it is hard as it is to connect mind, body and breath when doing the asanas so let's not make it more complicated by using hard to understand jargons.

Life is Mysore: Part 2

2010-01-03T20:56:00.004+08:00

since coming back about 4 weeks ago, i've been asked a lot on how i find living in mysore. i got these strong feeling that most of those who asked expected me to say not-so-nice things about the place. for benefits of others, mysore is about 3 hours by car from bangalore, yes the IT hub of India. mysore is in state of karnataka, where the people speak 'kannada', a slight twang from tamil language, at least what i used to hear in malaysia. it is one of the cleanest part of india that i've ever been anyway. for 2 months, i stayed in a middle/middle upper class neighbourhood called gokulam. it is a really nice area especially when it comes to security. i can certainly vouch for that having to walk at 5.30am daily to yoga shala. i never walk so much in my life till i get there and my heels were the testimony of that. even after 4 weeks being back, the cracked heels are stubborn at healing. over there, everything is within walking distance, be it 5 or 20mins walk. then again, with the cool breeze and good company, i'll take the walk anytime. sadly, my interaction with locals was limited to my landlord and family, tina (the cafe owner), pritti (the lady from lucknow), the 'brothers' at my fav chai shop, and lokesh the tailor. during the first week, i was so excited about learning hindi so i can converse with the locals but soon enough i realised tina is the only person that speak hindi at home while the rest don't. i don't even wanna talk about the rest of mysore population. so, safe to say that i kept the 'conversation hindi' book that i bought away with other books to be shipped back home. i did learn on how to count and simple 'how do you do' and 'i want some chai' in hindi. i called that progress! given the packed daily schedule, most of my interactions were with my coursemates and breakfast and lunch operators. sad, i know. but hey, i signed up the course to socialise so i had to make do with the little interactions i managed to get daily except perhaps on sunday where i can hang longer at breakfast joins without having to rush back or anything like that. so, sunday was for me and my book and tall glass of chai and if at santosha, some beautiful music. heavenly. a place called 'the coconut stand' is a very famous reference in gokulam. for example, someone who want to explain the direction will asked you whether you know the 'coconut stand'. curious why is it called such?!! simple. because it is just a pile of coconuts both fresh and used. at rs10 each, you get the freshest coconut and so nutritious. the thing about india is you can get the healthiest things at fraction of the cost back home and i'm saying that coming from malaysia. i can't imagine for those european, americans, japanese and others. india is so diverse as society and yet so cultured. i know i used the word 'cultured' because that is a fact. it has so much to offer if one willing to learn and let live. no wonder some who came would find it hard to leave...and those who left, can't wait to come back!

Life in Mysore: Part 1

2009-12-29T22:25:00.003+08:00

It is rather impossible to condense my two-months living in mysore in just a paragraph or two. i think a 'short story' would be pushing it as the experiences are far beyond my imaginations....i told verity how much i 'dislike' the place and didn't plan on going again, has turned into (after few weeks).."i love this place and can't wait to come again.." such was my reaction when asked about my being there. what not to love..weather is great (H-24degrees, L-14degrees), food is good, though some europeans may not agree with me, and things are relatively cheaper compared to malaysia. i absolutely love it!
Initially, i do plan to give details on my daily lives there but i find that a bit much effort especially after the course started and my need to sleep/eat/rest superseeded everything else that i plan on doing before the madness begins..
i just got back on eve of xmas and rather prefer to chill with family and selected friends, at the moment. there are so many things to catch up on, so many things to share, to tell, to explain, to do, to change....the list is long but for now, i just wanna get my practice back on track and breath...

Min in Mysore

2009-11-03T21:20:00.004+08:00

Min is in Mysore, India, pursuing her dream, living and learning yoga for the next two months. I spoke to her today, curious about her experiences as a non Indian in India. She can't comment on that yet she said, because she hasn't interacted with the Indians yet. The town is a magnet for international yoga students, Americans, Japanese, others- serious and just a little dull.

But Min's immediate problem will be how to be rid of a hanger on. We've all met her, the kind that comes with you when you go off to wander by yourself in a far off land - after you've made the arrangements and paid the bills. The 'friend' who drops by and sponges off your generosity and who does not understand that at this time you really, really want to be alone.

KL Marathon: my 10k run

2009-06-03T16:17:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since i last took part in a run...let's see..about 1 year. that's awful long time for me. This run is special because i managed to convince few friends to take part in the run. Some are not that ambitious and only taking part in 5km but i must admit that it felt good that they have somehow decided to give it a go. Well done. 'Run for your life'...i always say because it sure comes in handy in some point of our lives. It certainly did good for me especially when going thru the tough times.

And for others who have been wanting to lose some weight, well, this is the best exercise there is! Start slow but be consistent. Run with someone who is encouraging and patient enough especially so at the initial stage. Over the years, i have introduced running to few and i'm proud to say that they are still running till today. Currently, i have a student-now-become-friend running with me and will taking part in the 10k. We started walking together mid last year and had long absence in between but over last 2 months we started to run. Initially, we started with only 20mins run but up to yesterday, we ran non-stop for 70mins...without panting! We usually start at 6.30am few times a week and i must admit, it's addictive. So, for those are looking at running as an impossible feat..well, let me say this...nothing is impossible...echoing adidas tagline "Impossible is nothing". I know that the KL marathon will be about 3 weeks from now and this maybe a late call but hey, there's many runs coming up. Let us aim for the Penang Bridge Run late this year. Nasi kandar never tasted better! It's worth it.

New class for 2009

2009-03-05T22:48:00.005+08:00

For those who still have that intention to start yoga, let's realise that into proper practice. I've started a class this March to cater for those who know little or nothing at all about yoga. Yoga, truly is a work-in-progress.
Details as below:
-Day and Time: Every Sunday, 9.30-10.30am
-Address: Havana Estudio, No 34B(2nd floor), Jalan Persiaran Zaaba, Taman Tun Dr Ismail(same row at Santai, TTDI)
-Contact no: 03-7710 6148

New chapter

2009-03-02T23:10:00.004+08:00

In life, the tough experiences taught us the most about ourselves and life in general. Those experiences force us to redefine ourselves and the path we've chosen. New chapter of my life has begun and i embrace it with thankful heart to God above and stay true to myself as i possibly can. I intent to continue running and practise my yoga as i always have done before..i owe that to myself and my friends and my student.
I've started teaching again after few months break and it made me realise how much i love to teach in the first place...."the best way to learn is to teach". I have also started a new class in Havana Estudio on Sunday morning. I often told Verity that I have always love teaching a big class...no matter how tired i am, my energy, sometimes, miraculously, on top form within 10 minutes of the class.
To all, welcome back to class. For those who still thinking about yoga..well, open your heart and your mind...and let yourself go. Let's live!

A Matter of Taste

2008-01-27T08:52:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be in the company of a very wise, very compassionate sage. He was Swami Veda Bharati from the Himalayan Institute, who led a group of us in guided meditation, and then answered our questions.

The meditation lasted for more than 30 minutes, to me it felt like five.

One of his lessons for the day (and there were many ) was this, that no amount of received knowledge, one that comes from books or experts could take the place of experiencing for oneself through self examination.

He gave the example of a cube cube of sugar. Everyone will tell you that sugar is sweet, all the books that you read will tell that sugar tastes sweet but until you stop examining the sugar cube and put it in your mouth and taste it, you will never really know what the true nature or essence of sugar is. And so in Life.

At the end he said "Enjoy". And then he called for Meghna, a friend and fellow yogi and she sang for us a song in her native Bangla a song from Tagore" Ekla Chalo Re"which roughly translated means "Walk Alone".

Many thanks to Shilpa for arranging this, I met old friends friends Parul, Iolanda and others, and made some new ones.

Matter of the heart

2008-01-22T15:28:00.001+08:00

Verity made good point about setting an intention which i believe comes from the heart and this should be applied in everything that we do in life. Whenever i have been unfortunate enough to meet someone who is nasty to me for reasons i simply couldn't fathom, i would go back to my intention...what did i say? what do i really mean? was i honest? was i? once that is established, next,i would go the person's intention...like...why did he/she say that? and then the big question...WHAT WAS THE INTENTION? Of late, no thanks to my tv appearances,I've been talking to a lot of people whom talked to me about their intention of starting yoga. Some started with sheer sceptisism, a bit cynicism and questionable intention. Fortunately, most have good intention and a healthy dose of sceptisism. Having the privillege (or hell) of being trained in auditing for few years, i must admit that we need sceptisism in our lives but that should be coupled with intention, a good one I hope. For those, who have been wanting to start on yoga, I say, a step in a right direction but we, human, have many 'wants'. So, in this new year, I urge those who 'have been wanting' to let that 'want' be a 'need' and let that 'need' starts with a good intention. "Yoga is a light, once lighted, will never be put off." Have a good year, have a good life!

Class schedule for 2008

2008-01-22T12:22:00.000+08:00

For those who have the intention to start yoga, below is some info on my class:

-Day and Time: Every Saturday 9-10am
-Address: Havana Estudio, No 34B(2nd floor), Jalan Persiaran Zaaba, Taman Tun Dr Ismail
-Contact no: 03-7710 6148

Models wanted!

2008-01-22T12:14:00.000+08:00

Yes, we need models for our weekly tv appearances. Preferably, those who have some basic yoga and won't freeze in front of camera :-))

Intention and Effort

2008-01-16T18:22:00.000+08:00

We set up this blog to be a place where a group of cyber yogis could come together, have a chat and a virtual cup of tea. We even decided that although all of us had yoga as a common denominator this was not a Yoga Only blog, it was going to be about life, the universe and everything (yes, I'm a fan).

Somewhere along the way we let the intention drift into a black hole of nothingness.

And now we're back in 2008 not just with intention but knowing we must make the effort to keep the blog going. So people lets get the conversation started. Write, post pics, videos anything ask a question. Make new friends.

Has anyone decided what their their new year resolution is going to be vis a vis their yoga? Intention is just half the story, effort completes it.

And oh yes one of us is now a major morning show star, but that, as they say is another story.

Running and fasting

2007-09-28T11:53:00.000+08:00

It is indeeed quite a task to be running during this holy month. i have yet to run since the fasting started almost two weeks ago. Almost every evening after savouring the 'delicious' food ( that i cooked), i would tell myself that i would be going for running the next morning or evening just before 'buka'. That has yet to happen. i was a lot stronger before whereby i would run just before 'buka' much to the displeasure of my mother. But these days, i busied myself with the preparation of it. I would attempt to run sometime before end of ramadhan while fasting that is. I look at it as a real test and challenge. The last run that sis and i took part was the Mizuno Run, around Bukit Tunku, which we both finished the same time. Have to admit, kinda like having her around.

Running for your life!

2007-08-21T16:12:00.000+08:00

I started running when I was 23 and at 35, I'm still running. Not quite sure how and why i started.
I've always been an active student in school taking up several games at any one time. From badminton, volleyball (the coach was cute), table tennis(yes, table tennis..hard to imagine, right??!),softball which wasn't that soft really, and few track and field events. The last time i remembered running was way back in primary school, darjah enam, 4x400m. I had a good team so we won quite a bit. In secondary school, for badminton and volleyball, we had to run around few courts, few rounds as part of the training. And after almost half dead, we then asked to run around the court chasing shuttlecock/ball. It was fun because after that we would go for 'ais kacang' a.k.a abc (in kl) and of course, checking out boys from other schools. You see, we were in Convent schools, both primary and secondary, so being able to feast our eyes is a definite privillege! So, back to running. Then came uni where I was still playing badminton (my first love) and volleyball at first. I progressed to squasy in a short time and was even approached by the squasy captain to represent uni. i honestly believe it was because i had strong serve, technics wise, well, there was plenty of room for improvement. Then, somehow, I met someone who runs marathon and i was inspired. yeah...that was how it all started. and i've been running since...
and now, my laid-back sister has successfully became a 'running freak' and registered both of us for almost, i say almost, every run in kl and selangor and not to mention the annual 'penang bridge run'. to make things worst, she is, at the moment, as fast as i am and will not stop reminding the fact that she finished 1second behind me during our last run, 'Adidas King of the road'. After the run, I felt nothing like king or even a queen as i fell ill for 3 days right after. Moral of the story, running is good as long as you don't have a highly competitive sister tailing behind you. Gone are the days when running used to be all about fun and excitement!

p/s: the photo was taken during the last 'penang bridge run' on 24 june. sis was 4mins behind me and she wasn't at all impressed.

Tired of the Yogi thing

2007-08-15T17:32:00.000+08:00

Over lunch today Min and I decided that the yogini tag ties this blog too closely with just yoga, we meant this to be a blog for friends to get together and share,vent, preen and rant.

I just googled warrior goddesses and came up with Athena, Ancient Greek warrior goddess , any other suggestions for name changes are welcome.

So now please feel free to talk about all issues related to women- food, love, fashion. sex, Jude Law,books, movies, pole dancing, cupcakes whatever.

Oh yeah you can talk about yoga too.

And then I went and googled Mistress Athena and ... ah well, so the name is probably temporary...

Picture does speak a thousand words...

2007-08-13T20:56:00.000+08:00

This is one the bridges that provides the link between Rishikesh which is divided by beautiful Ganges River. Here, there ashrams everywhere even the one that 'The beatles' went to though I wasn't quite sure where it was.
What I wanted to say is, I like the facts we are using more pictues for our blogspot. I would encourage everyone to do so. i love pictures and would love to see more of it especially those pictures that relates to the subject matter. After7 once asked if it's ok to write something which is not related to yoga. The main reason why verity and I wanted to start the blogspot so that we can write about yoga and how it affects us and other around us. And that would mean our friends who may not think about yoga as much as we do. So the answer is 'yes, please do'. As what I wrote earlier, yoga is very social. I've taken yoga as part of my life, as a practice, a discipline. Other than that, I'm still me.

Droolicious

2007-08-12T10:22:00.000+08:00

Hello you naughty girls. If you wanna check out a really incredible cupcake blog get onto cupcakeblog.com. Man it's pretty amazing with lotsa details of how to make and interesting recipes. I'm going to alert our Chef in Residence on this- yes we have a title for her. Any ideas on a Food and Cooking Blog?

Sorry totally irrelevant but this blog is so good. Perhaps we can think of ways to make our yoga blog this good. That picture up there is for a Lemony Ice Cream Cone Cupcake with Lavender and Rose Frosting.

I Wanna Wanna Model in a Furry Bikini

2007-08-07T23:25:00.000+08:00

Now when I first started yoga and was actually going to classes regularly, I did feel that I was getting more toned. Sadly recently with getting busy bee with work and travelling all those dreams of going for a week in deep India and being a yogi is probably going to be relegated to next year. Seriously, last thing I need is to be in a class full of yogis standing on their heads while I can't even put my legs in the air without two men and a dwarf assisting me. And that is a whole different story altogether.

Anyway finally met up with an old buddy of mine for lunch yesterday and was astounded to see how fit she looked. Now girls I know most of us would give out the 'I want to get fitter' mantra but seriously who doesn't want to loose a few love handles and fit in your college jeans? Hence I was intrigued. Amazingly this friend of mine who is a cynic and a foodie to boot is spouting fitness babble. In the words of Chicken Little, the sky is falling.

Yes... we have a casualty. She actually tried a two week Nazi plan (what other diet plans are there?) and lost over 5 kilos- more importantly she lost inches and I mean INCHES. The culprit of this said convert is Mr. David Kirsch- the man behind Victoria Secret models able to strut down the smallest runway in the world wearing the world's smallest knickers. Now here's how it goes for two weeks:
- Obviously no carbs, no fruits (huh?) because of the sugar content and no carrots (apparently the most fattening vegetable there is- who the heck comes up with this?)
- Pretty much protein and a side of vegetables (nothing really new there)
- No alchohol, no yolk and no coffee (yup I lost you there didn't I?)

Exercise
- 45 minutes of cardio for six days
- cardio toning exercise every other day
- alternate with upper and lower body exercise

Now before you go off and eat a doughnut from sheer exhaustion, here's the fascinating part. It's not boring and you don't get cranky, you have tons of energy and it works! You also get fabbo side effects like thighs you can bounce fifty cents on, more upper body strengh (always good for Yogis) and healthy nails. I was stunned... and this friend of mind is not one to embellish.

Morbidly fascinated and a bit of a masochist for punishing gym sessions, I followed her today to the gym. Anything to get me exercising now is my fitness plan (even a potentially Nazi gym buddy, {I wish I can say it's the cute guy with killer buns doing squats at 10.34am every morning but gym goers nowadays are a sorry lot}). And thus we did 45 minutes of jumps, light weights, medicine ball, fitness ball and strange, butt out duck walks. We were very popular at the gym for comic relief I must say- glad to put a smile on sweaty people's faces. And here's the verdict:

- the cardio toning though not easy was actually great, wasn't boring at all, varied so you don't have to repeat too many reps and kinda fun. I was however sweating like a pig at the end and felt a little faint at one point (but on occasion very fast sun salutations in the morning after a night of drinking can have a same effect)
- thought I was going to keel over afterwards but bizarrely I was rather perky for my meeting later. I did not feel like taking a nap in the afternoon that always follows after a tough workout. The energy stays with you for long after

Who would have thunk? I am making plans to gym with my convert buddy once a week. However on the diet thing- puh-lease life is just too short. And despite waxing lyrical about David Kirsch with a lot of cult woohoo after reading my friend's blog, it was obviously not all sunshine and crunches either. You can check her story and progress at www.cyberdurian.blogspot.com

But if you can't be arsed, just run marathons like Minah, gets you outdoors and you'll definitely loose weight.

After7 out and feeling the burn

MMMMMarmalade

2007-08-05T23:05:00.000+08:00

My new fave place Marmalade

Minah and I met for lunch at Marmalade yesterday, my first time, seen it often enough just never looked tempting enough for me to go in. I have to say I was impressed, finally we have a restaurant that caters to the health nuts of the world where the food doesn't taste like a cross between cardboard and sawdust. Had a great salad, fresh fruit juice with a lousy name, and of course the desert du jour -cupcakes (shared). Felt so virtuous the whole rest of the day. Thanks Minah

Good style, good stuffs

2007-08-02T09:18:00.000+08:00

Good style as well as good clothing is essential for everyone and start by getting a good material, if you are into tailoring your own clothes or perhaps for the upcoming festive seasons. Jetsetqueen, i agree on holding a tea party or better still cupcakes and get our own martha stewart a.k.a Kak Tet to prepare her own delicious cupcakes and other stuffs that she's brilliant at. Yummy.... Sorry. Back to my main topic, the materials, well, would be great to see the photos of the materials for a start...See, yoga is very social. Yogis are not freak that only meditate under big trees or some mountains somewhere. The modern yogis love cakes (that would be me),love coffee (me,too), love to eat (me,again) and other things that people do. I was tempted to do use the word 'normal' but who wants to be normal anyway. Since I was small, I told myself that I wouldn't want to be normal. Everybody want to be normal so forget normal. Let's be different. For a start, I don't look like an average Malay so why bother trying.
So, yogis, let us be true to our practice and still have a life! A great one I may add.

Kain Kain

2007-08-01T10:41:00.001+08:00

I know this is irrelevant to yoga post but after we sweat so much and somehow have the curves....let's flaunt our curves by wearing new clothes.....jetsetqueen is selling kain kain for raya or any special occassions ;) I will upload the piccies once I have the stock! Range from RM80 - RM120 from Korea....silky and matte type of cloth...easy to wash :)

Oooh...I must say that out door yoga is simply great! Must try once a week with minah yoga....just ignore the onlookers....let's wow them and get them to jump on to the bandwagon :)

Anyhoooo....I am happy with the new yoga home....i used to do hip hop there...errr...i am the oldie amongst the teeny boppers as young as 7 years old :)

We Have a Home!

2007-07-31T12:36:00.000+08:00

Finally, after months of uncertainty and stretching in dark cobweby corners... we have a home! Yey yey. Although last Saturday we did it at TTDI park and I must say either than the slopping venue and muddy tracks on my mat and strange people sniffing around our vicinity it was rather nice doing it outdoors.

Okay, okay- the kids screaming on the monkey bars was not exactly zen but hey, beggars can't be choosers. And gals, what's with the Silence of the Lambs? Why no posting? Think we have to make this site a bit more lively so next post I will write about the elusive Yogasm- yes gals I'm afraid it's sex a nd hot men that are going to get repeat viewership on this site so I will begin the sordid business. BTW... don't hold your breaths for this yogarticle yeh? It's coming soon, I promise between my deadlines and all sorts of small stuff life demands of you.

Cheerio!

New yoga classes, new place

2007-07-31T10:35:00.000+08:00

After few months of uncertainty over the future of our yoga classes, I am happy to announce that the classes will resume starting August.
The new schedule will be every Wednesday evening (6.45-7.45pm) and Saturday morning (9-10am) at Havana Dance Studio, Jln Persiaran Zaaba, Taman Tun Dr Ismail. For those who are familiar with restaurant/cafe 'Santai' in Taman Tun, well, the studio is on the same row.
Enter the class with open heart and leave the ego at the door.

A Short Movie to go with 7's 'tini'

2007-07-11T13:04:00.000+08:00

Yogatini Anyone?

2007-07-11T10:54:00.000+08:00

As I was walking down the road trying to take deep cleansing breaths a thought occured to me. Yogini sounds close to Yogatini which I believe is a fabbo name for a cocktail. A cocktail enjoyed by sleek, sexy yogis sitting at a health bar in their designer tracker dacks and halter neck dry fits (right must stop watching reruns of Sex and the City). Think about it girls. After a good balance/ stretch session what better way than to get your slinky relaxed self to a place where there ar no cheesy chat up lines (just gorgeous people to ooze your eyes on) and sip from a highball or martini glass a Yogatini. I'm thinking something fruity and fresh with a dash of cranberry- to offset the alchohol. Here's a Mock Yogatini Recipe. Feel free to let your imagination run wild!

YOGATINI ON CRUSHED ROCKS

Sugar your glass with lime and sugar
6 parts gin
1 parts unsweetened cranberry juice
A squeeze of lime
A dash of sugar syrup
A topping of crushed mint and ice
Oh yeah this is not served stirred or shaken but stretched... a steady stream of the cocktail poured from high above like Teh Tarik and then dash in the crushed mint/ ice. Hmm... now I'm thinking of a YogaTeh Tarik now.

Okay, okay I stole part of a Crantini Recipe for this but I swear the rest is my creation!

Chink Chink!

Off the Mat and into your Life

2007-07-10T21:10:00.000+08:00

When I finish a class, I always tell them - take your yoga with you, off the mat. Keep it with you all the time. Keep this inner silence, this inner balance, and this clarity. When it leaves you, bring it back, coax it back, and then, eventually it will become a part of you.

If there is one thing yoga has brought me it is a little more calm, a sense of "this too shall pass". Some of my friends can't believe (and some can't take) this change from the alpha A+ person they knew to the to aspiring B (or C or Z). I'm not completely there yet, may never get there, but the journey is sweet.

And my favourite poses? Balances of course. Yours?

Yoga as weight loss scheme

2007-07-10T16:55:00.000+08:00

I've often been asked this question "can i lose weight with yoga?" and my answer will always be the same....yes, you can. Next question is "how?" and my answer, practise the poses diligently and you'll lose more than your extra kilos. For example, you can lose your temper (over time, that is). What i really want to emphasise is the gain (plenty to gain) and this can only be experienced...again, over time. Are you game? Let's focus on the gain as Karin will say...it'll come to you.

Right at this moment

2007-07-10T00:28:00.000+08:00

Right at this moment I am sitting in front of my computer and I'm doing little stretches with my toes. I'm trying to breath deeply to keep down the panic that I have hardly started on my deadlines. I am putting my arms up in the air doing a mock chair pose. Anybody? Do you have a home for our floating yoga class? Save me from doing mock poses like a donggoi in my cramped bedroom. Perhaps if I think yoga therefore I am yoga... Afterall sometimes all you need is a little faith... and space... Anybody?

Breathing for life

2007-07-09T17:04:00.000+08:00

I would like to start by saying that yoga is not 'just' an exercise...it's a way of life. you commit to change the way you eat, sleep, talk, act, react, think, feel, and finally,the most importantly, breath. Are you game? Is it worth it? You'd ask yourself. It is.

First Blog is the Loveliest

2007-07-09T16:01:00.000+08:00

Well, this is nice, Like coming into a new house, that's all your own, smelling fresh paint and shellac. Waiting for ideas and words to form. Sentences to magically snake their way round the mind, tongue, and keyboard. To sound suddenly profound and meaningful. To say things that make a difference.

No, not really. Just a place, a secret hideaway for the aspiring yoginis and friends to rant and rave, share a few laughs and show a few asanas, and maybe make new friends.