Yoga x Strala Singapore

Helloooo, weekend! It's been a long while since I last posted an entry on yoga. Looking back, my blog domain name came about because of it, and next month, this blog turns 2! Ever since I completed my monthly unlimited package at Homyoga earlier last year, I've been attending lesser classes. It's definitely not because my love for yoga has died off - I still enjoy doing but the packages are pretty costly to maintain & there will be days where I felt responsible to go because I've paid for it. Anyway, I've been yoga-hopping ever since. My class packages are here and there, all around - Yoga Movement, Bikram Yoga HB, Strala SG, etc. I personally felt that this was a better choice for me since it offers more flexibility. Depending on where I'll be for the day and what kind of classes I'd like to attend, I've various options to choose from. On days where I want to attend morning class, I'll go to YM @ TP since it's near my office, and either Orchard / Strala on weekends if I'm heading town!

Somedays, or on lazy days, I'll just YouTube at home! :) Few of my favorites videos are from Tara Stiles, Yoga with Adrienne, Yoga with Candace, etc. It goes with my mood & flow but I'll definitely need more discipline for home practice! :p

Anyway, Nicole & I signed for Strala's Get Twisty workshop last Saturday! I love twisting poses partly because I'm flexible but we focus pretty much on arms during the class and I have very weak arms strength! Had fun learning about proper breathing techniques, the right way to twist and compress our body and also getting into difficult poses with ease :) Arms were aching from Grasshopper for the next 2 days!

Can't wait for the next practice but for now, SHAPE run tomorrow!! T.T Back to my first race again after 2 years, no wonder I'm feelin' excited about it.

✈ Absolute Yoga // Bangkok, Thailand

Day 5 - It was our last day in Bangkok and we were SG-bound at about 8PM.

The girls has decided on 2nd round at Chatukchak in the morning but I wanted to go for a Yoga class. I've enjoyed my first overseas yoga experience in Vietnam & wanted to add more to my list! I did a quick research few days before we flew and found Absolute Yoga Bangkok. AY is one of Thailand's largest yoga centre and they have quite a few studios around Bangkok. 

Anyway, I slept in a little later that morning & went for some light breakfast alone :) Had two rounds and ended tad too full before class! >.<

Starbucks outside our hotel.

 The nearest studio I could locate within walking distance from our hotel was Amarin Plaza, which took about 12-15 minutes.

Arrived 25 minutes before class for registration. Thankfully I did my research and downloaded the first trial coupon and paid only 350 baht (SGD13~)!

The studio wasn't shabby at all. It was clean, huge and all facilities/amenities were provided - Mat, shower, lockers & towels!

Attended the signature Hot A series that expands from the original Hot Bikram Yoga. There were about 50 yoga poses in total & definitely interesting. The class was also conducted in English (many asked!) and easy to follow. Felt extremely great after all the stretching :)

After a quick wash up, I made my way back to meet the girls. We checked out at 1PM & headed for an hour of Thai Massage. If there's one thing I miss about Bangkok, it got to be massage, therapeutic!

Had our first street food (chicken noodle) for lunch & it was surprisingly tasty! We headed to the airport early for check-in and dinner. The lovely girls surprised me with a birthday cake before boarding too!

 Thank-you so much for all the fun times!

It's Friday, and long weekend for me. May's a good month :)

Thankful Sunday: Life's a gift

Sometime mid-march, I took a 10 days break away from the mat & studio. I don't why and it may sounds silly to say this, but I missed moving about, hanging in my downward dog, being a strong warrior or even lying in Savasana. There are just inspiring motivations to practice yoga regularly. I love how it helps to develop an attitude of attentive and kindness within us & rejuvenate our depleted vitality. The more I practiced, the more I noticed how it changed me (people), it's not just about burning calories or sweating but finding balance and supporting yourself.

Anyway, so glad I made it to class this Sunday am. The practice of heart, hip opening and inversions is truly a practice of gratitude to remind us to maintain & create a positive outlook of life. I always believe challenges in life teach us to be more capable beings in this world :)

"Gratitude unlock the fullness of life."

It's important to live a life you love & here are 3 little yet important reminders from MNB:

Move:
Stay active! Including fitness 3-4 days a week is not a difficult task. I can make time for it, so can you! If you're stuck in an exercise rut, mixed it up - a short 15 minutes run, 20 minutes walk or some Sun Salutation works! I guarantee you'll feel incredible.

Nourish:
Giving yourself the best makes everything better. *quoted from mnb

• Nourishing your body with nutrient-rich foods
• Nourishing your soul by doing the things that you love
• Nourishing your skin with organic, natural products
• Nourishing your relationships with family & friends

definitely to eat better (my dark chocolate, almonds & apples!), more self-care, sleep earlier & more catch-ups

Believe:
We're sometimes guilty in letting our comfort zone holding us back from new opportunities. Doubts and failure are often factors that hinder us to move forth. These days, I have so much meaningful conversations that makes me want to believe more. We can live the life we want to live in. Give support, and find what makes your heart sings.

Love for yourself is most important :)

Can't believe we're two days away from another new month. I'd probably share more of this in the next few posts!Have a lovely week ahead!

Hanumanasana - "Full Split"

Hello Sunday again.

The weather is crazily warm outside right now and definitely not a great idea for a hot class.

Did this Hanumanasana aka full split after my practice two Sunday(s) ago. Anything bendy, except half moon backbends are pretty much my favourite to do :) Check out Heidi's easy way to full split here. Step by step with practice, you'll get there.

Going for an impromptu water dipping session at the pool now hehe. It's been more than half a year, perfect timing!

Have a great Sunday, xo!

Favourite yoga moves to undo some work stress

Does your body feels stuck at times? No time to workout because you have too much work?

Let's face it. All of us have tons of unfinished work to do. But have you actually thought that sometimes it's not about one being unproductive or slow?  It's just in this hectic world, we're most likely to have never ending things to finish. When we happily accomplish a task, another comes rolling in. And when we barely had enough rest & fun over the weekends, weekdays are here again. Familiar endless cycle of exhaustion?

Working in a fast-paced corporate environment can be toxic in a long run if not handled properly. Being sedentary at our desk from 9-6 can makes us forget the energy of life, and more importantly, creates an impact on our overall well-being. 

Frequent stretching can actually helps to feel relaxed and revitalized. Here are some of my favourite moves to relieve stiffness and restore the body connection after a whole day of sitting down. It's nothing complicated and more than just twisting yourself into pretzels :)

Downward Dog - energizes the body, remove fatigue and calm the mind

Cobra Pose - rejuvenate the spine and especially great for our stiff back, heart opening :)

Camel Pose - helps to strengthen the front body and back muscles, remove stiffness in shoulders

Half lord of the fishes - stretches & relaxes tight shoulders & neck, relieves backache

Standing Forward fold - relieves heaviness in head & stretches hamstrings and calves

Wild Thing - gives one great vitality, energy and feeling of lightness :)

Corpse Pose - total relaxation and sleep time :)

 

Enjoy this multitude of healthy benefits! (:
*all photos from yogajournal

Uttanasana - "Standing Forward Bend"

Uttanasana aka Standing Forward Bend is one of my favourite posture. This posture is pretty therapeutic and revitalizing. It calms the mind and smooth the nerves, also helps to relax my head and shoulders.

First stand with your feet parallel and hip-width apart. Bend your knees as much as you need to and go forth. You can sway a little side to side and enjoy for a moment. It took me some practice to get this flexible and straight. You can slowly try to straighten your legs to stretch the hips, hamstrings and calves :)

Free feel to play around with different variations too! You may slip your index & middle finger in between the big and second toe, straighten your arms and lift your front torso away from your thigh or simply grab your elbows and let your head hang heavy. Either way works :)

Happy weekends! x

Take care of your nervous system and the rest of your body will function at its optimal level

Carrying my Lululemon carrier with me has been quite a norm in the late recent, at least 3-4 days out of a week.

It's been about three months since I practice yoga regularly (I take about 24 classes or so a month) and I have seen so much improvement in myself. In yoga, I learn everyday, not only on the mat but I also carry my takeaway with me everywhere - to work, to home, to self and more importantly, to people I love.

What give me energy? Maybe it's just yoga :) and maybe for what's worth, myself but here's why it keeps me going:

1. Increase strength
I started out not being able to do Chaturanga. I couldn't hold long in Downward dog. I dislike Warrior II. I fear of Headstand. I could barely lift my legs up forearm stand. I have strengthless arms to take me through crow pose

People often think that you have to be flexible to do yoga but I can tell you it doesn’t works this way! Yoga requires alot of strength, strength that comes from your inner self. Like many others, these are some of the many challenges I faced when I started yoga. It's only through constant classes and guidance that I find myself being stronger. I can do Chaturanga now, I overcome my fear of doing headstand in the middle of the room, and I can lift my legs back in forearm stand. It’s day by day practice and allowing myself to move with ease that I’m improving.

2. Connection
Karent Fabian -'As one develops an awareness of how the body feels in each pose, one has a better chance at starting to make positive changes to improve different aspects of their lifestyle that are negatively impacting their health'. I'm slowly finding the connection and an improvement relationship with my body. The importance of a good lifestyle and healthy diet affects my performance and movement on the mat. I see the need to take care of my body and fuel it with the right food, I'd prefer a cup of unsweetened drink or sweet treats from natural fruits anytime over sweet desserts I used to crave for every single day. Of course I still indulge in sweet treats once in a while but it’s amazing how exercise and yoga transforms me, it helps me glow :)

 left: current & right: the old me who craves for chocolate/ice cream/bbt every single day

3. Improve flexibility
“No, I can't touch my toes!”, “my bones will break”, this is what I often hear from people. It’s untrue. Not all yogis are born flexible. I can’t do dancer pose very well but through regular practices, I can feel it slowly shaping into my body. Sometimes, it may take months or it may take years, but what you know is you’ll can get there. Be patient and open ourselves to the big possibilities of entire yoga tree.

4. Focus and bringing to life 
Yoga taught me the ability to focus and that also, I'm carrying it to my daily life. I learn to stay present at the office, I learnt to sit through discomfort of people and also letting go of ego. How we react on mat is how we react in reality - practice mindfully on mat, practice mindful communication with people. It's a journey of support and a magic of life. You will start to get conscious of your posture, breathing, alignment anywhere. You become aware of yourselves and body.

5. You have got time!
Before this, I'd never thought I could have so much time commitment to it. Like spending 5 hours of my morning in the studio on a Saturday, or waking up earlier. I guess with passion plus doing classes with like-minded people, it's just pure fun. Everyone has got the pleasure to take time out :)

Yoga works for everyone and it's the way I live my life now. It helps me find myself. The more relax you are, the healthier you will be :)

Stay grounded. Breathe 

What a cosy Sunday as I'm writing this :)

Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity

'Before or After work class?'

If 9 months ago you ask me to wake up at 530am for a 7am workout, I'd probably stare right into you, tell you I am not that insane and my bed is more important than anything else.

9 months later today, let me take back my words! cause I can't tell you how much I would love to incorporate one or two morning classes a week before my work because every bit of class re-energizes my body and freshen up my mind for the day.

JUST LIKE... the happiest place on earth :)

#throwbacktohk

I began this morning ritual while I was doing my 30 days hot yoga journey. I still remembered how excited I was for the first class! I do feel lethargic at times for subsequent classes and wanted more sleep but would pulled myself up eventually. Morning classes always makes me feels centered and relaxed, getting me ready for a chirpy, productive, healthy day ahead.

After work classes are great too because it takes away stress and strain from the body and mind. What I liked most about is the feelin' of being free after a sweatout and hot bathe, getting all ready for a sweet good night sleep.

BUT. for people like us who holds a day job, there are just times where... what you want to do after a long day of work in front of the computer screen is to go home and rest, or have a good dinner with your family. I remembered not going home for dinner for the first two weeks of my journey. Not only I spent more money dining out, I also feel bad for staying out late and long everyday. 

So I always ensure a balance of morning and evening classes and here's what I do to prepare before my morning classes: 

1. PLAN AHEAD

I always make a point to check out the schedule and scan through the teachers planned for class.Because waking up at 535am can be every bit agonizing, I'll choose a class that I feel like doing and the teacher I want to practice with. These little factors could make a huge difference. An energetic teacher who starts your day, makes your day! 

2. SLEEP EARLY

"Sleep early, sleep early"! This is what I have been reminding myself for so many times. Sleep is very important for my long day ahead and lack of sleep leads to so many other bad factors. Trying to tuck myself earlier to bed before morning class is something I'm still tackling with. While I do try my best to get 7 hours of eye shut, there are always times I ended up not. But I would tell you sleep is key to body restoration and we should never forgo any bit.

3. Pack everything the night before 

I packed my work outfit, bag and workout clothes before I sleep! Every morning, all I take is only 15 minutes to get ready. Brush teeth, get some light breakfast, spread my PB bread for post workout, get changed and leave the house :) if I don't prepare the night before, I'd probably be late already and I dislike being late for class!
There was once this week I left the house, tapped into the train and realised I left something out, I ended up returning home and had to miss the class, what a bum.

Do you prefer a morning or evening class?

Hot Journey x Leap of faith

your mind is everything, what you think you become

I've been meaning to write a post on my completion of 30 days hot journey & here goes. Right from the start, I was pretty determined to complete my challenge and 3 days ago, my last morning 7am class came. This journey has left a huge attachment on me and waking up on Thursday morning, I felt as though something was missing, I needed my mat! I've began to love yoga even more, the people around me, the teachers and every beads of sweat. I miss pasting color dots against my name.

Through the journey, here's what I felt taught my most:

1. Planning ahead

Scheduling yoga classes ahead of time has became part of my routine. I always plan 3-5 days in advance. If I'm expecting to be hanging out after work, I had to double up on weekends / do morning classes. Carrying yoga gears around with me to work has also began to become a norm & these will continue even for now :)

2. Waking up at 535am 

Not that I can do that daily! I never thought I can get myself out of the bed this early to get moving on the mat. After sometime, I kinda enjoy taking the train at wee hours with lesser crowd (now im hating the 8am crowd), bathing at 8am after some morning sweat out, grabbing my cup of coffee & bread for breakfast and then slowly settling down at my office hot desk to kick start my days. Most days like this, I do feel more cheerful and energized!

3. Dualities: Struggling and going beyond

It's OK to be struggling. When life gives you lemon, you make lemonade out of it right? :) Not all days you feel good. Some days you just want to get it over and done. But someday you get all hyped up and just go beyond, beyond your body capabilities. 

4. Eating habits 

After a good yoga practice, all you want to do restore your body healthily. It's so funny how this fixes your eating habits. You find yourself craving for healthier food, not junk, not processed. Why would you want to inject fries & coke right into your body? At least not right after class! But with that say, I've also been overspending.. on food! because I've been eating out so much more. It's time to work on more home prep food!

5. The value of support
I read Tara's value of support post few days back and today, I realized the importance of it. In my 3rd practice, I was pretty tired and drained. At full locust pose, I was struggling to lift my whole body up when suddenly my dear friend beside me held my hands and we both went higher up together. When we support we are connected.

If you have the opportunity, I'd encourage you to take a 30 days class. You'll find in it so much joy and love for yoga. Join me with this now! :)

Shape Yoga by the Sea x Tara Stiles

Last Sunday A.M, we got lucky and had the opportunity to have a session of yoga by East Coast Park in Singapore with Tara Stiles from Strala, New York all thanks to Reebok and Shape! (:

Tara is special. I chanced onto her yoga videos 2 years ago through LiveStrongWoman and got hooked with her practices ever since. I started following her and Strala on social medias and felt that she's such a different and amazing guide & Strala students are lucky to have her! Doing yoga with her is all about moving with ease, being carefree and connecting you to who you are. Off youtube, I've always wondered how is it like to do a Strala class with her.

Our 45 minutes with her speaks everything about this yoga rebel :) She was definitely fun and hyper, I simply enjoy her lead. The way she guided put me and my friends on all smiles. It was all easy transition moving from pose to pose with grace and power. We even got so high playing & helped each other with handstands during the free play time, something which I've never dared to try. In just a short session, I'm beginning to understand what the "Make your own rules/yoga" philosophy was all about.

"Feeling goals lead to a strong, open, capable body, mind, and life."

Now that I know what all Strala is about after meeting the humble & outgoing lady and her husband. I'm even more determined and excited to take my little dream further - and that's to attend a Strong class in Strala or even intensive/tt training 19 hours away if I have the chance. I also hope to attend a class led by Heidi Kristoffer whom seems like a really lovely person, upside down girl I know :D

Thank you Tara for the amazing experience & the big hug, it was really heart-warming! (:

Check her Yoga videos here and her Complete Guide to Yoga in MindGreenBody!

Day 9, 10, 11 - Reconnecting

Class 9 (Wednesday)
- 630PM Hot Hom - R

Class 10 & 11 (Friday)
- 430PM Hot Ashtangah - O
- 530PM Hot Flow - O

I'm one-third through the journey! :) Amazing how time flies and I'm lovin every single bit of this. I'm exactly on track and we're done with Week 1.

Week 1's journey theme was Presence. Finding presence is at the heart of all yogic practices and essential for living a happy, fulfilled and enjoyable life. In these 10 days, I've came to learn to find ease and reconnecting with my body. I am pretty flexible by nature so it wasn't hard for me to get myself into stretching poses but anything else, like balancing, arm strength poses still requires so much more practices. With my recent regular practice and right breathing control, I found that my body gets into poses more intuitively itself without being forced. Example, I couldn't even used to hold a crow pose for more than 1 seconds when I first attemped 1 month ago, but now I can even hold up to 10 or more seconds :)

Anyway, I had to cancel my class soooooooooooo last minute yesterday evening because I was called back for a meeting. Thankfully we had family day today and get to leave at 4pm :) Hot Flow with Lily was crazily tiring, so much vinyasa but I was stoked to get to learn challenging poses from her. We played around with crow and headstand variations and I've so much to improved on. always a wip.

More flow to come!

So it's Day 12 and 13 tomorrow & meeting the busyboy finally!! :)

Till then, have a great weekend!

Day 8/30: Sore

 

Class 4 & 5 (Saturday)
- 4PM Hot Ashtangah
- 5PM Hot Hatha

Class 6 & 7 (Sunday)
- 2PM Vinyasa  (75m)
- 330PM Hot Hatha (90m)

Class 8 (Tuesday)
- 7AM Hot Hatha

I doubled up my practice over the weekends and took 2 classes each day. Ran late for Saturday first class and was so annoyed with myself (for being late), with the bus (for moving so slowly), with the cars (for causing jam) and I had to miss the 230pm class. But my spare hour gave me an excuse to get myself a smoothie king to cool myself down, then I thought 'hey why so mad :)' Anyway, it was my first Hot Ashtangah with Hom and I pretty much enjoyed it! We get to play around with more challenging poses like headstands during class, which I literally flipped into wheel pose because I couldn't balance on head and forearms. thump. haha I was a little embarrassed though but Anton turned and signalled it's ok.

Sunday was intensive because in all, I did 2 hours 45 minutes of yoga in a day. That could have been the most I've ever done in my entire life and my arms were sore from all the Chaturangah flow & I couldn't sleep on my sides that night haha. But I was happy because I managed to do my first forearm stand (with the help of mirror wall of course!) I still remembered the very first time I was challenged to do this, I thought it was crazy! I am loving Ashtangah and Vinyasa and that'd probably be my weekends classes ;)

Monday was rest and this morning was Hatha with June. I've been doing lots of Hatha because the classes always seems to best fit my work and schedule timing. In Hatha, I hope to master my standing head to toe posture, which I never dare to keep my head to knee because of fear of falling :/

Ok, I've been up since 540am. Need a rest now and Day 9 tomorrow! :)

What are you truly grateful for?

One of the most commonly asked questions, I realised, by many people who knew I'm doing a 30 days hot yoga journey was, "Oh, what do you get after you have completed it?"

When the very first person asked, my response was, "haha, nothing, a 20% off their next package".

Then another guy came along and asked the same. I thought about it for a while and replied, "Oh I'll get a 20% off their next package. But it's not about the discount, it's more about personal achievement and self satisfaction laaa".

Some 3rd and 4th person enquired the same but each time, my response seems to be different.

This little episode frankly got me thinking. It seems like it's natural for all beings to want something in return for whatever they have contributed. For everything you give, it's always in hope to achieve something. Then, are we sub-consciously quite self-centered because in everything we do, we are harboring returns rather than unselfish giving? All kind of level of giving is good, but when we give with expectation of receiving something back in return, we are not actually letting go of what we are giving.

I'm learning something with Yoga everyday. One especially inspiring quote I learned from Cindy from Strala - "Pushing is never a good way to approach anything - everything will come in time when we are ready, in yoga or life." This is very true and I'll keep this reminder at work.

raffles at 8am

Class 1 and 2: (Tues/Wed)
- 7PM Hot Hatha
- 6PM Hot Hatha

Class 3: (Fri)
- 7AM Hot Hatha

The first two days were probably the most exciting with me all filled with energy and ready to kickstart the journey. Class was all fun except I need to work on my balancing poses. I have an over-reliance relationship with the mirror, ready to fall when I can't see myself.

Decided to do a 7am class this morning since I am meeting Jack for dinner. I was extremely surprised to see the class almost full and there were so many people on the mat before the sun was fully up. The morning class was extremely body opening and mood lifting because I felt very energized and happy the rest of day at work + I was eligible for free MRT ride ;) hahaha I can't wait to do more morning classes next week.

Catching up with 2 hot classes tomorrow since I had to give a miss on Thursday & a shabu steamboat to end the night!

 Sweet treats for the sweet, have a great week ya'all :)

October x 30 days challenge

I haven't been feeling great and well the past days. Caught some bad flu bugs and lost my voice. Took almost a week off from my studio practices, am just glad I'm finally recovering!

September is coming to an end in another 2 days. With the last quarter of the year to go, I felt inspired to set a new challenge for myself. So, this October, I've decided to sign up for a 30 days challenge, something which I have been contemplating about for quite sometime & that is doing a..

30 days hot yoga journey

Whatttttttt? Yeahhh, #yogaeverydamnday. I was initially apprehensive about the physical and mental challenges I may faced. Working 9-6 meant I have to get myself to studio after work almost everyday or even before if I have important stuffs on. On top of that, with the rising peak at work... that will kinda leave me with really little weekdays rest time. I would really love to try this out and since I'm not sure when would be the next journey, I told myself there will be no hard forces :) if I can't complete this journey, 25 out of 30 days is already some accomplishment. and after all, it's all about moving with ease and comfort in yourself right?

Not only I'm excited bout this, I'd also like to see how transformative can 30 days be :) With that, here's what I'm hoping to achieve:

1. Practice better - I hope to bring my yoga practices to a higher level - to pick up more tips and posturing cues. Get greater focus, get better.

2. Practice commitment - "It doesn't matter what you decide to do tomorrow as you go to sleep in your comfortable bed - what matters is what you do when the alarm clock goes off in the morning" ~ Max Storm. We are creatures of habits. Breaking old and creating new habits is by no means easy feat. How many a times we aimed to do something but ended up not because of road blocks in life. People procrastinate in nature and I am of course one of them. Thinking of getting to studio daily is easy, but this requires lots of self-discipline... we'll see when the time comes :)

3. Practice fun - yoga is all about fun time too! I love stepping into my mat. Sometimes, it's just not about getting into asana but enjoying the process. It's a great place to destress, loosen up and relax yourself. It also helps one to be calmer and positive.

I'll try to post updates on my 30 days yoga challenge and a little on how I feel. Hehe so with that, I'm looking forward to an awesome new month :)

✈ Yoga Living // Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

 I found Yoga Living few days before my trip and was glad that they were offering classes on weekends. There were limited studios in Vietnam and I thought I had to forgo the thought of trying a practice there. Yoga Living has 2 studios - one located at District 1 and another 1 at District 3. Since we were only free on Sunday, we took the morning Ashtangah class.

We were greeted by an extremely spacious and clean place and 2 friendly Vietnamese who guided us a little. The studio was huge and there were about 20+ of us in the class. It was my first time doing a non-heated class, and also my first doing Ashtanga and I pretty much enjoyed it. We had the class with Eswar, who is an Indian and his class was pretty much easy to follow

The only thing the studio was lacking was mirrors. I was so used to having fully mirrored room but that doesn't really matter. The class ended shortly 1 hour later and I was happy with the practice. Anyway, 1 class costs 5USD and mats & towels are provided at no charge. Shower rooms & lockers were available too :)

Yoga Living
19 Vo Van Tan, District 3

Since we were around District 3, we roamed around and looked for Hoang Ty, which was famous for their Banh Trang, Vietnamese wrap. We ordered a set for 2 and it comes with a platter of green vegetables, pickled carrots, cucumber and raw bean sprouts.We had fun wrapping and it was definitely an experience!

Hoang Ty
70-72 Vo Van Tan, District 3

Coffee & Chocolate Cake at Highlands coffee, very common coffee place before we went for an 1.5 hour body massage at Cat Moc.

How I miss my Sunday now!

First class with HomYoga

Over the weekends, I got myself the prettiest pair & expensive HipWidth yoga apparels from HomYoga! I've been contemplating for a while because of the hefty price but there were no regrets after I tried it on. The material's so so good and cutting is great.

I wore it on my first 2 trial classes and the short was so comfortable for both heated (hot hatha) and non-heated (yin) practices. 

Since I was free and have been wanting to try yoga at Hom, I decided to register for two classes at Orchard, both by Daphne. I like how helpful and gentle she was-helping me to go deeper and also correcting my posture. The yin is a non heated class which really helps to stretch every single muscles in the body. We had to hold long in poses and in some, I almost died. By the time I finished hot hatha, I was shakey from the stretching. I left the place a happy yogi satisfied with my Saturday :)

Made myself a hearty sandwich above, which was perfect for before my classes, here's what you need simply:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tomato
• 2 slices of bread
• pepper

Slice the avocado and tomato. Slap it in between the bread, sprinkle some pepper and ready to eat. 

Till I try the hot hom & hot flow series :)

Learn to move with ease

 I'mmaaa back from Vietnam!

My trip to Ho Chi Minh City was definitely an eye opener... I'm happy to be living in Singapore :) No, don't get me wrong, I like being in that city but I just felt that we've so so so much more here and I'm truly and ever grateful for that. 

I miss my SG practices after spending the weekends away and decided to book my first non-heated yin-yang class with Renu at Anahata after work today. It was just a small class with 7 people and I like how Renu speaks with clarity. There's always a war between my mind and poses during my practices. I realised I have difficulties alot of times trying to maintain my poses and to follow what the teacher is saying (i.e. inhale and you do this, exhale and you do that) but with small classes, it's only exception that the teacher gets more opportunities to correct your postures and we have fun!

Yin Yang class is a perfect blend of deep stretches, also known as Yin Poses, and Yang poses (muscular strengthening), practiced in a non-heated room. My first thought was "cool, will be a breeze for me" but boy, I was wrong. I left the class with achy thighs from the really deep and long (we hold up to 2 minutes!) stretches as compared to my regular hot classes despite not sweating at all (cooling rainy day perhaps) 

I still prefer hot classes but I had a rather interesting takeaway from today's class. I guess it's good to go back to basics and beginner class once in a while since it requires additional level of explanation that all levels of teaching can benefits from :)

Probably try Power and Hot Vinyasa someday!

We all have dreams

I've always been a fan of Tara Stiles. I enjoy watching her YouTube yoga videos, reading her blog, weekly updates and tweets! She's such an inspirational lady. Very randomly this morning, I took my first chance to respond to one of her tweets and she replied!

 

Ohhh, She's coming to Singapore??? I was so stoked upon seeing this, and now I know that she's coming to lead yogabythesea organized by Shape. I'm definitely signing up for this :)

IOff to Ho Chi Minh City in 7 hours time and guess what I've managed to squeeze into one of our itinerary? Yes, a Yoga class!! So excited about it, and I hope to have a taste of real good pho. 

Till then!

Where to start.

Haha, that's true. The first post is always the hardest.

Hmmm..I've always been more of a runner than yogi until the late recent. I've been doing yoga on-and-off and have only been attending yoga classes regularly about once a week from about Feb/Mar. I kinda got hooked on my practices and started practising more from twice a week to about 3 times a week now.

To incorporate so many classes within a week is not easy because I lived by the OL life from Mon-Fri but these days, it's a part of me - a form of escape and therapy which makes me feels good and alive!

Obviously after practising regularly, I've found so much benefits in it.

1. Patient
In every class, there's no place to go other than our mat. The art of holding and balancing a pose is not as easy as you think! Yoga has taught me to focus on my breathing, let go of the outcome and surrender to the present moment. This applies in life.

2. Improve my concentration
When our mind gets distracted, it's hard for us to focus. In yoga, we're taught to take our attention to a single point of focus. We're always reminded to come back to our breathe (and this is something I always forget!) Through my practices, I started to watch my breathe through my pose and truly, my concentration skills has started to improve.

3.  Letting go 
When I enter my studio and step onto my mat after a long, tired, difficult day, my emotions would be fixed. Practice helps my mind to slowly let go of the stale thoughts and feel light.

4. The sweat!
I love to sweat. In yoga, the sweatier the better. This is especially true when doing Bikram. I am always amazed by the amount of sweat dripping down my chin, thighs and body at the end of class. Yoga sweat makes me feels gloriously feminine.

5. Everyday is different
It's very true in one class I find myself extremely strong and flexible and in the next, there's immense struggle - the struggle to stay on 1 leg, the struggle to hold on warrior poses. Our practices are constantly evolving, I've learn that we're cyclical and not fixed. It never ends and that's a gift.

There are so much more benefits and the list goes on. I'm still in the amidst of learning about yoga, embracing and learning about myself.

I hope to find more yogis in Singapore and let's have some fun doing practices together! ;)