beyoga

Yoga Thought Bubble 3: Location, location, location

2010-05-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am generally a non-confrontational little yogini. I am more comfortable bathing in the light than embracing the shadow. I am frequently attached to my rose-colored glasses.

As such, I am often hesitant to speak my mind when I perceive that what my mind wants to speak might be disagreeable in the slightest. Partly it's my desire to play peacekeeper; partly it's my insecurity & fear in speaking my truth.

This is all particularly true when I am in teaching mode.

I remember one of the very first classes I taught at Pure Yoga. It was a Hot class in the combined studios 3 & 4 in Causeway Bay, for those of you familiar with the location. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a fairly big space that fits 60+ mats (although by Santa Monica standards, we'd squeeze in at least 100 mats). At all Pure Yoga studios in Hong Kong, the mats are already laid out for you so when you come in, you just pick a mat and plop down. On this particular day, the side that is studio 4 was pretty full, and the side that is studio 3 was pretty empty and people had randomly chosen mats that created funky gaps and scattered energy in the room. There was one woman in particular who was way over yonder, and I asked her in a friendly manner if she would like to move in closer, assuming that she would respond as I would if I were the student. To my utter shock, she simply, firmly, and audaciously shook her head NO.

Oh. Ok.

I walked away with my tail between my legs and later told my colleague Janet about the incident. She told me that next time, I should just make the student move. I was befuddled! That would be so confrontational. But she insisted that I ought to insist. I am the teacher afterall.

Over the next two years, I luckily did not have similar incidents occur (or perhaps I subconsciously chose not to see them). On the one hand, the students got to know me and there's always a certain amount of trust and respect that grows in time. On the other hand, I became more self-confident. Rather than hiding behind my fear of seeming disagreeable, I learned to more clearly stand in my truth.

Fast forward to a packed Hatha class one Saturday morning. We were on hands and knees, flailing our way into Bryan Kest's infamous Awkward Airplane pose: one leg out to the side at an attempted 90 degree angle at hip height and the opposite arm out to the side at an attempted 90 degree angle at shoulder height. After a 10-year relationship with this pose, I'm still more "Awkward" and less "Airplane". I think it is probably pretty challenging for almost everyone. As such, I noticed that half the room wasn't really in the pose, and I teased the class about it, "I know you're all pretending you suddenly don't understand my accent..." or something like that. Most people chuckled, but one woman blurted out, "It's not because we don't want to do it, it's just too crowded in here, there's no room!"

The less self-assured me would probably have turned beet-red, apologized, and stammered my way through the rest of class. But my actual response was to tuck myself in between two students and do the pose by lifting my leg over one student's hip and by lifting my arm over the other student's head. As I was demonstrating, I said, "If the conditions are challenging, find a way to make it work!"(or something else of absolute brilliance, I'm sure.)

I then went on to talk about the classes I attend in Santa Monica, where we squeeze in twice as many mats. Bryan's classes have been known to be so crowded that mats overlap and someone practices on the landing of the stairwell; Ally Hamilton's classes often overflow into the second room and she has to stand in the doorway between the two rooms in order for everyone to hear her. I said, "You all have about a foot of space circumventing your mats. This is not that crowded." (Hopefully they weren't still in Awkward Airplane as I was rambling on, but I can't be sure of that.)

After I finished my mini-lecture, I felt really bad. I thought maybe I had lost my temper. I was afraid that that student would go and complain about me to the front desk (like the time a student complained that I was text messaging for 40 minutes of a 60-minute class, a completely preposterous claim) (I was only texting for like 5 minutes) (Just kidding! I have never used any mobile device in class!). But to my surprise, at the end of class, that student came up to me and introduced herself. She said that she really enjoyed class and that it was exactly what she needed. I was so surprised! And relieved.

All of this makes me think about our attachments and expectations when it comes to our practice space.

I took Wendy's class at Pure Yoga in Central today. When we stood up from Uttanasana, I brushed hands with my neighbor yogini. During a supine spinal twist, my extended arm rested on the mat next to mine. Is this really that big of a deal, worthy of complaining? For someone who comes from the crowded studios of Santa Monica where I have gotten hit in the head by someone's foot going up in Dog Splits, no, it's really not that big of a deal. And actually, if you think about it, it's a pretty beautiful thing that so many of us have all come together to share space, breath, and energy. What a blessing to be a part of this union, this yoga.

I also often hear the complaint that people don't have space in their apt to practice. Considering how small and squishy HK flats can be (cool, relevant video here), I do understand that it's challenging. But I have practiced in a 250 sq ft apt that I shared with my friend, where I was completely surrounded by furniture. It is doable.

Bryan once said it best. When I was his assistant, I would answer emails on his behalf. Once there was this question: "How much space do I need to practice yoga?" Bryan told me to reply, "The amount of space you need to unroll a yoga mat." So true. So simple.

Of course it would be ideal to have space in abundance, and no one wants to be whacked in the head by someone's foot (especially a sweaty one!). But sometimes these external conditions are out of our control, and what we think is ideal is not a present reality. How will we choose to respond to this? How can we dance gracefully with all the so-called challenges in our practice and ultimately our life? If we're being difficult and attached to what we deem to be our righteous space when we're on the mat, what's happening off the mat? This is especially relevant for all of us living in crowded cities where our bodies and energies are constantly overlapping with others. Does it really serve to race each other to get to the showers first? Is it really necessary to cut people off on the freeway? Can we try to be more generous and compassionate?

Let's be more focused on creating space in our heart, and less attached to external conditions.

Let's remember what a blessing it is to even have a studio or home to practice in and a mat to practice on. What a blessing it is to touch the hand of a fellow yogi as you both reach up towards the sky. What a blessing it is to know yoga at all.

And look, next time you're in a crowded class, in a space-demanding pose like Awkward Airplane, just rest your floating (read: floundering) leg on your neighbor's hip. I'm sure they won't mind. ;)

Yoga Thought Bubble 2: How do I become a yoga teacher?

2010-05-07T06:58:00.001-07:00

This is definitely one of the most FAQs I am asked, and I love it because the more people we have in our world really dedicating their lives to sharing and spreading the yoga, the better. As with all things, there are many different pathways you can take. I'll share bits of my own ever-continuing journey, offer some additional suggestions, and include some other related thoughts.

I think it's pretty safe to say that first things first: practice. For me when I was first preparing to teach, this meant an asana practice for at least a couple hours a day (with an occasional, sometimes reluctant day of rest, insisted on by my teacher), reading lots of books (from the ancient to the current) and a daily (often less than super successful) attempt at meditation. I also enrolled in a Yoga Studies program at a nearby university (UC Irvine), which served as a wonderful introduction to various yoga-related subjects including philosophy, subtle energy, Sanskrit, and Buddhism. I was so fiercely in love with my practice that I saved some money and quit my job (at the time I was in investor relations) so I could just do yoga all the time. I loved my studio so much that I started volunteering there (sweeping the floors and emptying the trash), which eventually led to working in the retail store, managing the studio, and becoming Bryan Kest's assistant. Talk about "immersion".

Next up: find a main teacher that you can practice with on a regular basis (addressed in Yoga Thought Bubble 1). This is particularly true for those on the teaching path. Again, it doesn't mean to only ever study with one teacher, but having one main teacher will be immensely helpful. She will get to know your physical practice and be able to guide and support you better. For example, I had a major fear of Tripod Headstand. I couldn't even figure out how to approach it. After months of shying away from it, my teacher helped me after class. She didn't physically support me, but just through her words and because of my total trust in her, I got into it and was laughing at how much easier it was than I'd imagined. And, ask your teacher what his yoga journey has been like, and discover which of his footsteps you'd like to follow. Dare to ask beyond "Who have you studied with?" because I bet there is so much more to why he is the amazing teacher, yogi, and person that he is.

And of course: attend a Teacher Training. I urge you to put a lot of thought into the Teacher Trainings you will attend (yes, trainings plural, as there will likely be more than your first one). Know that TTs are a huge business within the yoga industry, and oftentimes you're asked to commit thousands of dollars and hours upon hours before you'll be deemed worthy of using their brand name, and this almost never comes with any real guarantee that you'll find teaching jobs. I admit that I am biased when it comes to the so-called official certification process, but rather than get into it right now, I will paste the words of Bryan Kest (www.poweryoga.com), who addressed this brilliantly in a recent newsletter:

"We are not associated with Yoga Alliance. If I were to follow their guidelines I would not be able to follow my own guidelines. Their guidelines have no place in my training and should have no place in anyone’s teacher training other than that of their own. I am not an advocate of systematizing the dissemination of love. Yoga has always been passed down freely from teacher to student, in any format the teacher chooses and according to the teacher’s experiences and how the teacher feels they can best give their knowledge to the student. This beautiful practice, that has been happening for 6,000 years, does not need Yoga Alliance’s blessing or anybody else’s.

I am actually not sure why Yoga Alliance exists. Maybe their intentions are benevolent but the result is a fucking bureaucratic mess, tons of red tape and loads of unnecessary paperwork, not to mention more money!"

So I'm just saying to choose wisely. Listen to your gut and intuition as to what is most right for you. Are you really inspired by the teacher leading the TT and are you really interested in learning more about that particular style of yoga? Or are you more drawn in by the number of hours and credibility the TT boasts? Just make sure it will serve to nourish and nudge you forward in your practice.

As for when you're ready to attend your first TT, it's really personal. If you don't know Tadasana (Mountain Pose) or if you haven't yet experience the bliss of Savasana, it might better serve you to practice a bit more first, just so that you can get more out of the TT. But don't worry about not being able to stand on your hands or levitate (yet).

I started doing my own home practice after my first TT (with the magnificent Erich Schiffmann), and it really helped me to understand how to sequence, how to verbalize the body's movement and experience, and how to access my own voice. I enlisted (ok, maybe coerced) my loved ones to be my yogi guinea pigs and taught them classes in my living room. I practiced eliminating "uh" and "um" and "oops, sorry!" and nervous laughter.

For me, all of this was the perfect foundation for teaching. With the help of my teacher, I got my first job at a gym, and I kept expanding from there, to other gyms, small studios, private clients, and my home studio. I said YES to every teaching opportunity that came up, and in a few months time, I was teaching 25 times a week. It was great practice and got me into the groove of really becoming and being a teacher. But that many classes proved not to be so sustainable, so I pared it down to about a dozen (only to move to HK and teach an average of 18 classes a week, half of them in a heated room, which I swear makes teaching 1 class feel like 2!). This again is really personal; you'll figure out what's perfect for you.

Finally, know that there will always be more to learn and be open to all of it. I have dabbled in different styles and I attend lots of workshops and trainings with different teachers. Since moving to HK, I also make it a point to go back to my yoga home of Santa Monica once a year and snuggle back into my roots. It is all "continuing education", a beautiful process of always learning, receiving, practicing, and then offering it back out.

So, in short: practice, find a main teacher, attend a TT, do your own practice, teach loved ones, and say YES!

Yoga Thought Bubbles

2010-04-09T06:24:00.001-07:00

Inspired by questions from students and friends, here I begin a series of musings on various things YOGA, from the practical to the mystical. It's an enormous subject matter, that is enormously subjective, so please take my Yoga Thought Bubbles with many heaps of sea salt if you choose to read on.

And please feel free to send me your questions, and we can share in this digital dialogue together.

Yoga Thought Bubble 1: How do I find a good teacher?

I thought it appropriate to begin this blog series with the question of how to find a "good" teacher, as the teacher is usually your foray into the yoga world. I put quotes around "good" (and would use quote fingers if I were speaking to you about this in person) because how you feel about your teacher is so personal. As with all relationships, it is ultimately about your personal connection. Does the teacher say things that stir your spirit, that feel like she simply must be talking specifically to you? Do you feel like you learn and grow in some way, every time you take his class?

I suggest that if it's possible, read the teacher's bio or check out his website prior to attending class. The bio usually serves as a helpful introductory blurb to who the teacher is, not just how deeply he can bend backwards. To me, more important than the level of physical achievement a teacher has reached in her own practice is whether her philosophy / perspective of yoga (and of life, really) speaks to you. Of course the physical aspect is important as well; the practice is physical, after all, and in a yoga class, the teacher is using the language of the body, whether demonstrating or offering an adjustment / enhancement. But permeating the physical will be his energy, and whether it is vibrating on the same wavelength as yours. It's very much like how it would be to listen to a lecture in a language you understand versus a lecture a foreign language.

After reading the bio and choosing a teacher, try to take that teacher's class at least a few times. As with all relationships, there needs to be a period of getting to know the other person. Sometimes it feels like love at first sight, where you feel really wowed and inspired and changed forever! This might blossom into a long term relationship, or it may not withstand the test of time. In other instances, it may take more time before you energetically warm up to the teacher, so it's probably best if you don't immediately write anyone off because you weren't that impressed or moved during the first class. Speaking from the teacher's perspective, sometimes it may just be that you caught us on an "off" day.

When you do find a teacher that you really love, you'll probably find it helpful to maintain a fairly consistent practice with that one teacher. This isn't to say that you should only go to one teacher. That would be unnecessarily limiting, because you can and will learn something from everyone. I can honestly say that I have either learned or been really touched (not in that way) (well, except for that one time...) by every single teacher I have ever taken class with. But to have one teacher who really knows your practice and who you are as a person is an incredible gift. Whether recognizing when you're ready to advance in a given pose or when you're in need of a shoulder to cry on, your main teacher will become your yoga foundation, your yoga roots, your "mentor", so they call it. This will be someone who is truly interested in your growth and evolution as a person, a depth that can only be reached if you really open yourself up to him/her.

I am infinitely grateful for and humbled by mine.

And not to worry: your relationship with your yoga teacher isn't expected to be a monogamous one. I asked my teacher about that once, because I felt guilty (thanks, Catholic upbringing!) about wanting to attend someone else's class. She laughed and thought it was sweet of me to be concerned about her feelings, but as the yoga practice is about detachment from the ego and one big love, she encouraged me to go on and sow my yoga oats. She said, "It's totally fine and great to take other teachers' classes as you'll probably get something different from them, because we're all teaching from our own personal experiences. But you'll probably find that you have your home that you always go back to."

For me, this has proven to be very true. I now live half a world away from my teacher, but no amount of time or distance has really separated us (especially in this wonderfully modern age of technology!). As the years have passed, and time zones and zip codes have changed, and babies have been added into the mix (hers, not mine), she is still my yoga home.

So, to me, finding a so-called good teacher is a pretty big deal. I daresay it's akin to finding your life partner. Do a bit of due diligence, have an open mind and an open heart, and feel for that intuitive pull in your gut that will always ultimately guide your way.

Flying to Sydney || 24 November 2009

2009-11-25T14:15:00.001-08:00

I think there are few experiences in life that are more inspiring and invigorating than travel, especially traveling to a brand new part of the planet. I’m in the air en route to Sydney. This is my first time venturing south of the equator, and I feel like a child on Christmas Eve.

What is it, exactly, about travel that is so enriching and simultaneously unraveling? For me, it isn’t sightseeing or the usual tourist activities. In this day of Google Earth and travel shows, it’s too easy to virtually visit various worldmarks. I’m not interested in seeing the generic or the generically-deemed sacred. I’m interested in visiting the sacred within myself. Just as different people bring out different aspects of us, different places serve as reflections uncovering inner truths that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t be coaxed into awareness.

In this way, traveling is a deeply spiritual experience for me. Sure, it’s fun and interesting, and oftentimes delicious. But so much more important than all of that is the opportunity to get to know myself better. And to me, that’s what it means to be “spiritual”…it is having a relationship with yourself, making a conscious effort to understand all your layers, to own and embrace every part of you that is “good” and “bad”, and to then earnestly serve the world from this place of truth and clarity.

As I gaze out the plane window at the magnificent sky, the sun shining its ever-present light on layers and layers of clouds, I am filled with awe for this breathtakingly beautiful place we are blessed to call our home, our Mother Earth. And I am reminded of how small I am in the context of the planet…not small in a self-deprecating way, but in a way that overwhelms me with respect and reverence and, perhaps most potently, gratitude that I get to be a part of this amazing project of Life.

I am also reminded of a notepad I had as a child. This notepad had cartoon, personified potatoes on it, and the caption read: “In the big scheme of things, we’re all just small potatoes.” At the time I bought that notepad, I actually had no idea what that saying meant. I’ve never been particularly good with American clichés, as we didn’t use them in my family. So I assumed it was nonsense, like the nonsensical sayings you often find on Asian stationery (ex: purple blooms fancy in the morning bear). But now I understand that what seemed to be silly gibberish was a rather poignant and layered lesson. We are all small potatoes rooted in our shared Earth and supported by Mother Nature, with the not-so-small purpose to contribute to the flourishing of all forms of Life. And all of our seemingly enormous yet ephemeral problems themselves are small potatoes when considered in the context of all things, in the big scheme of love unconditional and life so abundant.

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Follow-up || 11 November 2009

2009-11-25T14:06:00.001-08:00

I am nearing the end of Day 2 since I finished the Cleanse (or perhaps it’s Day 10 of my new way of eating!). Amazingly, I have not yet had coffee or a bagel! What?! I simply haven’t felt like it. I haven’t been able to eat as purely, freshly, and healthily as I would like, because I had to do some lunch and dinner meetings that I had postponed during the Cleanse. That is probably the most challenging part about this new way of eating: having to eat out / being on the road. I need to accept that, and to be okay with doing my best, especially as I am approaching a month of travel to commence in a few days.

My body craves and prefers fresh fruits and veggies, even if it means I have to go down to the market, come home and wash, prepare, and cook everything myself. It definitely feels like eating is more of a whole body nourishment now, rather than satisfying these demanding little taste buds of mine. The body is more intelligent than the mind as far as what is good for the body, and it’s like the Cleanse gave the body a proper opportunity to speak up and strengthen its voice over the chatter of the mind.

During the Cleanse, when I would go to the grocery store and see junk food, I was able to see my mental processing of the junk food. I saw the kettle chips placed strategically near the cash registers. The usual mental dialogue I have is something like this: “Mmmm, kettle chips. Should I get some today? No, I know they’re bad for me. But mmmm they will taste sooo good! No, I’m going to be disciplined today.” Of course every now and then, I succumb, and I might allow myself one of the smaller snack-sized bags (which usually end up just being a tease). During the Cleanse, however, the mental dialogue was much simpler. I had my rules, and I was committed to following them for the 7-day period. So as I was looking at the chips, instead of being caught up in wishing I could eat them, I was aware that I was wishing I could eat them. And it was like I was able to see the desire, and once I could see it, it didn’t have as strong of an effect on me. I didn’t need to talk myself out of buying it. It was so simple: why would I want to pay for and eat something that is not good for me??

Mindful eating really is a practice in self-awareness!

The ladies of the Ultimate Energy Cleanse (who again, have been soooo helpful with their responses to my barrage of questions) say that the foods from the Cleanse will serve well as a “foundation”, but that it’s probably important to add more protein into your regular diet. I definitely agree with that, especially since I am a fairly active yogini. I’ve also started to reconsider the Eat Right for Your Blood Type Diet, which I came across several years ago. I googled some information on that, and I’m going to apply as much of those guidelines as feel right for me.

All of this has deepened my understanding of and appreciation for food and for my body. And even though it takes more planning and more effort than calling in for a pizza, it feels so much better. In the short run, I don’t feel bloated, heavy, or tired after eating, and therefore I have a lot of fresh and happy energy and I don’t feel the need to caffeinate myself. In the long run, I reckon there may be bigger benefits to my health and wellness.

We’ll see!

Let me know if you have any questions. With BIG DELICIOUS LOVE! Leah xo

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 7 || 9 November 2009

2009-11-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! I just had my last serving of Chinese Herbs and I am nearing the end of my official Cleanse.

I celebrated with a Mango “Daiquiri” this afternoon, and dinner was a cold salad (Avocado and Sprout Salad) and a warm salad (Asparagus and Arugula Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette on Quinoa). After I digest (at least 1 hour after a small meal; 2 hours after a large meal), I will probably treat myself to apple slices with chai spice chutney. ALL HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH!

I am really very grateful to the ladies behind the Ultimate Energy Cleanse. I so appreciate their enthusiasm for healthy living and their belief in this Cleanse. They have well-prepared the kit; I’m particularly grateful for the stellar recipes they suggest. Each one I made was honestly so delicious! Also, I probably sent them an email every day asking one question or another, and they replied to each and every one in a timely manner. Great product; great service!

I’m even convinced that the uber expensive products are worth it. (If you’ve never tried grade b organic maple syrup, you absolutely must.) My father has always said, “You get what you pay for!” and I constantly find validation for this statement. When I was living in Santa Monica, it was relatively easy to go organic for everything. Even though organic products would still cost a bit more than conventional ones, the difference was usually nominal. Here in Hong Kong, however, organic is much more expensive. On top of organic normally costing more, most of our produce in general has to be imported. I haven’t done the research, but I bet the majority of our produce is imported. There aren’t many Hong Kong companies that manufacture organic body products either. So, nearly all organic products are imported. But I sincerely believe that organic tastes better because it is better...more love, care, and consciousness has gone into the final product. You might even say an organic apple has better energy than a conventional one!

That said, I am concerned about the carbon footprint factor. Ideally, one would eat organic and locally grown foods. For me, that isn’t feasible, so I wonder, while I am putting better quality foods into my body, what about the global body that I’m affecting negatively?

The best that I can do is balance all these factors out. I try to buy as much organic produce from China (although, who knows really what their standards are, right?!), and I try to be mindful about staying within my budget. I certainly don’t want to be living on the street because of my attachment to organic foods!

All in all, the entire process was way less challenging and way more exciting and delicious than I expected. I feel very light, clean, clear, and energized. I truly see the value and necessity of incorporating tons of fresh fruits and veggies in my diet. I think that’s the biggest realization (aside from the amazing realization that I’m not a terrible cook): that even though I was eating some fruit and some veggies everyday, I can do with a much greater percentage of it. I can’t imagine not taking most of the newly learned practices into my everyday life!

Of course…plus (organic) coffee…at least every now and then.

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 6 || 8 November 2009

2009-11-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

Good morning to me (and you, of course)! All week I have been waking up, pausing at the foot of the bed for a moment of gratitude, and looking out the window to be face-to-face with the day. Then I walk over to the kitchen to start preparing my nourishing and nutritious meals. This morning I made my herbal tea with raw honey, juiced carrots/celery/parsley/cucumbers (which is actually much tastier than I thought it would be), and prepared a fruit platter of Japanese grapes, blueberries, and strawberries. So great!

Ever since I was about 11 years old, I have been health-conscious. Back then, though, it came from fear of getting fat. In fact, compared to all the girls I was seeing in magazines and movies, I thought I was already fat; in reality, I was a typically small little Asian girl. My family would tell you that I had very healthy eating habits. But of course at 11 years old, I wasn’t that informed on what was truly good for my body, so I usually followed the latest diet trend (that undoubtedly some celebrity credited as having given her the body she now had). I remember doing Cindy Crawford workout videos, and then eating a bowl of plain lettuce, which I didn’t know actually has very little nutritious value. I mainly looked to avoid “fat”, even steering away from nuts, avocados, and coconuts, which offer the “good fat”.

Looking back, I can now see that I wasn’t so much health-conscious as weight-conscious, and this mindset culminated in college. I was in a TaeBo class at UCLA (those were my favorite because I’d read somewhere that you can burn 800 calories in an hour) when I started to feel sick with dizziness, nausea, and a cold sweat. My heart was pounding in my chest, threatening to burst through my sternum. Luckily a friend was taking the class with me, and I told her I had to leave. She drove me home and tucked me into bed, and called my roommates to let them know that something was wrong. No, it wasn’t the exertion of TaeBo, but rather the diet pills I had taken before class. I unfortunately can’t remember what these diet pills were called, but they were advertised in all the magazines at the time. I am pretty sure I bought them without telling anyone, because my gut knew that my loved ones would surely talk some sense into my misperceiving mind. I stopped taking them immediately after this incident, but couldn’t bring myself to throw them out right away. This was my attachment to 1) wanting to lose weight and 2) not being able to see that I didn’t need to lose weight in the first place.

That isn’t to say that I was perfectly fit or that there wasn’t room for self-improvement; there always is. I was just thinking and going about it all the wrong way.

Soon after, I found yoga, and my focus and perspective on so many things started to change. In a nutshell, I stopped trying to change myself or to achieve an external ideal. I honestly stopped caring about losing weight or even getting rid of fat. My efforts turned to self-acceptance and self-love, the idea that everything – including me – was already perfect exactly as it was, and overall wellness and balance of body/mind/spirit. From this internal shift, the outer/physical changes I had been wanting started to happen naturally.

Naturally. I think that’s how Nature intended us to be, eat, and live.

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 5.5 || 8 November 2009

2009-11-25T13:59:00.001-08:00

Feeling sooooo great! Dinner was salad with the RAW dressing I made a couple days ago and split pea soup. I also made a special dish of baked mushrooms for my boyfriend. The soup took about 3 !! hours to make, and smelled kinda funky, but ended up being really delicious! For dessert I made chai spice chutney and baked apples. WOW! Seriously tasty. I have never cooked this much before in my life, but I’m loving it. I always assumed I couldn’t cook, but actually it turns out that I am not too shabby. What an exciting bonus to the Cleanse.

I’m not feeling bloated anymore, and even after eating very generous portions, I don’t feel sluggish or stuffed. It’s rather incredible. People continue telling me I look very bright and awake and healthy, and I truly have much more energy than usual.

That said, I am envisioning what I will eat on Tuesday. So far I’m thinking organic coffee made at home, a bagel with loads of raw veggies, and for dinner, SUSHI! I do plan on continuing to juice fruits and veggies on a daily basis, and have full days where I eat exactly as I am eating on the Cleanse. I was already mostly vegetarian anyway, but now that I know how to prepare several dishes at home, it will be easier and more fun!

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 4.5 || 7 November 2009

2009-11-25T13:58:00.001-08:00

Friday night at 3a, and I am still up taking care of the logisitcs of life. As a yogi, I “should” be up early in the day, doing my meditation / practice, but I am such a night owl. I think it is because the energy of nighttime is quieter and more peaceful, as most people have drifted into their unconscious minds of sleep, truly having surrendered their usual thought patterns. I am very surprised that I have had so much energy these past few days with zero caffeine. In fact, I daresay I have a more consistent stream of energy than when I enjoy my mid-morning coffee. But, today was the first day I wished I could have my ritualistic beverage of choice, along with a bite of the pecan pie with vanilla bean ice cream that my friends all enjoyed at a dinner party. Their sounds of “mmmm” and their detailed description of the dessert’s deliciousness did not help, but I am happy they got to eat it!

Practicing yoga has been pretty incredible. I definitely feel a difference in my body, mostly related to flexibility. I don’t generally feel inflexible, but on the Cleanse, I have been feeling extremely flexible. Truly putty-like. It also feels deeply nurturing to be in asanas…just yummy, sweet, good. The yoga high is extremely potent, particularly in the physical body. It was almost scary how deep my backbends were…but, I felt less grounded through my legs. For example, when I tried to stand up from Wheel – which usually isn’t a problem – I wobbled and opted to kneel down instead of trying to land on my feet. So it seems that I have more flexibility, but less strength.

I feel bloated, which I’m not sure is normal or not. My belly feels full of liquid, which it is, with the morning and night teas, the liver flush, the master cleanse lemonade, fruit / veg juices, and water. It might just be the liquids, or, maybe something else is going on.

So I’m done with the Liver Flush Days and moving into the All-Green Days where the focus shifts to the colon. That means, goodbye quinoa! And goodnight to you.

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 2 || 4 November 2009

2009-11-25T13:56:00.001-08:00

I’m sitting again with a cup of tea; this time it’s a Lemon Ginger Herbal tea. Surprisingly, I haven’t been craving coffee at all! I told myself that whatever I’m “giving up” for this weeklong period, I can have again on Day 8 if I want. Put into perspective, it’s really not that big of a deal! Plus, raw honey in my tea is absolutely divine.

Yesterday was not terrible, but not easy. I was assaulted with a brain-bumping headache for pretty much the entire day. Luckily, I went to a Yoga Therapy class with Deva at Pure Yoga, and he taught these amazingly simple neck strengthening movements that momentarily completely alleviated the painful throbbing. I’ve also had pretty intense lower back pain for a day and a half now, and I can’t seem to relieve it at all. No conventional medicine is allowed, but I did go for an acupuncture session, which helped a bit. I think it’s just a process that needs to happen, so I’m trying to surrender to it. My healer-friend Peggy says that this low back pain relates to the kidney and gall bladder meridians, which hold fear, uncertainties, and frustrations. So if this temporary pain means an excavation of negative energies - good riddance!

Today was much better in general. I’m actually having a lot of fun preparing everything at home. I’m basically standing at the kitchen sink for the majority of the day, whether I’m washing, cutting, or peeling fruits or veggies; juicing, blending, or cooking; or washing dishes. It’s kind of a pain in the ass, to be perfectly honest, but it’s worth it! It feels great to know exactly what I am putting in my body, to know that it is all food that is very alive and nourishing, and without the torture of animals (although I did wonder today, how do we know that this sprig of parsley didn’t cry out in agony when it was plucked from its roots??). The recipes provided in the Booklet are excellent, and I have successfully made and enjoyed: herbed quinoa pilaf, fabulous RAW dressing, butternut squash soup, and roasted portabella. I’ve never minced so much garlic before in my life, but it really does make everything more delicious. Even my carnivorous boyfriend has been enjoying the healthy dishes, and is already trying to guilt-trip me into continuing to make them after the Cleanse (which I totally plan to anyway!). I’m definitely not left hungry, because I can eat as much as I want from the list of allowed foods, and with all the juice that I’m drinking (Master Cleanse lemonade, liver flush, fresh fruit / veg juices), it really doesn’t feel like there is much empty space in my belly to fill.

I will say that I am grateful for quinoa, as it is the only allowed grain (along with millet, though I’m not quite sure what that is). In this carb-conscious world, I don’t know many people who unabashedly love and regularly hoard bread as much as I do, so that has been a bit challenging, but definitely not impossible.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror earlier, and noticed that my face seems brighter and more alive, the whites of my eyes are super white. And each time I take a dosage of the herbs, I temporarily feel a bit high and lightheaded, which is always fun.

Trotting forward!

Ultimate Energy Cleanse || Day 1 || 3 November 2009

2009-11-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

I think it was summer 2008 that I first heard about the Ultimate Energy Cleanse, from Seane Corn. She was in town (Hong Kong) teaching her Detox Flow Workshop. I really appreciate her as a teacher because she speaks about energy, the chakras, and “being spiritual” in such a practical even tangible way. This language works really well for me because even though I feel Truth in my heart and Prana moving through me, I am a child of the contemporary Western world, and therefore it’s helpful for my mind to be able to intellectualize the yogi experience. It’s also especially helpful for me as a teacher to be able to talk to people of all kinds of backgrounds, including the skeptical left-brained yogi. Seane is really inspiring in this way.

Seane’s teachings about detoxification go two ways: “It’s not just what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you.” Intuitively, I already understood the latter part, hence, working on non-reactivity, inner peace, letting go of negativity, etc. Intellectually, I have been back and forth about the former. When I first hopped on the yoga-bandwagon, I wanted to try everything that most yogis seemed to be doing. I went vegetarian, vegan, raw, organic-everything from soap to socks … I even bought an ૐ sticker for my beetle convertible (I never put it on). In time, I discovered that any sort of extremist mentality simply wasn’t me. I felt like I was being pulled out of balance. So I let go of these external expectations to be a “good” or proper yogi, and focused more on honing into my own inner voice of truth, and figuring out what was perfect for me.

I was always curious about fasts and cleanses, as people who did them absolutely raved about the experience, namely about how high they felt. Sounded great to me! But one of my friends told me that she had done a juice fast for 108 days, and at the end of it, she was left with little scar marks on her face, because she had pulled her body out of balance. This friend is absolutely beautiful and you don’t notice the marks, but her story definitely served as caution for me. Along with a very sad story about a fellow student from my home studio in Santa Monica, who had just come out of a 1-month fast, and was attending a gathering where perhaps he ate too much too fast (apparently you have to be very slow and careful when bringing yourself back to regular eating after a fast), and somehow, he died that night.

I realize these are extreme examples, but they – along with my own “extreme yogi” experiences – were enough to steer me clear of any fasts. I continued to learn about them, and cleanses, and watched many friends go through them (successfully and happily), but it just never clicked into place for me. I was aware that part of it was fear and attachment. I was afraid it’d be too hard or that I might fail. And, I was very attached to my daily cup of coffee. Partly I didn’t want it to negatively affect my teaching, as fellow teachers would go through cleanses (usually the Master Cleanse) and share with me how difficult it was to teach their 3-5 classes/day (which is hard enough as it is!). Partly, and I think most importantly, it just wasn’t the right time.

When Seane told us about the Ultimate Energy Cleanse, I was very interested. “You can eat, and eat a lot!” she said. You just have to stick to the guidelines, which are pretty strict, but sensibly so. You’re basically on a fruit and vegetable diet for 7 days, and you take Chinese herbs to flush the liver and cleanse the colon. You also drink the Master Cleanser on each day. You must omit, among other things, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and grains except quinoa and millet.

I went to California soon after Seane’s workshop, and brought the Cleanse back to HK with me. For a slew of reasons (read: excuses), I didn’t start on it right away. In fact, a year would pass before I actually started preparing for it!

About a week ago, I started feeling indifferent about drinking coffee. I know that might sound silly, but coffee is my favorite indulgence that I admittedly have a physical and psychological attachment to. I also started randomly remembering things I’ve learned from Seane, and I noticed I kept quoting her as I talked to friends. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, I opened the Ultimate Energy Cleanse information booklet, and effortlessly decided that now was (finally) the right time. I felt no fear or worry, but surprisingly, I was excited!

I have about 10 days before I set off for another month of travel, so the timing seems good for my schedule. I did need a couple days to stock my kitchen with Cleanse-friendly products like Grade B maple syrup (is it really that different from Grade A, I wondered, as I compared the prices), organic first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (never knew that many words could be used to describe oil), and Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acid (which I’d never heard about).

So here I sit, with my morning cup of DeCaffe Roast Herbal Tea (from YogiTea), embarking upon what’s sure to be, at the very least, an interesting experience.

Loving my Korean roots!

2009-10-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

**If you can't be bothered with all the hyperlinks but want to see my latest photos, click here.

An nyoung ha se yo!

Most of you probably know that that means "Hello!" in Korean. =)

Life has been super sweet and super blessed here in Asia. If you've caught glimpses of my Facebook or Twitter updates, you know that I've been traveling around a lot. Most recently, I spent 10 days in Korea. This trip included my brother MYK's performance at the Epik High concert, an interview with Joongang Ilbo (a major Korean newspaper), and a family getaway to Jeju Island. Oh--- and my uncle is now Prime Minister!

The interview / article about me is obviously in Korean, and I will do my best to try to translate it, but as my Korean vocabulary is rather limited, it will likely take awhile. If there's anyone who'd be interested in translating it for me, please let me know! ;)

To my boyfriend's delight, I returned to Hong Kong freshly inspired to (finally) try my hand at cooking! I've somewhat successfully made some Korean dishes (thanks to my mom and my brother's stellar girlfriend, Jung Mi) and some of my best friend Julie's dishes (veggies and noodles for Pad Thai soaking as I type).

It's been 2 months since I left Pure Yoga, and I have been living my once thought to be far-fetched dream of teaching yoga around the world. I now add Amsterdam, Shanghai, and Beijing to my list of cities where I've taught, with Sydney, Wellington (New Zealand), and hopefully other locations to come. I'll be sharing more details about this adventure very soon!!

With big love,
Leah

Surfing the Vinyasa Wave with Simon Park + Julia Horn

2009-08-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

My latest article as posted on The Source Asia.com.

Latest photos

2009-07-06T02:23:00.001-07:00

My middle wave of 2009 photos:
Hong Kong
Korea
Amsterdam

And California 2009 photos.

Follow me on Twitter @leahkimyoga

9 June 2009: Awaken to Your Truth

2009-06-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote an article for Hong Kong's Namaskar magazine about bringing more global consciousness into our daily habits, in an effort to embody our vision of a cleaner, healthier world, both within ourselves and expanding to our greater, tangible planet. In the article, I suggested replacing disposable plastic bottles with a more sustainable option, such as SIGG bottles. In response, a good friend and fellow yogi // truth seeker suggested that actually, SIGG may not be the best recommendation if a clean inner world is what we’re looking to create and maintain. She directed me to Real Green Girl’s blog, and since then, I have somewhat unsuccessfully been trying to unearth the mystery surrounding a debate that apparently has been ongoing for several years, completely unbeknownst to me – and I’m guessing, unbeknownst to most of us. (Unbeknownst is such a good word, I just had to find a way to use it twice!) (Thrice!)

I am not a professional researcher of facts (is that an actual job, I wonder?), a scientist or chemist; I am also not affiliated to any company that manufactures any sort of bottle, sustainable or not, toxic or not. I am simply a yogi, and to me, that means I seek the truth…I do my best to choose the middle, enlightened way closest to nature…I strive for balance…I try to keep my heart and my mind open.

I think it’s important that I share the above with you, so you know what inspired my amateur quest into all of this, and also so you can understand the nature of my so-called research and resulting suggestion to you. So, here it is…

Real Green Girl is adamant that SIGG is not trustworthy. A further read into her two blog entries dated 21 July 2008 and 6 October 2008 (which include external links and comments) will help you understand where she’s coming from, and perhaps even inspire you to do your own research, which is what I have been doing.

SIGG has never been transparent about what the inner lining of their aluminum bottles are made of. Aluminum, of course, has long known to be toxic, so in order for SIGG to make aluminum bottles, they need to line the interior with something non-toxic (or so one would hope). In January 2008, the President of SIGG, Steve Wasik, publicized a letter explaining that the formula of the lining was a secret because their 3rd-party supplier/producer of the formula had SIGG under contract to keep it confidential, to prevent copycat production. I managed to find a morsel of illuminating information through a company that sells SIGG products (and that assured me via email that SIGG was absolutely safe). This company notes on their website: “The special SIGG lining is not plastic - it is a micro-thin epoxy.“ Oh. Okay…but, what’s an epoxy?

Let’s hold that thought for a moment.

So, SIGG is adamant about having to maintain confidentiality regarding their formula, and perhaps on one hand, we can all understand that; it’s why patents and trademarks exist. What seems suspect is that after they made such a big deal about not disclosing their formula, in January 2009, they went and changed it! Devil’s Advocate would postulate that they changed it in response to the conscious public’s problem with their secrecy, and the ensuing suspicion that epoxy might be a fancy way of saying plastic. Plastic, of course, is currently under fire for being toxic, which is the reason a company like SIGG, offering (supposedly) non-plastic, reusable bottles has risen. According to the President’s update letter, their new and (supposedly) improved liner is called the SIGG EcoCare Liner, and he cites “innovation”, “technological advance”, and “sustainability” as reasons for the change. This new liner is “a bake-on, polymer powder coating.” Oh. Okay…but what, now, is a polymer?

Wiki says that epoxy IS a polymer, so even without understanding the chemical composition of these substances, I wonder if the liner perhaps hasn’t essentially changed? Could it all be clever marketing to confuse the average consumer who doesn’t understand this vocabulary? Wiki’s epoxy entry states: “Most common epoxy resins are produced from a reaction between epichlorohydrin and bisphenol-A” (aka “BPA”, aka the major culprit of toxicity in plastic!). According to Real Green Girl’s research, this synthesis results in an amber-colored solid. Furthermore, Wiki lists the common uses of epoxy and polymers, and these uses include paint, adhesives, and plumbing sealants.

(Ew.)

My friend and I inspected the inside of our SIGG bottles (I have four in my home!), and found that my older bottles have an amber-colored lining (possibly the result of the aforementioned synthesis of epichlorohydrin and BPA?) whereas her newer bottle has a silver-colored lining. It could be that hers has the new EcoCare Liner, which possibly is a true improvement, but I personally still don’t feel good about “bake-on polymer powder coating.” It’s like that Breyer’s ice cream commercial, where the ingredients are all words you can pronounce, such as “vanilla” and “milk”, as opposed to the ingredients of less natural brands of ice cream that list chemical names or codes of artificial flavorings and additives.

Sure, SIGG bottles may have undergone “independent” “testing” to ensure no “detectable” leaching, and an “independent” “PhD” may have offered his endorsement of these tests, but I can’t help but be reminded of those cheesy infomercials I used to watch when I was younger, totally convinced that a vibrating exercise belt was going to give me a six-pack if I just wore it around my belly for a few minutes a day. That “independent” “doctor” promised it would work...

So, now what?

I would love it if SIGG were more forthright and clear in their communications, and I wish I could believe their claims of safety and sustainability. But as I run all of this through my own personal filter of what feels right or wrong, I am leaning towards the latter. And I’m totally bummed, not only because I own several SIGG bottles, but also because I have been urging my loved ones to get their own. It seems SIGG has been exploiting my world of yogis and other health-conscious people, whilst they themselves may not be so conscious.

Still, I am aware that I may not really know what I’m talking about. So I offer my personal thoughts to you, and ask you to now move forward with what resonates with you. Perhaps we look in places other than Whole Foods and take Real Green Girl’s suggestion to go with Klean Kanteen’s food-grade, stainless steel bottles (or check out the 100% stainless steel options from Laken or even SIGG). Perhaps we all migrate to the mountains where we can drink fresh water from the source (but then, what about bugs and animal feces, right?!). Perhaps the only choice we can make in this situation is choosing the lesser evil.

Whatever you make of all this and ultimately decide, I urge you to run it through your own personal filter. There is so much divine and worldly intelligence within you. Awaken to that. And then think, speak, and act from that awakened place.

PS If you'd like to read my original article, please send me an email! Or download the PDF here.

25 January 2009: A journey into new lands at the Lunar New Year

2009-02-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

It is my last night in Vietnam. I write to you from a lesser known city called Da Lat, encased by surprisingly rich pine forests reminiscent of those found in California...dotted with glistening lakes...simply and breathtakingly beautiful.

I have been traveling with my friend Karen, combining a yoga training/retreat (led by one of my teachers, Twee Merrigan) and a journey into new lands. Our travels began a couple weeks ago in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), with a rude awakening reminder to not be naive little tourists. Though we'd been warned of swindlers, we had been in the country but 10 minutes before getting cheated by an opportunistic taxi driver. He came right up to us and asked if we needed a taxi into the city. We already knew that it should cost about 8 USD but when he told us that it cost 500,000 Vietnamese Dong, we became flustered as we struggled to figure out the conversion. We had just exchanged our Hong Kong Dollars and were still trying to wrap our minds around the exchange rate (2,120 HKD = 1,000 VND or 17,500 USD = 1,000 VND…whattttt???). Karen, much better with numbers than I am, quickly did the math in her head and said he was asking for 30 USD. He said, “Nooo! It is 9 USD!”, making her second guess herself. I stood by totally useless as he grabbed my suitcase and ushered us towards his cab, saying, “9 USD Okay? Okay?” He then literally took the Dong out of my hands, and we were well on our way before we pulled out our BlackBerrys to use the calculator function to confirm that yes, Karen had been correct in her mental calculation and yes, we had just gotten ripped off.

Doh!

We stayed at the Saigon Mini Hotel, a boutique hotel that seems typical to Vietnam. These hotels resemble townhouses, having about 4-5 stories; the first story is like the main floor of any home with a living room and a kitchen and the guest rooms are on the floors above. We stayed in their most expensive room at 50 USD/night. The Saigon Mini is technically a “business” hotel, but it was homey and clean, the staff helpful and friendly. It’s a bit off of any main road, which is nice in a loud and busy city like Saigon.

Armed with the Luxe guide, we walked around town, doing our tourist duty by visiting the Cathedral (closed around noon, so we didn’t get to go inside), the old Post Office (straight from the ‘50s), and the Reunification Palace (could have skipped this one). Ton That Thiep was our favorite little area, with a sweet little spa called Jasmine where we had a massage, a hair wash, and a mani/pedi all for about 45 USD. Such a treat! The best part of our stay in Saigon was the food. We had delicious, fresh, healthy, and super inexpensive meals at Quan An Ngon, Bun Ta, and Cha Ca Hanoi: all DEFINITELY recommended! Other than that, it’s just about walking around and people-watching on major streets such as Le Loi and Dong Khoi, and at Tao Dan Park. Oh, and learning not to get run over by the gazillion motorbikes going in every direction with very little discretion! Strangely, though, I noticed there is an order to the disorder of it all, and you could even say there is an art to weaving in and out of the thick traffic, a dance, if you will. My Budokon teacher Kancho Cameron Shayne once explained the art of practicing martial arts as not being about competition or violence, but rather a skillful dance between two beings, totally present and aware of each others’ intentions and movements. You could say crossing the streets of Saigon was sort of like that. Plus plenty of loud, unnecessary horn honking.

From Saigon we went to Hoi An, a beautiful beach town outside of Da Nang (which itself looked rather uninteresting). Our retreat was held at the Palm Garden Resort, which was just lovely…right on the beach (a vast shoreline of super soft white sand), huge pool, beautiful grounds. Food at the hotel wasn’t exceptional, though, and communication (in general here) was pretty tough. The weather was a comfortably warm 25-ish degrees Celsius most of the time, except for the very first night, which was a freezing 17 degrees – the coldest Hoi An had been since 1975!

The training/retreat was so perfect. Thank you to wonderful Nicky of Breathing Room Yoga for putting it together! Every morning began with a Prana Flow Master Class (sometimes practice would be over 4 hours long!), and the Teacher Training on Energetic Alignment was on the first 3 days. Twee is a senior teacher of Shiva Rea and the Prana Flow tribe. She has been on her Soul Connections Tour over the past couple years, traveling all across the globe to share her love and knowledge of yoga. She is a highly inspiring and inspired teacher, truly embodying the flow of yoga in all of life. I encourage all yogis to seek her out if she’s ever in your town. Please follow the hyperlinks for more information.

Hoi An’s city center is known as Ancient Town, because much of the city’s original architecture has been maintained and turned into shops and cafes for tourists. It is – as all the guidebooks say – completely charming, and the vibe is chilled out and laid back…perfect for this native Californian! Meals in town were simply amazing, particularly the Hoi An specialties of Cao Lau, White Rose (delicately made dumplings), and Fried Wonton. Loads of fresh veggies adorned all plates, and practically everything could be made vegetarian. Our favorite spots were: Mango Room, Ly’s Café 22, Hai Café, Red Bridge Restaurant, and Cargo Club (aka our drug dealer, as their Vietnamese White Coffee was so addictive that we went back day after day for more). Most of these restaurants overlook Hoi An River, which runs along one side of town. There was also this BBQ spot on the beach near the resort where we had some of the freshest seafood ever, especially the squid, which we ordered seconds of before we finished off the first order.

The one thing I could have done without was the evening cooking class at Hai Café. The food at the restaurant is delicious, but the class left much to be desired. It was not at all “hands-on”, as everything was already prepared before our arrival, and we basically watched the chef do it all. Apparently, the full day sessions are much more involving and interesting. The one thing I wish I did do was a bike ride through the rice paddies. A couple of the other girls went, and their photos were just amazing.

I celebrated my birthday in Hoi An, complete with a "sacred chant Twee learned from a Hungarian woman" (ie “Happy Birthday”), balloons, a sunset boat ride down the river, gluttonous chocolate mousse cake, and everything courtesy of my tribe – the whole entire day! It’s Twee’s birthday rule, and I was happy – and so grateful – to oblige. I’m still so high and happy from all the love…not to mention the nearly 200 emails/texts/Facebook messages I have received. Wow! Seriously, I feel so loved, and so humbled by everyone’s thoughtfulness. Thank you for thinking of me!

And so we have found our way to Da Lat, a mountainous area about 300 miles (45 min flight) from Saigon. Like California, much of Da Lat is covered in farmland. Apparently many western fruits and vegetables that don’t normally grow in Southeast Asia, like strawberries, are grown here because of its dryer, milder climate. Fruit here is exceptionally sweet, and we’ve been treated to heaps of pineapple, mango, watermelon, dragon fruit, passion fruit, bananas, and pomelo for breakfast. BREAD is so delicious all over Vietnam, and I’ve definitely taken advantage of that, as it’s very hard to get proper bread in Hong Kong.

We’re staying at Dreams, another boutique hotel that is rated #1 on several travel sites, even before the uber posh Sofitel. We decided that 25 USD/night was too good to pass up. It’s fine…clean enough, with hot water and a recently renovated bathroom, but the bathtub leaks and I dropped a piece of cracker (ok, maybe it was a few pieces…) and in no time we were visited by ants. The included breakfast I mentioned above is fantastic though, and the service is very good. Still, I think next time I will pay twice as much and stay at the Novotel. We had a great Sunday brunch there, as well as high tea at the Sofitel, which were each only 15 USD! Everything in Vietnam is so cheap, but in 13 days, I still managed to spend over 6 MILLION Dong! (Can you figure out the conversion?)

Other than food, Da Lat is about relaxing and strolling around. Whether you take a simple walk around the artificial (but still lovely) Xuan Houng Lake right in the center of town, or take a more intense trek up Pinhatt Mountain like we did (even though we requested a relaxing, easy walk) to take in an incredible view, there are many ways to enjoy the natural beauty of the countryside. It’s been a perfect way to decompress our yoga’d out selves, in preparation for our return to Hong Kong on Lunar New Year’s Day. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with my man, my friends, and my students, and to more birthday and New Year celebrations!

Gratitude to the beautiful country and people of Vietnam...
Cheers to the Year of the Ox…
Big love to you!

PS 200+ photos here! I suggest viewing in the Detail option as you'll see about 20 photos per page and can pretty quickly scan through the album.

6 October 2008: plastic bottles?

2008-10-06T01:44:00.000-07:00

A quick (6 minutes) and informative news story clip on whether plastic bottles are safe...

...and alternative reusable bottles here. I got mine at Whole Foods, and I LOVE it!

ps Randy Pausch

2008-09-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all already heard of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture... I had, but I hadn't checked it out until today. (I'm nursing a cold so I'm lounging around at home seeking internet inspirations.) Wow. Love it. Love him. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. There's also another great lecture called Time Management. You'll find both here.

Sending so much love and gratitude to him and his family. (Randy passed away in July.)

30 September 2008: i heart Seane Corn

2008-09-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

Seane Corn rocks! A beautiful, inspiring, and empowering yogi and human being, she lives and breathes her message of yoga Off the Mat, Into the World. I never tire of her teachings.

Quick video of Seane demonstrating yoga as body prayer and a great audio interview with her that you can download for free.

24 September 2008: Changing, cleansing winds

2008-09-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

From one side of the planet to the other and back, crossing multiple time zones and logging countless miles of travel (unfortunately leaving quite the carbon footprint along the way)...I'm back in Hong Kong, feeling more supported, more grounded, and more ME. By taking flight, I've reconnected to my roots...by digging deeper into my foundation, I've awakened more pranic energy to rebound up and out. Push down into your soles to radiate out through your soul! I am refreshed, I am inspired, I am infinitely grateful.

I've been back for a couple weeks and I'm still calculating the time difference to wonder what my loved ones in Cali and NYC might be up to. The weather here was beautiful at first, but it seems China has reopened the factories they shut down for the Olympics because each day seems to bring more and more pollution, and we're currently under a Typhoon 8 warning which means the city shuts down and everyone's advised to stay indoors.

I miss the crisp, clean air of the Bay Area. I miss my Nala. I miss all my loved ones and how normal and easy it was to regularly see and talk to everyone. Every now and then I feel the raw emptiness of separation and distance, and it hurts, but through deep breathing it transforms into gratitude that I have such love in my life to miss.

What was confirmed for me on this first trip back to the States since my decision to move is that Hong Kong really is my home now. I love California but I've spent practically my whole life there. I had a deliciously good time (delicious and healthy!) being back in town, but I really missed Hong Kong. It's definitely time to explore and flourish within a different place, culture, and lifestyle.

So here I am - enjoying taking the subway again (the cleanliness of which I appreciate so much more after taking the NYC subway, ew!)...enjoying walking around the ever-changing cityscape and bumping into friends around every corner...enjoying lazy afternoons on the boat, swaying with the water...enjoying these changing, cleansing winds that typhoons bring.

There's just something intoxicating about this place. Come visit and see for yourselves! ;)

Before I close, a couple offerings for you: photos from my journey and a class for your downloading pleasure on YogiChocolate.com (called Flying High & Twisting It Up). I taught and recorded it at Santa Monica Power Yoga on donation basis and you can download it on donation basis as well! Thanks for your support, enjoy, and pass it on!!

To those of you whom I didn't get to spend time with - especially near the end of my trip when I was overwhelmed with things I needed to take care of - I'm so sorry to have missed you, but hopefully we will see each other next time around.

Wishing you well on all of your adventures!!

Big love,
Leah

Today is 26 Aug- schedule update!

2008-08-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Oh my...the past couple weeks have been a near-blinding whirlwind (with WAY too much driving)!! I'm so sorry if I haven't yet gotten in touch with you personally. I'm trying my best but there's just so much love to go around in such seemingly short time!

I am still in the States and have about 2 more weeks left. Here's my itinerary:

Wed-Mon: Santa Monica (come take my class on the 30th @ 11a @ SMPY East)
Tues-Sat: NYC
Sat the 6th night: last night out and about in Santa Monica (holla at me if you're out and about too!)
7th-8th: Los Altos (let me know if you want to drop by my parents' place while I'm packing & prepping to head back to Hong Kong)

If you could, please get in touch with me if you want to catch up while I'm around. My schedule's a bit too constrained for all the 1-on-1s I'd like to do, but let me know if you want to help me sort through my storage crate this Thurs/Fri (and take some stuff of my hands if you need any housewares, etc)...or help me sell my VW 2003 Beetle Convertible...or practice together. Ok, I'm just joking about the first 2 (unless you're interested??) but it'd be great to take a class together! I will most likely be taking the following classes (and yes, I realize I am a total yogi nerdburger for trying to schedule this in advance):

Santa Monica (28th-1st)
Thurs 9a @ SMPY West with Rudy
Fri 830p @ SMPY West with Ally
Sun 8a &/or 215p @ SMPY East with Bryan or Jay Co
Mon 715a @ Yoga Works Montana with Kathryn Budig

NYC (3rd-6th)
Wed 6p & 730p with Dharma Mittra
Fri/Sat @ Pure Yoga with Twee (master classes)

Santa Monica (7th)
Sun 8a @ SMPY East with Bryan

Palo Alto (8th)
Mon 930a @ Yoga Source with Susan

Let me know if any of the above fits your schedule and interest and we can coordinate our mat space together. ;)

BIG BIG BUBBLING LOVE!

4 August 2008: I’m going, going back, back to Cali, Cali…

2008-08-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

…this Thursday (the 7^th)! My boyfriend and I will start our trip in NorCal, staying with my parents in Los Altos, going to my very dear friends Jen & Christian’s wedding in Santa Cruz, and making our way through the Bay Area’s most beautiful spots including Monterey, San Francisco, Sausalito, and Napa. I hope to take a few classes at the studio I always go to when I’m there: Yoga Source in downtown Palo Alto.

We plan on driving down the coast to SoCal around the 14^th. After a couple nights in Santa Monica, we’ll head to OC, Vegas (from the 16^th-18^th…anyone else going to be there?), and San Diego, returning to Santa Monica on the 20^th. My friend Jackie and I plan on having a get-together in Santa Monica on Thursday the 21^st…in celebration of the past year of abundance, transition, and growth. Please stay tuned for details. I will OF COURSE be spending a lot of time at one of my favorite places in the world, my beloved sanctuary: Santa Monica Power Yoga.

I have the rather dreaded feat of sorting through my storage crate, an 8x7x5 box full of what I can only imagine to be superfluous material possessions. As I have managed to live without whatever is in there for over a year now, I hope to sell/donate/otherwise get rid of much of it, so please let me know if you’re looking for any new-to-you furniture.

I’ll be in/out of SoCal/Bay Area through Labor Day weekend. Then, I will spend September 1^st-6^th in NYC, attending a couple days of Twee Merrigan’s workshop at the new Pure Yoga there, and also visiting Dharma Mittra’s studio.

On Sunday the 7^th, I’ll be driving back up north to fly back to Hong Kong out of SFO, but not without teaching a class! I’m tentatively scheduled to teach at Your Neighborhood Studio at 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM. Again, please stay tuned for details!

I’m so looking forward to connecting with family, friends, teachers, and students. I’ll have my BlackBerry so please feel free to email me. If you have my (310) number from last year, you can try calling me as well. I’ll have limited time so 1-on-1’s may be a bit difficult, but please let me know of any events going on, and hopefully we can connect at the get-together or in class.

So that’s the rough itinerary. CAN’T WAIT!!!!!! Talk, see, hug, down-dog-with you very soon! ;)

Postcard from Beichuan by Scott Wong

2008-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

The following is a letter from my dear friend Scott, who recently took a trip to the Sichuan Province in China. This was the main epicenter of May's devastating earthquake. I found his words to be impassioned and powerfully moving, personalizing this disaster that most of us cannot even fathom. Below, I share his letter with you. He's included photos as well, which depict the incomprehensible loss of life and home, but also the sustained spirits of the survivors.

If you are so inspired, please seek ways you can be of service, whether by sending donations (perhaps via Children's Hope International), offering prayers, or sending healing energy. At the very least, perhaps you can pass this blog along to continue awareness that many of our brothers and sisters still need a huge amount of help.

:: Lokah Samasthah Sukhino Bhavantu ::
:: May all beings everywhere be happy and free ::

Leah xo

I have just returned from an emotional trip to Sichuan Province, the main epicenter of the recent May earthquake in China. I was invited by a close local Chinese friend of mine to see the earthquake damaged areas and to assist him in a few days of volunteering. He himself has been stationed there for over a month, overseeing a daily series of "outward bound" style programs and activities for the earthquake affected youth.

A friend and I met up with Jia Guo Peng in Mianyang after flying 3 hours from Beijing. It took about 1.5 hours by car to reach Beichuan, not including the amount of time to switch to a locally hired van who is unrestricted to enter the quake area. Beichuan is a remote area in Sichuan that became well known after the earthquake for being one of the most heavily damaged counties. As we approached the neighboring villages, it became clear from the roadside refugee camps and leftover landslides that 2 months after the earthquake, the infrastructure had yet to see any improvement. Before reaching the actual villages, we stopped at some of the refugee camps where thousands of families were living in less than ideal temporary tents.

Upon reaching Beichuan, we were greeted by our local tour guides, some high school students who Jia Guo Peng had taught recently and were home for summer vacation to be with their families. As we walked through the piles of rubble and remnants of family possessions, I tried hard to imagine what this village looked like before when all the buildings were standing. It is estimated up to 10,000 people died in Beichuan. The entire area looked like a scene from a war zone that was just bombarded. With less than fluent Chinese, I was given detailed accounts of how this school was here and this many students died, or how these parents lost their daughter or son, or if you were lucky, the entire family survived but everything else was gone. In order to keep a positive spirit during our visit, I tried not to think about the fact that these people had very little before and now have even less.

Moving inward, refugee camps were spread everywhere and fortunately families have clean water to drink and food seems to be readily available. But the estimated time to rebuild the county is 3 years from now and therefore these tents, plotted on simple dirt and mud, will be many people's homes for a long time to come. The Government is providing immediate assistance, in part by doling out 10 RMB (a bit more than 1 US$) a day to help the victims of the earthquake and by providing safe and temporary shelter. Some people have taken it in their own hands and are digging out re-usable bricks from the rubble to help re-assemble other buildings and homes.

But in all of this darkness, there is a significant amount of hope that exists in the community and particularly the young people who are becoming accustomed to this new way of life. Outside volunteers like Jia Guo Peng, as well as some of the other local volunteers are everyday heroes, helping to bring back a sense of normality and community to the lives of younger and more vulnerable people. The students who showed us around demonstrated immense courage and maturity to deal with the earthquake and its aftermath and make-shift schools have been put in place to educate them. Business was brisk for those few stores and restaurants still operating. Spiritually, the community is rebuilding and I'm happy to see their determination to move forward.

For many of us, we have largely left this news to rest, desensitized to the images on our TV and internet and all too ready to move on to some other headline news story like the Olympics. However, I am one of the fortunate ones, reminded that there is still much to be done.

As many of you are aware and have seen days after the earthquake, more than 70,000 people, many of whom were children, died in this natural disaster. Some of you have kindly responded to the earthquake by providing donations. Thank you, if you have.

There are certain trips and experiences that shape our lives for the better; this one has left a deep and lasting impression on me. For some of my trip photos including brief captions, please click on the link below and run through the slideshow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scottgwong/PostcardFromBeichuan?authkey=SXZzaGtM-II

Regards from Beijing

Scott

20 July 2008: 108 Sun Salutations

2008-07-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I participated in my first ever yoga fundraiser, organized by Yoga Aid. Yoga Aid hosts The Yoga Aid Challenge in venues across the globe (in the US in September), in an effort to spread the love of yoga and to raise money for various charities. This year marked the first Yoga Aid Challenge held in Hong Kong, at the Asia Yoga Conference. Starting bright and early at 6:30 AM, a couple hundred yogis gathered together for 108 Sun Salutations led by teachers from around the world, including one of my main teachers, Bryan Kest from Santa Monica.

In short, I felt truly honored to be a part of this beautiful event.

Each of the 12 teachers led us through a set of 9 Sun Salutations with their own personal touches. Generally speaking, each Sun Salutation was a traditional Surya Namaskar sequence, which goes something like this: Tadasana :: reach for the sun :: Uttanasana :: Crescent with knee down :: Plank :: Chattarunga :: Cobra :: Down Dog :: Crescent with knee down (opposite leg) :: Uttansana :: reach for the sun. A few teachers broke this mold, most notably my beloved teacher Bryan, who was the only teacher to bring us onto our knees (met by a unanimous sigh of relief) and the only teacher to not teach one traditional Sun Salute. It made me smile, and I think everyone’s wrists appreciated the reprieve. Two other teachers stood out to me personally: Duncan Wong, who led us through his Yogic Arts - Warrior Flow, which was the only time we turned around on our mats to face the back of the room or made a sound other than “Om”, and Jules Febre, who counted the transition from Tadasana to reaching the arms up as one Sun Salute, making me laugh out loud in glee and gratitude.

108 Sun Salutations is a LOT of yoga. I made it with the help of Child’s Pose and by dedicating my breaths to the children supported by my charity of choice – the India Heritage Research Foundation – and to those of you at home for your love and support. Below I’ve listed personal thank you’s to everyone who donated, representing both coasts of the US, Europe, and Asia! There are also a few yoga-related companies represented; please check out their sites if you’re looking for yoga clothes, accessories, or downloadable classes. Thank you so much, brothers and sisters. Because of your sponsorship, I was one of the Top 10 Fundraisers. I got to stand up and take a bow and everything! ;)

This month has been a powerful and abundant one for me. In addition to the yoga fundraiser and having Bryan in town (which in and of itself was such an amazing gift, representing yet another nudge of support from the Universe), I moved into my new home, visited family in Seoul (happy 80^th birthday, grandma!), and booked my flight to the States for my first visit back in over a year. That’s right, this month marks my 1 year anniversary of moving to Hong Kong!

Giggling with glee and gratitude,

Leah

Big thanks and big love to…

Allison :: Annie :: Becky :: Bernadette :: Christina :: Dcho :: Em :: Frank (naturalhighlifestyle.com) :: Gilly :: Irene :: Jay :: Jimmy :: Karen :: Kyle :: Mark :: Michelle C. :: Michelle H. :: My Soy :: Nan :: Rich :: Rob :: Ruben :: Sara (yogichocolate.com) :: Silas :: Steph :: Steve :: Susan (yogitoes.com) :: Thomas :: Yen

in California :: Denmark :: Hong Kong :: NYC

…for your overwhelming, heartwarming, and inspiring generosity! How incredible to have a global network of support!

PS It’s not too late to donate! My page will be live and collecting donations through the end of July. Or better yet, sign up to participate at one of the next Yoga Aid Challenges!

"Yogi Chocolate is Yummy" indeed

2008-07-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

article from Elephant Journal:

"Yogi Chocolate gives you downloadable yoga classes by donation; millions of health & social conscious individuals practicing yoga at thousands of yoga studios worldwide; Ideal bite and free eco-living tips; featuring great teachers like Kathryn Budig, Laura Downing, Bryan Kest, Jay Co, Leah Kim, Sara Levere.

“Yogi Chocolate exists to bring all the yogis and yoginis together worldwide…They believe in the power of the people, in the power of connection, in the power of the ability to heal and nourish the self and thrive through being yoga… Yogi Chocolate.com runs on donation basis - Simply put: The act of giving…Their teachers put a lot of effort and love into creating their classes for you. Yogi Chocolate.com is committed to using their earnings to better the world. The majority of classes are hatha yoga of all different styles; you’ll also find live kirtan chanting recordings and guided meditations. 99% of downloads are currently audio, but video is available with more coming soon! They have received 800+ downloads to date! They currently have 850+ members from all 35 countries including Vietnam, US, UK, Tanzania, Spain, South Korea, Slovak Republic, Seychelles, PuertoRico, Portugal, Poland, Philippines, New Zealand, Mexico, Lithuania, Korea (North), Japan, Israel, Ireland, Indonesia, India, Hungary, Hong Kong, Greece, Germany, Georgia, Denmark, Costa Rica, Colombia, Canada, Brunei, Austria, Australia, Argentina, Algeria. There are 47 teachers with classes in Spanish and Russian. Three charities are supported through their site. Teachers have the option of giving their portion of proceeds to charity. They get to choose the organization. Yogi Chocolate.com plans on having a “Future of Yoga” exhibit at Yoga Month Celebration in September, Downtown, LA. Their 1-year anniversary will be in just a few weeks in August 2008.”

It’s so great, I’ve become a part of YogiChocolate. You can find me in their teachers search and practice yoga with me in Spanish, all you have to do is write “Yeye”, and click “search”. Which reminds me a conversation I had this morning with my boyfriend Satchel and him saying to me: “It does not seem right to me that you review a site that you are part of”, to validate his point I say: YOU should try it and send us your review!"

4 June 2008: The Maldives

2008-06-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Maldives. Wow. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my entire life. My boyfriend agrees. And we've done a notable amount of globetrotting. Between the two of us, we've lived in the States (California and a brief stint on Oahu), in London, on a boat in Thailand, and of course in Hong Kong...and apart from the places we've called home, we've traveled to the Caribbean, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Germany, Holland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Russia, Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Nepal, the Philippines... But as we sat on an untouched Maldivian beach under the stars, we shared the sentiment that this is one of the most amazing places we've ever been, and hands down the best holiday either of us has ever had.

Let me try to verbalize the setting I find myself in as I write to you. I am in our "beach bungalow" which is as far from a beach bungalow as you could imagine, because it is a Four Seasons beach bungalow on the Four Seasons-owned island of Landaa Giraavaru. Absolutely enormous: vaulted ceilings, sliding doors that open out to the beach, which is only separated from the bungalow by our private plunge pool (ozonated and therefore chlorine-free) and a covered deck. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is a two-person occupancy, as outside alone, there are two poolside lounge chairs, two beach lounge chairs, a couch, a table, a swinging platform, and a platform IN the ocean. The oversized classic Four Seasons bed has a mosquito net around it for when we want to sleep with the doors open (but I somehow still managed to get bitten on the eyelid again, can you believe it?!). The bathroom alone is quite possibly bigger than our flat in Hong Kong, with the longest bathtub I've ever seen, both an indoor and outdoor rainshower, and complete with, mais bien sur, a bidet. And although the bungalow is completely open to the beach and the outside gate is more for appearance than function as you can walk around it on both sides, it's completely private.

It's rainy season here so the weather's been a bit unpredictable, but the intermittent showers simply make the moments of sunshine that much brighter.

The water is clean and clear and warm. I daresay I have never been in nicer oceans. My boyfriend the dive master has gone on 2-3 dives a day, and has seen octopus, reef sharks, rays, turtles, and whale sharks. I merely snorkel the surface, but I've seen some stunning coral reefs with vibrant and sometimes funny-looking fishies...including my boyfriend who I swear must have been a fish in a past life. When we were staying on the yacht, we saw spinner dolphins playing, spinning up and out of the water. They're tiny, and so cute!

The yacht we stayed on was the Four Seasons Explorer. WOW. We were so lucky, with only one other couple on board and 26 crew members!! From marine biologists to avid divers to fishermen who could catch fish with their bare hands, we had true ocean lovers on board. The chef's meals were so varied and delicious that with each subsequent meal, I proclaimed "THIS is my favorite meal!" And there's nothing like having fish immediately after you caught it yourself...like the grouper (lightly steamed to perfection) our fellow guests caught or the 8-lb trevally (bbq'd to perfection) my boyfriend caught. The wait staff immediately caught onto our tastes and always anticipated our needs: iced coffee mid-morning, fresh lime soda with mint in the late afternoon, peppermint tea before bed. Everyone was so helpful, friendly, and somehow there when we needed them without overwhelming us or taking away from our privacy. It was 5-star service but so personal and comfortable we felt like we were at home. We all knew each others' names and my boyfriend and I were honestly sad to leave them. In fact, I still miss everyone and hope I will get to see them again in the future.

The Republic of Maldives is comprised of 200+ inhabited islands and 1000+ other islands with vegetation, mostly within atolls of varying sizes. I think we're having the best possible full experience of the Maldives, having spent the first night in the capital city of Male, four nights on the yacht, and another four nights on land. From in the ocean, on the ocean, on various islands, and even from seaplanes in sky... I've never seen anything like it. Breathtakingly beautiful.

I've practiced and meditated on sand with the ocean water lapping at my feet, on the rocking boat (talk about a challenge to maintaining balance!), on the outside deck hut with the fall of cleansing rain, and on the platform in the ocean under sunshine (which really is coaxed out with Surya Namaskar!)...always with the sound of the ocean joining my Ujjayi.

Love, practice, and travel. This is my life's happiness.

My man has just returned from his morning dive. We're off to do some sailing (by which I mean he will sail as I hold on for dear life) followed by an afternoon at the Ayurvedic spa. We had an enlightening consultation with the Ayurvedic doctor yesterday. From a quick read of our pulses, he determined our doshas and gave an impressively accurate account of our personalities. With this information, they are mixing oils individually suited for our needs, using fresh herbs from their garden.

Like I said... WOW!

I'm posting this back in Hong Kong. It's been quite a shock to return to gloomy weather (black rain? come on!), the busyness of the city, the never-ending sounds of construction... We're suffering from PMD, post-Maldives depression! :P Good thing we have our photos, the highlights of which I've uploaded here. There are a lot, so I recommend viewing the Detail option, where you can view multiple photos per page but still see descriptions. Enjoy!

25 May 2008: Meditation in coffee

2008-05-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

:: zen and the art of drinking coffee ::

I suppose you know you're really addicted to something when you try to claim that it's part of your meditation practice, but really!! The process of preparing, pouring, and just plainly and purely enjoying a cup of coffee is a meditation for me.

Sometimes it's a shared experience with my boyfriend. We wake up, usually deliciously late as neither of our jobs follows the usual 9-5 timetable (though the daily grind in Hong Kong is more like 8-8, if not later; yikes!), and I ask, "Shall I make some coffee?" to which he almost always answers, "Sure, why not?"

Other times, it's a quiet experience of solitude.

Either way, it's one of my favorite ways to start the day or pause in the afternoon, and I much prefer brewing my own coffee (with love) at home. I pour some cold, filtered water into the kettle and prepare the French press. I choose an organic bean of the day to grind...will it be one of the specially sent blends from my friends in Santa Monica - from Groundwork or Urth - or the uber pricey (but totally worth it) Jamaican Blue Mountain...? After the kettle sends out its whistle, I wait a few minutes before pouring because the temperature of the water should be about 90 degrees Celsius (that's about 190 degrees Fahrenheit for you Americans). I grab the carton of skim milk from the fridge and the container of Maui raw sugar. I usually stand waiting in the kitchen, looking out the window; sometimes a friendly, chirpy sparrow sits on the sill.

After a few minutes, I intuitively sense that the coffee is ready for consumption. I prepare his (a spoonful of milk and a dash of sugar) and mine (a dash of milk and a spoonful of sugar), take his to him in his study, and take mine onto the couch, snuggling into our oversized cushions. I feel almost like a kid on Christmas morning; I know I have a somewhat mischievous look on my face. Before sipping, I inhale. I offer gratitude. I am present.

With the first taste, I feel a soothing warmth, comfort, and peace start flowing through me. My mind feels at ease, my breath naturally deepens, I smile. I daresay I feel inspired. You'll never see me multi-tasking with a cup of coffee, distracted, distanced, downing it on the go. No, that cup is my drishti and I am certainly strengthening my ability to direct my energy and have one-pointed focus.

I believe the combination of coffee's mental and physical effects and my presence of mind when drinking coffee all contribute to my overall experience of coffee consumption. My mood is elevated, my heart is lifted, which means yeah, I feel a bit high!

So here it is, confession of a yogini: coffee is my crack, my Kryptonite, my Achille's heel. But as my lovely friend Erin recently reminded me, coffee contains antioxidants and potassium, so it can't be all bad. As long as I stay hydrated and watch for any unhealthy degree of dependency, I am happy to accept this "imperfection" of my yogi self.

And yes, of course, I just finished a delicious morning brew...

12 May 2008: Shenzhen

2008-05-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

"It's China!"

That was my catch phrase this weekend.

A girl friend and I went to Shenzhen, right across the Hong Kong/China border. We had heard of these massage/spa/hotel places that offer unbelievably cheap massages 24 hours a day and decided we deserved a weekend of pampering.

Shenzhen is a stone's throw away from Hong Kong, but I, as a US passport holder, needed a visa that costed about $140 US. Traveling there is nothing more than taking a few extra train stops, but the instant you are technically out of HK, you know you're in China.

Everything is at least a little bit backwards. English language signs often have a perplexing juxtaposition of words and an interesting idea of grammar, people are very reluctant to help, and there's absolutely no semblance of order in the train station's taxi waiting area, which is comprised of 8 different queues, with the lines at the front getting all the taxis and the lines at the back being SOL. As in other cities in China I've visited, there's a heavy dullness (tamas, for you yogis) that seems to saturate everything from the hills to the rivers to the high rises.

Or maybe that's just the general stink of pollution I was trying not to breathe into my already congested lungs.

Upon arriving at Queen Spa, however, all of our weariness and criticisms were flushed away by the sheer grandeur and absolute hedonism awaiting us. 5 huge floors of nothing but spa and massage amenities including pools, saunas, Chinese massage rooms, Thai massage rooms, aroma massage rooms, sleeping "capsules", a fresh fruit bar, restaurants, a public cinema room, private cinema rooms, barcaloungers galore, and hundreds of staff at literally every corner to jump at your every need. As soon as we stepped foot into this heretofore unknown world of never-ending massage treatments, we were shuttled into the ladies' locker room, stripped, and put into our striped uniform (which we at first laughed at but swiftly came to appreciate bc they were really comfortable). We asked a lady (and by "we" I mean my friend, as I sadly still have not picked up any respectable amount of either Cantonese or Mandarin) (ps did you know that "Chinese" is technically not a language?) where we were supposed to go, as we hadn't yet registered or anything. She simply shooed us away in a carefree grandma-like manner saying, "Go to the 3rd floor and get massaged!"

We appreciated the efficient simplicity. There were massages to be had...no time to waste on the particulars!

So to the 3rd floor we wandered, still mesmerized by the enormity of this place. We merged into the sea of fellow indulgence seekers, all of us looking a bit like psych ward patients in our striped garbs and rubber slippers, wide-eyed, wide-mouthed, and giggling with anticipation. I asked my friend if she'd seen anything like this before, since she was born and raised in Asia (Singapore), and she said, "No, I was impressed by Foot when I moved to HK!" (Foot is the BEST massage place in Central, HK - pricier than other places, but clean, modern, and luxurious - but it's totally small potatoes compared to this, the Costco of all spas everywhere.) It had a Vegas feel in that you couldn't tell if it was day or night, everyone was somewhat numb with glazed-over eyes, and the women on staff were in short skirts. Instead of slot machines were the barcaloungers, complete with flat panel tv's on swinging arms and instead of free alcoholic beverages was a seemingly endless supply of traditional Chinese tea.

We looked at the spa menu and proceeded to build our itinerary for the next day or so. Acupressure, Thai massage, physical therapy, aromatherapy, phalange treatments, ear cleaning, foot skin scraping, toe skin scraping...and practically free at an average of $20 US for a 90-min treatment. When we were ready for our first massage, we were led to a computer kiosk to "pick a massage girl." We didn't quite know what that meant at first - pick on what basis? Area of specialty? Level of training? No, pick based on their headshot, name, and height. We were rather surprised, but hey, it's China!

For the most part, the massages were quite good. Except...I did have to send one girl away because she was so bad she actually made me feel nauseous, like I was being mercilessly poked by a giant holding a tree stump. She was giving me an oil massage with no oil and she would periodically only use one hand, whilst making text-messaging noises with the other. And there was a phlegmy man, who sniffled, snorted, and coughed through the whole massage, and finished it off by punching my shin bone so hard that I actually yelped. And another girl sneezed on me. (It's just how it's done in China.)

At one point, we were waiting to get barcaloungers in the non-smoking section, and smokers were standing in our non-smoking section waiting area, smoking. In response, I coughed loudly and waved my hand around dramatically. Only one guy heeded the not-so-subtle hint and immediately stubbed out his stick o' poison. No one else could be bothered to care. China.

We eventually snuggled into our seats and requested a 90-min foot massage. They looked at us blankly, saying, "We only have 45-min foot massages." We said we knew, but couldn't they just double it? They said, "But then you'd have to pay for 2 massages." Taking deep, compassionate breaths of patience, we said that would be no problem. (Come on, people, let your brain out of the box!) They said ok, and proceeded to give us each a 45-min massage. Freaking China!

We slept soundly on our beds-slash-massage tables (they're efficient, the Chinese...). Upon waking, I stretched into my ritualistic morning Child's Pose and jumped out of bed, eager to be as productive as possible (level of productivity to be measured by how relaxed and pampered we felt, but of course).

We wanted to book a private cinema room so we could watch a DVD we had brought. It took more than 10 people 4 tries before we settled into a room. At first we were taken to the wrong type of room with no DVD player, even though we had pointed to the picture of the room we wanted, and we had told them explicitly that we wanted to watch a DVD. Then we were taken to a room where they knew the sound wasn't working, and it took 3 people to figure out how to change the Input button on the remote control. Then we were taken to a room with no DVD player, at which point a staff person looked at us and asked if we had the DVD player with us. Um, yeah, sure, it's one of those really advanced invisible DVD players that fold up into our pocket. Then we were taken to a room with a DVD player, but it wasn't plugged in, and at one point there were 7 staff people in the room trying to figure it out. The so-called Tech Guy took at least 10 min to realize which color plug goes where (red goes with red worldwide, no?), to realize that in order to get picture, the player must be somehow connected to the tv, and then to realize "Oh, this is the broken player, let me go get you another one." When it finally got sorted, our foot massage therapists came in and plopped down right in front of the tv, rendering our intentions and the combined efforts of our 10 box-confined helpers pointless.

To put the perfect layer of artificially-sweetened and colored lard euphemistically known as "frosting" on this morning of frustration, as I was craning my neck to glimpse scenes from the movie Juno (pretty good film!) around my phlegmy therapist, I saw in my periphery something grey scurrying on the floor right outside our room. That's right. Mouse. Fluffy grey rodent with a long pink tail trailing behind him. By the time I got my friend's attention and she told the masseurs and they hit the service button and the manager came, the mouse was - of course - long gone.

Soon thereafter, so were we.

When I came home and told my boyfriend the whole story, he simply said to me, "Baby, it's China!"

India Chronicles by Psalm Isadora

2008-02-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

The following are excerpts from my fellow yogi Psalm's most recent journey to India. Her words were so touching that I asked her if I could share them with all of you on my blog. Enjoy!

Also, please check out her website, and those of you who live in the Santa Monica area, check out her classes, workshops, and/or trainings.

Much gratitude and love to you, Psalm.

Namaste,
Leah

jan 20
greetings from mother india! every day is more wonderful than the last here, something inside me deepens as does my love and understanding of yoga. i am still in goa, my students have left (they will be rejoining me at my guru's ashram later this week). i find myself a traveller alone in india again. of course i am not really alone...i have such good local friends here. nothing is too much to ask, they drive me around on the back of the motorcycles (sometimes 3 people on a bike!) and feed me for free. how delicious and free it feels to ride motorcycles in india, like the freedom of childhood. there is of course, all the trash around and pollution, but the beauty of india is in people's hearts. people smile at you, and you will never forget their faces, the genuine smiles burns themselves in your memory. i am teaching yoga to the workers at my friend rohan's restaurant in the mornings. they sleep on mats on the floor and wake up for surya namaskar. we have so much to be grateful for in the states. your eyes are really opened to that here. and yet my friends here are happy and sincere with so little. what you have to give is your sincerity and smile. the culture is so different here, but i am not learning to follow a new culture, i am learning to follow my own heart. that is the greatest gift that ma india, my guru and these people have given me, the courage and strength to follow my own heart.

jan 21

inshallah

i invited a man from delhi to have dinner with me and some friends at rohan's restaurant tomorrow night. we were at the night market, which is like a tiny city filled with booths, almost like something i would have imagined in morocco, except with a little trance mixed in. he said, "inshallah, if it is meant to be". inshallah means as god wills. it is a good phrase to pick up in india, where so little is in your control. i repeated this to my friend ramesh, and he said, "but you are god". i thought about it. if god is living in you and me and nature, then god willing would mean self, others and environment willing. all these forces combine to make our destinies. it is not only what my own self wants but also what the greater Self wants, and how i can find myself in harmony with the greater will. inshallah.

jan 23
i am very excited to come home and share what i am learning! i am in pune now....and for different reasons than i originally thought. i do not find myself being pulled to the osho ashram, instead i feel my heartstrings pulling me to my guru. there are many people here seeking, the searchers. it is a strong energy. but right now, i just want to sit and be with my teacher who i feel knows what i am looking for. this trip has brought a real maturation in myself. this yoga is a living thing inside me and she grows of her own accord, through desire and grace...and it is fed by the friendships that come to me. my time in goa was so magic. i am planning to come back next year...to rent a house and teach donation yoga there to the locals and the travellers. things have come together in an interesting and powerful way.

jan 24
feeling my heart pulled to my guruji's ashram, i will be flying there this friday. i will be studying more pranayam, mantra and bandha with him. also teaching a women's workshop in vizag on the same while i am there. you should see these women...it is such a joy to teach them! it fills me with purpose and shakti coming here and teaching the locals, their love for the yoga is so pure and simple. and they are so receptive to me as a teacher. the first time i came i thought the indians wouldn't want a foreign teacher, but it seems they really appreciate someone coming from so far because of such a great love for the practice. their hearts are so open, it helps my heart to be more open and the teaching comes through with no effort on my part. just this great guru energy on this well worn path of people reaching for something higher...going back, back for thousands of years and even before that. we are very blessed to be a part of it.

jan 25

the question of suffering

yesterday afternoon was very difficult for me. pune is a pretty small city in india compared to mumbai, dehli or calcutta. but every time you get into the city, there is the noise, the traffic and the most extreme poverty. the most extreme poverty. it breaks my heart, but i am here for a reason and if i take it all in i will drown and not get anything done. women come up to me in the dusty streets, covered in dirt with their babies slung to their hips. they do a silent pantomime of holding out their hand to me and then bringing to their mouths to show they need my money to buy food. and their eyes, their eyes are big haunting black discs that convey so much sorrow. are they really so sad? are they really so hungry? i don't know, but coming from america it is a terrible thing to see a mother and child asking for money and food like this and to say no. there are so many of them that even if i emptied my wallet, i wouldn't even begin to make a change. and then i would be left with nothing, and wouldn't be able to do the work i came here to do. it seems to me that people who need help usually need more help than you can comfortably give. so i will work on myself, i will let the change in myself grow until it can't help but bring change for others. this is how i usually think of things, people need help, i want to help, but how do i want to help? how can i use my special talents creatively in a way that will bring me the most happiness and contentment? i have made it a rule for myself not to hand money to people on the street. the first time i came to india, a little boy came begging when i was sitting in a rickshaw stopped in traffic. rickshaws are basically motorcylces with metal shells on top. they are much cheaper than taxi cars, but they also leave you open to the streets. in a real car, your windows would be rolled up and you would have some distance between yourself and the rest of the world. i gave the boy a rupee note, and then 5-6 more boys came running up, climbing on and into the rickshaw, grabbing me. traffic began to move and they were almost getting run over, holding on and running along with the rickshaw. the driver began beating them off with a bat. i sat in the back terrified and sickened, i have learned that things escalate quickly here.

i said no so many times yesterday. to an older woman with a small child who dragged the child through traffic to follow me. to a teenage boy with a stump for a leg. to an old man with a cane. to a young mother with the most beautiful face and a baby on her hip, standing at the side of my rickshaw. i remember all of them, i remember their faces even though i put out my hand and say no. even though i have to pretend i don't see them, looking straight ahead as if they don't exist. even though i yell at them, "amma, no, no", begging for them to stop begging from me. they don't just go away when you say no, they stand and stare or grab at you, until you have to be very clear, very insistent on not giving them anything. you have to do it to cross the street, you have to do it to go anywhere, to do anything. i remember all their faces and i am sorry. sorry that i am not able to help each of them. i came back to my hotel last night to have some tea before bed, and there were a group of dogs begging for food. most of them looked pretty healthy, but one puppy had a lame leg and you could see it's whole skeleton wrapped under it's skin. she was a pathetic sight. one of the tables was throwing naan bread to the dogs, and every time the little one ran for some, the other dogs would snarl and scare her away until she limped off, nursing her leg. so i took her in my lap and caught some of the naan bread and fed it to her from my hand. she gobbled it up with her tiny, sharp teeth, almost swallowing it whole. after awhile she must have gotten full, because she stopped eating the naan and curled her tiny head on my lap. all bones, i could see her spine as she curled herself up, like a seashell on my lap. she tucked her head inside my elbow like a little bird. when she looked up at me, she was so small and pitiful, but also beautiful. she is a little blond dog with big black eyes that look like they are rimmed in kajol, the black indian eyeliner. i sat and held her in my lap, wrapped in my shawl for warmth, trying to give her a little comfort and a resting place. i could feel her little belly breathing against mine, a little bony belly, so fragile. after awhile i had to put her down, i wanted to take her to my room, but i could see the fleas all over her. i put her down and walked away quickly, i looked back and saw her limping behind me, so i walked faster so she could not follow me. i got to my room and started to cry. so much suffering i am confronted with here. human suffering, animal suffering, nature is suffering also. it was difficult to breathe. what to do about all this suffering? you do the work that is in front of you. you do the work that wants to be done. you do the work that has begun itself and just asks for you to go with it's flow. i know this. i know that everything is suffering, but also everything is bliss, i know this. i know that the people and the little puppy have been born and will die, and that i am attached to the idea of time, of when. and how and where. and i believe that we all are involved in choosing our births, our families, our lives circumstances so we can learn as individuals and inform the whole. i know these things, and i know how silly i am, every day there are hungry dogs and people, and yet i still live my life. but put one little dog right in front of me and i am brought to my knees. i am drowning in my feeling of the suffering of the whole world. i am not looking for answers or philosophy. i just know that when i have to turn someone away, i armor my heart and it hurts me. so i cried and that released my heart, and then i fell asleep.
today i will do the work that is in front of me, i will take the little dog to the animal hospital. i will do what i can here and now. and tomorrow i will leave for another city, i will leave the little dog behind. and maybe i will have made a difference, and maybe not. but i will have stayed present to the circumstances and genuine to myself. that is all i can ask, to move lightly with love, and to help because it gives me pleasure, not because i am trying to save the world. to do the work that is in front of me, the work that is asking to be done.

jan 25

someone gave me the name of a vet who came to the hotel to look at the puppy, i have decided to call her lola. of course she does not belong to me and i cannot take responsibility for her, but her belly is full of chicken tonight, and she is sleeping soundly wrapped in a warm shawl in my room. the vet was wonderful, he even does yoga! he helped the puppy and then i helped him with his back pain by prescribing some squats, fierce chair pose and uddiyana bandha. he gave the dog an injection for her leg, and said we are best leaving her to find the balance in nature. he said that her little body is strong and most likely she will find the strength to recover herself. the drive for life is so strong in all of us. his words reminded me that it does not all ride on my shoulders, i am not that important. i surrender the dog to god, grace, nature and her own innate intelligence. earlier today i fed her and when she was full she ambled away to lay on a sunny patch of grass. her little face was so content and serene, the warmth of the sun was comforting her. there are so many variables that it is a great mystery what will heal her. i caused myself a great deal of suffering last night by putting the weight of the world on my shoulders and not surrendering to that mystery. i am grateful for the encounter, it showed me my attachments, my fear, my limitations and my compassion. inshallah. tomorrow i fly to the ashram.

2 February 2008

2008-02-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

It is freezing in Hong Kong.

Ok, so, it’s not literally the temperature at which water freezes, but it IS 8 degrees Celsius- apparently the coldest it has been here in several years. The rain and humidity make it feel colder than it is, too. It is cold enough that with every exhale outdoors, I see my breath float out in front of me.

I’ve just returned home from an afternoon at Brunch Club, a cozy café/bistro, with a college friend. It’s a popular spot – particularly on a rainy Saturday – in Soho on Peel Street, which is where I live. It’s just a quick three-block walk up from my flat (I love the convenience of being able to walk everywhere). We waited outside for nearly an hour to sit down, staring hungrily through the French doors at three tables with a combined sixteen people, all of whom were finished with their meals, blissfully unaware of us shivering in the cold. Ironically (or maybe karmically), after scoffing at their selfish social behavior, we ended up sitting at our table for six hours. (*insert sheepish shrug here.) A cozy spot indeed: the walls are lined with reading material, there is free wi-fi, and the wait staff does not rush anyone out. Patrons are invited to sit back and relax, and we did just that…ordering breakfast items, lunch items, milkshakes, and coffee. A total of seven of us came and left our four-person table during our time there. It’s how things flow in Hong Kong...people walk by, drop in, come and go.

My friend was my big bro in our business fraternity at UCLA (yes, I was in a business fraternity; it’s funny, I know), which means he took care of me when I joined, helping me feel comfortable, giving me advice, and sharing his own experiences. I looked up to him. He was the nicest big bro I could have asked for, and being a fellow Aquarius (his birthday is just one day after mine), we’ve always gotten along quite easily. He’s been in London for the past few years and plans on staying there for the foreseeable future. I realized today that I followed in his big-brotherly footsteps when I moved to Hong Kong.

Everyone, everything, every moment, every thought, every breath affects us, at some point, to some degree, whether we recognize it or not. There is an incredible, inconceivable order to the apparent chaos of bits and pieces that comprise our lives. And the Universe/God/Big Mind constantly offers signposts of comfort that everything is unfolding precisely as it should be. Oftentimes we digest these signs as coincidences or serendipity or kismet; I personally think déjà vu is part of the phenomenon as well.

"Synergy." *insert that funny hand movement Topher Grace’s character does in the film “In Good Company” here (PS you ought to watch it if you haven’t yet).

Even if we just take, for instance, Peel Street (where I live, in case you weren’t paying attention above). My cross street is Hollywood Road (I came from the Los Angeles area), around the corner is a store that sells statues of Buddha (including a (necessarily) scaled-down replica of Thailand's Reclining Buddha, my favorite Buddha statue in the world; he sits front and center in the main window so I pass by him every day), one block up there is a Buddhist altar, the studio where I practice is a five minute walk away (I've always wished I had a studio close enough to walk to), and one of my closest friends from college has been living on this same street for three years (unbeknownst to me when I first moved in). I take all these signs as confirmation that I am exactly where I should be.

A few of my friends will remember that in the month before I left California, I said I had a feeling I would end up in Hong Kong. It didn’t make sense to any of us, as I’d never been here before, I’m not Chinese, and I’m not a big city kinda girl (rather, I've always wanted to live on an island, although unbeknownst to me at the time, Hong Kong actually is an island). But my intuition – which I’ve become more strongly connected to through my yoga practice – was telling me that Hong Kong was to be my new home, and it was absolutely on spot.

As time passes, I realize more and more that my present moment is my dreams made manifest. There are countless points of perfect synchronization between my life as it is and what I've always wanted. Everything from living in Asia, on an island (I am an Aquarius – the Water-Bearer – after all, and therefore love being near water) (and you might remember that I think I was a mermaid in a past life) (not to mention that my boyfriend is a diver, who I believe found me in the ocean in that past life), on Peel Street... To teaching yoga abroad (which was an idea that came to me during my very first Teacher Training)... To even the smaller things like telling my friend back home that I had a student last week that looks like her, and that student showing up in my very next class... Or seeing the Manulife building in Causeway Bay for the first time yesterday morning, and meeting someone last night who works in that building.

Synergy.

Thoughts become things, per the law of attraction (you’ve seen or read "The Secret", right?). Whatever you want to call it, the truth is that you create your own life…every piece of it. I believe this is what is meant by destiny, what is reassured by moments of déjà vu, what is signified by coincidences. Know it, own it, have faith in it.

And as Sister says: Manifest, manifest, manifest!

PS I kid you not, I had déjà vu whilst writing this to you.

20 November 2007: Planting Roots

2007-11-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

:: planting new roots ::

It’s official: I’m staying in Hong Kong. That is, it’s as official as anything in our always-evolving and ever-ephemeral world can be…

When I left Santa Monica 4 months ago, I wasn’t quite sure what would manifest for me. All I knew was that I felt inexplicably but undeniably called to embark upon a gypsy journey eastward. So I packed up and moved out of my home and bought a one-way ticket to Hong Kong. I’d never even been to Hong Kong before, but I felt in my gut and in my heart that big things were waiting for me here.

Guided by an intuitive whim, fueled fully by faith, and supported by Big Mind, I arrived in this new land with a wide open heart. And my goodness…the beauty that has unfolded…

About a month into my stay here, I was offered a full-time teaching position at Pure Yoga. I happily, gratefully, and excitedly accepted, and I just received my work visa last week (it’s a fairly long application process). I taught my first day of classes today, and it felt fantastic to be back in the studio. If you’re interested, you can check out my bio (though they’ve yet to put up my photograph) and my schedule (which changes every week).

As amazing as everything has been, it hasn’t been without moments of struggle, uncertainty, fear, and loneliness. The longer I’m away, the more I miss what has been my home for my entire life. I’m especially feeling the void this week of Thanksgiving and as we enter into the holiday season; it doesn’t quite feel the same (which, of course, is not a bad thing). I miss my doggie so much that I dream of her nearly every night. And I miss you, for sure for sure.

But I’m really happy to be settling here, psyched to see what I can create. How a place I had never been to – at least in this lifetime – was to be my new home, where I was to plant my roots, I can’t cerebrally explain. Simply (if grandiosely) put, I reckon this is what’s meant by destiny.

So, dear loves, that’s my official word. Thank you for staying in touch and for sending your love and support. It really means a lot to me to stay connected to you.

Fly fearlessly...

Seek sincerely…

Practice patiently…

…and let me know what manifests. I bet it’ll be wicked beautiful.

So much love- Leah.

12 November 2007

2007-11-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Coming back on a ferry late one evening, my friend and I sit on the open-aired upper deck in order to enjoy the cool night air and the sound of ocean waves. Just as we take off, the door to the deck section barges open, and two ladies walk out with a, “Here we are, World! Come and get it!” presence. They look at our side of the boat, and then the other side of the boat, and one of them barks, “So which side wants us?? Huh? Huh? Which side’s gonna be the winner?”

Silence…

…and perhaps a bit of fear ensue.

“Alright, we’ll go over here!!” (Doh! They’re coming on our side!)
“Guess you guys are the lucky ones!” (Doh! They’re taking the seats directly in front of us!)

I give a lazy smile, hoping that I’m exuding a subdued energy that will invite them to keep it quiet and peaceful, but it’s to no avail. They are completely oblivious to the idea of shared space, and pick up a loud and raucous conversation, complete with guffaws and knee slaps, that I’m certain the people inside and downstairs could probably hear as well.

I close my eyes and try to find the peace from within, because Buddha taught not to seek peace from without anyway.

I continue minding my own business, breathing in the fresh ocean air, when the louder woman says to me, “Hey can I put my feet up?” Up? Up where? I wonder as I look down at her feet that have just come out of her slippers and then at the 3 inch corner of space on my chair, in disbelief that she is actually making this rude and rather unhygienic request. I don’t immediately respond because I’m so surprised that someone could actually think this is appropriate, and she adds, “Don’t worry, they’re clean,” and laughs like she is a beautiful princess whose feet I should be grateful to have on my seat.

Being the nonconfrontational-to-a-fault person that I am, I murmur, “Um, okay…?”, hoping that the uncomfortable look on my face will make her realize the absurdity of her request, but she happily and selfishly kicks her feet up.

I swear one of her toenails scrapes my thigh.

I look helplessly at my friend, who is glaring at her. He scoots over loudly, and says, “Come on, move this way,” and I can feel his fire igniting. I really don’t want to make a scene, so I quietly scoot over. I steal a glance at them; they don’t seem to be paying attention, and I hope we’ll make it back to Hong Kong in peace.

Putting his arm protectively around me, my friend loudly says, “That is disgusting!” I shush him, but it’s too late.

“I can HEAR you,” she says, stopping her conversation with her friend, who mirrors the “oh crap” expression I’m sure I’m wearing.

“GOOD!” he retorts.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“Yes, it’s disgusting that you’ve put your feet up on her chair. That is considered rude in some cultures.”

“Oh really, where?” she challenges.

“Thailand, for example.” (I was thinking the same thing.)

“Well, excuse me, but are you Thai?”

“That’s beside the point.”

“ARE. YOU. THAI?”

“It really doesn’t matter if we’re Thai,” I chime in firmly, albeit somewhat unwillingly.

“Of course it matters. ARE YOU?” (Note: her feet are still defiantly up on the seat.)

“No, but I lived there for a couple years,” he says pointedly.

“Well, it’s not rude if you’re not Thai and anyway, I asked first. She should have said no if it was a problem.”

“It was a rather obliging question, though,” I say.

“You could have said no, and it would have been fine.”

“You’re right, that’s a fair point – “ I start to say…

…but my friend interjects, "No, it’s disgusting, and it’s rude of you to have asked at all. We don’t know where you feet have been." His eyes are unflinching.

“Fine. I’ll move them then. Are you happy?” She loudly and reluctantly sets her feet down, and sarcastically adds, “Enjoy your evening.”

Her friend remains silent with her head down the entire time, clearly embarrassed by feet-lady’s behavior. The fact of the matter is, it WAS a rude and obliging question. However, she is right that I should have said NO, and so I accept this as a lesson to be more forthright in the future. I mean, is avoiding confrontation at the cost of contracting a foot fungus really sensible? I know I’m a yoga teacher, but I meant I want to see you bare your SOUL, not your SOLE. Silly.

Wiggling my toes (don’t worry, they’re clean! I think…) at you- Leah.

29 October 2007: Tidbits

2007-10-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

Tidbits: Music. Sport. Film. Book.

Music:
I heart The Black Eyed Peas. I heart The Black Eyed Peas even more in concert. I heart The Black Eyed Peas even more from THE FRONT ROW in concert. !!!!!!

They performed this past Saturday at the Venetian Macao. It’s sort of surreal because this Venetian looks nearly identical to the Venetian in Vegas…fake canals and gaudy grandeur and all. Apparently it’s the second largest building in the entire world (though the person who told me this has a penchant for compulsively white-lying for the sake of entertainment, so don’t quote me on that statistic). It was my first time in Macao, a Vegas-like Chinese territory that’s considered separate from China in the way that Hong Kong is. It’s a one-hour fast ferry ride from Hong Kong, but if you count the transportation to and from the ferry terminals, it can be a good six-hour round trip. Yikes.

The Black Eyed Peas were totally worth it, though. I’ve always liked them, but they are one of those groups that blow your mind when you see them live. Their energy was absolutely explosive. Each of the Peas has that magnetic, undefinable quality that makes you think that they are just about the coolest people on the planet. Fergie is gorgeous, funky, has an amazing, amazing voice, AND did one-handed cartwheels while singing. Every single person on the stage had mad rhythm and spirit and love…as did all of their songs. They just make you want to mooooove! When they performed “Where is the Love”, the entire arena was up on their feet; I’ve posted a couple photographs where all you see are the lights of mobile phones (isn’t it funny how we’ve evolved from holding up lighters in concerts to holding up our PDAs??). It was a really beautiful and powerful moment. I had chills.

And for all my Filipino friends…you would have loved their performance of "Bebot". “Filipino!! Filipino!! Filipino!!” flashed on the big screens throughout the song, and it seemed even the Chinese had love for Filipinos. Awesome. ;)

Sport:

I also attended my first ever Cricket game. It was pretty fun. Cricket is quite a big deal on this side of the world, and this weekend was a big tournament, with teams from South Africa, Bangladesh, India, the UK, etc, and an all-star team with some of the world’s Cricket greats. The rules of the game are reminiscent of baseball, but the terminology is different, with the bat being called the wicket and the pitcher being called the bowler…

…and that’s the extent of my limited knowledge of Cricket. :P

Film:

If you haven’t seen it yet, you must must must watch “City of God”, a Brazilian film about the slums of Rio de Janeiro. It’s a jarring dose of the reality of the world outside the blessed and protected (read: sheltered) life most of us have. It’s particularly powerful because it is based on a true story and most of the actors in the film had never acted before.

Book:

Finally, I highly recommend that you read The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Especially if you like The Alchemist (and if you haven’t yet read The Alchemist, read it immediately!). The Prophet is a collection of philosophical, poetic essays. In its simplicity you will find potent truths about life and existence. Some of you have been (facetiously) asking me if I’ve yet discovered the meaning of life and/or the secret to the universe…read The Prophet…I promise it will inspire you and enlighten you and bring you closer to whatever it is you are seeking.

From one seeker to another…peace love truth.

23 October 2007

2007-10-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hello hello hello!

Or should I say Sawadeeka!! as I’ve just returned from Phuket, Thailand. Just uploaded a heap of photos.

You can also cruise new Hong Kong photos.

Peace!

Leah

1 October 2007: back in Hong Kong

2007-10-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 months, I have taken 10 flights, stayed in 7 different flats/hotels, used 6 varieties of currency, had 5 mobile phone numbers, and lived out of 2-3 suitcases. Yes, my luggage grew, eventually summing nearly 50 kg by the time I left Seoul (and PS the luggage limit to fly within Asia is 20 kg). So much for my friend’s overly kind guess that I’d be traveling with nothing but a few bags, a mat, and a zafu. ;) I haven’t bought (too many) unnecessary things…what’s heavy is the organic shampoo, etc my mum brought me back from the States (there’s no Whole Foods or anything with such abundant offerings out here), and the organic brown rice products from my aunt and uncle’s farm in Korea, and the 6 books I’ve been traveling with (even though admittedly, I’ve been reading the same one (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) for the past month), and yeah, my mat’s in there too, and ok fine, I did buy a couple pairs of new yoga pants and a couple light cardigans because Hong Kong is too hot for any of the sweaters I brought and a couple sundresses and…

…yeah…I have too much stuff. It’s mind-bottling (“Blades of Glory”, anyone?) to think that I’ve been carrying around luggage that weighs just about as much as I do. “Learn to travel lightly” is going on my list of things to do in life.

For the time being, though, I will be keeping both feet on the ground. I’m back in Hong Kong, and am looking forward to chillin’ out. I feel like I’ve been in the yang/ha-/heat-building/masculine portion of my practice ever since I left Cali (PS I read somewhere that REAL Californians don’t ever say “Cali”…but I’m just about as Californian as they get, and don’t you remember that “I’m going-going, back-back, to Cali-Cali” rap song from the 90s or something?), and now my butt’s finally on the mat, and I’m easing into the yin/-tha/cooling/feminine portion of my practice. *insert big exhale here.

No pressure to sightsee, no rush to try to do as much as possible, no familial obligations. Just me and Hong Kong, continuing to get better acquainted. What a delightful discovery it’s been, to connect so easily and surprisingly with this fantastic place. As I was flying in on Friday afternoon, I looked out the plane window (I always choose window seat…you?), amazed at Hong Kong’s countless islands dotting the waters below. Sometimes the islands looked like shapes and symbols, like clouds do (remember my photo of the paddling Nala in the Cambodian clouds?). I’d never seen anything like it before. It was quite stunning.

It’s the end of the 3-day holiday weekend here, and I spent the entire weekend out on the water. Really, really nice. I’m loving the beach/boat culture here.

I know I didn’t catch you up on my time in Seoul or Tokyo, but I did put up a ton of photos, most with descriptive captions, which I think will offer an enjoyable visual story. Suffice it to say that I feel very blessed to have been able to spend time with my family and to explore new parts of the world.

I probably won’t be blogging very frequently as I expect life to continue tempering from here on out, but know that I am happy, healthy, and safe. Always available via email and good vibrations…often thinking of you at home as I look up at our shared sky. Peace peace love love....Leah.

news from me to you

2007-09-12T02:22:00.000-07:00

Hey loves!

I just put a LOT of photos up. Again, I recommend clicking on the image of the Album, and viewing them in the Details option. The Hangzhou and Beijing Albums are completely new, and the Hong Kong Album has a few added photos.

I also put up a new downloadable class on YogiChocolate, called core :: cardio :: calm. This is a pretty advanced and challenging class, even I cursed myself (calmly, of course) as I took it, so if that’s what suits your fancy, please check it out! And some of you have asked if I receive any of the donation proceeds when you download: YES!

You can otherwise find me on my blog, on my website (there are some new photos in the Gallery, too!), on Facebook (search Leah Kim in the Hong Kong network), or on MySpace. Yes, I’m wildly connected to you all via the world wide web…so no excuses to not stay in touch!

Sending you love, love, and love…Leah.

11 September 2007: Hangzhou

2007-09-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

What a delight it is to travel. I love it. I love what it represents- freedom from predictability, chains, the norm. Literal and figurative flight of the soul. I write to you from the Hangzhou Airport (China). I haven’t been able to post blogs or photos, as those websites are blocked by the Chinese government. At first I thought it was a sketchy internet connection when I couldn’t access those sites; then my friend explained it to me. This is a crazy concept to us Americans, isn’t it…freedom of expression, right?

Hangzhou is a countryside city, with seemingly endless shades, layers, textures of green. The biggest (both literally and representatively) sight is the West Lake, offering stillness, freshness, and reflection (both literally and affectively) (ok, I’ll stop doing that now, I promise) that I received tirelessly. The people here are peaceful and content; the children bounce and giggle and smile contagiously. I captured some of it in some fantastic photos. My absolute favorite photograph from my visit is of the little girl eating cotton candy. She was jumping up and down, exclaiming, “Hao chi, hao chi!” which means, “Delicious, delicious!” You can almost feel her happiness bursting through the 2-D picture. Ah…simple pleasures. Never, ever underestimate the power of simple pleasures. (Tell me, what’s one of yours?)

My 3 days here consisted mostly of strolling, nighttime bike riding, and happily breathing in the freshest air since being out on the waters of Hong Kong. I was told yet again that I was lucky to have uncharacteristically perfect weather for my visit. I’m really starting to think I bring good weather with me wherever I go. Hefang Street can be likened to Santa Monica’s 3^rd Street Promenade, and this is where my friend Cliff and his wife Karen (who graciously invited me to stay with them) sat for a traditional tea mini-ceremony, ate dragon’s mustache sugary gooey goodness (note: not actually made of dragon’s mustache), and just enjoyed the beautiful Autumn night. We also strolled various areas and parks around the West Lake, including Hubin Road, Beishan Road, and Hua Pu. Most notable was the delicious smell of this flower…the name of which escapes me…but it was incredible, like gardenia or jasmine or the perfect most natural perfume, and it kept popping up all over the city.

One morning I hiked the Hangzhou peaks. It’s a sweet but challenging 2-hour hike climbing 4 main peaks, and offers amazing views of the city off both sides of the mountains. You get immediately thrown into the steepest part of the hike from the bottom of the hill, but it’s encouraging as you hear the city sounds waning, the quiet calm of trees calling, and oh, all the 70+-year old people who’ve already climbed their way before you, indirectly taunting your ego. There’s a whole peak culture. People practicing their various art forms (tai chi, qi gong), teaching lessons, playing cards, reading. It is wildly peaceful and free of tourists. There were moments when I wasn’t sure which way I was going as there are no signs and multiple trails, but I somehow made it to my destination: Lingyin Temple, where sits one of the largest (if not the largest) sitting Buddha statues in China. It was pretty striking, though the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok is still my favorite.

It was a relief to be among spiritual people again. What I experienced of Beijing is pretty devoid of that. In fact, what I experienced of Beijing was pretty devoid of life/aliveness in general. There seemed to be a stagnant, dull, disheartened energy in Beijing. Julie called it soulless, blaming the government for stripping people of their soul when they discouraged creativity and individuality. Even the expressions of children seemed empty. People seemed very much stuck in their daily grind, and I felt a subtle hopelessness permeating their outlook on life. I know my experience was very limited, but this is what I felt when I was there.

Still, I enjoyed my time in Beijing, relishing in the few more days of being hip-to-hip 24 hours a day with my Julie. We did a fair amount of strolling ourselves, visiting Hoahai Lake and walking from home to various parks early in the mornings. We also did a fair amount of feet-dragging, fighting through our laziness that wanted to keep us on our butts at home, away from the crowds, watching Sex and the City DVDs and stuffing our faces with serving after serving of Peanut Bing Sha (icey creamy Chinese dessert…make you jump up and down doing one-handed cartwheels tasty), visiting the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the Summer Palace. My favorite was walking amongst the the grandmoms and grandpops at Hoahai Lake. I love sliding in with and catching glimpses of the local lifestyle. Finding ordinary moments within the extraordinary experience of travel and being in a new land. Also, the elderly seemed the most peaceful in Beijing…probably because they don’t have to worry about that dreaded thing called WORK.

Though work need not be so dreaded…so long as you find the proper work for you. Identify your passion…and find a way to turn it into work. It’s what I did, and it makes life so much more fun.

I’m once again flying through the Asian skies, wondering if the clumps-of-powdered-sugar-like clouds I see out the window taste anything like powdered sugar…or maybe like that little girl’s cotton candy (ok fine, or like MY cotton candy; she inspired me to get one too…at 11 in the morning…). My next stop is the motherland: Seoul, Korea. I am psyched to see my family, especially my little brother who lives there and who I think about and miss everyday.

So, til next time, my friends. Byebye!

PS Did anyone notice that the only foods I mentioned in this post were completely unhealthy sugary ones?? It wasn't intentional…but let it be a reminder to allow yourself indulgences here and then…be them of sugar, relaxation, nothingness, yoga, breath…LIFE.

4 September 2007: Beijing

2007-09-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day, folks (not that we observe that here in Asia)! And greetings from Beijing, China!

Every now and then, I’m awed that I am here: “I can’t believe I’m in China!” But at the same time, it’s just another part of the world with buildings and cars and people doing their life thing. Beijing is enormous, polluted, and congested, but it’s Autumn here, and the weather is beautiful. Sunny, blue-skied days and warm nights just make me happy!

I’ve been reunited with my best friend (aka Sister) Julie for one more week. Even her mom looks at us and tells us we’re like sisters. My mom tells us that too. You know when your own mothers think you’re sisters, there must be some essential sister vibe and likeness between us! This summer together has definitely been a treat, a treasure. I’m staying with her and her parents at their lovely flat; the accommodations and lifestyle are quite different from what I’d grown accustomed to over the past few weeks. Here we have a cook (and therefore home-cooked meals, YEAH!), a driver, a lift, wood floors, marbled counters, stone-walled showers, a view from the 23^rd floor, and oh- SPACE!

It’s 7a, and my sleep schedule is mussed, but the beauty of being on holiday is that it doesn’t much matter. I’d been staying up late and waking up later in Hong Kong, but I ended up going full circle one night, so when I arrived here, I started sleeping early and waking early. I’m looking out our huge bedroom window, and can see that the sun is already shining full force, bringing light to the thick layer of smog coating the buildings in the distance. Yikes, and ew. Apparently the traffic and pollution are worse here than in LA, though I haven’t checked official numbers, and apparently even if I did, it wouldn’t be accurate because the numbers are manipulated.

My entire body is throbbing right now because I climbed the Great Wall yesterday, followed by a 90-minute ass-kicking, energy-sucking, sweat-mongering Bikram yoga class. Ok, so there was also a full-body massage thrown in there, but I still had an exhausting day! The Great Wall was pretty amazing. Julie and I got up at 6a because we wanted to get there before the heat and crowds settled in. We spent a couple hours on the Wall and only saw 2 other people during that entire time. Unbelievable…we had the Wall to our silly selves! As we were on our way out, the crowds started coming in, and I understood how special it was that we were able to have quiet, personal, quality-time without other people.

Not that I don’t like other people, but you know the effect that busloads of tourists have on your own tourist-experience!

Likely the most massive thing I’ve ever seen, and snaking its way through equally massive mountains and land, I kept thinking about how you could see the Wall from space. Talk about perspective on just how little we are in the scheme of the world.

Speaking of the world, it looks like I’m going to be on this side of it for awhile longer. I’m absolutely in love. I spent 5 weeks in Hong Kong and will spend the next month traveling China, Korea, and hopefully Japan, and will return to Hong Kong thereafter. I’ve realized it’s actually not just a big city of concrete and neon lights after all. My misaligned, limited, initial perspective has been thankfully corrected, mostly by the hours and hours I’ve spent on my friends’ boats: sunning on the deck, floating in the ocean, and climbing waterfalls. Comprised of 200+ islands, jungles, and harbours, coming upon the best weather of the year, and being the international travel hub of Asia, Hong Kong is now one of my favorite places in the world, and has unexpectedly begun to feel like home.

I am relishing in my somewhat-spontaneous, fully-intuitive decision to journey out here. It’s becoming another example that you simply cannot go wrong when you follow your heart. My dad inspired me to live that way when I was deciding what to do careerwise, searching for the balance between contributing to the world and contributing to my bank account. He said for me to follow my heart, and everything else, including money, would fall into place. I live by my heart, and I can tell you that it’s incredible what manifests.

So that’s your yogi homework for today: Follow your heart, in whatever capacity makes sense for you right now.

Xie xie (Thanks) for reading, and even better, for sending me emails with stories and pictures from home. I heart Asia, but I do miss you. xx

22 August 2007: PS

2007-08-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

PS My last night in Cambodia, I got bitten by a skeeter bug on the eyelid- AGAIN!!! This time it was my bottom right eyelid, though, whereas last time it was my upper left eyelid. Guess in a weird way it was balance manifested! Haha. xx

21 August 2007: Cambodia

2007-08-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends!

Photos, photos, photos! =) Click here for my Asia Collection on Flickr. You’ll see 2 Sets, one of Hong Kong (with updated photos from the last post), and one of Cambodia. I suggest viewing them via the Details option. Most photos have Titles and Descriptions, and those will be easily visible if you’re viewing in the Details option.

My visit to Cambodia was amazing, for several reasons. Julie and I had a great sisterly, quality-time weekend away, with a perfect combination of temple touring and spa relaxation. The temples were, of course, beautiful…I’d never seen anything like them before. Centuries-old, HUGE, full of history, spirit, love. But ok, after hours and hours of walking through the wicked heat, some of them started looking the same. :P

The people of Cambodia have a quiet and intensely kind spirit. I was particularly mesmerized by the children…who all seem so awake and alive. Most people live in poverty, but I think they relish in the simplicity of their life. One of our most striking experiences was when we left a $3 tip on a $16 bill. Our server took the cash and bill to a couple other staff members, and they were whispering something. She came back, and said, “Excuse me, your bill is just $16.” We responded, “Yes, that’s your tip!” Her face lit up with shock, happiness, and gratitude.

The weather was very good to us, aside from the 15 minutes of rain on Sunday evening. It came out of nowhere, and disappeared into nowhere. Seems to be the weather trend here in Asia. Enjoy your perfect weather in California!!

I returned to Hong Kong yesterday, and as I stepped off the Airport Express train into Central Station, I felt like I was home. It was an unexpected feeling, but quite nice. I’m in my 4^th week here, and life has tempered off. I’ve met some delightful people who’ve taken me to The Peak, walking through Pok Fu Lam Park (comprised of jungle and streams…does not at all feel like Hong Kong) around to the other side of the island, delicious hole in the wall restaurants, the very bizarre Goldfish Street (which is exactly what is sounds like…a street with stores selling goldfish…loads and loads of goldfish), and more walking through various areas of Hong Kong.

Good (and financially feasible) yoga has been hard to find, although I quite like the vibe at mYoga, a studio in Mongkok, Kowloon (across the way from Hong Kong Island). I miss practicing at my home, Power Yoga, but thankfully I have a lot of classes on mp3. If you have plans to go on holiday any time soon, I highly advise you download a class or 2 to take with you.

Much love to you.

10 August 2007

2007-08-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, ever since I got here a couple weeks ago, I’ve been thinking that Hong Kong is a supremely crowded place. Well…I had no idea just how crowded until today. They re-hoisted a Typhoon Warning No. 8 early this afternoon. Nearly everything (retail stores, markets, offices, even gyms) immediately closed their doors and nearly everybody was on their way home. Even taxis turned off their For Hire lights and retreated home. I swear the entirety of Hong Kong was on the move. I have never, ever, ever seen SO many people scurrying out on the streets and crammed into the MTR (subway), on escalators, and on lifts (that’s ‘elevator’ for you Americans). It was absolute madness. Some MTR ticket machines and turnstiles went out of service due to too many people trying to use them! People were being fairly courteous and respectful to each other, though. I was impressed by the continuous purposeful movement of the crowds…and then there’s that person who cuts diagonally through the crowds, breaking the flow, or that person who sees his long lost second cousin twice removed, and suddenly stops, causing everyone behind him to crash like dominoes.

When I got here, I was told that Hong Kong, and particularly Central, is uber small, and everyone runs into everyone else everywhere. No kidding! Even I’ve started running into people I know on the street, at the movies, in restaurants. Maybe I will run into a long lost relative here. “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all…”

For real though, it is indeed a small, small world that we live in, that we share together… and we must all be more conscious of how our seemingly insignificant individual actions affect (both positively and negatively) everyone and everything.

I’ve heard that heat waves in Europe and floods in Vietnam are causing deaths. Such heartbreaking news. Let’s all send our love and healing energies to our sisters and brothers who need it. Additionally, we must realize that these extreme and dangerous climate conditions are our planet’s response to our treatment (read: abuse) of it. I’m not educated enough on the topic to go into it in detail, but global warming is real, yo, and if you haven’t yet, I highly encourage you to watch An Inconvenient Truth.

That said, your eco-conscious homework for today is: walk or bike when driving is unnecessary. Just try it once this weekend, huh?

Blowing you kisses, and hoping that the typhoon winds give them an extra oompf over to you.

PS I put up some photos! I’ll note an update here in my blog anytime I add new ones. Enjoy!

9 August 2007

2007-08-09T04:00:00.001-07:00

I am going to Siem Reap, Cambodia next weekend...yeah! We will be staying at the Hotel de la Paix, the hippest, most stylish, luxury hotel in Siem Reap (I mean come on, would you expect any less?). I am beyond psyched to visit Angkor Wat, a temple originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, and later turned into a Buddhist Temple. I think it’s one of the world’s wonders.

Yesterday I had maybe my most delicious meal here thus far. My lovely friend Isabella invited me to dinner and a night out on the town with her and her crew, including some of Hong Kong's finest socialites (and yes, I felt absolutely out of place in that scene, although Issi and her friends were extremely warm and welcoming). The evening began with champagne at her home (where I was reacquainted with her daughter, the rambunctious but sweet Naja whom I first met in Thailand), then dinner at the exclusive members-only China Club (where I had this amazing garlic/chili pepper lightly fried tofu dish that I’d never had before, and maybe the yummiest char siu ever), and onto a couple parties (where there was more champagne, and very good DJs). Like LA, Wednesday seems to be a big night to go out in Hong Kong. I was in bed before 1a, though, which is when I’m sure the party was just beginning for most, as everything is open until 5a or so here. The typhoon warnings did not at all seem to discourage people from venturing out. Hong Kong peeps are unstoppable; they definitely adopt the work hard/play hard mentality. Californians are uber relaxed and casual in comparison. We enjoy big blocks of time doing nothing; we sit in the sand, sun, and sea on a random Tuesday; we walk and talk in a leisurely fashion; we wear flip flops; we chill. I mean, have you ever had to walk alongside someone from a big city? Even when they’re in fancy shoes (especially the girls here...it’s crazy the kinds of uncomfortable-looking and oftentimes dangerous-seeming heels they strut around in), and I’m in slippers or sneaks (ok, ok, or Uggs), I have to skip in order to keep up! Not that I mind skipping.

I just tried my hand – literally – at smashing a mosquito. No more alien eye for me if I can help it! (PS That whole ordeal was a huge and somewhat disappointing realization of my vanity.) I failed several times, and now my hands just hurt. Julie, on the other hand (pun somewhat intended), is a ruthless, deft mosquito smasher, and watching her chase and smash the buggers with her house slippers is hysterical. You would never guess that she is a Stanford MBA student, depended upon to close deals involving millions of dollars, and fielding job offers left and right from the most respectable finance firms. Rather, on her skeeter quests, she is much more like Nala or Samo wildly eyeing, pawing, and catching flies (oh how I miss that doggie and crazy cat) (you too, Bags). It requires quite a bit of patience, concentration and an acute sense of space; it’s almost like a meditation in the wild.

In that spirit, here is your yogi homework of the day: Let “meditate” mean whatever makes the most sense to and has the most meaning for you, and do some. This could mean sitting on a zafu in padmasana, hands in some ancient, fancy mudra, or watering your plants, or watching the ocean, or cleaning your bathroom, or simply focusing on your breath. It could be 1 minute or 1 hour…time is an illusion anyway. Just something that helps you connect…to yourself, to Big Mind, to the world, to your truth, to God, to the present moment. Let me know how it goes.

8 August 2007

2007-08-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

“Typhoon 1 Warning Hoisted” the note on my front gate reads. I wondered…does “hoisted” mean it had been intact, and has now been hoisted (“lifted”), or does it mean the warning is now being given (“raised”). Judging by the high winds, thunder, lightning, streams of rain pouring down as if being emptied out of buckets from the sky, I’m gonna go with the latter. But what a funny phrase, huh? The warning has been hoisted. It’s not every day that you hear of things being hoisted.

I’m sitting at my favorite spot in SoHo: Life Café…you yogis and veggies would absolutely adore it. I spent the afternoon sitting on the roof, which is quite pleasant and would be perfect if it weren’t for the ridiculous heat and humidity. I’m now cozied up inside, watching the rain through giant French windows; they are open, letting in what's now a cool tropical breeze. Organic wines and secondhand books line the shelves to my right, artwork of circles and lines (at which I have been periodically staring and squinting, trying to decipher any secret message (maybe a code to the meaning of life?) the artist may be trying to convey) hang to my right, Bob Marley is on the radio. I had an apple/celery smoothie because it’s meant to flush out your stomach. It was a pukey green color and unfavorably frothy on the top, but hey, it’s good for me, right? I’m befuddled by why I am allergic to fresh apples, but have no problem with freshly squeezed apples.

Yesterday I hopped a ferry over to Lamma Island. So beautiful. A very quaint, bohemian fishing village. If I lived in Hong Kong, I think I would live on Lamma. I found my way to Bookworm Café (very Venice-esque) and had a most delicious vegetarian brunch. Have you ever had a bean pattie? I hadn't, but it sure was tasty! I had no map, but started walking around and through the towns anyway. I hit several dead ends but it was quite enjoyable: no tall buildings, not one car, a lot of stillness, quiet, and green green green. Green rolling hills, green jungle pockets, green plants-lined pathways, and I’m sure green bugs (inch worms greedily eating tomato plants, perhaps?), camouflaged among all of that. I wish I had a camera because the weather was exquisite, the air so clear, everything shining…but of course I did not. I plan on going back several times and I promise I’ll take a camera with me at least once. Hopefully the weather will be clear again soon…I just heard that the typhoon warning has been hoisted to a level 8 (apparently level 10 is the highest; it all depends on where the typhoon’s eye passes through). I’ll do my best not to get hoisted away by it.

Love//prem. Peace//shanti. xox/ommmm. And all that good stuff, to you, from me.

PS Your eco-conscious homework for today is: when you make a purchase, decline items being bagged if it's unnecessary.

6 Aug 2007: Musings from Asia; Volume 2

2007-08-06T03:20:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong Edition begins here:

We’re just having our first rain in Hong Kong since I arrived, and it is much appreciated. Heretofore hot, thick, and sticky…the rain is mercifully cleansing, cooling, renewing, and enlivening..and the thunder spookily exciting, reminiscent of childhood. As I write to you, I lie on my belly in my nook in the apartment, underneath the windowsill. The sun is peeking out for the first time today, shining right through the window, pouring its warmth on my legs. I look up and see the marshmallow-thick clouds purposefully floating onward (I wonder, are they perchance going to you back home?). In this way, I cling to the frugal and fleeting opportunities to physically connect with Mother Earth here in this concrete hub bub that is my now-home.

Nee How!

Hong Kong is crazy! It’s been a whopping change of scenery for this quiet(ish) yogi from California. I’ve been here for just over a week now, and feel pretty bombarded...yesterday was the first day I found some peace as some friends and I sailed away from Hong Kong Island, an hour and a half away to another island, covered in beautiful, alive greenery, rather than dotted with massive hunks of concrete and neon lights. It was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air. I sprawled out on the boat deck, reading a book on the teachings of the Dalai Lama, soaking in the sun's rays, listening and bobbing to the splash of the waves…riding the flow…

The flow I usually ride here is among busybee Hongkees along the Central Escalator that goes from Central’s financial district up to the residential Mid-Levels. Apparently it’s the world’s longest covered outdoor people-mover, though I had no idea that such a category of designation even existed (and doubt that any other people-mover poses a threat to its record achievement). I’m living with Julie, my best friend from childhood, in SoHo, which is a division of Central, which is Hong Kong’s business center. Apartments here are teeny tiny – though rents are astronomical – including ours: the front door opens right into the shower and the bedroom door can’t open fully because it hits the double-sized bed that we share. Buildings are so close together that I can easily see into my neighbors’ across the way and make clear eye contact with them. We have air/con and maid service, though, so it’s not so bad. It’s cozy, really: us trying to get comfortable on the couch together involves one of us sprawling out upside down, the other lying sideways, with both of us leaning our legs up against the wall. Yoga definitely comes in handy when you’re living in tight quarters…bending here and stretching there to make the best use of limited physical space, but also being able to mentally create some spaciousness.

I’ve been practicing at home with YogiChocolate downloads (though there isn’t quite enough space to fully unroll my mat, and Julie has to walk over, under, and around me as I practice smack in the middle of the apartment) and at Pure Yoga (which is kind of the Yoga Works of Asia). Yoga still has quite a ways to grow here…studio walls are completely mirrored for all classes, not just Bikram, which encourages people to keep looking at themselves, obsessing, being distracted, judging…but there seem to be quite a few quality teachers, so I am confident things will continue flowing in the right direction. Classes are exorbitantly priced, sometimes $30 (US) for one class (PS It has been painfully confusing trying to make the $ conversion. It's $7.8 HK to $1 US.), and there is no such thing as a donation-based studio. Apparently one was attempted at some point, but it immediately went belly-up; it couldn't even break even on the rent. It seems the simple, no-nonsense yoga studio doesn’t appeal to the people here. It’s a reminder how blessed we in Santa Monica/LA are not only to have Bryan Kest’s amazing donation-based studio, but also just in general, the countless opportunities to practice, to teach, to learn, to explore, (to be) yoga.

Hong Kong is at the start of a conscious evolution, though, and whether or not people are enticed because it’s become trendy to be a yogi or to be eco-friendly, it’s happening, and that’s a beautiful thing. Just around the corner from my building are two organic cafes, serving fresh fruit smoothies, fancy salads, and quite possibly my favorite menu item: organic coffees.

Friends, both new and old (I've reconnected with a few very dear friends from the olden days), have been incredibly hospitable, but I don’t think people smile at each other enough. You know that random smile from a stranger that could just make your day? Doesn’t much happen. I hope to positively effect a change in that regard during my stay. And service, for the most part, is not so good. Wait staff at restaurants seem annoyed when you ask them for something, and the legendary rudeness of Hong Kong taxi drivers is for real. I’ve been booted from taxis because the driver did not want to make what they considered too short of a trip. Oh, and mosquitoes suck here as much as they sucked in Thailand. I got bitten on the EYELID a few days ago, and it was completely swollen and nearly shut. It looked like an alien eye. I’m also recovering from an intense bout of the stomach flu, the worst of which is over. Everything’s at least slightly different from home, so I think my physical body is just trying to acclimate to being out here.

My energetic body is definitely trying to acclimate to being out here too. Hong Kong’s energy is intense and palpable: the city is always awake, the people are extremely hard-working and driven, the pedestrian crosswalk beeps are loud and incessant, the lights are always blazing or blinking or twinkling. Thank Buddha for my yoga practice, the proximity of the water, reflexology foot massages (which are actually fairly painful during and only relieving after, kind of like a tough yoga posture), and the constant, consistent flow of breath (I think my lungs may even find comfort and familiarity in the smogginess, which is quite like that of our good ole' LA air).

Ciao, my loves, til next time. And yes, I will try to post shorter posts form here on out. Peace.

PS I will try to post pictures, but I am not too good about taking my camera with me everywhere. In the meantime, here are some photos from my (and my friend Jackie's) Bon Voyage party in Venice. Cheers!

:: goodbye (for now) note ::

2007-07-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

Hey There, Yogibears!

I have some news: I will be leaving Santa Monica for a little while. I am headed back to Asia to further explore my roots, my spirit, and my life purpose. I will be gone indefinitely, and as such, I have had to let go of most of my classes. Please note the Schedule page for further details such as the last date I will be teaching each class and who is taking over for me.

This decision has been bittersweet, as I love Santa Monica, my classes, and even more so all of you, my lovely yogis. But let’s focus on the potential sweetness this opportunity, like all opportunities, offers for all of us. For me - I have spent most of my life grounded here in California, and although I absolutely love it here, my wings want to soar. I have been blessed to already have done a fair amount of traveling, but spending a few days here and there as a tourist is quite different from really saturating in a new land (not unlike holding a yoga pose!). So I am wholeheartedly, gratefully, and excitedly embracing this opportunity to fly.

And for you - I encourage you to seek new teachers and new interpretations. Continue letting your yogic horizons expand (not unlike your breath expanding!). If you want any guidance along the way, please do not hesitate to email me. If you find that you’d really like to take a class from me, please check out YogiChocolate and download one (in MP3 format), on donation-basis. I am also working on another venture through which I hope to bring you video classes from wherever I find myself over the coming weeks and months.

Remember that all is temporary and always flowing…including my absence. I plan on returning, hopefully with a deeper and more abundant personal understanding of life, yoga, and myself that I can share with you.

I will definitely keep in touch via email and Words, so please come back and visit my page for updates.

Pause… Smile… Breathe.

Big love to you all,

Leah

note to students 20 February

2007-03-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I will be out of the country for one month, leaving Wednesday, February 21 and returning Wednesday, March 21.

I am responding to my intuition's call to fly into a new life experience…a journey of love, breath, and meditation…an exploration of myself, the world, and my practice…expanding into new lands, new air, and new waters.

I will be traveling mostly through Southeast Asia , but shall openly go where the flow, the oceans, and the sands sweep me.

All of my classes will still be held as usual, with subs that I have carefully selected to take care of you in my absence. You'll find sub names on my Schedule. (Please note that Cameron Shayne will still be teaching his classes.)

Please continue on with your practice…whether you attend class with my subs, try out a new class, or play on your mat at home. A jolt in your routine can bring freshness, spaciousness, and clarity.

If you find yourself really wishing you could take one of my classes, you can download one for free at www.YogiChocolate.com, by signing up on the Mailing List. If you have a moment, please read what YogiChocolate is all about!

Please feel free to email me with questions, thoughts, feedback on my subs, or simple hellos. I would love to hear from you.

Be well, be yoga, be you- Leah.

Back in Santa Monica: 22 March

2007-03-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I’m not immune to jet lag. The weird thing is, I’m going to bed at 4a and waking up at 1p, which translates to 6p-3a in Thailand, and 8p-5a in Japan, nowhere close to my actual sleep hours. Guess there’s no rationalizing jet lag!

I love that I departed Tokyo at 4p and arrived in LA at 10a, earlier that same day. I went back in time!

Although…time is just an illusion.

It’s lovely to be home. I was a bit worried about forgetting how to drive, having been away for a month, in lands where they drove on the opposite side of the road and in the opposite side of the car, and especially because my car is manual drive, but it’s like riding a bike. Or, I guess, like driving a car. I was driving west this afternoon, and the ocean peeked out at me as I came upon a hill. This never fails to warm my heart, comfort my belly, and make me smile. I am most at home near, on, in the ocean. Mmm.

I told yall that I was a mermaid in a past life.

In the past, when I’ve returned from a trip, I’ve experienced sadness and reluctance about leaving the new land/is-land I was visiting. I’ve experienced confusion and dismay upon my return home- finding that everything is still the same, nothing has changed, almost as if I’d never left.

Last November, I traveled to Turks & Caicos and for the first time, I wasn’t sad to leave. It wasn’t because I didn’t completely enjoy my 2 weeks in my Caribbean fantasy world; it was because I find peace and happiness and validity and presence and beauty in every moment. We’re simply floating from and experiencing and existing in one moment to the next…whether at home, on vacation, at work, alone, among loved ones, happy, or sad.

It’s all just in through the nose, out through the nose.

With my return from Asia, for the first time, it doesn’t feel as though I never left. Things are comfortably the same, but freeingly different.

The rest of my time in Tokyo continued to be freezing, but also beautiful, funny, fun, inspiring, perfect. My new Budokon sisters and brothers are all so amazing, and to have met and shared time with them is more than I could have asked for during my short time in Japan. A big congrats and welcome to our 8 new Senseis!

It was fun being with Cameron day in and day out for a few days. He is so in love with Japan- the people, the language, the culture, the country. And why not- there’s so much kindness, thoughtfulness, respect, propriety, beauty, perfection, tradition. Everything is done mindfully. We walked across a sewer gutter cover, and he said if he could, he would take that home and hang it on his wall as décor. It was that beautiful.

I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that the women are quite beautiful and that people ask for his autograph left and right, too. ;)

We stayed in Daikanyama, an uber hip and trendy (read: expensive) area, in a traditional style room with tatami mats for beds and communal old school Asian bathhouse-style showers. I people-watched and wrote in cafés (even one called Mermaid Café), clouded in cigarette smoke drinking tea that cost 700 yen (= $7) per cup. I visited the areas of Ebisu, Shibuya, and Meguro. I almost got lost on the Subway because I was directed to take the Green line, when there were 3 different shades of Green lines. Good thing for my internal compass. I think a little Japanese boy developed a crush on me; he would alternately stare at me and run behind me to slap my butt. I was pleased to learn that the proper way to eat Soba noodles is to Sllllurrrrpppp!! them loudly. For my last meal in Tokyo, I inadvertently ended up in a Thai restaurant, which I found beautifully fitting.

On my flight back, I sat next to a couple who have been married for 43 years. Happily married. Blessed with 3 children and 6 grandchildren. I spent hours talking with them about life, love, family, and travel. It was beautifully inspirational.

As I waited in the Customs Line at LAX, I locked eyes with an adorable little Japanese girl. She smiled and gently bowed to me. I bowed back. It was heartwarming.

And as I write to you now, my sweet, sweet dog is softly snoring and sleep-stirring next to me.

Every moment is beautiful, my loves. I look forward to in-person wais, namastes, hugs, and kisses. I’ve posted pictures online. If you don’t receive an email linking you to them, please email me and I’ll send it to you.

Sawadeeka, Sionara, Aloha, goodbye for now. Be well, and I’ll see you on the mat.

Day 23: 17 March

2007-03-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

Konichiwa!

I now write to you from Tokyo. I don’t think I could have picked a more opposite place to be from Thailand, at least within Asia. It SNOWED tonight. Wait- did you catch that? IT SNOWED. I went from tropical hotness to freezing ass (yes, this yogi uses fresh language) coldness. I go out in Uggs, leg warmers, jeans, 3 layers of shirts, a full length wool coat, mittens, and a cashmere scarf that is about 20 feet long (yes, 20 feet long!!…I know some of you have seen it!) and I’m STILL cold. My lips are cold-chapped and my toes are freezing. It’s so cold that it’s almost funny.

Almost.

Did I already mention that it snowed?

Another hugely different thing is how clean it is here. It’s unreal. I saw a wall with graffiti on it, and somehow even that looked clean. There is absolutely no litter anywhere, no fallen branches or leaves, no rubbish at all whatsoever. It almost looks like a fantasy city.

And a final difference is how damn expensive everything is. Average water bottle: 10 baht (= 27 cents) to 100 yen (= 95 cents). Average tax ride: 50 baht (= $1.40) to 900 yen (= $8). But the craziest thing is we saw a $35 watermelon yesterday. Wait- did you catch that? $35 for a watermelon!!!!!!!!! A new friend I’ve made here says she almost never has watermelon.

A similarity is (I’m not sure when this turned into a compare/contrast essay) the food: Stupid good. Happy food dance good. “Make you wanna slap yo’ mama good.” Japanese cuisine is my friend – it’s so delicious, simple yet decadent, clean, healthy – oops! I meant to write that Japanese cuisine is my favorite, but I left my mistake there because it made me laugh and because it’s also true that it is my friend, why not? HA! Anyway, I LOVE Japanese food, particularly sushi. I have had a lot of good sushi in my lifetime, and I can confidently say that the best sushi is undoubtedly here in Japan. Check it out: tuna tartare drizzled with sauce, mixed with the most perfectly mushy avocado, and topped with a raw egg.

Like I said- stupid good.

I’m here with Kancho Cameron Shayne for a Budokon Teacher Training. We had our first day today, and the Japanese Senseis are looking really great. It’s a trip to hear them teach our art form in Japanese. It’s beautiful to be here and be a part of it, because Kancho and consequently Budokon are so influenced by the Japanese arts, culture, and people. They really are a beautiful people- sweet, genuine, respectful, attentive, and peaceful. All those that I have met today are perfect examples of a Budokon Sensei- talented, strong, focused, driven, non-competitive, humble, watchful, patient, unafraid, playful, aware.

Could I use any more adjectives?

I miss Thailand, though. And 2 of my favorite men in the world whose hips I was attached to for 5 days. Who have matching visors from Ice Bar in Thong Lor and matching names (Paco) from Spanish class in school.

I love to travel and I’ve been fortunate enough to have done a fair amount of travel in my day. I was born in Chicago but grew up in California. I studied in Hawaii. I interned in Korea. I’ve been on family vacations to various countries in Europe, various islands in the Caribbean, Mexico and even Morocco. I’ve visited loved ones throughout the States. Through all this travel, I’ve learned to read my vibration with a particular place. I know immediately upon stepping onto a new land whether or not I vibe with that place. While I’m always eager to be somewhere new, unknown, and different, I feel a very clear distinction between a place I feel connected to and a place I know I could always only be a visitor to. I have always felt connected to and at home on any given island, and I felt similarly connected to Southeast Asia overall.

I was becoming rather familiar with Thai words and areas. I even said my first full sentence in Thai at dinner: “Can I please have some green tea?” I asked. And when I was leaving home to go somewhere, I clarified with Jay, “Now do I want to catch a cab on the Sukhumvit side or the Thong Lor side, or do you think I’ll find one out here on the Soi?” His answer to that was, “Look at you, all Thai! But I thought we decided you were going to take the Train?”

Oh yeah, oops! So maybe I’m a little ADD…

My last few days in Thailand were spent trying to get as many checks as possible on my To Do During My Last Few Days In Thailand List. I did pretty good. Here’s a glimpse:
-eat street food
-shop
-take brother to a movie in theatre so he can pledge allegiance to the King
-Phra Athit Road
-yoga @ Prana Yoga
-yoga with Adrien @ Yoga Elements
-experience the worst traffic in the world (no, this wasn’t actually on my list, but it happened anyway, and yes Bangkok traffic is worse than LA and maybe even Seoul)
-get a massage (the proper kind)
-go to Brown Sugar, a jazz club
-retrieve Akie’s mug – quite possibly the most loved plain white mug in the entire world – from the Westin

Some notes:
-Bangkok street food is sooooooo good. Marinated and charbroiled style meat (think Korean BBQ) on sticks paired with divinely delicious sticky rice given to you very matter-of-factly in a plastic baggie. You can get a full meal for 35 baht (= ~$1), and I totally didn’t get a belly ache.

-Shopping in Bangkok is intimidating and a bit out of control. Shopping areas are overrun with both locals and tourists and there are so many beautiful things that I just wanted one of everything. I discovered and treated myself to some beautiful Buddha pieces and some Thai elephant décor. I’m a pretty non-committal shopper, mostly because I make an effort not to be attached to material things so I rarely see anything that “I’ve just got to have!” but I’m even more non-committal in bargaining situations. Bargaining is a rather confrontational thing. I’m worried about seeing the same thing at the next shop over for half the price because I don’t want to be the foreigner that was gullible and overcharged but at the same time, how much does saving a few cents really matter, is it more about saving those cents or is it about being the winner of the bargain?

-When you watch a movie in a theatre, before the movie begins, you stand and pay respects as they play a 1-minute montage of the King. I love it! Also, at 9a and 6p everyday, the national anthem plays out of public speakers, and everyone freezes mid-whatever-they-were-doing/wherever-they-were-going for the duration of the song. I love that, too!

-I visited Phra Athit Road at the urging of my sweet friend Emily, who told me it’s her favorite road in Bangkok so I just had to go visit it in her honor. It’s near the uber touristy, backpacker area called Khao San. Phra Athit is much less tourist-ridden (nothing against tourists, I’ve essentially been one for the past month), but spending time there, I realized just how authentic of a Thailand experience I’d been having just slipping into Jay’s life there…living in an apartment in just another neighborhood of Bangkok, going to the local supermarket, going to restaurants where half the time we got things we didn’t order (but they were always just as delicious if not moreso) because the restaurants generally just cater to locals and therefore the servers don’t speak much English. But Phra Athit is charming and its eateries, from the super fresh fruit carts to the hole in the wall restaurant Roti Mataba to the American-style café Coffee and More, are true to Thailand in their deliciousness.

-Yoga classes in Asia was pretty good, but aside from Lek (which I was delighted to learn means “little” as she is quite a little Thai woman) at Prana Yoga (www.pranabangkokyoga.com), I was left uninspired. Yoga is quite new in Asia, so I think people are still working through the truth that it’s not about the pose. Classes rarely went beyond the externalities of the asanas and rarely talked about the breath (which is the key to the practice!). Those of you with a cherished yoga studio and/or teacher wherever you live- be very grateful you’ve been given this blessing.

-Massages in Thailand are as good as they say. Who knew a little Thai woman about half my size could be so strong?

-The jazz band was Thai, and dude- Thai people can rock it out. Who knew a little Thai woman could so soulfully belt her heart out? We befriended 2 French fellows, Frederic et Mattheu, that night. I used the petit peut de francais que je sais and I impressed both of them, Jay, and Mike. The jazz club closed at 1a but being Frederic et Mattheu’s last night in Bangkok, they were reluctant to end it there. So we suggested Ice Bar where yes, the bars are made of ice. We all squished into a cab, and about 7 minutes into the cab ride, Frederic says, “So where are we going?” HA! :D How cool that these guys just hopped in a cab with 3 people they just met, having no idea where they were headed in a foreign country. French peeps are cool, yo!

Sorry about the long blog, but let me leave you with a few last thoughts:

I’m convinced some of the mosquitoes in Thailand have invisibility powers because sometimes I could feel them, but when I looked, there was no bugger there!

Thailand has phenomenal bread: blueberry, carrot, milk chocolate, whole wheat crossiants, whole wheat English muffins used as buns for our homemade hamburgers, Asian buns with red bean paste, and huge slices of raisin bread sized perfectly for egg in a hoooooooole! (The best waffle is still at the Omelet Parlor on Main Street in Santa Monica.)

I had yellow watermelon for the first time in Thailand! It pretty much tastes like red watermelon, but it was fun to see and eat it in a different color, and no, it cost nowhere near $35.

Budokon family: get ready for Fighting Crocodile in Reverse and the Inch Worm.

Arigato gozai mas for reading. Sending you snowflakes from Tokyo!

PS I’ll be home next week; my first class back will be Thursday the 22^nd @ 7p @ Bodies. My schedule shall resume as usual starting with that class.

Day 18: 12 March

2007-03-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to one of my dearest friends, Jacks! Here’s wishing you a most fruitful, expansive, and happy 27^th year!

Today my brother Mike, Jay, and I visited the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. It is my highlight of Bangkok. I remember Erich Schiffmann, one of my greatest teachers, talking about him during my Teacher Training. It was so fitting, too, because Erich embodies and exudes the spirit of this Buddha.

After piddling around the Grand Palace and visiting the Emerald Buddha, who was very appropriately in his hot weather outfit (yes! He has different outfits for the 3 different seasons here: cold, rainy, and hot), we made our way to Wat (which means Temple) Pho. There are many, many temples and other sacred places here in Bangkok, and each carries a specific message. At Wat Pho, the message is to have a secure and peaceful life, and I could really feel that energy once we stepped onto the temple grounds.

I was excited to see the Reclining Buddha, and as I caught glimpses of him from the outside, I started bubbling up inside, like a child on Christmas morning. When I got inside, my heart filled, my eyes spilled…I was in awe. I was completely and surprisingly overwhelmed. I was so moved by the spirit of the Buddha – peaceful, relaxed, protective; by the love of the people who created the statue and the temple that houses him – breathtakingly intricate, beautiful, and you can just feel that it was created with pure love; by Erich’s presence; by an energy of love, compassion, pureness, goodness that words cannot properly communicate. Crying and sparkling from joy, wonder, love, and gratitude, I looked over at Jay and whispered, “I love him!” It was one of the most magnificent things I have ever been in the presence of.

Let us all aspire to find and live in the spirit of the Reclining Buddha…I think I shall start by reclining in bed. Bon nuit!

Day 16: 10 March

2007-03-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Greetings! Long time, no blog. No worries- I haven’t (yet) been scooped up off the sidewalk by a motorcycle taxi driver to be taken into the Thai abyss. Yes, that’s kind of actually a fear I have when I’m walking on the streets and those guys get dangerously and questionably close to me. I have just trotted around a bit, to Koh Phangan (via Koh Samui) and then to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I’m now back in Bangkok. I was on a computer hiatus for nearly a week and it was a great purge. If you are able to take a technological fast, I highly recommend it.

I’m in love with the Thai islands (Thaislands!). Beautiful beyond beautiful. Quiet, peaceful, and still…the antithesis to Bangkok. In Koh Phangan, an island you can only get to via boat, all I could hear while sitting, meditating, and practicing on the balcony or on the beach was ocean waves lapping flowing ebbing morphing being. The sun was fierce, perhaps the hottest sun I’d ever experienced. The villa was perfect, with huge windows (the curtains for which we never once shut) for walls, offering generous views of blue water, blue skies, green vegetation, and the shadowy glimpses of neighboring islands. Sitting on the balcony or lying in bed, there was ocean in front of me, ocean behind me, and ocean to the side of me. Add to that: an infinity pool overlooking the ocean and the beach nearly to ourselves. We had a pet gecko in the room that would periodically make this chirpy squeaky noise, which we presume was him asking us what we were doing in his room. There were lots of sweet dogs (including a Thai Nala look-alike!) and even cats roaming around and hanging out on the beaches. One dog tried to follow us home…so cute and sweet! He must have recognized us from another lifetime or something.

The food in Bangkok is better but!! it was quite wonderful having fresh fruit shakes delivered to the room, poolside, and oceanside, in a plethora of fresh fruit flavors: banana, mango, pineapple, watermelon, and coconut. Also, we drank from the – gasp – Minibar without reservation…ice teas and sodas (yes, this yogi drinks soda) were just 25 baht (less than 75 cents) each!

The Full Moon Party is a big (read: thousands of people big) beach party under – what else – the full moon. Similar to Coachella or a rave, but free!!, there are different DJs/areas of music and other forms of entertainment such as fire dancing (Kenta, you would totally rock it out there!) dotting the shore of the Haad Rin peninsula. The coolest part was when they fired up (literally lit fire to) a 25 foot high or so sign that read Amazing Thailand and had 2 big elephants on it. Grandiose and indulgent. I also enjoyed the assortment of languages we heard as we walked through the crowds- people from all over the world. We made our way home at about midnight, but the party was still going on the next day! As we made our way to Leela Beach (which we went to because my family’s nickname for me is Lela), we could hear the sounds of what could only be the after the-full-moon-party party. Peeps is crazy out here in Thailand!

I think the planes in and out of Koh Samui were the smallest I’d ever taken. (And the cutest- there were little Nemo-like fishies painted on the outside!) Inside, when Jay stood up, his head was just a couple inches away from the ceiling. All the seatbelt and lavatory signs were only about 1.5 inches big. The Koh Samui Airport was also definitely the smallest, simplest airport I’d ever been in…entirely outdoors and equipped with an arrivals terminal and a departures terminal.

While on the islands, I got in touch with my friend Viva, who is currently living in Kuala Lumpur (“K.L.”), Malaysia and decided to hop over for a visit. I went on my own, which was fun but at times unnerving because I had no idea where I was and had no way of contacting anybody. I was swindled by the taxi driver who picked me up at the airport, but I didn’t care because by the time I arrived at Viva’s hotel, I was just grateful that he didn’t kidnap me to make me into a Malaysian concubine. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to follow a random man, who essentially bullied me into agreeing to go with him, into the parking lot (totally not in the official Taxi Line) and get into his car, especially when he didn’t run the meter and he inexplicably circled the parking lot twice before exiting. Immediately upon entering the car, I rolled the window down to make sure I could Budokon my way out of the car if things starting feeling suspicious.

Luckily, all went fine and I arrived safely at the KL Hilton, where Viva is the resident singer, and a very talented singer at that. She was kind enough to let me stay with her at this over-the-top nice hotel. Grandiose and indulgent. Her room overlooked much of the city, which is a beautiful combination of modern-day life – highways, high-rises, and financial districts – and endless shades, layers, and depths of jungle. The Malaysian government makes great efforts to maintain their land’s nature within the city. I spent a lot of time meditating, writing, and musing on the rooftop, on the greatest chair that was ever created. It was a big circular wicker chair-loveseat, with a cushy cushion and cushy pillows and a crescent-shaped ottoman. There were palm trees directly overhead, providing shade and covering from the slight sprinkling that occurred for a few minutes in the late afternoon, something that apparently happens everyday, ensuring that KL stay as alive and green as possible.

I did some touring, the highlight of which was going to the Batu Caves, a sacred place for Hindus, the highlight within the highlight of which – and I hope it isn’t blasphemous that this was my favorite part – were the little monkeys running around eating coconuts. Foods I tasted included native Nona foods, a meat skewers medley (only made more perfect because I was outside, poolside, and on that splendiferous chair), and green tea Tiramisu (only made more perfect because I ended up eating it with my hands out of my carry-on bag because it spilled out of its fancy origami-style to go (or as they say here, “take away”) container).

And in line with the way of the Universe, which always works to bring things into balance, my ride back to the airport was safe, pampering, and without the threat of being hustled or made into a concubine. Friends of Viva’s graciously had me first-class chauffeured. Grandiose and indulgent. Many, many thanks to Viva & co. for their Malay welcome and hospitality!

So, I have about another week or so in Bangkok. My brother is flying in from Seoul (where he currently lives) tomorrow…yay! I’m sure we will cause absolutely no raucous out on the streets of Thailand.

Good day to you, my friends. This little monkey is off to run around and eat coconuts!

2007-03-02T00:28:00.000-08:00

Day 8: 2 March

I’ve just found out that a sweet friend of mine, Patricia Lucio, suddenly passed away. Needless to say, I am heartbroken. I wish I could be there to attend the funeral services, but Pat was Thai, and I can’t help but think there’s something to the fact that I’m here in her homeland. Please send love, comfort, and peace to her and her family, especially her 5-year old son. Love and tears from Thailand.

Day 7: 1 March

2007-03-01T03:31:00.001-08:00

Happy March! (But dude…wasn’t it just Christmas??)

I’ve just booked my first trip out of Bangkok: Koh Phangan! Koh means island. Phangan may be the most difficult word I’ve ever tried to pronounce. This is the home of the Full Moon Party (Sensei Em- this seems like exactly your kind of thing…I so wish you were here!) which happens to be happening while we are there. I’m really looking forward to making thousands of new friends! We’re staying in what seems to be a rather fancy schmancy resort villa (http://bluehillresort.com). I’ll be sure to blog in upon my return, and let you know how all goes.

(How amazing it must be to have made up a silly-sounding word – blog, google – that finds a place in our culture’s vernacular. I want to do that- it’s going on my To Do in Life List. Do you have one of those lists? You should!)

I hope to make additional treks out of the city, but truthfully, there is much to see and do (and eat) here (apparently elephants DO roam the streets of Bangkok! That’s going on my To Do in Bangkok List!). My ideal way to travel is to find stillness within one place. Not to hop from place to place to place to place, barely getting a feel for the vibration of the people and the culture within. It’s the quality of the experience. Just like in yoga…it’s not about how many poses you can do or how fast you might move through them…it’s about the quality of mind with which you approach the pose, the depth you search for within the pose. It’s about being masterful, as Cameron Shayne always says.

By the way, I’m feeling a LOT better; thank you for sending me your healing energies.

This post shall be short and sweet – like Thai peeps! Blowing you tropical kisses!

Day 6: 28 February

2007-02-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

Sawadee Ka!

I’ve learned that that is the more proper way of saying hello. In my first post, I’d written “Sawat Dii”, which isn’t incorrect, but the greeting actually sounds more like “Sawadee”. Also, you generally want to use the honorific modifier: “ka” if you’re a lady, “kap” if you’re a fella.

Yes, I believe I am becoming more and more immersed in the Thai culture. I was approached by Thai people the other day, asking me something in Thai! I was psyched and flattered, but then I felt bad because I couldn’t help them. Isn’t that moment so interesting- when 2 people who don’t speak each others’ language are trying to connect, and then they realize they can’t understand each other. The apologetic look from one, the “oh, you don’t understand me” look from the other. Sometimes you keep trying to speak, as if speaking slower or repeating what you said will lead to an understanding. But then there’s nothing left to do but smile and walk on. Babel, yo.

Most people still seem to know that I’m a foreigner. I’m often asked what my ethnicity is. Malaysian? Chinese? Thai-but-can’t-speak-my-own-language? It’s interesting how frequently I’m asked this question…I suppose I appreciate their curiosity. But I never know what to say after I tell them I’m Korean. They’re clearly Thai, so I can’t ask the question back to them. Not that I would know how to say that in Thai anyway. So we’re just left in one of those awkward, nervous-giggle moments.

I rode the Skytrain on my own yesterday. The Skytrain is Bangkok’s Metro- like a Super Monorail or the Airtrain to JFK in NY. I perused Siam Square (where all the young peeps hang out) and visited the Jim Thompson House (http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/museum/index.asp), which was BEAUTIFUL. I would love to have a tropical house like that someday…where you can have an entire downstairs area with no walls (so it’s somewhere in between being inside and being outside), Buddha statues from around the globe, windows that open into jungle-like surroundings, with a river surrounding the grounds. It was lovely.

Today we took a Tuk Tuk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tuktukpktalad05b.jpg) for the first (and hopefully last!) time. They seem cute, fun, and almost romantic, but actually leave your lungs and boogers covered in sooty exhaust (kind of like the horse-drawn carriages in NYC…nice in theory, but actually quite bumpy and stinky once you’re aboard). We didn’t have much of a choice, though. We were fairly far from home, and none of the cabbies wanted to take us. Those that were willing were asking for 200 baht, which is less than $6, but when you compare it to what the actual price should be – 60 baht – it’s rather ludicrous. Also, because Jay speaks Thai (yeah! Jay speaks Thai- I’m so impressed!), the cabbies knew they couldn’t swindle us by driving without the meter running or taking us in circles.

The Thai sun, smog, and fierce aircon systems seem to have taken a toll on my body as I’m currently a bit sick with a sore throat, stuffed nose, coughs, sneezes, and mild achiness (I’d be perfect for a Robitussin ad!). No worries though- I’ll be fine. I have my magical concoction of Airborne & EmergenC (which I highly recommend to ward off sickness) and I slept 12 hours last night. *sheepish grin. Sleeping: gooooood.

Did you know that Bangkok means the City of Angels? So really, I’m still in Los Angeles. And actually, sometimes it feels like I am! People text message here not just while driving their cars but riding their scooters! And sometimes those scooters are carrying 7-month old babies in a little basket on the front, too! Okay, so I haven’t seen that myself, but Jay says it happens. And also like in LA, every other person carries a Louis Vuitton bag.

Jay tried to take me to one of his favorite Bangkok eats- a fish market run ma/pa style. No frills, just icebeds of fish and other seafood (like ginormous lobsters stir-fried with chilli sauce). To our dismay, we got there and instead found a ginormous new mall. Consumerism takes Bangkok! Boo! I was totally looking forward to eating in a stinky fish market, too. Because for real, food here is serious. I’m even impressed with their Korean food! Last night we had bibimbap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap). They served it very authentically in a piping hot stone bowl with the ingredients still raw, awaiting our own personal mixing and mashing. They did good on the sauce, too.

My last note of the evening is about the long tail boat ride we took on the Chao Praya river today. The boat could probably fit 40 people or so, but it was just the 2 of us, which was nice. It took us through the river community – by homes that literally pour into the river or are on the river (houseboat, Essence!), the myriad temples and golden Buddhas dotting the riverside, and the beautiful green vegetation growing from and around the river. And though the residences seem low quality by our American living standard, I actually felt a lot of peace and contentment as we passed through. Doggies lazily napping on the river banks, their paws dangling over the water…peeps lazily napping on hammocks above the river banks, gently swaying like babies in cradles. It reminded me of the really nice houses around the Marina in Marina Del Ray, except that the walls and roofs of these houses are made of tin or simple wood, or are just nonexistent. Pretty wild.

It made me appreciate what I have and my living accommodations back home, but at the same, I felt curious – if a bit envious – of the simple life these people live. And I love the idea of living in such close proximity to water. I’ve always felt most connected to and protected by the Universe when I’m in or near bodies of water. I think I was a mermaid in a past life.

Swim on, brothers and sisters.

Day 4: 26 February

2007-02-26T11:15:00.001-08:00

(My Sense of…Taste in Thailand)

I’ve just come out of the biggest food coma of my life. I finally had proper Thai food tonight and it was wicked tasty…and wicked spicy. I do believe that the spiciest Thai food (which apparently I haven’t tried yet, and don’t know if I will be trying as I feel pretty content with the level of spiciness that I’ve consumed thus far) may outspice the spiciest Korean food, which I realize is a rather hefty statement. We had pork satay (yes, this yogi eats meat, if you didn’t catch onto that from my hot dog statement earlier), pad thai (which I guess isn’t called simply “pad” in Thailand) with prawns, stir fried morning glory (which, my Budokon family, is not like morning meat), and basil prawns (which was way less basil and way more the-spiciest-concoction-of-peppers-&-sauces-ever). I was sweating not just from the tropical heat but from the tropical spice, wiping my face in vain with the toilet-paper-square-sized pieces of tissue they call napkins here (I guess cuz Thai peeps are so little!) (I feel rather tall here, which is kind of nice.). The restaurant itself was super cute…a delicious garden atmosphere complete with decks for flooring, an open-air roof (so…no roof, really), a river-like bed of water, mist, trees, and oh, of course- mosquitoes.

(My Sense of…Touch in Thailand)

They’re wicked, these Thai skeeters…they bite where it’s hard to scratch, like the fingers, the tops of the feet, the ankle bones, and the knees. Evil little suckers. Although, to be fair, I guess they’re just doing their thing in the world like the rest of us, hm?

So we came home after dinner, and the aircon had been off all day so it was steamy inside. My eyelids felt heavy, my belly was happily stuffed, and I needed to lie on it (which I realize isn’t a proper aid to the digestion process, but it comforts me). So I lied down and drifted into an indulgent food coma which lasted 3 hours!

Now that’s the sign of a good meal, yeah?

(My Sense of…Sight in Thailand)

I car-watched today, sitting in one of the nicest, biggest Starbucks ever. Yeah- I’m in Thailand and I’m spending time at Starbucks, but this Starbucks has a huge outdoor area surrounded by lush green, open to the blue sky, equipped with giant fans and cushy seating areas. It’s more like the W or the Standard- a heavenly coffee oasis (yes, this yogi drinks coffee). I’m reading Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (which I highly recommend). It’s simple yet heavy reading, so every now and then, I pause from the reading to let my intellectual mind catch up to it. I find its truth in the leaves of the trees, in the tropical heat, even in the pesty mosquitoes.

Amidst my car-watching, I felt called to seek a red car. Watching, watching, watching…no red car. And then: pink car, orange car, a quarter-red bus, a half-red taxi, a red motorcycle. Close, but no red car. I shrugged and went back to my reading. A few minutes later, I looked up and saw three red cars: one parked on each side of the street and another one passing by in the same moment.

(My Sense of…Intuition in Thailand)

To me, this simple, if silly, red car exercise means that in life, you should know your intention, what you want to manifest in your life. Your intention must be pure, true to your spirit. Be aware of what you want and be brave enough to ask for it. Then you must watch and wait; you must relinquish control and not look so hard to find it. Let it go. When you are truly detached from it is when you will be prepared to receive it. When you are prepared to receive it is when it will come. I have no doubt that the universe works in this way. Try it out with something little. See what manifests.

(My Sense of…Smell in Thailand)

One of the loveliest experiences I’m having here is suddenly-appearing, magical smells. The other day, I was sitting on our patio when seemingly out of nowhere came the smell of fresh lychee. I can only assume that someone was happily cracking open this tropical fruit and the smell of its juicy, fruity goodness was generously, if teasingly, wafting in my direction. Then today, sitting in my coffee oasis, the smell of island flowers (though no, Thailand is not an island) was floating in and out around me. I couldn’t detect where it was coming from, but it was soothing, nourishing, and lovely.

(My Sense of…Hearing in Thailand)

Less soothing, nourishing, and lovely is my uninvited alarm clock every morning – the melodically luring sounds of none other than – construction. Unfortunately, these sounds are not any nicer in a tropical place, not any more tolerable to this supposedly calm and centered yogi, not any gentler being made by the gentle people of Thailand. No, these sounds are still biting and offensive (a literal rude awakening) (but an awakening nevertheless), nothing like the inspiring, beautiful sound of Yo-Yo Ma, to whom I’ve recently taken quite a liking. But construction means growth and vitality – growth on the streets of Bangkok and vitality of the culture and economy of Thailand – which contribute to the growth and vitality of human kind, the world, the universe, and all of existence.

Slap!

Sounds like Jay just smashed a mosquito outside on the patio.

Day 2: 24 February

2007-02-24T02:53:00.001-08:00

Being in a new land is so interesting because it’s so different – different language, different peeps, different foods, different cars, different vibes – and yet, so the same…it’s just people living life, doing their thing…breathing in through the nose and out through the nose.

I went to a club last night. Those of you that know me well know that going to clubs is not something that this homebunny does. But, it was my first night in Bangkok and the re-opening of a popular club called Zantika. So popular in fact that Eminem was there performing with a Thai cover band. Did you catch that? Eminem was there performing with a Thai cover band! It was funny and weird and cool all at the same time. Eminem did pretty good…in addition to his own songs, he performed some Kelis, 50 Cent, and Justin Timberlake. It was pretty impressive.

The mosquitoes are quick and vicious here. This morning I woke up with bites on my face! A couple directly under my eyes…and it sort of feels like I got hit in the face.

I’m sure everyone is wondering about the eats here. My old boss, Bryan Kest, once told me that Thailand has the best food in the entire world. I am beginning to see what he’s talking about. What’s funny is that I have yet to eat proper Thai food! I’ve had Middle Eastern, Japanese, and Malaysian food, and everything has been deliciously high quality and almost disturbingly cheap. Emphasis on the almost. I love how normal it is to find customary Asian foods such as squid, anchovies, and pickled vegetables as accents to plates. It makes me feel at home. As usual, my appetite seems insatiable…even moreso as I’m surrounded by loads of new flavors that are eager to please my tastebuds. But as much as I’m eating, I don’t believe that I will gain any weight- I’m pretty sure I’ll sweat everything out on the walk home.

The traditional Thai greeting/showing of respect is a bow they call Wai. To me, it resembles the yogic Namaste exchange: hands in prayer as you bow. It’s particularly beautiful because you pause, you slow down, you quiet down, and you Wai. You don’t halfass this custom. You’re fully present with the other person in that moment. There’s a very direct, intentional acknowledgement of the other person. There’s a deep, sincere feeling of calm, peace, respect, and love. Even our friend’s beautiful, adorably rambunctious 3-year old quiets down to properly Wai. She adds a gentle smile, lowers her eyes, and slightly tilts her head as she brings her hands together, fingertips at her lips. It’s pretty freaking cute. (And then a few seconds later, she’s roaring like an angry lion…which is still admittedly pretty cute.)

Here’s sending you a virtual Wai.

:: Musings from Thailand:: Day 1: 23 February

2007-02-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sitting out on the patio. There’s the perfect amount of shade and opening above me. The air is tropical thick, but the breeze is sweetly forgiving. Even in this little nook on the patio, there is so much vegetation- green and alive. And the green is GREEN-green, vivid…this is one of my favorite things about tropical places.

I seem to have avoided jet lag. I’m not sure if it’s because my friend Jay made such a big deal about how jetlagged I would be and through sheer will, I have proved him wrong, or because I’m just a champion sleeper and had no problem going to bed when he did and waking up when he did. Ah- it is probably both! Why do we always have the need to make things black and white, one or the other? We are more complex than to make decisions in such a base manner!

I spent a few hours walking around Thong Lar this afternoon. Jay very seriously warned me to be careful walking on the trick-tiled sidewalks and crossing the street. A warning needed for the average pedestrian, but those of you who know my clumsy, ADD ways (I think the only place where I’m remotely graceful is on my yoga mat), you know that the warning is particularly serious for me. They drive on the opposite side of the road here so I have to remember to look all ways before crossing. Apparently if I do get hit by a car, the driver will jump out not to check if I’m ok, but to yell at me for being in the way. I did already witness a car back into a girl on a scooter…no one was hurt because the car was creeping very slowly, but I don’t know what was more interesting- that the driver didn’t stop even though people were slamming on the car to make her stop, or that the girl on the scooter was completely nonchalant, making zero effort to move out of the way. (Let it be noted here that sometimes I think it’s okay to not be non-reactive.)

People wear normal clothes here, even though it’s so hot that even if you were walking around nude, sweat puddles would form on the ground around you every time you took a step. Jeans, button up shirts, sometimes even sweaters! Do Thai people just not get hot?

Street food on sidewalk cafes seems to be the most popular places for locals to eat. It reminds me of Korea. Or the carts of bacon-wrapped hot dogs outside of Staples Center. You know that feeling you get as you consider getting one of those hot dogs? It smells sooo delicious but you wonder how safe it is to eat it, and you spend a moment wagering if it’s worth the risk of a heinous stomach virus? That’s how I’m feeling about the street food here, so I haven’t tried it yet. But I will; I’ve come prepared with antibiotics should I come down with a case of watery diarrhea (Thanks, Dr. Kim!). There are Starbucks and 7-11s dotting the streets here like all other cities in the world. They look fairly out of place, and yet I would be surprised if they weren’t there. I picked up some groceries- fresh vegetables and fruits (they have organic produce here, yeah!) (and Sara, they don’t cost a freaking arm & a leg like in the TCI) and seaweed-flavored potato chips. YUM!

I love Thai writing…it looks like a cartoon version of Sanskrit and sometimes the letters look like elephants! I haven’t yet seen any elephants, but I suspect they don’t roam the streets of Bangkok…perhaps I’ll see them when I travel to some of the more suburban cities.

My thoughts on what little I’ve observed and experienced about Thai peeps is that they are gentle and loving and kind and hard-working. When I come into contact with someone who speaks Thai to me, only to immediately realize that I’m a foreigner, he smiles and tries some English. There is no disdain towards me for being a foreigner, unlike certain places (ahem- France). I thought maybe I could blend in – I AM Asian and dark-skinned, after all – but another foreigner walked right up to me and asked me a question in English, so there goes that illusion (illusions are good to strip away, anyway).

I’m eating deliciously crisp and juicy watermelon. A serving of 5 fairly large (palm-sized) pieces for 9 baht. That’s about a quarter.

Yup- this is going to be a sweet trip.

Sawat Dii!