Greetings!

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

It seems time travels faster in Malaysia due to its same weather all year round. As though it feels like yesteryear that we celebrated together the dawning of new century, but already one decade has come and gone with another New Year is looming just around the corner. It is again one of those times for reflection and recollection.

There are still much unchecked to-do lists left in my in-box. How about yours? Have you succeed ticking them all off? If yes, I salute for your efficiency and productivity. If no, well, then you are not alone. However I refuse to lament about what I could have done, instead, I focus on how I could do better in coming years. The insatiable Ms. Perfect nagging inside but I've learnt to go past its noises over the years. That has brought me much reconciliation in life and now, I can stay more at ease, be more grateful just by being. There is increased sense of peace as I watch life flows in its own accordance instead of wishing or forcing it to be otherwise. I guess that is one of the most significant attributions I have gained from the life in Malaysia, in where peace and harmony amongst racial, religious diversities are the foremost important value.

Thereby, I suggest to you, in around this time of the year, to ask ourselves how much perspective we have gained, how much progress we have made this year; rather than measuring with the standard yardsticks of right and wrong or evaluating our success and failure by the definition of others. Then we can be more accepting of the past and the present as well as be more open for new challenges in the future. Life becomes sheer joyful experiences when we continue to grow and expand. But from the moment we stop growing, then, we have only one way to go, to spiral down. When we cling onto the comfort zone, no sooner than later we feel secure, we start to experience the downside of life, death, and there is no greater tragedy than living a dead.

Are you alive? Do you look forward to wake up in the morning? I think the answer this question holds much of whether or not our life is on the right track. If you are not sure, then, it’s not too late to wake up early starting from today, from this year. That is the beauty of the New Year. It always marks something to chew on in our otherwise the groundhog days like daily life. The same old stuffs, the same old me and you, the same old days in and out…it’s so easy to just sit there and watch time slipping through fingers.

Come and join me this New Year in our Yoga Walking Club (please refer the article attached to, and the announcement) if you wish to turn around the course of your life. I like to share with you this simple, but magnificent gift of life that has truly transformational power, the Yoga Walks.

In my troubled time of youth, I used to walk up to mountains over the weekends for almost three years. I was at one of those lowest points in my life slapped with much unexpected obstacles and challenges. Roaming and climbing around the rocky and high places, I found courage, strength, clarity and confidence to leap toward the unknown about which I shared with you through my stories posted in the blog earlier.
Another time I started the Walking again was, when I first landed in Malaysia years back. Initially I felt so lost and depressed without knowing where to turn. I still remember crying wildly when I captured the bright morning sunlight through my apartment window one day. I walked around the apartment blocks from the day on, thereby gradually pulling myself out of the dark tunnel I thought I was in. That was how I walked to reach towards yours as is today.

I have started walking again early in the morning since beginning of this year. This time, not because I felt lost, but because, just to be more awake so that I could experience life more fully in the present moments. It has deepened much insight thus, and most importantly, I have realized the distance between you and I, through our lack of capacity to communicate, accept and love ourselves and others unconditionally. I think I now know how to erase the invisible walls, shorten the distance in life, in between you and I; by walking one step at a time slowly and steadily. I, like many others, thought running will get us faster to our destination. I was wrong. Not only I suffered much humdrum by straining but also missed to enjoy much of the beautiful scenery, abundant with fresh air and cooling morning dews, sweet flowers and trees, birds chirping… Yes, life is indeed beautiful if we know how just to be.

This New Year, I would like to invite you to discover the simple but wonderful way to enrich our lives, to learn the art of how to walk and join me to walk together after that if you wish to. Or else, you can just walk whenever you want, wherever you are.

Besides commencing the Yoga Walking Club, I am also adding more variation, vitality to the contents of regular G1, G2 yoga classes, so that we can have more joy and aliveness through our Yoga practices. Morning Yoga classes will be resumed as well.
There is also Kids Yoga, Yoga Rejuvenation & Relaxation, and the Wellness program (a health treatment program combining the traditional Chinese Medicine with Yoga Therapy). All these are to enhance your well-being, to help you embrace wider spectrum of yoga practices so that we could grow together into the multi-beings of the body, the mind and the spirit as we are.

Please click to the Yoga Class Time-Table 2010 for more details.
I wish you and your family a Happy New Year, abundant joy and happiness, health and prosperity, and most importantly love and harmony. Thank you for all your support thus far and look forward to sharing more excitement, experiences and laughter in the years to come.

Yours truly,

Beth.

A Walk to Remember……by Beth Lim, founder Beth’s Yoga

I fell in love with Putra Heights when I first saw its surroundings with abundant green, vastly open and clear sky, cooling breeze and fresh air. It was a very rare sight to come by for housing in the crowded city like KL or Subang Jaya. The floor plan for the Laman Putra was even more attractive with the beautiful garden, long jogging track, gazebos and the fully guarded fences. So we immediately booked for a house with a shop lot for the new location of Beth’s Yoga.

It has been 2 years since we moved in, and the living experiences have been truly peaceful and enjoyable so far, especially taking slow walks in pre-dawn early morning along the well carved jogging path is one of my favorite activities of the day. The entire neighborhood is still in deep sleep; crickets and frogs are still cricking, croaking away. It is an enlivening and luxurious experience to be able to enjoy a slow stroll alone in nature without having to worry about safety. As I walked around the protected and conducive environment, I feel tall, as if reaching toward the heaven above while staying firmly connected with the earth below. How precious and soothing is each moment are beyond words.

Lately, I started to notice an increasing number of residents that appeared outdoor out in the compound for various recreational activities. The numbers of morning joggers or walking folks have also been steadily increased too. I am happy because it shows that people are more health-conscious but more importantly, there’s a growing sense of community. This sense of supportive neighborhood is an integral part of well-being. But then, being a kepoh (Hokkien for busy-body I learnt) yoga teacher myself, I can’t help but to notice the poor postures and inefficient ways of walking, jogging or trying to exercise, especially among the men and the senior citizens. Chests are collapsed with hunched backs, hips and knees are wobbling or swaying out of shape with feet keep turning outward and arms dangling aimlessly at the side. Breathing becomes inconsistent because many are chatting away while walking.

This kind of walk is ineffective way to exercise efficiently, more like trying to dig a well with a teaspoon. The proper way of walking for better health and posture, even if done 30 minutes at a time, is to walk slowly and steadily with a straight spine while maintaining natural alignment of shoulders, hips, knees and feet. Arms should be gently swinging front and back, pressing heels to toes in each step, and most importantly, being mindful of natural breath that flows evenly. By walking this way, it not only speeds up your good health, produces ideal posture, firm up the body but also to help you to lose weight naturally, all without trying too hard with vigorous exercise regimen. I call this the Yoga Walk, very similar to the Tiger Walk that has been used for martial arts training found in Chinese culture.

Do you want to learn more about how to walk more efficiently to improve your health and posture? Please come for a walk to remember, to reconnect with your body, mind and spirit. This free workshop on Yoga Walk will be held on 17^th January (Sunday) 2010, 11am at the Beth’s Yoga Center. Anyone who can walk are welcome, especially the stressful career men and women, busy homemakers who don’t have enough time to exercise and senior citizens who want to rejuvenate their health.

It will be my pleasure to share this gift freely to you, all for better health and a livelier community spirit. So see you all there!

Beth’s Yoga

From Body to Somebody

Announcement: 1. A Free-Workshop on Yoga Walk for Better Health and Posture. 17th January (Sunday) 11am—1pm. 2. Kids Yoga for Fun and Play (intake starts from 23th January 2010) 3. Morning Yoga classes/Yoga rejuvenation and relaxation class (intake start from 7th January 2010).

For more detailed Yoga class times,

visit www.bethsyoga.com.my or call Beth 012.274.2012.