What I liked the most about Putra Height when I
first saw; it was the lushness of green palm trees that were planted along the
long winding road. For someone like me who grew up in a city
that had mostly buildings only in Korea, and lived in apartment buildings since
came to Malaysia, especially the rich forest of Bukit Cermin hill was a sight to behold! So I fell in love with PH immediately. Without
thinking twice, I booked two places; a shop for the new yoga center and a house
for our new home nearby. That was more
than seven years ago.
And now, what was once the home of many monkeys and the favorite
place for mountain bikers…became like a bold headed old man, with MCT busying
themselves with their schools and premium housing projects. No more trees, no more monkeys, and no more mountain
bikers…but full of red earths, heavy construction beams, trucks, dust and stagnated
rain waters all over on the field… I am
not sure how beautiful and premium hilly housing they are going to build…I just
hope they don’t chop off even the green palm trees along the road. We need more of trees and forest to enjoy more
sane and healthy lifestyle, not more of bungalows, but some greedy people are ever hungry for more profits by maximising every inch of the space. How sad...
Among many yoga asanas, the tree pose (vrikshasana)
is one of the most calming, elegant and comforting yoga poses.
Vriksha means “tree” in Sanskrit. The tree pose is a standing balance on one
leg. The foot of the lifted leg is
placed on the inner thigh of the standing leg, and both hands are held above
the head, palms joined together. The
legs represent the roots of the tree, buried underground, and the trunk of the
tree begins at the trunk of the body, growing all the way up through the spine
and the arms, which are the branches.
This pose enhances stability and strengthens the ankles, calves, and
thighs. It also stretches the muscles of
the legs, groin and chest.
Since ancient times, yogis have made the forest their
favorite place for yoga practice. The
trees were their home, providing them with shelter and an abundance of food in
the form of fruits and nuts. The forest
also symbolized a pristine world that was conducive to a life of contemplation without
material possessions. The shade beneath a tree was thought to be the best place
for a student to receive spiritual knowledge from a teacher.
Tree pose represents the flowering of spirituality
in a material environment. In this pose,
one foot is rooted deeply in the earthly soil, while the joined palms reach to
the spiritual sky, channeling the blessings that come from above. The tree pose
is a posture in which we imbue body, mind, and breath with the qualities of
generosity, tolerance, strength, and balance.
Sadly, not only in Putra Height, but all over in the
areas of city are fast becoming congested with ongoing developments for ever
more housings, shopping complexes, buildings, LRT stations, etc. which means
less and less trees around us.
Thus, why not we stand in one leg to contemplate on
the qualities of tree? Tree pose offers
a beautiful opportunity to meditate on a tree’s inherent qualities. The tree is so tolerant that it even gives
shade to the woodcutter who comes to cut it down with an axe. The true yogi freely gives the fruits of spiritual
wisdom and love as generously as trees offer us shade, flowers, fruits, and
wood.
Many people were petitioning to stop the MCT housing
projects since the landslide incidents few weeks ago… However, it seems nonetheless they are going
ahead with the projects as soon as they cleared the road for the residents. If the development projects is already beyond
the point of stopping, then, I wish they leave at least some of the trees in the hill tops,
so that people who are living below the hills, can have some green relief when
they raise their eyes to look up the sky…or else we just have to content with looking down one point in
front of us, to search for the inner tree of wisdom and love…otherwise what else can we do...?
