Ukatasana (Chair Pose)

I love putting Ukatasana, chair poses into the vinyasa flow. It stretches the chest, shoulders, arms , tones the lower part of the body , and reduces flat feet. To deepen the pose, drop the hips down slightly lower, working through the heels. Make sure the knees stays behind the toes. Remember to tuck in the tailbone and breathe.

A New Start To Seraphina Studio

Here's the progress for Seraphina Studio....I have found a new place for us in Kiulap. It's just a few minutes walk away from where we are right now. If you happen to drive past Escapade in Kiulap, look over till you drive past Daan's Cafe. The shophouse located above it will be our next venue. Hopefully we will finish signing off the contract by this coming Tuesday, 30th Dec.

I hope to start renovation before mid January and re open Seraphina Studio by mid February. Our classes continues till the old venue closes down before Chinese New Year.

The new place has more windows for natural light and fresh air to come through the new studio. Luckily for us, I can at least transfer the mirrors, laminate floorings, fans, air conditioners, lights and curtains. So, that will help me save some money for the studio.

It feels great to know I can teach elsewhere. And thanks so much to everybody who have helped me through this emotional ride for the past month. I am grateful to have such family and friends in my life.

Family Christmas Cheers

1st Top: Mum and Dad
2nd Pic : Peter and Nadia
3rd Pic: Peter, me and Nadia
4th Pic: Rozi, Haslann, Elaine, Bing and Zana
5th Pic: Delan
6th Pic: Ben

Christmas in the 21st Century....poor Santa..........
.Why not join in the fun??....
Yup , yup.....this is what you wish for when you get to the Golden Age
Naughty but nice.......
Christmas decor disaster

What I have been feeling lately.............

This was what I felt like inside..........Poor Pete had to take all of this from me. My yoga did help me. But like I said, I'm only human in it's learning phase.


This is what I did to 'get over it'. And yes, it helped................

And thanks to the yoga students who have kept me going................you're my inspiration......

Wouldn't have come through the tough times without the Brady Bunch family...big hugs

My next move.............

The Little People

The last few weeks has been nerve wrecking and frustrating. (It's a good thing I do yoga....) Here's the truth. I have received letter of notification from the old and new landlord that I will be evicted out by the end of January. Having spent less than half a year at the studio, the old landlord has failed to warn me he sold the block to another landlord in June 08, just about the same time when I signed my contract with him. Out of greed, I would safely assume, he let me rent the place thinking I would have it for two years.

I have tried my best to negotiate with the new landlords to let me stay, but they have chosen to keep the place for their own business enterprise. Despite my efforts to meet them in Kuala Belait yesterday afternoon, I was turned down flat at first meet. There was no sign of compassion or leniency.

The contract I have signed along with 5 other businesses have the same tenancy agreement which are all very lopsided. It protects the landlords rather than the tenants. I have no legal rights to fight my case.

I have been feeling numb and helpless for the last weeks. Everyone keeps saying it'll be fine. But it's the feeling of 'taking advantage of' , the feeling of 'out of control' , the feeling of ' unable to release a whole lot of anger' , the feeling of ' loss'. How can small businesses thrive if this is what it comes to at the end of the day?

I am only a human being at the end of the day despite my qualities I have as a yoga teacher. I feel.

My family, my husband, my friends and my students have been my consolation and pillar of strength. They have encourage me to keep going, 'chin up' , to live for passion and 'to release' what's been done. I thank you for that. I thank for the blessings that I have even though the materials are not there for the keeping.

Just a word out to people who have 'high seats' in life, it's to your advantage to do what's right rather than be power hungry for greed. Maybe it's not in your best interest to be humane since 'life' is treating you so well, but trust me when I say what goes around will come around to you sooner or later.

Yes, as a yoga teacher, in my present situation, I am allowing 'me' to say what I think my brain is in dire need of expressing out. If there is a 'mudra' to expel horrible landlords to the 'land of no return' , then I would be the first one to use it.

But you know what, I am okay now. Life is full of crap sometimes, but I choose to look at it in a positive light, I still have a roof over my head at night, food to eat, family and friends that loves me no matter how 'coo coo' I am and a husband who just gives me a whole lot of love.

So, BOO & BLAH to negativity and greediness and a big HOORAH & CHEERS to POWER and LOVE and RESPECT to all in sight of it.

From Just 'Little' Jac

I Love Elephants

I fell in love with elephants when I first watched Jungle Book. They are one of the most gorgeous animals in the world. Came across an article about mortality amongst zoo-born Asian elephants were two to three times higher than for those born in the logging camps. Their chance of survival lessens when they are caught captive at an early age from their herd. Dr Clubb, from Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) says this is probably caused by the stress of being taken away from their herd, mothers or family group.

Diet and lifestyle are also key factors influencing elephants lifespan. The vast majority are overweight in zoos, this could explain the high still-birth rates and why they're dying early. Bigger mothers have bigger calves and more of these are still-born.

Compared to wild elephants used in logging companies, their recorded life expectancy is longer - more than 40 years compared with less than 19 in zoo elephants - this could be put down to their lifestyle; for half the time the Burmese working elephants are allowed to act naturally.

Elephants in the workforce work for no more than six to eight hours a day. For the remaining hours they are set loose in the forest to live like wild elephants, where they can meet and mate with other wild elephants, and have a full elephant life, good exercise and good food.

Zoo elephants have a very monotonous lifestyle, every day is the same for them, living in the same compound, with limited roaming, which makes them more stressed.

Sad. I went to an elephant camp in Chiang Mai once and was a bit upset when I saw elephants in chains. They were trained to do animal tricks and paint pictures with their trunks. Even though I was thrilled to meet them, I was wondering if they were treated well enough by the owners. Really, no one wants to be caged. I had an interesting conversation with a friend on how animals should be treated. He thinks them as just 'animals', I see them as unique 'beings' like us with their own intelligence for survival. Whether or not I am western educated, I still believe in treating all living things with respect.

Think of it this way, all animals feel, whether it's fear or a sense of security to love.

And yes, I admire Steve Irwin for all his work done even though I do think some of it should go amiss.

The Peanut Story

The last two weeks have been frustrating and 'trying'. I have been given a few challenging problems in my life as well as the studio. Let's just say, it feels as if an elephant dropped from a plane and coincidentally landed on me. I think the only thing that has kept me going are the words of encouragement from family, dear hubby and students. Ah well, 'c'est la vie', that's life.

Here are other things far more interesting to know about while reading this blog, NUT ALLERGY HYSTERIA....recently a nut was found on a US school bus and some 10 year old kids had to be evacuated. Apparently some schools overseas requires ALL to wash hands prior entering school compound fearing nut contamination. Crazy? Well, get this, one school had children wearing gowns during meal times for fear of milk contamination. Hmmm, I can understand the nut allergy, but milk? Interested about it, click here

Okay, news for love birds out there, DON'T kiss too hard. Apparently, a Chinese woman in China turned deaf after a kiss. Here's what the paper said," The kiss reduced the pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out and caused the breakdown of the ear,' the treating doctor, surnamed Li, was quoted as saying, adding the woman's hearing would likely recover in about two months."

And here's today's headline ......... ;P ............ The incident prompted newspapers to dispense kissing safety advice. (Get ready for this) Ahem,.... While kissing is normally very safe, doctors urge people to proceed with caution, the China Daily reported. 'A strong kiss may cause an imbalance in air pressure between the two inner ears and lead to a broken ear drum,' said the English-language Shanghai Daily in a story headlined 'Kiss of deaf'

I still find this hard to believe, and if you don't believe me, click here for the story.

I was watching Oprah the other night, and I was confused with whether the episode was new or old. Why? Well, Oprah looked bigger than her previous shows and I thought she was much slimmer before. Than it came out in the papers Winfrey, 54, has been struggling with an out-of-balance thyroid and how the condition made her develop 'a fear of working out.' She says she's gained 40 pounds (18kg) since 2006, when she weighed 160 pounds (72kg). Here is her story.

Ps Note to fitness queens and kings out there, we have step aerobics in the studio now, so do join us for some crazy moves on the steppers.

See ya later alligators......................

Words of Encouragement

Here are a few quotes I feel helps those in need of encouragement

"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change"

"The warrior of light perseveres in his desire, but knows he must wait for the best moment"

"There are moments in life when the only possible option is to lose control"

"God in his infinite wisdom, hid Hell in the middle of Paradise, to keep us on our toes"

Yoga At BAG Network Co.

Hi guys

Have been away from the net for awhile. A lot has happened in the past week. Held a talk with BAG network company and hopefully I would have encouraged some of the audience to do some yoga. Raquel came along and did some yoga demo. The talk was short but I was supernervous. I think it was because most of them were all smartly dressed. Then again, I have been under a lot of duress stress in the past few days. It's hard to talk about it. Hubby very supportive. I just hope I am able to resolve it.

No matter, there are other blessings I should be grateful for. To stay in one piece.

Hugs
Jac