On September 16, the Super Typhoon Mangkhut slammed Hong Kong—affecting the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, the typhoon signal 10 was hoisted for more than 10 hours.
We don’t usually relate Yoga to Super Typhoons. However when my physical safety was being threatened by one of the strongest Typhoons Hong Kong had experienced in many years it was the safety, steadiness and care that I felt within that became most evident. During the Typhoon I reflected upon how I have been learning that real safety and the ability to embrace and be open to situations is experienced from within.
We don’t usually relate Yoga to Super Typhoons. However when my physical safety was being threatened by one of the strongest Typhoons Hong Kong had experienced in many years it was the safety, steadiness and care that I felt within that became most evident. During the Typhoon I reflected upon how I have been learning that real safety and the ability to embrace and be open to situations is experienced from within.
Since starting Esoteric Yoga only 3 months ago, I have observed significant changes in my life. I have started to commit to my life like I have never committed before. Commitment has changed from just getting things done to a commitment to a quality and way of living that takes into consideration so much more. It almost felt like I started to become aware of how long it had been since I had committed to this way of living. So naturally you can imagine the situation would not be calm and perfect. Every day involved more commitment to different areas of my life such as work, communication and relationships, and the truth was I was being inspired by it. It felt like a whole new perspective towards life that I have not yet given myself permission to explore.
I have been working like crazy, it was almost a scare to look at my calendar. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as I love working, but work is not the same anymore. Work had always been about doing what I was good at and getting paid. It was easy to become comfortable and not challenge myself or grow. I started to see the purpose of work as an opportunity to listen to and respond from what I was feeling. When I would sense unloving situations at work I would commit deeper to being honest and expressing. As you can imagine, I cannot avoid my work – it pays my bills and buys my groceries. So I am learning on a day to day basis how to connect with the people I work with and express honestly without judgment towards myself or others. I needed the absolute support of my body in this, which is what I was learning in Esoteric Yoga. I needed to be as present as possible so that I didn’t ignore or discount what I was feeling.
I started to allow myself to be open to experience working situations that I have barred myself from in the past. These were the ones that took me out of my comfort zone. In doing so I have been invited to work in different places outside of Hong Kong. The hours are long and the pay is sometimes low, but the value is now in the purpose and quality that I can bring to my work. This helped me see that before this everything was measured under the ruler of money. The amount of work expected and the stress that this can place on the body is a lot, but I accepted these jobs. I accepted them not because of the money or because I wanted to put myself under stress, far from it.
I wanted to explore if there was a way to do such jobs with care for myself, without perfection.
So in every situation where I felt the communication or arrangement between us as a team was not of respect, I would express and share another viewpoint. The purpose was always to come back to working as a team, and a focus on us as people. These situations always offered me the deepening of living with more respect for myself and with others. This I found was super supportive and a win-win for everyone, so that inspired me to keep going.
I was preparing for a third back to back trip for work. However I could feel it would be too much, my whole body felt it and said stop. Esoteric Yoga has helped me be honest with how I am feeling. I suggested for the trip be changed to a later date, without any expectations. The trip however, remained booked and I was committed to the project and to take care of myself as best as possible under the circumstances. Then the email came from my client saying that despite the commitment towards the project, safety is number one and that due to the Typhoon this project would be postponed to next year. Part of me could feel that there was a push for this project to work and the travel at this time, even before the Typhoon became news so upon hearing this change of events everything fell into a deep settlement at that moment.
Every particle in my body was already in appreciation to the impending typhoon. I was welcoming it. So on the day when Typhoon Mangkhut hit, whatever happened, I was already in appreciation of the huge pause it brought. Something as unnerving and shocking as being inside my home while a window was blown away was being supported immensely by the appreciation and stillness I could feel within me. We were still able to laugh in the midst of all this shock, and as a family we moved quickly to take care of our safety.
Through what I had been learning through my Esoteric Yoga classes I was aware of all the care and space that I deserve and I should set up for myself, but at the same time I had to be very realistic to everything that is happening around – the typhoon was a great example of this. Around evening time the Typhoon had been with us most of the day so I did a recorded Esoteric Yoga class. Sometimes I do these classes in a shared space with others—my partner may be on the couch or nearby or my dog would snuggle close. Nothing is perfect. It’s not because I do not care about my space rather, everything is felt and noticed and observed with grace.
This is my living experience with Esoteric Yoga on a typhoon day, it is poignantly a micro version of life and livingness—that nothing is ever perfect but every movement can be expressed and observed with grace. This is very real.
Author: Adele Leung
I have been working like crazy, it was almost a scare to look at my calendar. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as I love working, but work is not the same anymore. Work had always been about doing what I was good at and getting paid. It was easy to become comfortable and not challenge myself or grow. I started to see the purpose of work as an opportunity to listen to and respond from what I was feeling. When I would sense unloving situations at work I would commit deeper to being honest and expressing. As you can imagine, I cannot avoid my work – it pays my bills and buys my groceries. So I am learning on a day to day basis how to connect with the people I work with and express honestly without judgment towards myself or others. I needed the absolute support of my body in this, which is what I was learning in Esoteric Yoga. I needed to be as present as possible so that I didn’t ignore or discount what I was feeling.
I started to allow myself to be open to experience working situations that I have barred myself from in the past. These were the ones that took me out of my comfort zone. In doing so I have been invited to work in different places outside of Hong Kong. The hours are long and the pay is sometimes low, but the value is now in the purpose and quality that I can bring to my work. This helped me see that before this everything was measured under the ruler of money. The amount of work expected and the stress that this can place on the body is a lot, but I accepted these jobs. I accepted them not because of the money or because I wanted to put myself under stress, far from it.
I wanted to explore if there was a way to do such jobs with care for myself, without perfection.
So in every situation where I felt the communication or arrangement between us as a team was not of respect, I would express and share another viewpoint. The purpose was always to come back to working as a team, and a focus on us as people. These situations always offered me the deepening of living with more respect for myself and with others. This I found was super supportive and a win-win for everyone, so that inspired me to keep going.
I was preparing for a third back to back trip for work. However I could feel it would be too much, my whole body felt it and said stop. Esoteric Yoga has helped me be honest with how I am feeling. I suggested for the trip be changed to a later date, without any expectations. The trip however, remained booked and I was committed to the project and to take care of myself as best as possible under the circumstances. Then the email came from my client saying that despite the commitment towards the project, safety is number one and that due to the Typhoon this project would be postponed to next year. Part of me could feel that there was a push for this project to work and the travel at this time, even before the Typhoon became news so upon hearing this change of events everything fell into a deep settlement at that moment.
Every particle in my body was already in appreciation to the impending typhoon. I was welcoming it. So on the day when Typhoon Mangkhut hit, whatever happened, I was already in appreciation of the huge pause it brought. Something as unnerving and shocking as being inside my home while a window was blown away was being supported immensely by the appreciation and stillness I could feel within me. We were still able to laugh in the midst of all this shock, and as a family we moved quickly to take care of our safety.
Through what I had been learning through my Esoteric Yoga classes I was aware of all the care and space that I deserve and I should set up for myself, but at the same time I had to be very realistic to everything that is happening around – the typhoon was a great example of this. Around evening time the Typhoon had been with us most of the day so I did a recorded Esoteric Yoga class. Sometimes I do these classes in a shared space with others—my partner may be on the couch or nearby or my dog would snuggle close. Nothing is perfect. It’s not because I do not care about my space rather, everything is felt and noticed and observed with grace.
This is my living experience with Esoteric Yoga on a typhoon day, it is poignantly a micro version of life and livingness—that nothing is ever perfect but every movement can be expressed and observed with grace. This is very real.
Author: Adele Leung
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