​(It’s time to reflect 2019 and welcome 2020. I have a mixed bag of feelings and this year-end reflection doesn’t seem very joyful. Below involves what’s happening in Hong Kong and you may not want to read it.)
 
In 2019, it is complicated. Living in Perth, I basically do what I want in everyday life. My study and yoga teaching occupy almost all my time. Yet I have time to do some fun stuff, having weekend brunch, walking my dog, meeting friends and family. I call this a simple good life and it is enjoyable, yet I feel so unsettled. I have been watching news about Hong Kong protest in horror and Hong Kong people pay high price for their civil rights. I know I live in a parallel universe. I am not very well when my family and friends, or anyone in the Hong Kong community are not well. I am not able to express my sadness in words.
 
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. If I had experienced what Hong Kong people went through in 2019, it would be:

• MP and police organized street gangs to beaten up anyone in the metro station to create fear, so people would not possibly go out for protest.
• Riot police fired thousand rounds of tear gas at my uni campus because they wanted uni students to escalate violence and then lose support from both local and international community. 
• Young people found dead in the river, with dumbbell attached to both legs. It was so-called ‘suicide’ and police found no suspicious circumstances.

 
It’s heartbreaking. The authoritarian state turns the society upside down and continues to stay strong. I know I need to be part of this civil rights movement. I am a believer of the butterfly effect. A small positive vibration can change the entire cosmos. Although I was not able to be at the forefront of the movement, I conveyed a message of yoga poses for mental health to the Hong Kong community. That’s the best thing I’ve done in 2019, if anyone in Hong Kong can feel better in this constant unrest.  

Scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine), osteoarthritis (wear and tear of the joints) or degenerative disc disease (ageing process leading to rupture) are associated with low back pain. Surprisingly, many causes of low back pain are non-specific. That can be quite annoying. You may be standing in pain, sitting in pain laying flat in pain for no reason. It is frustrating as you are no longer able to concentrate on work or study. You need to keep adjusting your position so as to reduce the discomfort.

Daniel Lieberman thinks non-specific lower back pain is caused by hours of sitting in modern lifestyle. Even I am a yoga teacher, I can’t avoid long hours of sitting when studying anatomy in my occupational therapy course. With prolonged chair rest, we do not need to use our muscles to support body weight. This weakens core muscles of the back and abdomen. In addition, many hours of sitting mean bending hips for many hours. With the shortened hip flexors, we overarch our back to compensate while standing and walking. Regular stretching and strengthening back muscles are important to our back health.
 
I’ve read a research article about the effect of occupational therapy and yoga in non-specific lower back pain. Occupational therapy intervention includes sleeping position for back health, postural training of sitting, standing and lifting and core strengthening exercise. After 10 week of training, it shows that people with non-specific low back pain indicate improvements in back strength and range of motion of the spine, with the combination of occupational therapy and yoga. Here are a few yoga poses shown for lower back pain.

1. Reclining hand-to-big toe pose ​

Tips: It changes the pelvic tilt when lifting one leg up towards the ceiling. Keep your spine in neutral position. Ideally, lower back touches the mat and chin to chest. So, it doesn’t hyperextend the lower back and the neck.
Benefits: Reposition the lower back for a better alignment to relieve back muscles tension

2. Extended triangle pose 
​
Tips:
​ - Externally rotate the left thigh muscles when you take your left hand towards the left foot. Activate your legs.
 - Open up the right shoulder to deepen the side body stretch
Benefits:
 - Strengthen the thighs muscles to carry upper body weight or lift a heavy object
 - Strengthen the abdomen to support the muscles surrounding the lower back
 - Stretch the side body to relieve lower back pain (stretching the muscle attached to lumbar spine)

3. Bridge pose 

My semester break begins. I have time to reflect and write again.

Over the past couple of months, I basically studied all the time when I wasn’t involved in teaching yoga. I declined family and friends gatherings and also lost a bit of sleep. I wouldn’t be able to push myself so hard to learn without studying a master degree. In return, I learned prognosis of the most common diseases in Australia and how different health conditions impacted individual’s daily living, as well as framework of occupational therapy.

A lot of knowledge and learning experiences worth sharing but one comes to my mind - occupational imbalance. In occupational therapy, occupation doesn’t only mean jobs. It includes productivity (e.g. jobs), leisure and self-care. Occupational imbalance refers to an individual’s lifestyle without meeting satisfactory level of his/her physical, psychological and social needs.

We had an interesting activity in class. List all activities you do and the time required in your typical day. Everyone is different, but this is a general idea of how much time adults spend on productivity and self-care in a day.

• Sleep (8 hours)
• Work (8 hours)
• 3 meals (2 hours)
• Personal hygiene, toileting, showering and dressing (2 hours)

Then, you have 4 hours left in a day to drive between home and workplace, care of kids, pets and others in the family, preparing meals, etc. All these tasks are about your roles and responsibilities. That’s not leisure.

During the weekend, you have 16 hours to do home maintenance and financial management (buy groceries, clean the toilet, mop the floor, do washing and pay the bills). These are the routines and I haven’t yet mentioned any ad hoc life events, seeing GP, specialists, etc.  

These tasks are part of our life in a modern lifestyle. I don’t think I can change much about it unless I pay for someone to do it. I now study full time and need to save money for my yoga dream. Probably it is not a good option for me. I just think how lucky I was as a teenager/young adult that my family took up a lot of responsibilities so I could be able to enjoy my leisure time.

It’s important to keep track of the time and be fair to our body and mind. How much time do you spend for your leisure? Do you have one hour for yourself each day (1 out of 24) and simply do something you enjoy rather than something you have to get it done? This may not happen to you right now. Sometimes life is out of control. However, it’s important to be aware of it and plan for leisure. Things can get better. At the end of the day, we all want happy and healthy life. It's all about balance. 

Find occupational balance in our own way. Yoga is a self-healing process, improving physical and mental wellbeing. Body movement and mindfulness connect body and mind. Gardening offers you social support networks and daily routines. In the meantime, you have an opportunity to enjoy the sun and fresh air. Simply having a cuppa and a good chat with friends improve quality of life.  Little smiles add up. These are all important elements to balance your life, taking up responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed and depressed.
​
Of course, personal growth and/or career development is important too. In fact, this is part of the mental wellbeing. Human beings can’t live without hopes and dreams. Little achievement is an achievement. After all commitments, let’s squeeze some time for consistent work. Let’s squeeze some time for leisure.

How do you find time for leisure? Would love to get some more ideas!

A simple day is so good. It means I have plenty of time and space to enjoy what I like to do. What a luxury to be able to sit down and write a blog in my birthday. I have time, space, capability and energy.
I have been living in Perth for 3 years now. I know it will still take a while to establish my life here. However, I am grateful to live a sustainable life and move forward gradually. Here are my lessons at 39.

1. Be a student
I have a huge study commitment this year but studying in a wet lab is unexpected. I need to identify joints and muscles in a cadaver. I have so many questions that never come to my mind before. What kind of personalities of the person is willing to donate their bodies for learning and teaching? How does the school find the right person to cut a cadaver so precisely? I really thanked the bodies to offer me a chance to learn human anatomy. Being a student, I stretch my mind and feel alive. When I learn something new, I can share new ideas with people instead of talking about things in the past. When I learn something new, I can see things in different perspectives and it helps me agree to disagree. Of course, taking a new fitness class has the same benefits. I don't need to be so serious all the time. 

2. Be a hunter-gatherer
I really enjoy eating simple and less. I like the feelings of not too full and also there is some rationale behind. When I eat a lot, the blood will be sent to the digestive system instead of other parts of the body. I will feel tired and lack of energy. I like Michael Pollen’s food documentaries. It’s so educational and inspiring. He said, ‘Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food’. He mentioned history tells politicians that raw materials’ price has to be low. If people can’t even afford to buy a loaf of bread, revolution will be coming. Food manufacturers take advantages of low-cost raw materials. There are thousands of choices in supermarkets but only the quiet food is good food, e.g. fresh fruit and veggies. Processed food with advertising message like 99% reduced fat doesn’t tell you how much sugar in it. As I eat so light and plain, I feel a bit unwell and stop before my body is really sick.
 
3. Be ready to live till 100
Nobody knows when it's time to go but I do think I need to get well prepared to live till 100. The advanced medical system doesn’t allow me to die. If anything goes wrong, it seems surgeon will cut part of my bodies, liver, stomach or intestine to save my life. I may not have a good quality of life but I can’t die. In this case, I’d better keep myself well. I only have one liver, one stomach and one intestine in lifetime.
It doesn’t matter how long actually I am going to live. When I expect to have a long life instead of worrying about death, I feel I still have opportunities and possibilities in life and that’s very important to set up my mind. My yoga teacher reaches 80 and she is still teaching yoga. I want to be like her.  
 
Thank you very much for all your birthday wishes. I am loved and touched. 

What makes me worried? Unknown, future, something new, the list goes on. Times pass by. Future becomes present. I know how to cope with what I have to. Worries go away. Worries in mind are always bigger than what I need to be worried. If we are not conscious to be positive, negativity occupies our mind. I learn to stop thinking of worries and shift my mind to what I can take control, and let go of what I can’t control. I am still learning. It takes a lot of effort. Yoga is about building physical and inner strength to face practical aspects of life. I hope yoga helps me become a calm and strong person.
 
Start something new is scary, yet interesting and challenging. I would like to share my experience about how to start and what to know before you join your first yoga class, because yoga is so good.
 
How to start:
1. Give yourself a priority
I am pretty sure you have a busy life if you are looking for trying yoga. To be honest, I have been teaching more than a thousand yoga classes and I’ve never met a student who comes to my class to kill time. They all make extra efforts and want to be a better version of themselves. You have many roles to play yet you are well deserved to have at least an hour to look after your body and mind. Keep yourself well and you will be able to enjoy what you like to do not just the next 10 years, but 30 years.
 
2. Find a class but do not analyse what’s going to happen too much
I like finding new classes for my personal practice. Being a student is awesome! I don’t need to remember teaching scripts while enjoying stretching. I usually glance over the yoga studios’ website before I join and I thought that’s what I want. It’s not always the case. I enjoy new classes most of the time, but not all the time. I guess nobody can please everyone. Some experience may not be very nice but it will make a nice experience even nicer! So, just start somewhere after a bit of research but don’t analyse what’s going to happen too much. Cost is high if we are just thinking without taking actions. Only taking actions make a difference. I am sure you’ll find something that suits you along the way and it’s a process.
 
3. Do what you feel good
In downward facing dog, you look between your feet; in child pose, you probably close your eyes. As a group, we learn to be a better self in a non-competitive environment. If you need to rest, please take a rest. Re-set, then re-start. You don’t need to do everything the yoga teacher guides you. Do what you feel good and don’t feel bad if you can’t reach your toes or can’t balance. Enjoy the yoga journey and it will come overtime.
 
What to know:
Stay hydrated and wear comfortable clothes for the class. That’s all you need.
 
I hope that helps. If you are looking for yoga beginners’ course, please click here for details. Course fees include 6-week yoga beginners’ course, plus free access to 3 other general classes during the 6-week period. I hope this will help you kick-start your first yoga class and make it as a habit.