asialife HCMC 1 - AsiaLIFE Magazine

WALK
which incorporates meditation, is essentially
about slowing down. On a personal level,
she has seen its benefits on herself, from
when she began practicing to teaching it. “It
has had a huge impact on my relationships
and I find myself able to interact with people
better; I’m not so quick to react, but rather
pause, breathe and respond,” she says citing
one example, adding that watching it have a
beneficial impact on her students brings her
much joy. “I have seen it transform people
in a very positive manner. They may come
in to practice yoga because they want to
lose weight but over time they find that the
practice provides a much more profound and
wholesome effect on their physical, spiritual
and mental health. This is what keeps them
coming back to their practice.”
I ask whether the mushrooming of yoga
Getting off the motorbike or out of the taxi and using some leg power has numerous
advantages. Apart from the obvious health benefits, taking the time to walk the
streets will give you a new perspective on the city. Driving in HCM City requires a lot
of concentration, so it is naturally difficult to really take in your surroundings. All those
hidden gems, the great café or quirky boutique, you miss while speeding by will make
themselves known. Taking the time to stop and chat means you might also get to
know your neighbours a little better.
COOK
The ‘slow’ movement originated around the idea of taking time to prepare and eat
quality food. It sounds great in theory, but being time poor is the very problem we
struggle to overcome. The answer is simple: the stockpot, crockpot or slow cooker
as it is variously known, is widely available and can help you create delicious, slowcooked
meals without the arduous preparation. Put the ingredients in the pot in the
morning and when you come home from work dinner is ready to serve. Countless
recipes are available online at sites such as slowandsimple.com.
outlets in HCM City is indicative of a demand
for more places where people can go to
switch gears. She thinks so and adds that
such spaces encourage one to “turn down
the volume of your internal dialogue, chatter
and tune into the breath.” She stresses
that yoga allows people to connect with
themselves for the time they practice it
which in turns gives them a moment’s of
silence, peace—“whether that moment is
five minutes or the entire yoga session,”
she adds. “Coming to a studio to practice
provides the environment where people can
learn how to slow down and enjoy peace
of mind, methods which can be taken with
them when they leave the yoga mat and go
about their daily lives. Bringing awareness to
your breath throughout the day, five minutes
at your desk, for a taxi ride, whatever... That
also is a huge part of the yoga practice.”
Slow Food, Slow Pleasure
The importance of eating well—and slowly—
cannot be stressed enough. Again, it is a fact
we are all too aware of but find difficult to
implement. While Vietnam may not be beset
by the scourge of fast food, or reliance on
processed convenience food, and meals are
fairly healthy (and for some of lucky ones,
prepared by staff) slow food isn’t just about a
meal that is leisurely prepared. The slow food
movement began in 1989 by Falco Portinari
as a reaction to fast food and the damages it
would cause to the body and eating culture.
He propagates the ideology that taste must
be developed, not denigrated as is wont to
happen on reliance to fast food. “We are
enslaved by speed and have all succumbed
to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which
disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of
our homes and forces us to eat fast foods,”
he writes on his website.
Granted that eating fresh healthy food,
which is fairly in abundance here in its fruit
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