asialife HCMC 1 - AsiaLIFE Magazine
asialife HCMC 1 - AsiaLIFE Magazine
asialife HCMC 1 - AsiaLIFE Magazine
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
WALK<br />
which incorporates meditation, is essentially<br />
about slowing down. On a personal level,<br />
she has seen its benefits on herself, from<br />
when she began practicing to teaching it. “It<br />
has had a huge impact on my relationships<br />
and I find myself able to interact with people<br />
better; I’m not so quick to react, but rather<br />
pause, breathe and respond,” she says citing<br />
one example, adding that watching it have a<br />
beneficial impact on her students brings her<br />
much joy. “I have seen it transform people<br />
in a very positive manner. They may come<br />
in to practice yoga because they want to<br />
lose weight but over time they find that the<br />
practice provides a much more profound and<br />
wholesome effect on their physical, spiritual<br />
and mental health. This is what keeps them<br />
coming back to their practice.”<br />
I ask whether the mushrooming of yoga<br />
Getting off the motorbike or out of the taxi and using some leg power has numerous<br />
advantages. Apart from the obvious health benefits, taking the time to walk the<br />
streets will give you a new perspective on the city. Driving in HCM City requires a lot<br />
of concentration, so it is naturally difficult to really take in your surroundings. All those<br />
hidden gems, the great café or quirky boutique, you miss while speeding by will make<br />
themselves known. Taking the time to stop and chat means you might also get to<br />
know your neighbours a little better.<br />
COOK<br />
The ‘slow’ movement originated around the idea of taking time to prepare and eat<br />
quality food. It sounds great in theory, but being time poor is the very problem we<br />
struggle to overcome. The answer is simple: the stockpot, crockpot or slow cooker<br />
as it is variously known, is widely available and can help you create delicious, slowcooked<br />
meals without the arduous preparation. Put the ingredients in the pot in the<br />
morning and when you come home from work dinner is ready to serve. Countless<br />
recipes are available online at sites such as slowandsimple.com.<br />
outlets in HCM City is indicative of a demand<br />
for more places where people can go to<br />
switch gears. She thinks so and adds that<br />
such spaces encourage one to “turn down<br />
the volume of your internal dialogue, chatter<br />
and tune into the breath.” She stresses<br />
that yoga allows people to connect with<br />
themselves for the time they practice it<br />
which in turns gives them a moment’s of<br />
silence, peace—“whether that moment is<br />
five minutes or the entire yoga session,”<br />
she adds. “Coming to a studio to practice<br />
provides the environment where people can<br />
learn how to slow down and enjoy peace<br />
of mind, methods which can be taken with<br />
them when they leave the yoga mat and go<br />
about their daily lives. Bringing awareness to<br />
your breath throughout the day, five minutes<br />
at your desk, for a taxi ride, whatever... That<br />
also is a huge part of the yoga practice.”<br />
Slow Food, Slow Pleasure<br />
The importance of eating well—and slowly—<br />
cannot be stressed enough. Again, it is a fact<br />
we are all too aware of but find difficult to<br />
implement. While Vietnam may not be beset<br />
by the scourge of fast food, or reliance on<br />
processed convenience food, and meals are<br />
fairly healthy (and for some of lucky ones,<br />
prepared by staff) slow food isn’t just about a<br />
meal that is leisurely prepared. The slow food<br />
movement began in 1989 by Falco Portinari<br />
as a reaction to fast food and the damages it<br />
would cause to the body and eating culture.<br />
He propagates the ideology that taste must<br />
be developed, not denigrated as is wont to<br />
happen on reliance to fast food. “We are<br />
enslaved by speed and have all succumbed<br />
to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which<br />
disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of<br />
our homes and forces us to eat fast foods,”<br />
he writes on his website.<br />
Granted that eating fresh healthy food,<br />
which is fairly in abundance here in its fruit<br />
28 <strong>asialife</strong> <strong>HCMC</strong>