Ms Miss Lo Lai-wah's Talk 13 on 4th March 2010

Good morning boys and girls,

You may find it a bit strange for a Chinese teacher to make a speech in English.To be honest, I find it quite challenging. But who can avoid challenges nowadays! And I think we have all understood from this year’s theme that to cope with them, we need a healthy body and a sound mind.

Today, I’m going to talk about a method that helps me to achieve a healthy body and a sound mind. It is practising Yoga.I took up Yoga in order to lose some weight.I was not very successful in this respect but I did at least learn a lot through doing Yoga.

Nowadays people often focus on regrets about the past and anxiety about the future.When practising Yoga postures, I have to fully focus on the current state of my body and mind through breath control.I found that this really helps to release the stress caused by everyday life.

In the process of learning Yoga postures, I became aware that however imperfect they were, my postures were having a good effect on both my body and my mind. I learnt that practising consistently, regularly and realistically always resulted in some kind of improvement. I learnt to be patient and not to expect dramatic results – as results take time to show and are proportionate to the effort made.I began to understand my limitations and to be positive rather than discouraged when I see someone doing a posture better than me.I learnt to improve my own posture through observing others.I learnt to avoid perfectionism and accept that I could benefit even when doing something imperfectly.Postures can and will be perfected through steady and regular practice.

Yoga is not just a collection of physical postures or meditative practices.It is also a form of understanding, of realising how we respond to life and trying to improve our responses, trying to understand the needs of our body, the needs of our mind and also the needs of the spirit. Health does not just mean a body without disease. It means mental liveliness and spiritual energy as well.We should treat our body, our mind and our spirit as integral and interdependent parts of the “self”.

Through practising Yoga, I have been rewarded with better physical, mental and social well-being, even in stressful conditions.

Being a school student and learning Yoga have a lot in common. I would like to share a few similarities with you:

• to start with, people take up Yoga for a variety of reasons. Some may want to lose weight, some may want to be healthier, others may be seeking relief from modern life stress.Whatever the reason, the valuable thing is that they are all trying something to achieve something good for themselves - just like you, who are studying at school.
• to get something out of it, you need to be sincere and consistent, setting realistic goals and making a timetable that suits you.Regular practise, or study, in the case of school, is essential.There is no point burning yourself out by practising or studying for a few days and then stopping for a few weeks.As our great sage Mencius (孟子) said, “?有天下易生之物,一日曝之,十日寒之,未有能生者也”. It is no good being “一曝十寒”.
• there is no “quick-fix”.Do not immediately expect dramatic results when you start practising Yoga or studying your subject matter.Results will be proportionate only to the effort you make.
• always remember there is always someone who is better than you and someone who is not as good as you, in one way or another.It is difficult not to compare yourself with others, so when you see someone doing something better than you can, try to get motivation out of it.You need to feel OK about yourself at where you are and work from that point onwards.Through wholehearted effort and regular practice, you will improve.
• no one can be perfect straight away.Imperfect postures like homework with mistakes are the stepping stones to perfection. There is always some benefit, even if you cannot do something perfectly.

Before I end my speech, I would like to share with you a simple Yoga technique that may help you combat the feeling of panic and tension.It is called the sighing breath (or pursed-lip breathing), suggested by Stella Weller, a well known Yoga trainer.This is a wonderful technique for releasing cramped emotion and for handling stress.Practise it whenever you sense tension escalating or whenever you feel uneasy or discouraged.It helps you to exhale slowly and in this way to promote a feeling of control over your respiration.

Here is how you do it:

Inhale gradually, smoothly, and as deeply as you comfortably can through your nostrils.Exhale steadily through pursed lips (like cooling a hot drink).Close your mouth at the end of the exhalation, but do not squeeze your jaws or press your lips together.Repeat several times then resume regular breathing.

Try it.I hope you can get something out of it.Let us try hard together, whatever we are doing – studying at school or doing some kind of physical exercise.

That’s the end of my sharing. Here are some questions for you to reflect on!

• Tell me what kind of exercise you do to release the stress related to your everyday life?
• Have you ever felt tired of studying? How do you tackle this situation?

Please send your response to me by e-mail to the following e-mail address: fromtheheartofsgss@gmail.com on or before Thursday, 11 March 2010. Remember to write “FROM THE HEART - Talk 13” as the subject and give your class, class number and full name at the end of your response.

Thank you for your attention.