ELAINE

--------------------------------------
I am a RYT Registered Yoga teacher, Sports,Thai massage and Bodywork therapist.

I received my teacher training from Yoga Arts (Australia) in 2005. My yoga journey has taken many forms; From the vigorous practises of vinyasa and ashtanga to acroyoga ..... For the past 5 years, I have found inspiration in the teachings of BKS Iyengar and am a disciple of senior teacher Peter Thomson.

I am certified in Thai Massage by the Thai Massage School of ChiangMai and have studied under Oestheopaths Arnaud L'Hermitte & David Lutt and Itzhak Helman of the Sunshine Network.

I have a keen interest in sports especially endurance sports and have trained in Ironman and sports massage with the renown Dr Myk Hungerford (mother of sports massage).

I am also a sports consultant and organise marathons and sports events.

Yoga helped me recuperate from a traumatic accident and I practise yoga to share its healing benefits with others. I believe in the transformation power of yoga and use Massage and other bodywork techniques to achieve greater depths in my yoga practise.

Yoga is a sharing of love and compassion that can bring about emotional and physical healing.

HP : +(61)0415938856 / email : elainehuilian@gmail.com


True Intelligence

Peter (Yes, it is still Peter this and Peter that...... at least for another 2 days!), says that we should stop hiding behind the abstract. When we search for truth in concepts from the outside; in books, sutras, teachers, this type of learning is passive and only gives an illusion of intelligence. True intelligence can only be found by looking inwards through active introspection.

Pretty deep shit for 6.30am!!

Well, I went home and thought about it and (after some thoughtful inward introspection!), I think he may be right! I have a tendency to hide behind books ; theories and philosophies that aren't mine but borrowed from somewhere else. So, is yoga spiritual or not spiritual? Is it the Law of Determination or the Law of Chance? Reincarnation or eternal life in heaven?

These debates are honestly quite futile. Does it really matter? The truth is inside and it is not necessary to label it as anything. As long as I practise my yoga for what it means to me, and live my life to its full potential with honesty and love, nothing else matters.

My boys and I were having dinner the other night and one of them mentioned that in Heaven, he will be able to eat a limitless amount of all the things he loves (I think he was trying to tell me that he is sick of the vegetarian dinners!) Someone else then replied that in Heaven, we won't need to eat at all..... The conversation then went about in circles. Mathieu was insistent that there was no heaven and we will all be reincarnated (but only as humans, not as animals, and our memories will be erased and we will start life from zero again.) Nic believes that there is no God and "Shit happens because Shit happens". Pretty surprising stuff since I thought I was bringing them up to be good christian boys.

But you know what, it doesn't matter, because they are going through the process of thinking intelligently and trying to ascertain a truth that is theirs and not what I or anyone else dictated to them. We all need to find our own truths and it is bloody hard work......

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Peter keeps talking about BALANCE and how asana is all about balance : The groundedness of the feet vs the lightness and lift in the body as we reach the crown towards the heavens...... the left vs the right, the front vs the back.... An asana is a constant juggling act : we move, move, move till we find the edge of balance, then just as we are about to topple over, we move, move, move back again, to re-establish that delicate balance.



It brings to mind a book that I just finished. (The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milann Kundera is now on my Top 10 favorite books list.) The book tells the story of a husband, his wife, his mistress and her lover as they each struggle in their respective prisons : The prison of commitment, of freedom, of betrayal..... It's a beautifully tragic story with no answers but it got me thinking, and that's a welcome change! :) Even the title of the book is beautiful.

If life is nothing but a sequence of calculated coincidences orchestrated by God (God is used interchangeably here with the Universe, the Divine or any other term to signify a greater power than man), then nothing we do is of any real consequence. We are not in control, but merely pawns in someone else's warped comedy. We are not laden with the burden of responsibility and can lead life in "the lightness of being".
"In a world that rests in the non-existence of recurrence, everything is pardoned in advance, and therefore everything cynically permitted."

Conversely, in Nietzsche's world of Eternal Return, life is not transitory but permanent in it's recurrence. Everything we do is repeated an infinite number of times and with this repetition bears with it what he considers "the heaviest of burdens."

But, the real debate isn't here, it is in the dichotomy between weight and lightness. We assume that "weight" is negative, and "lightness" is positive. Kundera didn't think so, hence the UNBEARABLE lightness of being.

"In the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment.
The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"


As always, I think the answer is in Yoga. It's all about balance. To find that delicate balance where we can lead a life with sufficient weight and responsibility so that our time here is real and true, but lead a life that is light and free, so that we are able to soar high above the earth and grasp all the wonders that life offers. And above all, to lead a life filled with love and compassion.

Note : I had a hard time grappling with the concept of Eternal Recurrence. Put simply, the universe contains a finite amount of matter, whereas time is infinite. And even though, matter can change states through time, the number of permutations is finite hence the same state will eventually have to be repeated. Time is therefore not linear but cyclical.

Honor the journey ~ forget the destination

Today's lesson : "Try your best ~ deliver your worst"
The idea is that we need to take ourselves out of our comfort zone and work the asana at the point of resistance. The resulting asana may not be picture perfect, but true learning happens in the process and not in the end product. Do not rely on your strengths and ignore your weaknesses. Work on the weaknesses to develop greater balance. Practising in weakness will transform us; it will give us humility and compassion - compassion not only for ourselves but also for others.

Yoga is a reflection of life and this is a great reminder to honor the journey we are on and forget about the destination.

Peter Thompson Iyengar Intensive


I am currently in the 3rd day of a 8 day yoga intensive with Peter Thompson @ Oasis Holistic. I attended a similar workshop 6yrs ago, also with Peter, but have not practised any Iyengar since.

Peter's teachings are simple but profound. I am going to share some of the "take-aways" I got these past few days so I don't forget (and hopefully, what I understood isn't too far off from what he was trying to teach us!)

1/ Stop intellectualising yoga! Take the brain out of the practise and let the asana speak to you. The body will know where to go, there is no need for the brain to be giving instructions to it all the time.
2/ The asana is lead by the movement of energy through the body (and it is often initiated at the base of the spine, not dictated from the head!). The movement in a sequence is therefore not jumpy and stacatto in beat, but fluid, mindful, deliberate...
3/ The asana has to be practised with integrity and honesty. Very often, we try to cheat the asana by taking short-cuts: so, we manage to get into a pose, but a pose without integrity is harming the system and hence unsustainable and will hurt the body eventually.
4/ Yoga is a process of building blocks. If you do not understand Tadasana (standing mountain pose), there is no way to practise Adho Mukha Vrksasana (handstand) with integrity. If you can't get the shins to support the body in Virassana (Hero), the body will collapse in supta-vajrasana or hanumanasa (Monkey pose). Go back to basics and make sure the foundation is right and build from there. Sometimes, we need to go backwards to be able to progress forward.

I don't know what all this will mean to my own practise. When I first encountered yoga, I flirted with all the different schools but Ashtanga and Vinyasa really appealed to me, and that has been my practise these past few years. I am ashamed to say that in Vinyasa, I was able to cheat the Asana-God really well! As we never stay in a pose for very long, it was easy to get away with it. In Iyengar (at least in Peter's workshops), we stay in a pose for what feels like eternity, and one has no choice, but stay true to each asana. In yesterday's 6hr workshop, we only did 4 asanas - we studied each pose in minute detail and practised it till we understood! And it was a beautifully humbling experience.

I was doing Adho Mukha Vrksasanas (handstands) with the heel of my hands and not with the balls of the hands where they should be! That's equivalent to standing with all your weight at the heel of your feet (and you can stand on the heels of your feet, but the body is not centered, there is no balance, the energy cannot flow, it's tiring and I guess the pelvic tilt will probably result in backache eventually). After 2 days of trying, I still can't seem to activate the balls of the hands properly. Peter had us doing Adho Mukha Vrksasanas off blocks with the index fingers pushing into the blocks. And of course, I could not get up and had to ask for help.

I had always thought I did a perfect Hanumanasana (side split), but here again, I have been cheating. In Virassana (simply kneeling), Peter taught us the importance of supporting the body with the full length of the shin, ankle and feet. When I applied the same principal to my Hanumanasana, I realised that my legs were rolling outwards and my body was in fact collapsing into the pose. To maintain integrity in Hanumanasana, there is actually an inward rotation so the full length of the legs can support the body. And, I needed a rolled up blanket to be able to do this.

There were so many great things in this class, I guess I can go on and on..... but the best would be for you to sign up for one of his workshops. He is in Singapore and Bali for the next few months so look it up. http://www.oasisyoga.sg/teachers/peter-thomson

My teachers


I woke up on the eve of Chinese New Year with an overwhelming urge to see my teachers Erika and Timothy Khoo from Oasis Holistic. Erika and Tim were the people who brought me to yoga 5 years ago and I had not seen them in years.

When I was in hospital after the 2004 Tsunami, Erika called me (she had never called me before) and told me she felt that something had happened to me. It was really quite spooky... When I returned to Singapore, Erika came to see me and gave me by first mantra "Ra-ma-da-sa". It's a healing mantra and one that I keep dearly even today. Erika and Tim then helped me through re-hab. I had hundreds of cuts and stitches all over my feet and legs, a severed archilles tendon and 80% loss of nerves in my right foot (I still have no sensation in most part of my right foot today.) I was in a cast and had to be in a wheelchair then on crutches for nearly 3 months. Throughout this period and after, I practised yoga with Erika and Tim almost every other day and they gave this out of the kindness of their hearts charging almost nothing.

Prior to this, I was only practising yoga once a week and it was very much a physical workout. I did not understand the spiritual healing of yoga.

When I was still unable to walk, I decided that I wanted to be a yoga teacher and signed up for the Yoga Arts Teachers Training Certification. I figured it was something to work towards. I couldn't do standing poses, and Tim would modify the poses so I could do them sitting. The physical healing was amazing, but the emotional healing was even better. It was a trying time for my 3 boys (7mths, 5yrs and 6 yrs then) and I - we were just coming to terms with being a single parent family (which was very tough on my 2 older boys) and this near-death experience was the straw that broke the camels back. The children (including the baby) refused to go near water, wanted to stay at home with all the windows closed and I was in tears all the time...
Yoga was my refuge. When I was on the mat, everything felt ok; I was at peace and protected- and this gave me time to heal. Erika taught me that I had to take yoga off the mat though, and into the everyday of life. And this may be something I have forgotten over the years.

When I went to see Erika and Tim on Saturday, I had no agenda in mind, and no idea why I suddenly wanted to see them so badly. I showed up late morning at their studio (unannounced and not even sure if the studio was open). Erika was surprised to see me and we sat down to chat for a while about the kids and about practise. After only a couple of minutes, Erika told me that my heart was heavy and closed... Yes, she has this remarkable gift. She took out her singing bowl and began her healing work. With the sounds from the singing bowl and Erika's guidance, I slowly felt my heart opening up again and the clutches of whatever was gripping so tightly, releasing. It felt like I was the lotus coming out of the depths of the murky waters into the light. (Om mane padme Om) Then she sounded the gongs to chase out all the negativity and I cried and cried and it was great! Crying is like de-tox that cleanses the soul.

Coincidentally, there was a vipassana sitting right after so I stayed for that.

I still feel the heaviness in my heart sometimes but with what Erika has shown me, I have been able to consciously open up the heart and let it go. I have spent many hours sitting on my mat these past couple of days. And the time will come (quite soon I hope) when I will keep the same calmness and peace even off the mat.

It is uncanny how Erika and Tim come into my life at the most opportune moments. It was as if God was sending me my very own 2 guardian angels. I feel that something amazing is going to happen soon and that I will be embarking on the next leg of my yoga journey. My heart is listening to the messages of the universe... forever grateful for life’s lessons.

Only in the darkness of the night can we appreciate the brightness of the light.

GSCF - Haiti Rescue Relief Fund

We collected S$3255 for the GSCF-Haiti Rescue Relief Fund last week from yoga classes/massage and all the donations from my lovely students and friends. Thanks so much. Will send out the post-mission report to your emails.