You've Got Skinnier (「你變瘦了」英文版)

Ever since this April, "You've got skinner" has officially replaced the greeting of "Hello" and became the first thing people say to me when they see me.


The conversation I have with people became quite predictable and it usually goes as below.

"You've Got Skinner!!" (surprised)

"Yes, I have." (calmly)

"How many kg you've lost?" (pushy)

"Umm, I don't know" (thinking)

This is about the turning point when most people became irritatedly unsatisfied with my not-so-informative answers. So i'd better quickly add,

"You see, the thing is, I don't have a scale. But it's true that my clothes are getting loose." (I defended for myself)

"How did you do it?" (aggressively)

"Well, I didn't really mean to lose weight. It sort of just happened naturally."  (I defended for myself again)

"Must be yoga, right?" (insistently)

"Oh well, I've just,,, I've just been living my life with more awareness" (There, I said it. Phew.)

"What the Fxxx?" (monologue)

So the conversation usually ended here, right after I successfully pushed people's tolerance to the limit. In the end, people accuse me of keeping my weight loss as a secret to myself and not willing to share.


OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR.


Is it because of Yoga?
The answer is "No", if, by yoga, you merely refer to it on a callisthenics level.


Is it because of Yoga?
The answer is "Yes", if, by yoga, you mean the lifestyle that I'm undertaking.


Through Yoga practice, I learned to keep quiet and let my body speak. It teaches me to feel, be aware and be alert; it teaches me to examine the connection between the body and my feelings with absolute honesty.


When yoga to you, is beyond putting the leg behind the head, and has transformed to a lifestyle that you adapt, believe, and abide by, you will then carry your daily routines with this same quality that you discovered in practice, and live your life with this quality, wash your dishes with this quality, make love to your lover with this quality.


You will become to love your body more, and spend more time conversing with your body. Then you'll come to a point where you are able to distinguish the difference between what is it that your body truly needs, and what is it that your brain desires for.


After all, besides asana (yoga postures), Yoga is a practice that drills down and inwards. It will help you shed off the redundant you, uncap the unnecessary you, then help discover and keep the absolute YOU, the pure one. Then you'll come to a beautiful realization knowing that what people need is usually less than what people want; far less than they perceive.


Try to keep things in moderation and know when to "say when."
Take only what you need. Excessiveness and greed are overrated and won't necessarily make you a happier person. Anything is good enough when you have enough.


Like TJ always says in class. "Stop when it's enough."


Namaste.