saigon om Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Training

I'm constantly being reminded by students who come to us that showing people how to take care of their suffering and bring more joy into their lives is our (saigon om) Dharma/path given how the unconscious world has made us believe that the unimportant is important. Case in point: external beauty/looks, comparison, expectation, regretting about the past, worrying about the future that is not yet here. When in reality we have a plethora of tools that can help us overcome our suffering and see that living in the present moment and having a sense of gratitude can bring about love, wisdom and understanding for life. Namaste, Hang

March 2016 Newsletter

Our March newsletter is ready! Click here. to read it as you breathe and smile. 

We love sharing our mindful and joyful journey. And we'd be delighted for to join us at an event in Melbourne or Vietnam in 2016.

If you'd like to receive our quarterly newsletter to stay updated with our news and events, email us at saigonom@gmail.com

Weekend Yoga & Mindfulness Retreat

Come to this wonderful weekend to deepen your yoga and mindfulness practice. The retreat includes oodles of fun, yoga, mindfulness and time for silence.

Beginners are welcome.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 6-8
Location: North Warrandyte, suburb of Melbourne
Investment: $275, includes shared accommodation, meals and snacks

Friday
Arrive between 5pm and 6pm
6pm: Welcome Circle, Gentle Qi Gong & Yoga Practice
7pm: Mindful Dinner
8 - 8:30pm: Mindfulness Session
* 9pm to 8:30am next day: Noble Silence

Saturday 
7-8am Qi Gong & Walking Meditation in the Bush
8-8:30am Fruit, Tea, Coffee in Noble Silence
8:30-10:30 Short Lecture & Yoga
10:30-3pm Mindful Brunch & Free Time
3-4:30pm Restorative Yoga
6pm Mindful Dinner
7:30-8pm Mindfulness Session
* 8:30pm to 8:30am next day: Noble Silence

Sunday
7-8am Qi Gong & Walking Meditation in the Bush
8-8:30am Fruit, Tea, Coffee in Noble Silence
8:30-10:30am Short Lecture & Yoga
10:30am: Mindful Brunch
12pm: Check Out

For registrations or enquiries: saigonom@gmail.com 0484 090 073

Plum Village Australia Fundraiser

Hang and I were delighted to hold a One-Day Yoga & Mindfulness Retreat to raise money for Plum Village Australia. We enjoyed a beautiful day of Qi Gong, walking meditation among the olive grove, sitting meditation, gentle yoga, mindful eating, deep relaxation, Dharma sharing, singing, and hugging meditation.

Afterwards our students commented that they felt balanced, grounded and calm.

We are very thankful to Cara Britton who very kindly donated the use of her beautiful yoga studio in Kangaroo Ground for the event.

We raised $400 for the construction at Plum Village Australia. Thank you to everyone that attended and shared your mindfulness energy and loving smiles. 

A lotus to you,
Sarah & Hang

Connecting to Nature

We moved into our beautiful little mudbrick cottage this week. We're surrounded by nature, the Australian bush, with gumtrees everywhere and lots of wildlife around. So far we've enjoyed the company of kangaroos, wallabies, kookaburras, galahs, wombats, echidnas, and this little possum who has made a home on our roof. Breathing in, I smile at nature. Breathing out, I feel calm and peaceful. 

Smiling At Life Upside Down

Sirsasana or headstand is one of our very favourite poses. It's so great for developing core  and shoulder strength, and amazing for clearing the mind. Being upside down like this develops focus and concentration. If the mind starts to wonder then we can lose our balance and fall out of the pose. Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I wiggle my toes in the air :-)

Happy to be Home in Australia

Hang and I arrived in Melbourne, Australia last week. We'll be staying here for the next 6 months. We packed up our home in Saigon in June, with a new journey of spending more time in Australia and Canada each year. We'll still return to our beloved Vietnam twice a year to hold our courses and retreats by the ocean in Mui Ne. 

Yesterday we were walking along the ocean in Barwon Heads and I felt happy and peaceful just to be "at home". Having lived overseas for 10 years with only short visits home once a year, it feels amazing to know that we'll be here for the next 6 months and will spend more time in Australia each year. Lots of time to enjoy Australian life; the fresh air, nature, beaches and ocean, and most of all quality time with my family.

Breathing in, I smile at the ocean.
Breathing out, I feel fresh and peaceful.

Happy holiday season everyone :-)
With a huge smile,
Sarah

Our Motto: Travel, Teach & Learn

Hang practicing her handstand in an arm balancing class at Radiantly Alive Yoga Studio in Ubud, Bali. 

As Hang and I began our new journey of traveling around the world to offer our courses and retreats, we are happy to find ourselves on a new path of teaching and learning - enjoying our work of teaching and sharing and also "filling our cups" by taking time to immerse ourselves in training and retreats. Our new motto: "Travel, Teach & Learn". 

This year we have been to Thai Plum Village three times to cultivate our mindfulness practice, visited Pai in Northern Thailand to complete our Reiki 1,2 & Master levels with Mark Allison, and spent a week in Ubud, Bali, practicing yoga at Radiantly Alive. 

Here's to an amazing year ahead of teaching, sharing and always having a beginner's mind.

With a huge smile,
Sarah

A Week of Yoga in Ubud, Bali

In case you didn't know, Hang and I LOVE yoga. Naturally, with 5 weeks off to travel in Asia, we chose to spend a week in Ubud, Bali. We booked a resort right near our favourite yoga studio and immersed ourselves in a week of amazing yoga classes. Radiantly Alive yoga studio has some wonderful and experienced teachers.

We bought a 7-day pass and joyfully attended 23 classes! The classes included various styles of yoga and mindful movement: Ashtanga inspired, Mysore, Vinyasa flow, Qi Gong, roll & release, Yin, and restorative.  A typical day for us was something like this: yoga, breakfast, yoga, lunch, rest, yoga, swim, yoga, dinner. We learned so much, strengthened our practice and felt inspired to continue on our path of teaching and sharing.

We are returning to Bali in March 2016 to offer massage training at The Balé. Of course, we'll fit in another 7 days of amazing yoga at Radiantly Alive!

Namaste & Love,
Sarah

Reiki Training in Pai, Thailand

Last month, Hang and I spent some time in Pai, in northern Thailand, learning Reiki with Mark Allison. I've been practicing Reiki for about 10 years so I really enjoyed refreshing my Reiki knowledge and learning a new style of Reiki called "Shamballa", a very intuitive style of energy healing. Hang and I will return to Pai in early December to complete our Reiki Master course to learn how to teach Reiki. We are excited to be offering Reiki training in Australia, Vietnam and Canada in the new year.

Yoga & Mindfulness Retreats in Mui Ne, Vietnam

The word "retreat" means to withdraw or step back. In our case, it is to withdraw inward so we can reconnect to our true self; full of love, joy, and peace. A retreat can be nourishing and healing because it is a time to take care of ourselves - our pain and our joy; especially if we have a busy lifestyle. "It is a wonderful time to meet like-minded people for the support", as one participant puts it. Another student says, "It was a wonderful venue and setting to process and let go of something that has been stuck inside for a long time."

With that said, it was a joy for Sarah and I to share the art of "slowing down" & looking deeply at both retreats in early October, 2015. We guided participants through everything that we ourselves practice ; Qi Gong, energy release work, Lomi Lomi massage, Reiki, mindful walking, eating and hugging! And, of course, various forms of yoga.

We have our students to thank for always inspiring us to stay on this Bodhisattva path.

May all beings everywhere be happy and free,
Hang  

Lomi Lomi Massage Training in Saigon, Vietnam

What a beautiful two weeks of massage, learning, healing, and fun! Thank you to all the students for coming together and giving me the opportunity to pass along my passion of Lomi Lomi.

Some of my favourite moments from the training were watching the students build confidence, being in the moment, absorbed in the flow, creating new strokes, massaging from their heart towards the end of the training, and seeing them all work and flow together for the 'massage the teachers' session :-)

It was an inspiration to see people (students) become healers and I intend to keep sharing this love with more people around the world wherever Hang and I go.

With Aloha,
Sarah

A New Journey, A New Look

March 18, 2015. 5am. It was the morning after a week of recharging our Mindfulness energy with over 150 nuns and monks at Thai Plum Village monastery near Bangkok. Joyfully waiting for a taxi to the airport to return to Saigon, Sarah turned to me and out of the blue said, “It’s time to leave Vietnam, Hang.”

My first reaction was excitement and joy. Naturally, I said, “YES!”  That short thought by Sarah set off ripple of possibilities for us. We started to brain storm new possibilities like:

1)      More time with our respective families and home countries; Canada for me, Australia for Sarah.

2)      Sprinkling our love and joy for well-being everywhere we go and grow our spiritual family. Like, become a mobile holistic school, which rolls off the tongue nicely, doesn’t it? Seriously, who wouldn't want to travel the world, meet new people, engage in new cultures while sharing our love.

The question of how are we going to sustain ourselves as travelling yoginis naturally surfaced as a topic of conversation. That question, in itself, opened up a whole new can of exciting worms for us. The root answer was quite simple; continue to offer what we offer with a global vision.

So, the wheel of motion started to set in; move out of our current Saigon saigon om location early June, head back to Canada to start sprinkling the love with yoga and mindfulness workshops and classes in Kingston, my hometown.

In early July saigon om became a Yoga Alliance School. By late August we met a wonderful artist and internet guru who laboured on our new saigon om logo, guided us to push our boundaries in the social media area to increase saigon om awareness, and encouraged us to go “professional” with a refreshed webpage to reflect our global vision. Thus, the birth of this wonderful new saigon om website, our new pride and joy.

Our aim is to inspire visitors to our website with our blog and to let you know about the trainings that we offer in Australia, Vietnam and Canada, as a start. We look forward to the new journey and exploring other parts of the world as we connect with more people on the same path. Be it Mindfulness, Yoga, Massage, Reiki, Tai Chi or Qi Gong. We are ready.

Smiling at Life, 
Hang