Ode to Rain

Raining on a Sunday
What a superb joke to play
For all the sun worshippers of this day
Mother Nature lovingly taunt and poke
If she has a voice she will joke
“Why so serious?
Let’s be delirious!”

Lessons I get paid to learn

As a holistic spa therapist, I get to meet many different people from different walks of life. The socialite, the politician, the royalty, the self-made millionaire and of course the streams of celebrities. Not only do I meet them, but I am entrusted their sacred temples, their tired bodies that comes with hundreds of knots and tensions.

They disrobe, lie spread on the bed and they are all mine. Sounds provocative, but far from it-  its an honorable job really- according to a recent client that I had the good fortune to meet. That day, 31st January was really a day that deserves a place in my heart and soul. Its memory is worthy of a blog post, really.. But then again, there were just so many days in the span of my life as a therapist that’s worth remembering and retelling.

So in comes this very nice-smelling Indian gentleman, one whom I shall just name Mr SG. Really, he smells so good, musky and all peppery with a sandalwood tone. The air in the spa wafted and clung with his aroma. This guy really has a presence- with his thick and long black hair, full grown beard and Gandhi-like glasses rimming his very soulful sympathetic eyes. He asked for a massage, and yours truly attended to him and assisted him with his arrival, consultation, gathering his medical info and selecting the massage for him like any good and caring therapist would. Ahem..

Normally, during a treatment I would refrain from chatting- unless I am asked a question. Its best to just be relaxed, immersed in the oils and music, enjoy the treatment ritual, be it a simple 1hour massage or more. But he was very friendly and very interested to know more of my job and how much I enjoy it. He shared with me that he is a very seasoned spa-goer, as his work-based travels brings him to different countries and continents that has spas in idyllic locations.

He shared an episode in a spa  he visited in Goa.. His Thai therapist was complaining about her job there and how she longed to just pack up and leave! When asked why was she there if she hated to be, she answered: she cannot stand serving Indian people because they are all smelly! Oh my! I was so shocked to hear that.. Awkward too. I asked then what was his reply. He answered, “With all my heart, I apologized to her on behalf of all the smelly Indian people that she had to come across, and I felt really really sorry for her!”..  Ok, my jaw dropped then. One would’ve thought that he would’ve clubbed that silly arse Thai therapist, but he was really very sorry for the Thai therapist’s work ordeals and his compassionate nature is truly most exemplary!

As we ended the 90min massage, he asked for recommendation for his next visit. I recommended him a herbal heated treatment that will help to comfort his arthritis and spine issues. He gave me a $20 tip, very rarely do we get tips. As he left, I told myself I will not forget this aromatic-smelling and very kind Indian man!

The end of this day came about as my husband and I were parked outside the supermarket, buying stuffs for my son. I waited in the car with Shaqil, feeding him his milk. I suddenly saw a figure of a heavily-build man lumped and hunched over at the kerb, shivering and and trembling in tremors of pain. It must be a lot of pain, because his face was wincing!
I wanted to go out and reached out to him as fast as I could, but I couldn’t with feeding child in tow and car parked illegally too. As my husband came back to the car, I commanded to him to go to that man and help him in any way. My husband went to him and spent a good 10 minutes talking to him, and after that he helped the stranger into our car. Turned out that this elderly Malay man was scheduled to have a kidney operation the very next morning, and he has several medical conditions apart from his kidney disease such as heart failure and Parkinson’s too. And he is homeless. And hasn’t eaten the whole day too…

I suggested that we drive him to the hospital he was bounded to go to, and to assist him with admittance. Funny thing was, the nurses and administrators in the hospital have to repeatedly asked me if I was related to this man. I hated to say no, because I am really not related to him by blood. The staff there were giving me dirty looks, as if I was abandoning my father/uncle/relative as quick as I can to the nearest hands able to take over. It pissed me off, really. I don’t think they buy our help-a-stranger story!

Anyway, we got hold of his identification details and promised to call him the day after to check on him.
He was very grateful, and we were only too happy and humbled to help.. My dear son was way past his bedtime but its all worth it. Before we said goodbyes though, I remembered that he hasn’t eaten.. I asked my husband for some cash but unfortunately he used up the cash in the supermarket earlier. With Shaqil still firmly planted on my hip, I rummaged through my battered wallet and found $20. Yes, the $20 that I got from Mr SG earlier that day as a tip.

I almost cried! The hairs on my hands stood on its ends. I am not inclined to carry a lot of cash, preferring to just withdraw money whenever I need it. That’s the only $20 I had really! It’d be another fuss to go looking for an ATM. And Mr SG had personally came all the way to the spa, booked and paid for a treatment and handed out this tip to me so that I can help this homeless, ill and hungry elderly man.. I was so humbled and lost in the magical moment..

I am so grateful for this lesson. What have I learn? I learned that I have a new answer to the skeptical hospital staffs who badgered me on my relation to this pitiful man. The answer is: YES, YES, YES. We are all related. We are all interconnected, and we are all responsible and rightful to the connection. Blood connection is merely a poetic way of introduction, but we are all related through unseen webs weaved by higher reason.

Another lesson: I learned that this nice-smelling Indian gentleman deserves a retelling of how his presence affected my whole day, and also for others whom he wouldn’t have a clue about. But I suspect that he has a clue, for a kind man like him deserves a clue and so much more!

Marching on to April!

Hey all..

March has swiftly marched away and now we are on to April, embarking on the 2nd quarter of the year. Already! It has not escaped me that I haven’t written for a long time, and validly so.
My 19 month old son went down sick for 2 weeks with terrible gastroenteritis. Days and nights of escalating fevers, rounds of vomiting and oh the almost endless diarrhea! I was off work for the most time for sure, only back to work after 9 days caring for him at home. And of course I got infected too. Oh and my mum, hubby and brother too. Oh well.. Might as well make it a family affair right?

My accounts in March..

1. I got to know of YoungLiving essential oils and its almost magical properties. On the evening after I got home from work, I received help from 2 (Kai and Sheena) of YoungLiving’s very kind and active educator/distributor in Singapore.  They are friends of a my spa client who believed that I would benefit from the acquaintance. And that I did. They heard about my son’s condition and drove by that very night to pass me 3 oils: Di-Gize, Peppermint & Thieves. They instructed me on the usage and accepted no fee for it all. I let Shaqil smell the oils while he was sleeping and the next morning, I put a drop of Di-Gize on a tissue paper and let him inhale it in the car while on the way to work, before hubby dropped him off at my mum’s place. Then I rubbed it on his t shirt too. When I called in the late noon, my mum reported that his diarhoea is almost gone! I kid you not.. I was beaming and finally began to see a crack of light, after days and nights of sickness, gloom, extra bravado and cheery front that we have to make sure to have with our poor toddy.. After that, he seemed to just get better and better and his appetite slow;y returned.. After 1 week of not eating anything, the progress was slow but consistent. I started to share the positive outcome to my colleagues, sister, nephew and friends.. Now, my colleague and I have become a distributor of YoungLiving and we have gotten our own set of 9 oils for everyday uses already too!
I am so very grateful to know of this brand, my only grouse is I didn’t use it sooner! Check out YoungLiving!

2. I am so renewed in my deep love for my son! I love him to bits even more- all his naughtiness and crafty mischief included.. I am so grateful for health, and for the opportunity to care for him and my whole family even more with YoungLiving oils.. I am enjoying it so far really, experimenting the oils and sharing them with my near and dear as much as possible..

3. On the career front, I am facing yet another similar predicament that I have faced a couple of times before. Closure. Now we are all on the next level, waiting for the next step from the management. Oh anxiety, worry, frustration galore!

I sure hope things will be looking up.. I sure need a holiday too!
Here’s to a magnificent 2nd quarter to all of you..
Shine bright and smile wide people!

My Recipe : Prenatal Aroma Body Oil

Reblogged from Holistic Isranfi:

Ok. So, I am an ITEC & IFA qualified aromatherapist. So I am 7+ mths pregnant for the 1st time and I should be worried about the nemesis by the name of "stretch marks" or striae (singular stria), as they are called in dermatology. So I should be doing my very own blend of skincare right? And not scramble to the nearest pharm AGAIN for creams, lotions & potions right?

Read more… 467 more words

My beloved prenatal massage oil blend.. Missing those prenatal days, surely.. :)

A love like no other..

“And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with love like that.
It lights up the sky.”
― Rumi

Colour me good!

“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”

- Marcus Aurelius

 

I love colours so much that I took a course in Colour Therapy. Enough said.

I choose to see Life in a colourful shade of black & white. And 50 shades of grey!

Rainbow Qur’an! Masyaallah! Will have my fat fingers on it soon..

Hopes for the future

Altearah Colour Therapy Oils, love them!

I am indigo, the old soul alright!

My favorite bed sheet..

If you want me to get lost, put me in this bathroom!

My 1st trial and many errors with acrylic..

I craved for this when I was pregnant!

Lastly, who can forget them?…

I love this show!

 

 

Thank you very nice! And happy 2013 to you too!

This is me, sometimes. Please tell me it IS you too. Thank you!

 

Hello dear all!

2nd week of 2013, and I am sure a bit too late to wish you a happy new year.. I make no excuses for my haphazard blogging, and I intend to do something about that for sure. Right after I am done doing a lot of nothing. Haha.

I would like to wish you the best for this year, really. And what is the best? Well, to me- it simply means paying enough attention to be able to weigh in the many things to be grateful for and simply living, learning and experiencing from the best or worst of it. Yes, we may be handed out shit sandwiches from time to time, but insyaallah- may we be blessed with the clarity and help we need to get us through. Now, that’s what I pray for you all dear bloggers and readers.

I will try, I will try, I will try….

Amin..

English lesson

Groundbreaking Connection

I love my work as a spa/holistic therapist very much, most would know that.
I am the irritating one who will preach “Love your work, and you don’t have to call it a job” or “When you are passionate about the thing you do, you’ll be darn good at it”. I think Confucius said something similar like the former too, but correct me if I am wrong..

In numerology, 6 is my life path number- the ultimate nurturer and gung ho maternal/paternal peacemaker. It is also not surprisingly, my favorite number since I was in primary school.
So being a therapist, I guess I landed myself  with the right work role. And these are stressful times in need of plenty nurturing, surely. (Calculate your life path number here. Thanks so much Laurie Buchanan!)

I am tremendously grateful always that through out the many ups and downs that life brings me, I am at the right place at the right time. Or the negative-sounding positive cynic in me would say that I would just be somewhere else and still be fine. But whatever it is, I am contented. (Duh. If  I am a positive cynic, then am I a cynic at all?)

Born 29th January 1954. A Life Path Number 4.. The practical fixer. Next career option: Home builder perhaps?

Oprah Winfrey (I L.O.V.E her!) quoted: “I define joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace – a connection to what matters”.

I truly can relate to that. Honestly. Even though in the sense of physical well-being, I could really do with some weight loss amounting to the size of a planet, really. Effects of post-baby weight, post-breastfeeding and too-much-love-for-food is a combo that no fast food chain can achieve and serve on a plastic tray even if they ALL combined forces..

Nevertheless, Miss O struck a similar chord when she said those words. If I may add, THAT ‘connection to what matters’ is what grounds me at many times when I feel more vulnerable, less focused and uninspired.
(OK, I used that “U” word in my previous post too, I realize..)

Thankfully, THIS is not the grounding I’m talking about.

And I am never one to spew nonsense like “Oh, I am a perfect human being”. I mean, we were ALL born perfect but it didn’t stay that way obviously, did it?

We ALL have demons, and it takes turns to show its various prowess at different times. I learn to tame and find a way around my demons, if not through it. And THAT connection again, helps.

Through this grounding with what matters, I learned to have more capacity for sincerity and faith in the work that I do. Trust me, if you are working back-to-back with clients with various ailments, moods and sizes, you will treasure a bit of sincerity on your part. And a whole lotta trust and faith! Not to mention some carbo intake too for the energy you need in yielding the release of tension on the client’s mind/body/spirit..

Practically, this grounding connection sustains me and keeps me sane and checked in all areas in my life.

So what grounds you? Is it faith and/or ambition? Or is it a constantly ever-changing source?

make it possible...

Reblogged from JUMP FOR JOY! Photo Project:

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” - T.E. Lawrence