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Organise your career, having to chase students up for everything is the most painful part of being a teacher! Payments, sign ups, change in schedule will keep you on your phone all day just trying to organise a yoga class! So work smart not hard, organise your life simply with out easy to use system.

Always let people know where you are when you’re unsure. Apple I phone has a “shared location function.” Share it with people you trust. The first 72 hours Is the most important time to locating a missing person. Unfortunately even the authority can’t help you locate a missing person so the key is to be able to locate your phones location.

Kidnappers are often not strangers but just as dangerous strangers with ulterior motives.
Victims of violence are mainly females and when they’re alone in a secluded spot. If the student is trying to lure you in with money or promises that are too good to be true, think twice and consult with family or friends.
Direct Messaging, although efficient in communicating to people, don’t just agree to teach private classes. If needs be use a website to make a booking, it maybe enough to scare away people with bad intentions and the website will have their payment info, a minimal amount of info for the authorities to follow up on. Our website BMNYC.CO is opened for everyone to use. We don’t charge apart from the transaction fees by the payment companies or you can your own payment method like payme.

The location of the private class is very important. If you’re not teaching at a studio ,outdoors, ensure you tell a friend the time and date and where you’re teaching as a precaution. Early morning or late at night private classes ate also specific times which you have to be mindful of because usually there are less people around should you need help.
Perpetrators usually talk to multiple targeted victims, they DM multiple yoga teachers asking for similar requests. If you speak to other teachers in the community, there’s a high chance that they’ve been in contact led by these perpetrators. If this person doesn’t stop bothering you, tell the authorities to ensure a record has been made.

Having a community behind you is important and helps remove unwanted risks. Ensure you take all precautions in life.

My Experience with Breast Cancer

Oct. 25, 2020, Sunday

I have been seeing my gynaecologist conscientiously every year with an annual mammogram since age 40. 13 years ago, in July 2007, I discovered that there was a lump on my right breast. It happened about 8 months after my mom’s passing in 2006 due to breast cancer. I remember it was such shocking disbelief. I kept asking, “Why me?” I have always been a healthy individual, other than occasional colds and sore throats. Following my gynaecologists advice, I rushed into surgery. In retrospect, I should have taken the time to get a second opinion, and searched for a surgeon who specializes in breast cancer surgery.

A lumpectomy was performed on me, and the tumor removed was 3.6 cm in size. But a few weeks later, I had a second surgery as the tumor extended to cut margins, and my gynaecologist was concerned that there could be cancer cells left behind. I lost 45 grams of tissue (equivalent to 0.1 lb). The first surgery cost me HK$95,000 and the second surgery cost $65,000.

My case is diagnosed as DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) which is stage zero and not invasive, but there could be a 30% chance for the cancer cells to spread to lymph nodes, and I was considered lucky that my discovery was early.

Because the surgery was not performed well, I suffered an infection in my wounds and was feeling painful and annoying post-surgery. I had follow-up treatments by a breast cancer specialist. This lasted until December.

In the meantime, I was referred to a wonderful Oncologist for follow-ups. I was fortunate that I did not require chemotherapy, and had 25 times of radiotherapy at the HK Sanatorium Hospital over a span of 5 weeks which cost me HK$100,000. Radiation can reduce the re-occurrence rate from 30% down to 5%. The radiotherapy was a nice and relaxing experience, other than feeling a bit fatigue that requires an afternoon nap, and I drove myself to the sessions every day, while taking off from work, and covered by my employer’s medical insurance.

After that, I took Famera, an anti-hormone drug for 5 years. The drug reduces the cancer recurring rate to 3%, but the downside is that it increases osteoporosis which can be treated with calcium pills. So I had to have a blood test and bone density test.

According to my Oncologist, in HK, 1 in every 20 women has breast cancer. In the U.S., it is reported as 1 in 8. I was advised to exercise for 45 mins, 4 times a week to lower my risk. I should not drink or smoke, eat less fatty food and red meat and take lots of vitamin C and green leafy vegetables.

From 2008 to now, I have 6-month checkups by my Oncologist, and an MRI once every year, so that my case can be closely monitored for potential developments.

My advice is:

Do self-examination

See your gynaecologist once a year when you are aged 35 and over

Exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet

Become educated by reading information available on the internet

Do not rush into surgery. Always seek a second opinion, and find the best specialist surgeon for yourself.

Be covered by medical insurance.

By Dora Lee

18 Emotions a day

June. 25, 2022

First of all, you are not alone. Did you realize you’ll experience at least 18 different feelings a day such as happiness, gratefulness, anger to sadness? ( I’ll share more in my upcoming research piece; Better Relationships)

You’ll be surprised that you aren’t that different from the person next to you. In many Sharing Circles, I’ve held, the discovery is that we all worry about similar issues. So remember, you are not alone.

Always reach out to get help, even if’s just a bit of sharing.

Only a decade ago strength was still defined by how well we hid our emotions and just push through life but now we’ve redefined the word strength and that’s to be vulnerable and acknowledge our emotions. More importantly, facing our problems and correcting them, and becoming better in all facets of life, like your relationships, career and managing your emotions.

Mental Health is just as important if not more than physical health because it all begins with our mind. Everything we do is just a manifestation of our thoughts.

If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or feeling depressed, there are simple ways to help guide yourself into self-help and seek a positive mindset.

Below are steps to doing a daily check on yourself by asking, “how do you feel today?” I’ve included diagrams and methods below

Tips on cultivating a healthier mental state:

• 30-minute or more daily Exercise and 7-9Hrs of daily Sleep

•Meditation and Yoga is the most sustainable and effective way to cultivate mental wellness (Find a teacher who resonates with you. You can find out methods on our YouTube Channel in our bio link tree.

•Cultivate a workout routine with a community that supports each other, especially with a teacher who cares for your wellbeing.

•Community Groups ( people with similar interests especially in exercise groups are a great way to cultivate friends who support you)

•A Trusted friend who you can share with, someone who listens to you rather than judge you.

If you prefer time alone:

•Online Sources of Research (Video, podcasts, and other channels through personal recommendations from communities, I’ve been updating the BMNYC.CO blog weekly on research and tips which I find useful on a timely basis)

•General Community Resources (There are local groups available in your city also in my Blog)

•A Healthier Diet, you don’t have to be a health freak but balanced with well-informed knowledge! Less processed sugar, salt, caffeine, soft drinks, fries, processed meat (such as bacon), snacks (such as chips), fast food instead, eat more greens, eat your rainbows and organic food, you don’t have to be a vegan, you just have to be balanced!

Remember, mental wellness is a lifestyle and this generation is only becoming more knowledgable and smarter in correcting the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

Don’t be afraid to seek professional help through apps such as BetterHelp or other avenues that will help you lead a better life!

BetterMe started as a passion project for self realisation

2019

In the summer of 2016, I was in Soho NYC, in dire need to find a bathroom. A golden reflection caught the side of my eye called the “Golden Bridge,” and in a split-second decision, I rushed in for their kindness. As I walked out of the toilet, my friend was speaking to a tall gentleman behind the counter. He was 6 feet 5 towering over us, had a white turban on with a long white bandhgala on the covered set of bright color clothing underneath and a pair of short-short cut-off jeans.

“I was once a famous runway model in Paris and posed for Vogue magazine where my life was centered around parties, Dom Pergions, and drugs..but all that came to a dramatic stop when I found yoga, it settled me, bringing me to this state, a calmer and better version of myself,” he said. Coincidentally, we were in NY searching for an idea of bringing something unique in the yoga scene back to HK as a business. So we asked.., “What are the top studios to visit in NY?” Sure enough, Dharma Yoga was at the top of the list, funny enough for both of us who had practiced Dharma yoga religiously under Joakim Olin never knew Dharma Yoga was born in NYC. We then spent the remaining part of our vacation with Sri Dharma Mittra, practicing for two hours a day with him…which would set us on a different path in our lives.

As the Yoga settled in, we became minimalists, detaching from desires for material goods. We both eventually became vegetarians and became much more grounding compared to our previous selves. There were friends and families around us who questioned our reasons; the truth was, we didn’t know why but it felt right. There were those who also understood and supported our journeys but we also attracted those who had ulterior motives.

Fast forward to 2017, I returned to NY and studied under Sri Dharma Mittra and started developing an idea on how to help others based on purification and self-realization and further solidified this idea during a discussion with Andre Ram. It was clear that the world was crumbling; violence was reaching new heights and people were suffering from all their unmindful acts, and we needed to answer this burning question, “How can we motivate people to become better?” The change would have to come from within and one person at a time. It was my role and responsibility to bring teachers with the right knowledge, intentions, and character to those in need of help. This journey took a life of its own and in 2018, I founded BetterMe (BBM) inspired by the Seventeen UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It aims to empower people to engage in self-improvement and positive actions to motivate companies to carry out their SDG goals. This multiplier effect would come from individuals on the BetterMe platform initiating and completing challenges in health and altruism and be rewarded with points derived from our BBM APP. These points can be spent on goods and services at companies in our ecosystem, motivating them to carry out their SDG missions.

Within a matter of months, we were able to bring on over a thousand people running over two hundred challenges and an aggregate of over twenty-eight thousand minutes in challenges that involved self-improvement in health and wellness and fighting against social and environmental issues such as getting rid of plastic usage.

One of the more memorable challenges was trying to motivate a mother who is overwhelmed with work and trying to balance her lifestyle between her family and business. She simply had no time for herself and this was depleting her mind and body, so we decided to start a meditation challenge to help her. She lived in another country and was barely exposed to these methods of self-help. So we used technology as a tool to reach out to her, teach her, and guide her through ways in which she could reduce stress. We also partnered with an artificial intelligence company to further help with her situation. By mixing both personal help and technology we created a change in her behavior as she changed her sleeping patterns and habits of dealing with stress. We don’t promise outcomes nor charge money for participants, we merely want to introduce knowledge and self-help. “By joining BBM, it gave me the power to make positive impacts on both the world and myself, rather than accepting bad news and feeling helpless, I can now be a part of the solution and help fix issues,” she said.

Truth is, it’s an extremely difficult task to motivate people to change their habits and it takes time and endurance to set them on the right path, but this is our mission: to become a better version of ourselves for those we love. Today we are slowly realizing the potential of this platform and now we are expanding into new initiatives such as curating challenges to help save the rainforest, mental health, depression, and relationship management.

In September BBM aims to spread the teaching of Ahimsa, nonviolence, the highest virtue and the root of all other virtues. Nonviolence means not harming or injuring oneself, or any living being, intentionally or unintentionally. Non-harm is carried with us everywhere in each moment, in thought, word, and action. Live and act without causing disturbance to other people, animals, or our precious Earth. Whether it’s mental, physical, or vocal, we aim to remind and strengthen a group of teachers, influencers, and purposed individuals in their study of Ahimsa and to spread this core value to our students and society. We envisage that we will be able to get our message to over ten thousand people through social media globally via this small event we are holding but more importantly, help with both local and global issues.

“If you seek enlightenment, or even if you seek happiness, go to the cause. Nothing exists without a cause. The root cause of happiness is compassion.

GLOBAL WEALTH and LIFESTYLE REPORT 2022 by Julius Baer (Excerpts from the HEALTH Analysis)

Complexity and uncertainty will hold across the board. The lingering pandemic (which could still flare up again), stretched supply chains, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty are all big factors at the moment. Moreover, in the medium to longer-term, problems like global warming haven’t gone away – in fact, they might just be getting started, as shown by the increase in severe weather events. Life will continue to be unpredictable and expensive for everyone, the wealthy included, while health and happiness increasingly become must-haves that money cannot buy.

An area that links green intentions and wellbeing is the growing interest in bicycles, also reflected in steep price rises in the Index this year. In demand for both health and transport reasons in the pandemic’s early stages, bicycles look set to remain popular as a method of urban mobility.

All regions covered in our survey show a strong intent to use small personal transport (including e-scooters and e-bikes) more in the future, and Europe, home to many of the world’s more bicycle-friendly cities, has the infrastructure to cater to this intent. Indeed, some now predict these methods of transport could be a significant part of the future urban mobility puzzle – and with increasing numbers of electric models available, they can appeal to all levels of activity.

Wellbeing is also intrinsically linked to health, another area that has seen, and will continue to see, growth in expenditure for medical and fitness reasons. An interesting point here is that in countries with national healthcare systems (of whatever type), spending on health insurance is also rising in many cases. This is not just something that affects HNWIs. Healthcare systems are under considerable pressure even as the pandemic recedes.

Nonetheless, we can expect this trend to continue. With a population that is both more aware of personal health and aging, therefore requiring ever more healthcare, we should expect more spending on health for everyone. HNWIs are most able to pay and thus may increasingly go private even where state care is available.

For all the similarities, our survey reveals some very striking regional differences.

Although the Middle East, contained within EMEA in our report, shares Europe’s intentions to enjoy things such as leisure, holidays, and fine dining, our survey also shows distinct regional differences. Middle Eastern respondents have increased the amount of time spent with family and friends more than European HNWIs and, in an embrace of the sweeping trend, now pay the most attention to their health in comparison to before the pandemic.

Increased complexity and uncertainty look set to continue causing disruption to life across the globe for high-net-worth individuals. The re-thinking of priorities that we identified last year – a greater focus on the quality of life, health, well-being and family-led many people to reconsider their financial positions and take action to preserve their wealth, both in the near and long term.